Book of Common Prayer
I Cry Out Day and Night Before You
A Song. A Psalm of (A)the Sons of Korah. To the choirmaster: according to (B)Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil[a] of (C)Heman the Ezrahite.
88 O Lord, (D)God of my salvation,
I (E)cry out day and night before you.
2 Let my prayer come before you;
(F)incline your ear to my cry!
3 For my soul is full of troubles,
and (G)my life draws near to (H)Sheol.
4 I am counted among those who (I)go down to the pit;
I am a man who has no strength,
5 like one set loose among the dead,
like the slain that lie in the grave,
like those whom (J)you remember no more,
for they are (K)cut off from your hand.
6 You have put me in (L)the depths of the pit,
in the (M)regions dark and (N)deep.
7 Your wrath (O)lies heavy upon me,
and you overwhelm me with (P)all your waves. Selah
8 You have caused (Q)my companions to shun me;
you have made me (R)a horror[b] to them.
I am (S)shut in so that I cannot escape;
9 (T)my eye grows dim through sorrow.
Every day I call upon you, O Lord;
I (U)spread out my hands to you.
10 Do you work wonders for the dead?
(V)Do the departed rise up to praise you? Selah
11 Is your steadfast love declared in the grave,
or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
12 Are your (W)wonders known in (X)the darkness,
or your righteousness in the land of (Y)forgetfulness?
13 But I, O Lord, cry (Z)to you;
(AA)in the morning my prayer comes before you.
14 O Lord, why (AB)do you cast my soul away?
Why (AC)do you hide your face from me?
15 Afflicted and close to death from my youth up,
I suffer your terrors; I am helpless.[c]
16 Your wrath has swept over me;
your (AD)dreadful assaults destroy me.
17 They (AE)surround me like a flood (AF)all day long;
they (AG)close in on me together.
18 You have caused (AH)my beloved and my friend to shun me;
my companions have become darkness.[d]
My Refuge and My Fortress
91 He who dwells in (A)the shelter of the Most High
will abide in (B)the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say[a] to the Lord, “My (C)refuge and my (D)fortress,
my God, in whom I (E)trust.”
3 For he will deliver you from (F)the snare of the fowler
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will (G)cover you with his pinions,
and under his (H)wings you will (I)find refuge;
his (J)faithfulness is (K)a shield and buckler.
5 (L)You will not fear (M)the terror of the night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only look with your eyes
and (N)see the recompense of the wicked.
9 Because you have made the Lord your (O)dwelling place—
the Most High, who is my (P)refuge[b]—
10 (Q)no evil shall be allowed to befall you,
(R)no plague come near your tent.
11 (S)For he will command his (T)angels concerning you
to (U)guard you in all your ways.
12 On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you (V)strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on (W)the lion and the (X)adder;
the young lion and (Y)the serpent you will (Z)trample underfoot.
14 “Because he (AA)holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him;
I will protect him, because he (AB)knows my name.
15 When he (AC)calls to me, I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and (AD)honor him.
16 With (AE)long life I will satisfy him
and (AF)show him my salvation.”
How Great Are Your Works
A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath.
92 (AG)It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
to sing praises to your name, (AH)O Most High;
2 to declare your (AI)steadfast love in (AJ)the morning,
and your (AK)faithfulness by (AL)night,
3 to the music of (AM)the lute and (AN)the harp,
to the melody of (AO)the lyre.
4 For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your (AP)work;
at (AQ)the works of your hands I sing for joy.
5 How (AR)great are your works, O Lord!
Your (AS)thoughts are very (AT)deep!
6 The stupid man cannot know;
the fool cannot understand this:
7 that though (AU)the wicked sprout like grass
and all (AV)evildoers flourish,
they are doomed to destruction forever;
8 but you, O Lord, are (AW)on high forever.
9 For behold, your enemies, O Lord,
for behold, your enemies shall perish;
all evildoers shall be (AX)scattered.
10 But you have exalted my (AY)horn like that of (AZ)the wild ox;
you have (BA)poured over me[c] fresh oil.
11 My (BB)eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies;
my ears have heard the doom of my evil assailants.
12 (BC)The righteous flourish like the palm tree
and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
13 They are planted in the house of the Lord;
they flourish in (BD)the courts of our God.
14 They still bear fruit in old age;
they are ever full of sap and green,
15 (BE)to declare that the Lord is upright;
he is my (BF)rock, and there is (BG)no unrighteousness in him.
The Lord Will Pour Out His Spirit
28 [a] (A)“And it shall come to pass afterward,
that (B)I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
(C)your sons and (D)your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.
29 (E)Even on the male and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit.
30 “And I will show (F)wonders in the heavens and (G)on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. 31 (H)The sun shall be turned to darkness, (I)and the moon to blood, (J)before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 32 And it shall come to pass that (K)everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. (L)For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among (M)the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.
The Lord Judges the Nations
3 [b] “For behold, (N)in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, 2 (O)I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. And (P)I will enter into judgment with them there, on behalf of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations and have divided up my land, 3 and (Q)have cast lots for my people, and have traded a boy for a prostitute, and have sold a girl for wine and have drunk it.
4 “What are you to me, (R)O Tyre and Sidon, and all (S)the regions of Philistia? Are you paying me back for something? If you are paying me back, (T)I will return your payment on your own head swiftly and speedily. 5 For (U)you have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried my rich treasures into your temples.[c] 6 You have sold (V)the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks in order to remove them far from their own border. 7 Behold, I will stir them up from the place to which you have sold them, and (W)I will return your payment on your own head. 8 I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the (X)Sabeans, to a nation far away, for the Lord has spoken.”
16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 (A)Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from (B)the Father of lights, (C)with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.[a] 18 (D)Of his own will he (E)brought us forth by the word of truth, (F)that we should be a kind of (G)firstfruits of his creatures.
Hearing and Doing the Word
19 (H)Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person (I)be quick to hear, (J)slow to speak, (K)slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore (L)put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with (M)meekness the implanted word, (N)which is able to save your souls.
22 But be (O)doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, (P)the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, (Q)he will be blessed in his doing.
26 If anyone thinks he is religious (R)and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's (S)religion is worthless. 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: (T)to visit (U)orphans and widows in their affliction, and (V)to keep oneself (W)unstained from the world.
The Parable of the Dishonest Manager
16 He also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had (A)a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. 2 And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your (B)management, for you can no longer be manager.’ 3 And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. 4 I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’ 5 So, summoning his master's debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 He said, ‘A hundred measures[a] of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ 7 Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures[b] of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ 8 The master commended the dishonest manager for his (C)shrewdness. For (D)the sons of this world[c] are (E)more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than (F)the sons of light. 9 And I tell you, (G)make friends for yourselves by means of (H)unrighteous wealth,[d] so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.