Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer for Help in Despondency
A Song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. To the Chief Musician. Set to “Mahalath Leannoth.” A [a]Contemplation of (A)Heman the Ezrahite.
88 O Lord, (B)God of my salvation,
I have cried out day and night before You.
2 Let my prayer come before You;
[b]Incline Your ear to my cry.
3 For my soul is full of troubles,
And my life (C)draws near to the grave.
4 I am counted with those who (D)go[c] down to the pit;
(E)I am like a man who has no strength,
5 [d]Adrift among the dead,
Like the slain who lie in the grave,
Whom You remember no more,
And who are cut off from Your hand.
6 You have laid me in the lowest pit,
In darkness, in the depths.
7 Your wrath lies heavy upon me,
And You have afflicted me with all (F)Your waves. Selah
8 (G)You have [e]put away my acquaintances far from me;
You have made me an abomination to them;
(H)I am shut up, and I cannot get out;
9 My eye wastes away because of affliction.
(I)Lord, I have called daily upon You;
I have stretched out my hands to You.
10 Will You work wonders for the dead?
Shall [f]the dead arise and praise You? Selah
11 Shall Your lovingkindness be declared in the grave?
Or Your faithfulness in the place of destruction?
12 Shall Your wonders be known in the dark?
And Your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
13 But to You I have cried out, O Lord,
And in the morning my prayer comes before You.
14 Lord, why do You cast off my soul?
Why do You hide Your face from me?
15 I have been afflicted and ready to die from my youth;
I suffer Your terrors;
I am distraught.
16 Your fierce wrath has gone over me;
Your terrors have [g]cut me off.
17 They came around me all day long like water;
They engulfed me altogether.
18 (J)Loved one and friend You have put far from me,
And my acquaintances into darkness.
Safety of Abiding in the Presence of God
91 He (A)who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide (B)under the shadow of the Almighty.
2 (C)I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in Him I will trust.”
3 Surely (D)He shall deliver you from the snare of the [a]fowler
And from the perilous pestilence.
4 (E)He shall cover you with His feathers,
And under His wings you shall take refuge;
His truth shall be your shield and [b]buckler.
5 (F)You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,
Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
6 Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,
Nor of the destruction that lays waste 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 (G)with your eyes shall you look,
And see the reward of the wicked.
9 Because you have made the Lord, who is (H)my refuge,
Even the Most High, (I)your dwelling place,
10 (J)No evil shall befall you,
Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
11 (K)For He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you in all your ways.
12 In their hands they shall [c]bear you up,
(L)Lest you [d]dash your foot against a stone.
13 You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,
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 [e]set him on high, because he has (M)known My name.
15 He shall (N)call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be (O)with him in trouble;
I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With [f]long life I will satisfy him,
And show him My salvation.”
Praise to the Lord for His Love and Faithfulness
A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath day.
92 It is (P)good to give thanks to the Lord,
And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;
2 To (Q)declare Your lovingkindness in the morning,
And Your faithfulness every night,
3 (R)On an instrument of ten strings,
On the lute,
And on the harp,
With harmonious sound.
4 For You, Lord, have made me glad through Your work;
I will triumph in the works of Your hands.
5 (S)O Lord, how great are Your works!
(T)Your thoughts are very deep.
6 (U)A senseless man does not know,
Nor does a fool understand this.
7 When (V)the wicked [g]spring up like grass,
And when all the workers of iniquity flourish,
It is that they may be destroyed forever.
8 (W)But You, Lord, are on high forevermore.
9 For behold, Your enemies, O Lord,
For behold, Your enemies shall perish;
All the workers of iniquity shall (X)be scattered.
10 But (Y)my [h]horn You have exalted like a wild ox;
I have been (Z)anointed with fresh oil.
11 (AA)My eye also has seen my desire on my enemies;
My ears hear my desire on the wicked
Who rise up against me.
12 (AB)The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree,
He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
13 Those who are planted in the house of the Lord
Shall flourish in the courts of our God.
14 They shall still bear fruit in old age;
They shall be [i]fresh and [j]flourishing,
15 To declare that the Lord is upright;
(AC)He is my rock, and (AD)there is no unrighteousness in Him.
46 And Rebekah said to Isaac, (A)“I am weary of my life because of the daughters of Heth; (B)if Jacob takes a wife of the daughters of Heth, like these who are the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?”
Jacob Sent to His Uncle Laban
28 Then Isaac called Jacob and (C)blessed him, and [a]charged him, and said to him: (D)“You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. 2 (E)Arise, go to (F)Padan Aram, to the house of (G)Bethuel your mother’s father; and take yourself a wife from there of the daughters of (H)Laban your mother’s brother.
Jacob’s Vow at Bethel
10 Now Jacob (A)went out from Beersheba and went toward (B)Haran. 11 So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. 12 Then he (C)dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there (D)the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
13 (E)And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: (F)“I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; (G)the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. 14 Also your (H)descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad (I)to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and (J)in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. 15 Behold, (K)I am with you and will (L)keep[a] you wherever you go, and will (M)bring you back to this land; for (N)I will not leave you (O)until I have done what I have spoken to you.”
16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in (P)this place, and I did not know it.” 17 And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!”
18 Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, (Q)set it up as a pillar, (R)and poured oil on top of it. 19 And he called the name of (S)that place [b]Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously. 20 (T)Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If (U)God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me (V)bread to eat and clothing to put on, 21 so that (W)I come back to my father’s house in peace, (X)then the Lord shall be my God. 22 And this stone which I have set as a pillar (Y)shall be God’s house, (Z)and of all that You give me I will surely give a [c]tenth to You.”
Submit to Government
13 Let every soul be (A)subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists (B)the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will [a]bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? (C)Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. 4 For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. 5 Therefore (D)you must be subject, not only because of wrath (E)but also for conscience’ sake. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing. 7 (F)Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.
Love Your Neighbor(G)
8 Owe no one anything except to love one another, for (H)he who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, (I)“You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” [b]“You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, (J)“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore (K)love is the fulfillment of the law.
Put on Christ
11 And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time (L)to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. 12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. (M)Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and (N)let us put on the armor of light. 13 (O)Let us walk [c]properly, as in the day, (P)not in revelry and drunkenness, (Q)not in lewdness and lust, (R)not in strife and envy. 14 But (S)put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and (T)make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.
33 They answered Him, (A)“We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?”
34 Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, (B)whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. 35 And (C)a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. 36 (D)Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.
Abraham’s Seed and Satan’s
37 “I know that you are Abraham’s descendants, but (E)you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. 38 (F)I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have [a]seen with your father.”
39 They answered and said to Him, (G)“Abraham is our father.”
Jesus said to them, (H)“If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. 40 (I)But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth (J)which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. 41 You do the deeds of your father.”
Then they said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; (K)we have one Father—God.”
42 Jesus said to them, (L)“If God were your Father, you would love Me, for (M)I proceeded forth and came from God; (N)nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. 43 (O)Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. 44 (P)You are of your father the devil, and the (Q)desires of your father you want to (R)do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and (S)does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. 46 Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? 47 (T)He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.