Book of Common Prayer
I Will Sing of the Steadfast Love of the Lord
A Maskil[a] of (A)Ethan the Ezrahite.
89 (B)I will sing of (C)the steadfast love of the Lord, forever;
with my mouth I will make known your (D)faithfulness to all generations.
2 For I said, (E)“Steadfast love will be built up forever;
in the heavens (F)you will establish your (G)faithfulness.”
3 You have said, “I have made (H)a covenant with my (I)chosen one;
I have (J)sworn to David my servant:
4 ‘I will establish your (K)offspring forever,
and build your (L)throne for all generations.’” Selah
5 Let (M)the heavens praise your (N)wonders, O Lord,
your faithfulness in the assembly of (O)the holy ones!
6 For (P)who in the skies can be compared to the Lord?
(Q)Who among the heavenly beings[b] is like the Lord,
7 a God greatly (R)to be feared in the council of (S)the holy ones,
and awesome above all (T)who are around him?
8 O Lord God of hosts,
(U)who is mighty as you are, O (V)Lord,
with your faithfulness all around you?
9 You rule the raging of the sea;
when its waves rise, you (W)still them.
10 You (X)crushed (Y)Rahab like a carcass;
you (Z)scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.
11 (AA)The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours;
(AB)the world and all that is in it, you have (AC)founded them.
12 (AD)The north and the south, you have created them;
(AE)Tabor and (AF)Hermon (AG)joyously praise your name.
13 You have a mighty arm;
strong is your hand, high your right hand.
14 (AH)Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;
(AI)steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.
15 Blessed are the people who know (AJ)the festal shout,
who walk, O Lord, in (AK)the light of your face,
16 who exult in your (AL)name all the day
and in your righteousness are (AM)exalted.
17 For you are (AN)the glory of their strength;
by your favor our (AO)horn is exalted.
18 For our (AP)shield belongs to the Lord,
our king to (AQ)the Holy One of Israel.
19 (AR)Of old you spoke in a vision to your godly one,[c] and said:
“I have (AS)granted help to one who is (AT)mighty;
I have exalted one (AU)chosen from the people.
20 (AV)I have found David, my servant;
with my holy oil I have (AW)anointed him,
21 so that my (AX)hand shall be established with him;
my arm also shall strengthen him.
22 The enemy shall not outwit him;
(AY)the wicked shall not humble him.
23 I will (AZ)crush his foes before him
and strike down those who hate him.
24 My (BA)faithfulness and my (BB)steadfast love shall be with him,
and in my name shall his (BC)horn be exalted.
25 I will set his hand on (BD)the sea
and his right hand on (BE)the rivers.
26 He shall cry to me, ‘You are my (BF)Father,
my God, and (BG)the Rock of my salvation.’
27 And I will make him the (BH)firstborn,
(BI)the highest of the kings of the earth.
28 My steadfast love I will keep for him forever,
and my (BJ)covenant will stand firm[d] for him.
29 I will establish his (BK)offspring forever
and his (BL)throne as (BM)the days of the heavens.
30 (BN)If his children forsake my law
and do not walk according to my rules,[e]
31 if they violate my statutes
and do not keep my commandments,
32 then I will punish their transgression with (BO)the rod
and their iniquity with stripes,
33 but I will not remove from him my steadfast love
or be false to my faithfulness.
34 I will not violate my (BP)covenant
or alter the word that went forth from my lips.
35 Once for all I have sworn (BQ)by my holiness;
I will not (BR)lie to David.
36 His (BS)offspring shall endure forever,
(BT)his (BU)throne as long as (BV)the sun before me.
37 Like (BW)the moon it shall be established forever,
(BX)a faithful witness in the skies.” Selah
38 But now you have (BY)cast off and rejected;
you are full of wrath against your (BZ)anointed.
39 You have (CA)renounced (CB)the covenant with your servant;
you have (CC)defiled his (CD)crown in the dust.
40 You have (CE)breached all his walls;
you have laid his strongholds in ruins.
41 (CF)All who pass by plunder him;
he has become (CG)the scorn of his neighbors.
42 You have exalted the right hand of his foes;
you have made all his enemies rejoice.
43 You have also turned back the edge of his sword,
and you have not made him stand in battle.
44 You have made his splendor to cease
and cast his throne to the ground.
45 You have cut short (CH)the days of his youth;
you have (CI)covered him with shame. Selah
46 (CJ)How long, O Lord? Will you hide yourself forever?
How long will your wrath (CK)burn like fire?
47 (CL)Remember (CM)how short my (CN)time is!
For what vanity you have created all the children of man!
48 (CO)What man can live and never (CP)see death?
Who can deliver his soul from the power of (CQ)Sheol? Selah
49 Lord, where is your (CR)steadfast love of old,
which by your (CS)faithfulness you swore to David?
50 (CT)Remember, O Lord, how your servants are mocked,
and how I bear in my (CU)heart the insults[f] of all the many nations,
51 with which your enemies mock, O Lord,
with which they mock (CV)the footsteps of your (CW)anointed.
52 (CX)Blessed be the Lord forever!
Amen and Amen.
2 I will (A)take my stand at my watchpost
and station myself on the tower,
and (B)look out to see (C)what he will say to me,
and what I will answer concerning my complaint.
The Righteous Shall Live by His Faith
2 And the Lord answered me:
9 (A)“Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house,
(B)to (C)set his nest on high,
to be safe from the reach of harm!
10 You have devised shame for your house
(D)by cutting off many peoples;
you have forfeited your life.
11 For (E)the stone will cry out from the wall,
and the beam from the woodwork respond.
12 (F)“Woe to him (G)who builds a town with blood
and founds a city on iniquity!
13 Behold, is it not from the Lord of hosts
that (H)peoples labor merely for fire,
and nations weary themselves for nothing?
14 (I)For the earth will be filled
with the knowledge of (J)the glory of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
15 (K)“Woe to him (L)who makes his neighbors drink—
you pour out your wrath and make them drunk,
in order to gaze (M)at their nakedness!
16 You will have your fill (N)of shame instead of glory.
(O)Drink, yourself, and show your uncircumcision!
(P)The cup in the Lord's right hand
will come around to you,
and (Q)utter shame will come upon your glory!
17 (R)The violence (S)done to Lebanon will overwhelm you,
as will the destruction of the beasts that terrified them,
(T)for the blood of man and violence to the earth,
to cities and all who dwell in them.
18 (U)“What profit is an idol
when its maker has shaped it,
a metal image, (V)a teacher of lies?
For its maker trusts in his own creation
when he makes (W)speechless idols!
19 (X)Woe to him (Y)who says to a wooden thing, Awake;
to a silent stone, Arise!
Can this teach?
Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,
and (Z)there is no breath at all in it.
20 But (AA)the Lord is in his holy temple;
(AB)let all the earth keep silence before him.”
Faith Without Works Is Dead
14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith (A)but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 (B)If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 (C)and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good[a] is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith (D)apart from your works, and I will show you my faith (E)by my works. 19 (F)You believe that God is one; you do well. Even (G)the demons believe—and shudder! 20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? 21 (H)Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that (I)faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed (J)by his works; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, (K)“Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a (L)friend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 And in the same way was not also (M)Rahab the prostitute justified by works (N)when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.
The Rich Man and Lazarus
19 “There was a rich man who was clothed in (A)purple and fine linen and (B)who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate (C)was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who desired to be fed with (D)what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried by (E)the angels (F)to Abraham's side.[a] The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and in (G)Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and (H)saw Abraham far off and Lazarus (I)at his side. 24 And he called out, (J)‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and (K)cool my tongue, for (L)I am in anguish in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that (M)you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ 27 And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house— 28 for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham said, ‘They have (N)Moses and the Prophets; (O)let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, (P)father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 He said to him, ‘If they do not hear (Q)Moses and the Prophets, (R)neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.