Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 88[a]
A Despairing Lament
1 A song; a psalm of the Korahites. For the leader; according to Mahalath. For singing; a maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.
I
2 Lord, the God of my salvation, I call out by day;
at night I cry aloud in your presence.(A)
3 Let my prayer come before you;
incline your ear to my cry.(B)
4 [b]For my soul is filled with troubles;(C)
my life draws near to Sheol.
5 I am reckoned with those who go down to the pit;
I am like a warrior without strength.
6 My couch is among the dead,
like the slain who lie in the grave.
You remember them no more;
they are cut off from your influence.
7 You plunge me into the bottom of the pit,
into the darkness of the abyss.
8 Your wrath lies heavy upon me;
all your waves crash over me.(D)
Selah
II
9 Because of you my acquaintances shun me;
you make me loathsome to them;(E)
Caged in, I cannot escape;
10 my eyes grow dim from trouble.
All day I call on you, Lord;
I stretch out my hands to you.
11 [c]Do you work wonders for the dead?
Do the shades arise and praise you?(F)
Selah
III
12 Is your mercy proclaimed in the grave,
your faithfulness among those who have perished?[d]
13 Are your marvels declared in the darkness,
your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?
IV
14 But I cry out to you, Lord;
in the morning my prayer comes before you.
15 Why do you reject my soul, Lord,
and hide your face from me?
16 I have been mortally afflicted since youth;
I have borne your terrors and I am made numb.
17 Your wrath has swept over me;
your terrors have destroyed me.(G)
18 All day they surge round like a flood;
from every side they encircle me.
19 Because of you friend and neighbor shun me;(H)
my only friend is darkness.
Psalm 91[a]
Security Under God’s Protection
I
1 You who dwell in the shelter of the Most High,[b]
who abide in the shade of the Almighty,
2 Say to the Lord, “My refuge and fortress,
my God in whom I trust.”(A)
3 He will rescue you from the fowler’s snare,
from the destroying plague,
4 He will shelter you with his pinions,
and under his wings you may take refuge;(B)
his faithfulness is a protecting shield.
5 You shall not fear the terror of the night
nor the arrow that flies by day,(C)
6 Nor the pestilence that roams in darkness,
nor the plague that ravages at noon.(D)
7 Though a thousand fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
near you it shall not come.
8 You need simply watch;
the punishment of the wicked you will see.(E)
9 Because you have the Lord for your refuge
and have made the Most High your stronghold,
10 No evil shall befall you,
no affliction come near your tent.(F)
11 [c]For he commands his angels with regard to you,(G)
to guard you wherever you go.(H)
12 With their hands they shall support you,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.(I)
13 You can tread upon the asp and the viper,
trample the lion and the dragon.(J)
II
14 Because he clings to me I will deliver him;
because he knows my name I will set him on high.(K)
15 He will call upon me and I will answer;(L)
I will be with him in distress;(M)
I will deliver him and give him honor.
16 With length of days I will satisfy him,
and fill him with my saving power.(N)
Psalm 92[d]
A Hymn of Thanksgiving for God’s Fidelity
1 A psalm. A sabbath song.
I
2 It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
to sing praise to your name, Most High,(O)
3 To proclaim your love at daybreak,
your faithfulness in the night,
4 With the ten-stringed harp,
with melody upon the lyre.(P)
5 For you make me jubilant, Lord, by your deeds;
at the works of your hands I shout for joy.
II
6 How great are your works, Lord!(Q)
How profound your designs!
7 A senseless person cannot know this;
a fool cannot comprehend.
8 Though the wicked flourish like grass(R)
and all sinners thrive,
They are destined for eternal destruction;
9 but you, Lord, are forever on high.
10 Indeed your enemies, Lord,
indeed your enemies shall perish;
all sinners shall be scattered.(S)
III
11 You have given me the strength of a wild ox;(T)
you have poured rich oil upon me.(U)
12 My eyes look with glee on my wicked enemies;
my ears shall hear what happens to my wicked foes.(V)
13 The just shall flourish like the palm tree,
shall grow like a cedar of Lebanon.(W)
14 [e]Planted in the house of the Lord,
they shall flourish in the courts of our God.
15 They shall bear fruit even in old age,
they will stay fresh and green,
16 To proclaim: “The Lord is just;
my rock, in whom there is no wrong.”(X)
Chapter 13
The Twelve Scouts. 1 The Lord said to Moses: 2 Send men to reconnoiter the land of Canaan, which I am giving the Israelites. You shall send one man from each ancestral tribe, every one a leader among them. 3 (A)So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran, at the direction of the Lord. All of them were leaders among the Israelites.
21 So they went up and reconnoitered the land from the wilderness of Zin[a] as far as where Rehob adjoins Lebo-hamath. 22 (A)Going up by way of the Negeb, they reached Hebron, where Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai, descendants of the Anakim,[b] were. (Now Hebron had been built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) 23 They also reached the Wadi Eshcol,[c] where they cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes on it, which two of them carried on a pole, as well as some pomegranates and figs. 24 It was because of the cluster the Israelites cut there that they called the place Wadi Eshcol.(B)
Their Report. 25 They returned from reconnoitering the land forty days later. 26 (C)Proceeding directly to Moses and Aaron and the whole community of the Israelites in the wilderness of Paran at Kadesh, they made a report to them and to the whole community, showing them the fruit of the land. 27 They told Moses: “We came to the land to which you sent us. It does indeed flow with milk and honey, and here is its fruit. 28 However, the people who are living in the land are powerful, and the towns are fortified and very large.(D) Besides, we saw descendants of the Anakim there. 29 Amalekites live in the region of the Negeb; Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites dwell in the highlands, and Canaanites along the sea and the banks of the Jordan.”
30 Caleb, however, quieted the people before Moses and said, “We ought to go up and seize the land, for we can certainly prevail over it.”
25 (A)Circumcision, to be sure, has value if you observe the law; but if you break the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.(B) 26 Again, if an uncircumcised man keeps the precepts of the law, will he not be considered circumcised?(C) 27 Indeed, those who are physically uncircumcised but carry out the law will pass judgment on you, with your written law and circumcision, who break the law. 28 One is not a Jew outwardly. True circumcision is not outward, in the flesh.(D) 29 Rather, one is a Jew inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart, in the spirit, not the letter; his praise is not from human beings but from God.(E)
Chapter 3
Answers to Objections. 1 [a]What advantage is there then in being a Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? 2 Much, in every respect. [For] in the first place, they were entrusted with the utterances of God.(F) 3 What if some were unfaithful? Will their infidelity nullify the fidelity of God?(G) 4 Of course not! God must be true, though every human being is a liar,[b] as it is written:
“That you may be justified in your words,
and conquer when you are judged.”(H)
5 But if our wickedness provides proof of God’s righteousness, what can we say? Is God unjust, humanly speaking, to inflict his wrath?(I) 6 Of course not! For how else is God to judge the world? 7 But if God’s truth redounds to his glory through my falsehood, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? 8 And why not say—as we are accused and as some claim we say—that we should do evil that good may come of it? Their penalty is what they deserve.(J)
Universal Bondage to Sin.[c]
21 (A)Then Peter approaching asked him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?” 22 [a]Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. 23 (B)That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants. 24 [b]When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount. 25 Since he had no way of paying it back, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of the debt. 26 [c]At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.’ 27 Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan. 28 When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount.[d] He seized him and started to choke him, demanding, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ 29 Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’ 30 But he refused. Instead, he had him put in prison until he paid back the debt. 31 Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master and reported the whole affair. 32 His master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. 33 (C)Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?’ 34 Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt.[e] 35 [f](D)So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives his brother from his heart.”
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