Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 88
For the Music Director. A Song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. To the melody of “Suffering of Affliction.” A Contemplative Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.
1 O Lord, God of my salvation,
I cry out day and night before You.
2 Let my prayer come before You;
incline Your ear to my cry.
3 For my soul is full of troubles,
and my life draws near to Sheol.
4 I am counted with those who go down to the grave;
I am a man who has no strength,
5 like one who is set free among the dead,
like the slain who lie in the grave,
like those whom You remember no more,
for they are cut off from Your hand.
6 You have laid me in the depths of the pit,
in dark and deep regions.
7 Your wrath lies heavy upon me,
and You have afflicted me with all Your waves. Selah
8 You have caused my companions to be far from me;
You have made me an abomination to them;
I am shut up, and I cannot escape;
9 my eye is dim from my affliction.
Lord, I call daily upon You,
and I have stretched out my hands to You.
10 Will You show wonders to the dead?
Shall the dead rise up to praise You? Selah
11 Shall Your lovingkindness be declared in the grave,
or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
12 Shall Your wonders be known in the darkness
or Your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
13 But unto You have I cried, O Lord,
and in the morning my prayer comes before You.
14 O Lord, why do You cast away my soul?
Why do You hide Your face from me?
15 I am afflicted and close to death since my youth;
while I suffer Your terrors I am helpless.
16 Your fierce wrath sweeps over me;
Your terrors destroy me.
17 They come around me daily like a flood;
they encircle me together.
18 You have caused to be far from me my lovers and friends,
and my companion is darkness.
Psalm 91
1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God in whom I trust.”
3 Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the hunter
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He shall cover you with His feathers,
and under His wings you shall find protection;
His faithfulness shall be your shield and wall.
5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,
nor of the arrow that flies by day;
6 nor of the pestilence that pursues in darkness,
nor of the destruction that strikes at noonday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side
and ten thousand at your right hand,
but it shall not come near you.
8 Only with your eyes shall you behold
and see the reward of the wicked.
9 Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge,
even the Most High, your dwelling,
10 there shall be no evil befall you,
neither shall any plague come near your tent;
11 for He shall give His angels charge over you
to guard you in all your ways.
12 They shall bear you up in their hands,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.
13 You shall tread upon the lion and adder;
the young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.
14 Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him on high, because he has known My name.
15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
and I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him
and show him My salvation.
Psalm 92
A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath day.
1 It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
and to sing praises unto Your name, O Most High:
2 to declare forth Your lovingkindness in the morning
and Your faithfulness in the night,
3 on a ten-stringed lute and on the harp,
and on the lyre with a solemn sound.
4 For you, O Lord, have made me glad through Your work;
I will sing joyfully at the works of Your hands.
5 O Lord, how great are Your works!
Your thoughts are very deep!
6 A brutish man does not recognize,
neither does the fool understand this.
7 Though the wicked spring up as the grass
and all those who do iniquity flourish,
they shall be destroyed forever:
8 But You, O Lord, are on high forever.
9 For Your enemies, O Lord,
for Your enemies shall perish;
all those who do iniquity shall be scattered.
10 But my horn You have exalted like the horn of the wild ox;
You have anointed me with fresh oil.
11 My eyes also shall see the downfall of my enemies,
and my ears shall hear the doom of my wicked adversaries.
12 The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree
and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
13 Those that are planted in the house of the Lord
shall flourish in the courts of our God.
14 They shall still bring forth fruit in old age;
they shall be filled with vitality and foliage,
15 to show that the Lord is upright;
He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.
God Calls Samuel
3 Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those days. There was no vision coming forth.
2 At that time, Eli was lying down in his place (now his eyes had begun to grow weak that he could not see), 3 and the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of the Lord where the ark of God was.
4 Then the Lord called to Samuel, and he answered, “Here I am.” 5 He ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called to me.”
And he said, “I did not call. Return, lie down again.” And he went and lay down.
6 The Lord called Samuel again. So Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.”
And he answered, “I did not call, my son. Return, lie down again.”
7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, nor had the word of the Lord been revealed to him.
8 The Lord again called Samuel a third time. So he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.”
Then Eli understood that the Lord was calling to the boy. 9 Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down. And it will be, if He calls you, that you will say, ‘Speak, Lord, for Your servant listens.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10 The Lord came and stood, and He called as at other times, “Samuel, Samuel.”
Then Samuel said, “Speak, for Your servant listens.”
11 The Lord said to Samuel, “See, I am doing something in Israel which will make both ears ring of every one that hears it. 12 In that day I will bring about against Eli everything which I have spoken with regard to his house, from beginning to end. 13 For I told him that I will judge his house forever, for the guilt which he knew, because his sons are cursed, and he did not rebuke them. 14 Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for with sacrifice nor offering forever.”
15 Samuel lay until the morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord. Now Samuel feared to report the vision to Eli. 16 Then Eli called Samuel, and said, “Samuel, my son.”
And he answered, “Here I am.”
17 He said, “What is the thing that the Lord has spoken to you? Do not hide it from me. Thus may God do so to you, and more also, if you hide from me a word out of all the things that He spoke to you.” 18 Samuel told him everything, and did not hide from him a thing. And he said, “It is the Lord; let Him do what is good in His eyes.”
19 And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and did not let any of his words fall to the ground. 20 All Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was proven to be a prophet of the Lord. 21 And the Lord appeared again in Shiloh. For the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord.
37 When they heard this, they were stung in the heart and said to Peter and to the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
38 Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all who are far away, as many as the Lord our God will call.”
40 With many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” 41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized, and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.
Life Among the Believers
42 They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in the prayers. 43 Fear came to every soul. And many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. 44 All who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 They sold their property and goods and distributed them to all, according to their need. 46 And continuing daily with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
The Destruction of the Temple Foretold(A)
5 As some spoke of how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts, He said, 6 “As for these things which you see, the days will come when not one stone shall be left on another that will not be thrown down.”
Signs and Persecutions(B)
7 They asked Him, “Teacher, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when this is about to happen?”
8 He said, “Beware lest you be deceived. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and ‘The time has drawn near.’ Therefore do not go after them. 9 When you hear of wars and commotions, do not be afraid. For these things must first take place, but the end will not be at hand.”
10 Then He said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11 Great earthquakes will occur in various places, and there will be famines and pestilence. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.
12 “But before all these things, they will seize you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for My name’s sake. 13 It will turn out as a testimony for you. 14 Therefore resolve in your hearts beforehand not to practice your defense. 15 For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your opponents will be able to neither refute nor resist. 16 You will be betrayed by parents and brothers and relatives and friends. And they will put some of you to death. 17 You will be hated by all men for My name’s sake, 18 but not a hair of your head shall perish. 19 In your endurance you will gain your souls.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.