Book of Common Prayer
A song. A psalm by the descendants of Korah. According to Machalath Leannoth. An instruction[a] by Heman the Ezrahite.
A Cry for Help
88 Lord, God of my salvation,
by day and by night I cry out before you.
2 Let my prayer come before you;
listen[b] to my cry.
3 For my life is filled with troubles
as I approach Sheol.[c]
4 I am considered as one of those descending into the Pit,[d]
like a mighty man without strength,
5 released to remain[e] with the dead,
lying in a grave like a corpse,
remembered no longer,
and cut off from your power.
6 You have assigned me to the lowest part of the Pit,[f]
to the darkest depths.
7 Your anger lies heavily upon me;
you pound[g] me with all your waves.
8 You caused my acquaintances to shun me;[h]
you make me extremely abhorrent to them.
Restrained, I am unable to go out.
9 My eyes languish on account of my affliction;
all day long I call out to you, Lord,
I spread out my hands to you.
10 Can you perform wonders for the dead?
Can departed spirits stand up to praise you?
11 Can your gracious love be declared in the grave
or your faithfulness in Abaddon?[i]
12 Can your awesome deeds be known in darkness
or your righteousness in the land of oblivion?
13 As for me, I cry out to you Lord,
and in the morning my prayer greets you.
14 Why, Lord, have you rejected me?
Why have you hidden your face from me?
15 Since my youth I have been oppressed
and in danger of death.
I bear your dread
and am overwhelmed.
16 Your burning anger overwhelms me;
your terrors destroy me.
17 Like waters, they engulf me all day long;
they surround me on all sides.
18 You caused my friend and neighbor to shun me;[j]
and my acquaintances are confused.[k]
A Davidic Psalm[a]
God is My Refuge
91 The one who lives in the shelter of the Most High,
who rests in the shadow of the Almighty,
2 will say to the Lord,
“You are my refuge, my fortress,
and my God in whom I trust!”
3 He will surely deliver you from the hunter’s snare
and from the destructive plague.
4 With his feathers he will cover you,
under his wings you will find safety.
His truth is your shield and armor.
5 You need not fear terror that stalks[b] in the night,
the arrow that flies in the day,
6 plague that strikes in the darkness,
or calamity that destroys at noon.
7 If a thousand fall at your side
or ten thousand at your right hand,
it will not overcome you.
8 Only observe[c] it with your eyes,
and you will see how the wicked are paid back.
9 “Lord, you are my refuge!”
Because you chose the Most High as your dwelling place,
10 no evil will fall upon you,
and no affliction will approach your tent,
11 for he will command his angels
to protect you in all your ways.
12 With their hands they will lift you up
so you will not trip over a stone.
13 You will stomp on lions and snakes;
you will trample young lions and serpents.
The Lord Speaks
14 Because he has focused his love on me,
I will deliver him.
I will protect him[d]
because he knows my name.
15 When he calls out to me,
I will answer him.
I will be with him in his[e] distress.
I will deliver him,
and I will honor him.
16 I will satisfy him with long life;
I will show him my deliverance.
A Psalm. A song for the Sabbath Day
Praise and Thanksgiving to God
92 It is good to give thanks to the Lord
and to sing praise to your name, Most High;
2 to proclaim your gracious love in the morning
and your faithfulness at night,
3 accompanied by a ten-stringed instrument and a lyre,
and the contemplative sound of a harp.
4 Because you made me glad
with your awesome deeds, Lord,
I will sing for joy at the works of your hands.
5 How great are your works, Lord!
Your thoughts are unfathomable.[f]
6 A stupid man doesn’t know,
and a fool can’t comprehend this:
7 Though the wicked sprout like grass;
and all who practice iniquity flourish,
it is they who will be eternally destroyed.
8 But you are exalted forever, Lord.
9 Look at your enemies, Lord!
Look at your enemies, for they are destroyed;
everyone who practices iniquity will be scattered.[g]
10 You’ve grown my strength[h] like the horn of a wild ox;
I was anointed with fresh oil.
11 My eyes gloated over those who lie in wait for me;[i]
when those of evil intent attack me, my ears will hear.
12 The righteous will flourish like palm trees;
they will grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
13 Planted in the Lord’s Temple,
they will flourish in the courtyard of our God.
14 They will still bear fruit even in old age;[j]
they will be luxuriant and green.
15 They will proclaim: “The Lord is upright;
my rock, in whom there is no injustice.”
Good News of Deliverance
61 “The Spirit of the Lord[a] is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me;
he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed
and[b] to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives,
and release from darkness[c] for the prisoners;
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,
the[d] day of vengeance of our God;
to comfort all who mourn;
3 to provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
a mantle of praise instead of a spirit of despair.”
“Then people will call them[e] “Oaks of Righteousness”,
“The Planting of the Lord”,
in order to display his splendor.
4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins;
they will restore the places long devastated;
they will build again the ruined cities,
they will build again[f] the places devastated for many generations.
5 Strangers will stand and feed your flocks,
and foreigners will work your land
and dress your vines.
6 But as for you, you will be called priests of the Lord,
and[g] you will be named ministers of our God.
You will feed on the wealth of the nations,
and you will boast about their riches.
7 Instead of your shame you will receive double,
and instead of disgrace people will shout with joy over your[h] inheritance;
therefore you[i] will inherit a double portion in their land;
everlasting joy will be yours.”[j]
8 “For I, the Lord, love justice,
and[k] I hate robbery and iniquity;
I will faithfully present your reward[l]
and make an everlasting covenant with you.[m]
9 Your[n] offspring will be known among the nations,
and your[o] descendants among the people.[p]
All who see them will acknowledge them,
that they are an offspring the Lord has blessed.”
What People will be Like in the Last Days
3 You must realize, however, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unfeeling, uncooperative, slanderous, degenerate, brutal, hateful of what is good, 4 traitors, reckless, conceited, and lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. 5 They will hold to an outward form of godliness but deny its power. Stay away from such people. 6 For some of these men go into homes and deceive foolish women who are burdened with sins and swayed by all kinds of desires. 7 These women are always studying but are never able to arrive at a full knowledge of the truth. 8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men oppose the truth. They are depraved in mind and their faith is a counterfeit. 9 But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those two men,[a] their stupidity will be plain to everyone.
Continue to Teach the Truth
10 But you have observed my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, my faith, my patience, my love, my endurance, 11 and how I was persecuted and suffered in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. What persecutions I endured! Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. 12 Indeed, all who want to live a godly life in union with the Messiah[b] Jesus will be persecuted. 13 But evil people and impostors will go from bad to worse as they deceive others and are themselves deceived.
14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and found to be true, because you know from whom you learned it. 15 From infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures that are able to give you the wisdom you need for salvation through faith in the Messiah[c] Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed[d] and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good action.
32 Now Jesus and his disciples[a] had been on the road going up to Jerusalem, with Jesus walking ahead of them. They were astonished, and the others who followed were afraid.
Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection a Third Time(A)
Once again, Jesus[b] took the Twelve aside and began to tell them what was going to happen to him. 33 “Pay attention! We’re going up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be handed over to the high priests and the scribes, and they’ll condemn him to death. Then they’ll hand him over to the unbelievers,[c] 34 and they’ll make fun of him, spit on him, whip him, and kill him. But after three days he’ll be raised.”
The Request of James and John(B)
35 James and John, the sons of Zebedee, went to Jesus[d] and told him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask you.”
36 He asked them, “What do you want me to do for you?”
37 They asked him, “Let us sit in your glory, one on your right and one on your left.”
38 But Jesus told them, “You don’t realize what you’re asking. Can you drink from the cup that I’m going to drink from or be baptized with the baptism with which I’m going to be baptized?”
39 They told him, “We can.”
Jesus told them, “You will drink from the cup that I’m going to drink and be baptized with the baptism with which I’m going to be baptized. 40 But it’s not up to me to grant you a seat at my right or my left. Those positions have already been prepared for others.”
41 When the ten other disciples[e] heard this, they began to be furious with James and John. 42 Jesus called his disciples[f] and told them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers among the unbelievers[g] lord it over them, and their superiors act like tyrants over them. 43 That’s not the way it should be among you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first among you must be a slave to everyone, 45 because even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many people.”
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