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)
Messiah’s Jubilee
61 The Spirit of the Lord God is on me,(A)
because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.(B)
He has sent me to heal[a] the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives
and freedom to the prisoners;(C)
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,(D)
and the day of our God’s vengeance;(E)
to comfort(F) all who mourn,
3 to provide for those who mourn in Zion;
to give them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,
festive oil instead of mourning,(G)
and splendid clothes instead of despair.[b]
And they will be called righteous trees,
planted by the Lord
to glorify him.(H)
4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins;(I)
they will restore the former devastations;
they will renew the ruined cities,
the devastations of many generations.
5 Strangers will stand and feed your flocks,
and foreigners will be your plowmen and vinedressers.(J)
6 But you will be called the Lord’s priests;(K)
they will speak of you as ministers of our God;
you will eat the wealth of the nations,
and you will boast in their riches.
7 In place of your shame, you will have a double portion;(L)
in place of disgrace, they will rejoice over their share.
So they will possess double in their land,(M)
and eternal joy will be theirs.
8 For I the Lord love justice;(N)
I hate robbery and injustice;[c]
I will faithfully reward my people
and make a permanent covenant(O) with them.
9 Their descendants will be known among the nations,
and their posterity among the peoples.
All who see them will recognize
that they are a people the Lord has blessed.
Difficult Times Ahead
3 But know this: Hard times will come in the last days.(A) 2 For people will be lovers of self,(B) lovers of money,(C) boastful, proud,(D) demeaning, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,(E) 3 unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers,(F) without self-control, brutal, without love for what is good,(G) 4 traitors,(H) reckless,(I) conceited,(J) lovers of pleasure(K) rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to the form of godliness but denying its power.(L) Avoid these people.(M)
6 For among them are those who worm their way into households and deceive gullible women overwhelmed by sins and led astray by a variety of passions,(N) 7 always learning and never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.(O) 8 Just as Jannes and Jambres(P) resisted Moses,(Q) so these also resist the truth. They are men who are corrupt in mind(R) and worthless(S) in regard to the faith. 9 But they will not make further progress, for their foolishness will be clear to all, as was the foolishness of Jannes and Jambres.
Struggles in the Christian Life
10 But you have followed my teaching, conduct, purpose,(T) faith, patience, love,(U) and endurance, 11 along with the persecutions and sufferings(V) that came to me in Antioch,(W) Iconium,(X) and Lystra.(Y) What persecutions I endured—and yet the Lord rescued me from them all. 12 In fact, all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.(Z) 13 Evil people and impostors will become worse, deceiving(AA) and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed. You know those who taught you,(AB) 15 and you know that from infancy you have known the sacred Scriptures,(AC) which are able to give you wisdom for salvation(AD) through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is inspired by God[a](AE) and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.(AF)
The Third Prediction of His Death
32 They(A) were on the road, going up to Jerusalem,(B) and Jesus was walking ahead of them. The disciples were astonished, but those who followed him were afraid.(C) Taking the Twelve aside again, he began to tell them the things that would happen to him.(D) 33 “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man(E) will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes,(F) and they will condemn him to death. Then they will hand him over to the Gentiles,(G) 34 and they will mock him, spit on him, flog[a] him, and kill him, and he will rise(H) after three days.”(I)
Suffering and Service
35 James(J) and John,(K) the sons of Zebedee,(L) approached him and said, “Teacher,(M) we want you to do whatever we ask you.”
36 “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked them.
37 They answered him, “Allow us to sit at your right and at your left in your glory.”(N)
38 Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you’re asking.(O) Are you able to drink the cup(P) I drink or to be baptized with the baptism(Q) I am baptized with?”(R)
39 “We are able,” they told him.
Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink, and you will be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with.(S) 40 But to sit at my right or left is not mine to give; instead, it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”
41 When the ten disciples heard this, they began to be indignant with James and John.(T) 42 Jesus called them over and said to them, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over(U) them, and those in high positions act as tyrants over them. 43 But it is not so among you.(V) On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you will be your servant,(W) 44 and whoever wants to be first among you will be a slave to all.(X) 45 For even the Son of Man(Y) did not come to be served, but to serve,(Z) and to give his life(AA) as a ransom(AB) for many.”[b](AC)
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.