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.
Spying in Canaan
13 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Send men that they may explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel. Of every tribe of their fathers you will send a man, each one a chief among them.”
3 And Moses sent them from the Wilderness of Paran according to the Lord. All those men were heads of the children of Israel.
21 So they went up and explored the land from the Wilderness of Zin to Rehob, near Lebo Hamath. 22 They went up by the Negev and came to Hebron where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were (now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt). 23 And they came to the Valley of Eshkol, and cut down from there a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they carried it on a pole between two of them, and they brought some of the pomegranates and of the figs. 24 The place was called the Valley of Eshkol because of the cluster of grapes which the children of Israel cut down from there. 25 They returned from exploring the land after forty days.
The Spies’ Report
26 And they returned and came to Moses and to Aaron and to all the assembly of the children of Israel, to the Wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh, and brought back word to them and to the entire assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 They reported to him and said, “We came to the land where you sent us, and surely it flows with milk and honey, and this is the fruit of it. 28 However, the people are strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are fortified and very great, and also we saw the children of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the Negev, and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains, and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and by the edge of the Jordan.”
30 Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “Let us go up at once and possess it, for we are able to overcome it.”
25 Circumcision indeed has merit, if you keep the law, but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. 26 Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteousness of the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? 27 Will the uncircumcised one who is righteous by nature, if he fulfills the law, not judge you who, by the letter of the law and circumcision, violate the law?
28 He is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is external in the flesh. 29 But he is a Jew who is one inwardly. And circumcision is of the heart, by the Spirit, and not by the letter. His praise is not from men, but from God.
3 What advantage then does the Jew have? Or what profit is there in circumcision? 2 Much in every way! Chiefly because the oracles of God were entrusted to them.
3 What if some did not believe? Would their unbelief nullify the faithfulness of God? 4 God forbid! Let God be true, and every man a liar. As it is written:
“That You may be justified in Your words,
and may prevail in Your judging.”[a]
5 But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous in taking vengeance? (I am speaking in human terms.) 6 God forbid! For then how could God judge the world? 7 If through my lie the truth of God has abounded more to His glory, why am I still being judged as a sinner? 8 Why not rather say, “Let us do evil that good may come,” as we are slanderously accused and as some claim that we say? Their condemnation is just.
The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant
21 Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall I forgive my brother who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.
23 “Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began to settle the accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.[a] 25 But since he was not able to pay, his master ordered that he be sold with his wife, their children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.
26 “So the servant fell on his knees, pleading with him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27 Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.
28 “But that same servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii.[b] He laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe.’
29 “So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and entreated him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’
30 “But he would not and went and threw him in prison until he should pay the debt. 31 So when his fellow servants saw what took place, they were very sorry and went and told their master all that had taken place.
32 “Then his master, after he had summoned him, said to him, ‘O you wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, even as I had pity on you?’ 34 His master was angry and delivered him to the jailers until he should pay all his debt.
35 “So also My heavenly Father will do to each of you, if from your heart you do not forgive your brother for his trespasses.”
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.