Book of Common Prayer
88 O Jehovah, God of my salvation, I have wept before you day and night. 2 Now hear my prayers; oh, listen to my cry, 3 for my life is full of troubles, and death draws near. 4 They say my life is ebbing out—a hopeless case. 5 They have left me here to die, like those slain on battlefields from whom your mercies are removed.
6 You have thrust me down to the darkest depths. 7 Your wrath lies heavy on me; wave after wave engulfs me. 8 You have made my friends to loathe me, and they have gone away. I am in a trap with no way out. 9 My eyes grow dim with weeping. Each day I beg your help; O Lord, I reach my pleading hands to you for mercy.
10 Soon it will be too late! Of what use are your miracles when I am in the grave? How can I praise you then? 11 Can those in the grave declare your loving-kindness? Can they proclaim your faithfulness? 12 Can the darkness speak of your miracles? Can anyone in the Land of Forgetfulness talk about your help?
13 O Lord, I plead for my life and will keep on pleading day by day. 14 O Jehovah, why have you thrown my life away? Why are you turning your face from me and looking the other way?
15 From my youth I have been sickly and ready to die. I stand helpless before your terrors. 16 Your fierce wrath has overwhelmed me. Your terrors have cut me off. 17 They flow around me all day long. 18 Lover, friend, acquaintance—all are gone. There is only darkness everywhere.
91 We live within the shadow of the Almighty, sheltered by the God who is above all gods.
2 This I declare, that he alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I am trusting him. 3 For he rescues you from every trap and protects you from the fatal plague. 4 He will shield you with his wings! They will shelter you. His faithful promises are your armor. 5 Now you don’t need to be afraid of the dark anymore, nor fear the dangers of the day; 6 nor dread the plagues of darkness, nor disasters in the morning.[a]
7 Though a thousand fall at my side, though ten thousand are dying around me, the evil will not touch me. 8 I will see how the wicked are punished, but I will not share it. 9 For Jehovah is my refuge! I choose the God above all gods to shelter me. 10 How then can evil overtake me or any plague come near? 11 For he orders his angels to protect you wherever you go. 12 They will steady you with their hands to keep you from stumbling against the rocks on the trail. 13 You can safely meet a lion or step on poisonous snakes, yes, even trample them beneath your feet!
14 For the Lord says, “Because he loves me, I will rescue him; I will make him great because he trusts in my name. 15 When he calls on me, I will answer; I will be with him in trouble and rescue him and honor him. 16 I will satisfy him with a full life[b] and give him my salvation.”
92 A song to sing on the Lord’s Day.[c]
It is good to say thank you to the Lord, to sing praises to the God who is above all gods.
2 Every morning tell him, “Thank you for your kindness,” and every evening rejoice in all his faithfulness. 3 Sing his praises, accompanied by music from the harp and lute and lyre. 4 You have done so much for me, O Lord. No wonder I am glad! I sing for joy.
5 O Lord, what miracles you do! And how deep are your thoughts! 6 Unthinking people do not understand them! No fool can comprehend this: 7 that although the wicked flourish like weeds, there is only eternal destruction ahead of them. 8 But the Lord continues forever, exalted in the heavens, 9 while his enemies—all evildoers—shall be scattered.
10 But you have made me as strong as a wild bull. How refreshed I am by your blessings![d] 11 I have heard the doom of my enemies announced and seen them destroyed. 12 But the godly shall flourish like palm trees and grow tall as the cedars of Lebanon. 13 For they are transplanted into the Lord’s own garden and are under his personal care. 14 Even in old age they will still produce fruit and be vital and green. 15 This honors the Lord and exhibits his faithful care. He is my shelter. There is nothing but goodness in him!
9 One day Gideon’s son Abimelech visited his uncles—his mother’s brothers—in Shechem.
2 “Go and talk to the leaders of Shechem,” he requested, “and ask them whether they want to be ruled by seventy kings—Gideon’s seventy sons—or by one man—meaning me, your own flesh and blood!”[a]
3 So his uncles went to the leaders of the city and proposed Abimelech’s scheme; and they decided that since his mother was a native of their town they would go along with it. 4 They gave him money from the temple offerings of the idol Baal-berith, which he used to hire some worthless loafers who agreed to do whatever he told them to. 5 He took them to his father’s home at Ophrah and there, upon one stone, they slaughtered all seventy of his half brothers, except for the youngest, Jotham, who escaped and hid. 6 Then the citizens of Shechem and Beth-millo called a meeting under the oak beside the garrison at Shechem, and Abimelech was acclaimed king of Israel.
7 When Jotham heard about this, he stood at the top of Mount Gerizim and shouted across to the men of Shechem, “If you want God’s blessing, listen to me! 8 Once upon a time the trees decided to elect a king. First they asked the olive tree, 9 but it refused.
“‘Should I quit producing the olive oil that blesses God and man, just to wave to and fro over the other trees?’ it asked.
10 “Then they said to the fig tree, ‘You be our king!’
11 “But the fig tree also refused. ‘Should I quit producing sweetness and fruit just to lift my head above all the other trees?’ it asked.
12 “Then they said to the grapevine, ‘You reign over us!’
13 “But the grapevine replied, ‘Shall I quit producing the wine that cheers both God and man, just to be mightier than all the other trees?’
14 “Then all the trees finally turned to the thorn bush. ‘You be our king!’ they exclaimed.
15 “And the thorn bush replied, ‘If you really want me, come and humble yourselves beneath my shade! If you refuse, let fire flame forth from me and burn down the great cedars of Lebanon!’
16 “Now make sure that you have done the right thing in making Abimelech your king, that you have done right by Gideon and all of his descendants.
19 If you are sure that you have done right by Gideon and his descendants, then may you and Abimelech have a long and happy life together. 20 But if you have not been fair to Gideon, then may Abimelech destroy the citizens of Shechem and Beth-millo; and may they destroy Abimelech!”
21 Then Jotham escaped and lived in Beer for fear of his brother, Abimelech.
13 When the Council saw the boldness of Peter and John and could see that they were obviously uneducated non-professionals, they were amazed and realized what being with Jesus had done for them! 14 And the Council could hardly discredit the healing when the man they had healed was standing right there beside them! 15 So they sent them out of the Council chamber and conferred among themselves.
16 “What shall we do with these men?” they asked each other. “We can’t deny that they have done a tremendous miracle, and everybody in Jerusalem knows about it. 17 But perhaps we can stop them from spreading their propaganda. We’ll tell them that if they do it again we’ll really throw the book at them.” 18 So they called them back in, and told them never again to speak about Jesus.
19 But Peter and John replied, “You decide whether God wants us to obey you instead of him! 20 We cannot stop telling about the wonderful things we saw Jesus do and heard him say.”
21 The Council then threatened them further and finally let them go because they didn’t know how to punish them without starting a riot. For everyone was praising God for this wonderful miracle— 22 the healing of a man who had been lame for forty years.
23 As soon as they were freed, Peter and John found the other disciples and told them what the Council had said.
24 Then all the believers united in this prayer:
“O Lord, Creator of heaven and earth and of the sea and everything in them— 25-26 you spoke long ago by the Holy Spirit through our ancestor King David, your servant, saying, ‘Why do the heathen rage against the Lord, and the foolish nations plan their little plots against Almighty God? The kings of the earth unite to fight against him and against the anointed Son of God!’
27 “That is what is happening here in this city today! For Herod the king, and Pontius Pilate the governor, and all the Romans—as well as the people of Israel—are united against Jesus, your anointed Son, your holy servant. 28 They won’t stop at anything that you in your wise power will let them do. 29 And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and grant to your servants great boldness in their preaching, 30 and send your healing power, and may miracles and wonders be done by the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
31 After this prayer, the building where they were meeting shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and boldly preached God’s message.
2 Two days later Jesus’ mother was a guest at a wedding in the village of Cana in Galilee, 2 and Jesus and his disciples were invited too. 3 The wine supply ran out during the festivities, and Jesus’ mother came to him with the problem.
4 “I can’t help you now,” he said.[a] “It isn’t yet my time for miracles.”
5 But his mother told the servants, “Do whatever he tells you to.”
6 Six stone waterpots were standing there; they were used for Jewish ceremonial purposes and held perhaps twenty to thirty gallons each. 7-8 Then Jesus told the servants to fill them to the brim with water. When this was done he said, “Dip some out and take it to the master of ceremonies.”
9 When the master of ceremonies tasted the water that was now wine, not knowing where it had come from (though, of course, the servants did), he called the bridegroom over.
10 “This is wonderful stuff!” he said. “You’re different from most. Usually a host uses the best wine first, and afterwards, when everyone is full and doesn’t care, then he brings out the less expensive brands. But you have kept the best for the last!”
11 This miracle at Cana in Galilee was Jesus’ first public demonstration of his heaven-sent power. And his disciples believed that he really was the Messiah.[b]
12 After the wedding he left for Capernaum for a few days with his mother, brothers, and disciples.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.