Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 88[a]
A song, a psalm written by the Korahites, for the music director, according to the machalath-leannoth style;[b] a well-written song[c] by Heman the Ezrahite.
88 O Lord God who delivers me,[d]
by day I cry out
and at night I pray before you.[e]
2 Listen to my prayer.[f]
Pay attention[g] to my cry for help.
3 For my life[h] is filled with troubles,
and I am ready to enter Sheol.[i]
4 They treat me like[j] those who descend into the grave.[k]
I am like a helpless man,[l]
5 adrift[m] among the dead,
like corpses lying in the grave,
whom you remember no more,
and who are cut off from your power.[n]
6 You place me in the lowest regions of the Pit,[o]
in the dark places, in the watery depths.
7 Your anger bears down on me,
and you overwhelm me with all your waves. (Selah)
8 You cause those who know me to keep their distance;
you make me an appalling sight to them.
I am trapped and cannot get free.[p]
9 My eyes grow weak because of oppression.
I call out to you, O Lord, all day long;
I spread out my hands in prayer to you.[q]
10 Do you accomplish amazing things for the dead?
Do the departed spirits[r] rise up and give you thanks? (Selah)
11 Is your loyal love proclaimed in the grave,
or your faithfulness in the place of the dead?[s]
12 Are your amazing deeds experienced[t] in the dark region,[u]
or your deliverance in the land of oblivion?[v]
13 As for me, I cry out to you, O Lord;
in the morning my prayer confronts you.
14 O Lord, why do you reject me,
and pay no attention to me?[w]
15 I am oppressed and have been on the verge of death since my youth.[x]
I have been subjected to your horrors and am numb with pain.[y]
16 Your anger overwhelms me;[z]
your terrors destroy me.
17 They surround me like water all day long;
they join forces and encircle me.[aa]
18 You cause my friends and neighbors to keep their distance;[ab]
those who know me leave me alone in the darkness.[ac]
Psalm 91[a]
91 As for you, the one who lives[b] in the shelter of the Most High,[c]
and resides in the protective shadow[d] of the Sovereign One[e]—
2 I say this about the Lord, my shelter and my stronghold,
my God in whom I trust—
3 he will certainly rescue you from the snare of the hunter[f]
and from the destructive plague.
4 He will shelter you[g] with his wings;[h]
you will find safety under his wings.
His faithfulness is like a shield or a protective wall.[i]
5 You need not fear the terrors of the night,[j]
the arrow that flies by day,
6 the plague that stalks in the darkness,
or the disease that ravages at noon.[k]
7 Though a thousand may fall beside you,
and a multitude on your right side,
it[l] will not reach you.
8 Certainly you will see it with your very own eyes—
you will see the wicked paid back.[m]
9 For you have taken refuge in the Lord,
my shelter, the Most High.
10 No harm will overtake[n] you;
no illness[o] will come near your home.[p]
11 For he will order his angels[q]
to protect you in all you do.[r]
12 They will lift you up in their hands,
so you will not slip and fall on a stone.[s]
13 You will subdue[t] a lion and a snake;[u]
you will trample underfoot a young lion and a serpent.
14 The Lord says,[v]
“Because he is devoted to me, I will deliver him;
I will protect him[w] because he is loyal to me.[x]
15 When he calls out to me, I will answer him.
I will be with him when he is in trouble;
I will rescue him and bring him honor.
16 I will satisfy him with long life,[y]
and will let him see my salvation.”
Psalm 92[z]
A psalm; a song for the Sabbath day.
92 It is fitting[aa] to thank the Lord,
and to sing praises to your name, O Most High.[ab]
2 It is fitting[ac] to proclaim your loyal love in the morning,
and your faithfulness during the night,
3 to the accompaniment of a ten-stringed instrument and a lyre,
to the accompaniment of the meditative tone of the harp.
4 For you, O Lord, have made me happy by your work.
I will sing for joy because of what you have done.[ad]
5 How great are your works, O Lord!
Your plans are very intricate![ae]
6 The spiritually insensitive do not recognize this;
the fool does not understand this.[af]
7 When the wicked sprout up like grass,
and all the evildoers glisten,[ag]
it is so that they may be annihilated.[ah]
8 But you, O Lord, reign[ai] forever.
9 Indeed,[aj] look at your enemies, O Lord.
Indeed,[ak] look at how your enemies perish.
All the evildoers are scattered.
10 You exalt my horn like that of a wild ox.[al]
I am covered[am] with fresh oil.
11 I gloat in triumph over those who tried to ambush me;[an]
I hear the defeated cries of the evil foes who attacked me.[ao]
12 The godly[ap] grow like a palm tree;
they grow high like a cedar in Lebanon.[aq]
13 Planted in the Lord’s house,
they grow in the courts of our God.
14 They bear fruit even when they are old;
they are filled with vitality and have many leaves.[ar]
15 So they proclaim that the Lord, my Protector,
is just and never unfair.[as]
Abimelech Murders His Brothers
9 Now Abimelech son of Jerub Baal[a] went to Shechem to see his mother’s relatives.[b] He said to them and to his mother’s entire extended family,[c] 2 “Tell[d] all the leaders of Shechem this: ‘Why would you want[e] to have seventy men, all Jerub Baal’s sons, ruling over you, when you can have just one ruler? Recall that I am your own flesh and blood.’”[f] 3 His mother’s relatives[g] spoke on his behalf to[h] all the leaders of Shechem and reported his proposal.[i] The leaders were drawn to Abimelech;[j] they said, “He is our close relative.”[k] 4 They paid him seventy silver shekels out of the temple of Baal Berith. Abimelech then used the silver to hire some lawless, dangerous[l] men as his followers.[m] 5 He went to his father’s home in Ophrah and murdered his half brothers,[n] the seventy legitimate[o] sons of Jerub Baal, on one stone. Only Jotham, Jerub Baal’s youngest son, escaped,[p] because he hid. 6 All the leaders of Shechem and Beth Millo assembled and then went and made Abimelech king by the oak near the pillar[q] in Shechem.
Jotham’s Parable
7 When Jotham heard the news,[r] he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim. He spoke loudly to the people below,[s] “Listen to me, leaders of Shechem, so that God may listen to you!
8 “The trees were determined to go out[t] and choose a king for themselves.[u] They said to the olive tree, ‘Be our king!’[v] 9 But the olive tree said to them, ‘I am not going to stop producing my oil, which is used to honor gods and men, just to sway above the other trees!’[w]
10 “So the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come and be our king!’[x] 11 But the fig tree said to them, ‘I am not going to stop producing my sweet figs, my excellent fruit, just to sway above the other trees!’[y]
12 “So the trees said to the grapevine, ‘You come and be our king!’[z] 13 But the grapevine said to them, ‘I am not going to stop producing my wine, which makes gods and men so happy, just to sway above the other trees!’[aa]
14 “So all the trees said to the thornbush, ‘You come and be our king!’[ab] 15 The thornbush said to the trees, ‘If you really want to choose[ac] me as your king, then come along, find safety under my branches.[ad] Otherwise[ae] may fire blaze from the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon!’
16 “Now, if you have shown loyalty and integrity when you made Abimelech king, if you have done right to Jerub Baal and his family,[af] if you have properly repaid him[ag]—
19 So if you have shown loyalty and integrity to Jerub Baal and his family[a] today, then may Abimelech bring you happiness and may you bring him happiness![b] 20 But if not, may fire blaze from Abimelech and consume the leaders of Shechem and Beth Millo! May fire also blaze from the leaders of Shechem and Beth Millo and consume Abimelech!” 21 Then Jotham ran away[c] to Beer and lived there to escape from[d] Abimelech his half-brother.[e]
13 When they saw the boldness[a] of Peter and John, and discovered[b] that they were uneducated[c] and ordinary[d] men, they were amazed and recognized these men had been with Jesus. 14 And because they saw the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say against this.[e] 15 But when they had ordered them to go outside the council,[f] they began to confer with one another, 16 saying, “What should we do with these men? For it is plain[g] to all who live in Jerusalem that a notable miraculous sign[h] has come about through them,[i] and we cannot deny it. 17 But to keep this matter from spreading any further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more[j] to anyone in this name.” 18 And they called them in and ordered[k] them not to speak or teach at all in the name[l] of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John replied,[m] “Whether it is right before God to obey[n] you rather than God, you decide, 20 for it is impossible[o] for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard.” 21 After threatening them further, they released them, for they could not find how to punish them on account of the people, because they were all praising[p] God for what had happened. 22 For the man, on whom this miraculous sign[q] of healing had been performed,[r] was over forty years old.
The Followers of Jesus Pray for Boldness
23 When they were released, Peter and John[s] went to their fellow believers[t] and reported everything the high priests and the elders had said to them. 24 When they heard this, they raised their voices to God with one mind[u] and said, “Master of all,[v] you who made the heaven, the earth,[w] the sea, and everything that is in them, 25 who said by the Holy Spirit through[x] your servant David our forefather,[y]
‘Why do the nations[z] rage,[aa]
and the peoples plot foolish[ab] things?
26 The kings of the earth stood together,[ac]
and the rulers assembled together,
against the Lord and against his[ad] Christ.’[ae]
27 “For indeed both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, assembled together in this city against[af] your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed,[ag] 28 to do as much as your power[ah] and your plan[ai] had decided beforehand[aj] would happen. 29 And now, Lord, pay attention to[ak] their threats, and grant[al] to your servants[am] to speak your message[an] with great courage,[ao] 30 while you extend your hand to heal, and to bring about miraculous signs[ap] and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 31 When[aq] they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken,[ar] and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak[as] the word of God[at] courageously.[au]
Turning Water into Wine
2 Now on the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee.[a] Jesus’ mother[b] was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding.[c] 3 When the wine ran out, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no wine left.”[d] 4 Jesus replied,[e] “Woman,[f] why are you saying this to me?[g] My time[h] has not yet come.” 5 His mother told the servants, “Whatever he tells you, do it.”[i]
6 Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washing,[j] each holding twenty or thirty gallons.[k] 7 Jesus told the servants,[l] “Fill the water jars with water.” So they filled them up to the very top. 8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the head steward,”[m] and they did. 9 When[n] the head steward tasted the water that had been turned to wine, not knowing where it came from[o] (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), he[p] called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone[q] serves the good wine first, and then the cheaper[r] wine when the guests[s] are drunk. You have kept the good wine until now!” 11 Jesus did this as the first of his miraculous signs,[t] in Cana of Galilee. In this way he revealed[u] his glory, and his disciples believed in him.[v]
Cleansing the Temple
12 After this he went down to Capernaum[w] with his mother and brothers[x] and his disciples, and they stayed there a few days.
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