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]
46 Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am deeply depressed[a] because of the daughters of Heth.[b] If Jacob were to marry one of these daughters of Heth who live in this land, I would want to die!”[c]
28 So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. Then he commanded him, “You must not marry a Canaanite woman![d] 2 Leave immediately[e] for Paddan Aram! Go to the house of Bethuel, your mother’s father, and find yourself a wife there, among the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. 3 May the Sovereign God[f] bless you! May he make you fruitful and give you a multitude of descendants![g] Then you will become[h] a large nation.[i] 4 May he give you and your descendants the blessing he gave to Abraham[j] so that you may possess the land[k] God gave to Abraham, the land where you have been living as a temporary resident.”[l]
Jacob’s Dream at Bethel
10 Meanwhile Jacob left Beer Sheba and set out for Haran. 11 He reached a certain place[a] where he decided to camp because the sun had gone down.[b] He took one of the stones[c] and placed it near his head.[d] Then he fell asleep[e] in that place 12 and had a dream.[f] He saw[g] a stairway[h] erected on the earth with its top reaching to the heavens. The angels of God were going up and coming down it 13 and the Lord stood at its top. He said, “I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham and the God of your father Isaac.[i] I will give you and your descendants the ground[j] you are lying on. 14 Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth,[k] and you will spread out[l] to the west, east, north, and south. And so all the families of the earth may receive blessings[m] through you and through your descendants. 15 I am with you![n] I will protect you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I promised you!”
16 Then Jacob woke up[o] and thought,[p] “Surely the Lord is in this place, but I did not realize it!” 17 He was afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! This is nothing else than the house of God! This is the gate of heaven!”
18 Early[q] in the morning Jacob[r] took the stone he had placed near his head[s] and set it up as a sacred stone.[t] Then he poured oil on top of it. 19 He called that place Bethel,[u] although the former name of the town was Luz. 20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God is with me and protects me on this journey I am taking and gives me food[v] to eat and clothing to wear, 21 and I return safely to my father’s home,[w] then the Lord will become my God. 22 Then this stone[x] that I have set up as a sacred stone will be the house of God, and I will surely[y] give you back a tenth of everything you give me.”[z]
Submission to Civil Government
13 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except by God’s appointment,[a] and the authorities that exist have been instituted by God. 2 So the person who resists such authority[b] resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will incur judgment 3 (for rulers cause no fear for good conduct but for bad). Do you desire not to fear authority? Do good and you will receive its commendation 4 because it is God’s servant for your well-being. But be afraid if you do wrong because government[c] does not bear the sword for nothing. It is God’s servant to administer punishment on the person who does wrong. 5 Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of the wrath of the authorities[d] but also because of your conscience.[e] 6 For this reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities[f] are God’s servants devoted to governing.[g] 7 Pay everyone what is owed: taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.
Exhortation to Love Neighbors
8 Owe no one anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments,[h] “Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not covet,”[i] (and if there is any other commandment) are summed up in this, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[j] 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
Motivation to Godly Conduct
11 And do this[k] because we know[l] the time, that it is already the hour for us to awake from sleep, for our salvation is now nearer than when we became believers. 12 The night has advanced toward dawn; the day is near. So then we must lay aside the works of darkness, and put on the weapons of light. 13 Let us live decently as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in discord and jealousy. 14 Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to arouse its desires.[m]
33 “We are descendants[a] of Abraham,” they replied,[b] “and have never been anyone’s slaves! How can you say,[c] ‘You will become free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “I tell you the solemn truth,[d] everyone who practices[e] sin is a slave[f] of sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the family[g] forever, but the son remains forever.[h] 36 So if the son[i] sets you free, you will be really free. 37 I know that you are Abraham’s descendants.[j] But you want[k] to kill me, because my teaching[l] makes no progress among you.[m] 38 I am telling you the things I have seen while with the[n] Father;[o] as for you,[p] practice the things you have heard from the[q] Father!”
39 They answered him,[r] “Abraham is our father!”[s] Jesus replied,[t] “If you are[u] Abraham’s children, you would be doing[v] the deeds of Abraham. 40 But now you are trying[w] to kill me, a man who has told you[x] the truth I heard from God. Abraham did not do this![y] 41 You people[z] are doing the deeds of your father.”
Then[aa] they said to Jesus,[ab] “We were not born as a result of immorality![ac] We have only one Father, God himself.” 42 Jesus replied,[ad] “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come from God and am now here.[ae] I[af] have not come on my own initiative,[ag] but he[ah] sent me. 43 Why don’t you understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot accept[ai] my teaching.[aj] 44 You people[ak] are from[al] your father the devil, and you want to do what your father desires.[am] He[an] was a murderer from the beginning, and does not uphold the truth,[ao] because there is no truth in him. Whenever he lies,[ap] he speaks according to his own nature,[aq] because he is a liar and the father of lies.[ar] 45 But because I am telling you[as] the truth, you do not believe me. 46 Who among you can prove me guilty[at] of any sin?[au] If I am telling you[av] the truth, why don’t you believe me? 47 The one who belongs to[aw] God listens and responds[ax] to God’s words. You don’t listen and respond,[ay] because you don’t belong to God.”[az]
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