Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 88
A Cry of Desperation
A song. A psalm of the sons of Korah. For the choir director: according to Mahalath Leannoth. A Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.(A)
1 Lord, God of my salvation,
I cry out before you day and night.(B)
2 May my prayer reach your presence;
listen to my cry.(C)
3 For I have had enough troubles,
and my life is near Sheol.(D)
4 I am counted among those going down to the Pit.(E)
I am like a man without strength,(F)
5 abandoned[a] among the dead.
I am like the slain lying in the grave,(G)
whom you no longer remember,
and who are cut off from your care.[b](H)
6 You have put me in the lowest part of the Pit,
in the darkest places, in the depths.(I)
7 Your wrath weighs heavily on me;(J)
you have overwhelmed me with all your waves.(K)Selah
8 You have distanced my friends from me;
you have made me repulsive to them.(L)
I am shut in and cannot go out.
9 My eyes are worn out from crying.(M)
Lord, I cry out to you all day long;(N)
I spread out my hands to you.(O)
10 Do you work wonders for the dead?
Do departed spirits rise up to praise you?(P)Selah
11 Will your faithful love be declared in the grave,
your faithfulness in Abaddon?(Q)
12 Will your wonders be known in the darkness
or your righteousness in the land of oblivion?(R)
13 But I call to you for help, Lord;
in the morning my prayer meets you.(S)
14 Lord, why do you reject me?(T)
Why do you hide your face from me?(U)
15 From my youth,
I have been suffering and near death.
I suffer your horrors; I am desperate.(V)
16 Your wrath sweeps over me;
your terrors destroy me.(W)
17 They surround me like water all day long;
they close in on me from every side.(X)
18 You have distanced loved one and neighbor from me;
darkness is my only friend.[c](Y)
Psalm 91
The Protection of the Most High
1 The one who lives under the protection of the Most High
dwells in the shadow of the Almighty.(A)
2 I will say[a] concerning the Lord, who is my refuge and my fortress,
my God in whom I trust:(B)
3 He himself will rescue you from the bird trap,(C)
from the destructive plague.
4 He will cover you with his feathers;
you will take refuge under his wings.(D)
His faithfulness will be a protective shield.(E)
5 You will not fear the terror of the night,
the arrow that flies by day,(F)
6 the plague that stalks in darkness,
or the pestilence that ravages at noon.(G)
7 Though a thousand fall at your side
and ten thousand at your right hand,
the pestilence will not reach you.(H)
8 You will only see it with your eyes
and witness the punishment of the wicked.(I)
9 Because you have made the Lord—my refuge,(J)
the Most High—your dwelling place,(K)
10 no harm will come to you;
no plague will come near your tent.(L)
11 For he will give his angels orders concerning you,
to protect you in all your ways.(M)
12 They will support you with their hands
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.(N)
13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the young lion and the serpent.(O)
14 Because he has his heart set on me,
I will deliver him;
I will protect him because he knows my name.(P)
15 When he calls out to me, I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble.
I will rescue him and give him honor.(Q)
16 I will satisfy him with a long life(R)
and show him my salvation.(S)
Psalm 92
God’s Love and Faithfulness
A psalm. A song for the Sabbath day.
1 It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
to sing praise to your name, Most High,(T)
2 to declare your faithful love in the morning
and your faithfulness at night,(U)
3 with a ten-stringed harp[b]
and the music of a lyre.(V)
4 For you have made me rejoice, Lord,
by what you have done;
I will shout for joy
because of the works of your hands.(W)
5 How magnificent are your works, Lord,
how profound your thoughts!(X)
6 A stupid person does not know,
a fool does not understand this:(Y)
7 though the wicked sprout like grass(Z)
and all evildoers flourish,
they will be eternally destroyed.(AA)
8 But you, Lord, are exalted forever.(AB)
9 For indeed, Lord, your enemies—
indeed, your enemies will perish;
all evildoers will be scattered.(AC)
10 You have lifted up my horn(AD)
like that of a wild ox;
I have been anointed[c] with the finest oil.(AE)
11 My eyes look at my enemies;
when evildoers rise against me,
my ears hear them.(AF)
12 The righteous thrive like a palm tree
and grow like a cedar tree in Lebanon.(AG)
13 Planted in the house of the Lord,
they thrive in the courts of our God.(AH)
14 They will still bear fruit in old age,
healthy and green,(AI)
15 to declare, “The Lord is just;
he is my rock,
and there is no unrighteousness in him.”(AJ)
Nathan’s Parable and David’s Repentance
12 So the Lord sent Nathan to David.(A) When he arrived, he said to him:
There were two men in a certain city, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had very large flocks and herds, 3 but the poor man had nothing except one small ewe lamb that he had bought. He raised her, and she grew up with him and with his children. From his meager food she would eat, from his cup she would drink, and in his arms she would sleep. She was like a daughter to him. 4 Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man could not bring himself to take one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for his guest.[a]
5 David was infuriated with the man and said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who did this deserves to die! 6 Because he has done this thing and shown no pity, he must pay four lambs for that lamb.”(B)
7 Nathan replied to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel,(C) and I rescued you from Saul. 8 I gave your master’s house to you and your master’s wives into your arms,[b] and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah, and if that was not enough, I would have given you even more. 9 Why then have you despised the Lord’s command by doing what I consider[c] evil?(D) You struck down Uriah(E) the Hethite with the sword and took his wife as your own wife—you murdered him with the Ammonite’s sword.(F) 10 Now therefore, the sword will never leave your house(G) because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hethite to be your own wife.’
11 “This is what the Lord says,(H) ‘I am going to bring disaster on you from your own family: I will take your wives and give them to another[d] before your very eyes, and he will sleep with them in broad daylight.[e] 12 You acted in secret, but I will do this before all Israel and in broad daylight.’”[f]
13 David responded to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”(I)
Then Nathan replied to David, “And the Lord has taken away your sin; you will not die.(J) 14 However, because you treated[g] the Lord with such contempt in this matter, the son born to you will die.”(K)
The Riot in Ephesus
21 After these events, Paul resolved by the Spirit[a] to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem. “After I’ve been there,” he said, “It is necessary for me to see Rome as well.”(A) 22 After sending to Macedonia two of those who assisted him, Timothy and Erastus,(B) he himself stayed in Asia for a while.(C)
23 About that time there was a major disturbance about the Way.(D) 24 For a person named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines of Artemis, provided a great deal of business for the craftsmen. 25 When he had assembled them, as well as the workers engaged in this type of business, he said, “Men, you know that our prosperity is derived from this business. 26 You see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this man Paul has persuaded and misled a considerable number of people by saying that gods made by hand are not gods.(E) 27 Not only do we run a risk that our business may be discredited, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be despised and her magnificence come to the verge of ruin—the very one all of Asia and the world worship.”
28 When they had heard this, they were filled with rage and began to cry out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 29 So the city was filled with confusion, and they rushed all together into the amphitheater, dragging along Gaius(F) and Aristarchus,(G) Macedonians who were Paul’s traveling companions. 30 Although Paul wanted to go in before the people, the disciples did not let him. 31 Even some of the provincial officials of Asia, who were his friends, sent word to him, pleading with him not to venture[b] into the amphitheater. 32 Some were shouting one thing and some another,(H) because the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together. 33 Some Jews in the crowd gave instructions to Alexander[c] after they pushed him to the front. Motioning with his hand, Alexander wanted to make his defense to the people.(I) 34 But when they recognized that he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
35 When the city clerk had calmed the crowd down, he said, “People of Ephesus! What person is there who doesn’t know that the city of the Ephesians is the temple guardian of the great[d] Artemis, and of the image that fell from heaven? 36 Therefore, since these things are undeniable, you must keep calm and not do anything rash. 37 For you have brought these men here who are not temple robbers or blasphemers of our[e] goddess. 38 So if Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a case against anyone, the courts are in session, and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another.(J) 39 But if you seek anything further, it must be decided in a legal assembly. 40 In fact, we run a risk of being charged with rioting(K) for what happened today, since there is no justification that we can give as a reason for this disturbance.” 41 After saying this, he dismissed the assembly.
The Power of Faith over a Demon
14 When(A) they came to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and scribes disputing(B) with them. 15 When the whole crowd saw him, they were amazed and ran to greet him. 16 He asked them, “What are you arguing with them about?”
17 Someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher,(C) I brought my son to you. He has a spirit(D) that makes him unable to speak.(E) 18 Whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive it out, but they couldn’t.”
19 He replied to them, “You unbelieving(F) generation, how long will I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring him to me.” 20 So they brought the boy to him. When the spirit saw him, it immediately threw the boy into convulsions. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. 21 “How long has this been happening to him?” Jesus asked his father.
“From childhood,” he said. 22 “And many times it has thrown him into fire or water to destroy(G) him. But if you can do anything, have compassion(H) on us and help us.”
23 Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’?[a] Everything is possible(I) for the one who believes.”(J)
24 Immediately the father of the boy cried out, “I do believe; help my unbelief!”
25 When Jesus saw that a crowd was quickly gathering, he rebuked(K) the unclean(L) spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf(M) spirit, I command you: Come out of him and never enter him again.”
26 Then it came out, shrieking and throwing him into terrible convulsions.(N) The boy became like a corpse, so that many said, “He’s dead.” 27 But Jesus, taking him by the hand, raised him,(O) and he stood up.
28 After he had gone into the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
29 And he told them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer.”[b](P)
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