Book of Common Prayer
A Petition to Be Saved from Death.
A Song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. For the choir director; according to Mahalath Leannoth. A [a]Maskil of Heman [b]the Ezrahite.
88 O Lord, the (A)God of my salvation,
I have (B)cried out by day and in the night before You.
2 Let my prayer (C)come before You;
(D)Incline Your ear to my cry!
3 For my (E)soul has [c]had enough troubles,
And (F)my life has drawn near to [d]Sheol.
4 I am reckoned among those who (G)go down to the pit;
I have become like a man (H)without strength,
5 [e]Forsaken (I)among the dead,
Like the slain who lie in the grave,
Whom You remember no more,
And they are (J)cut off from Your hand.
6 You have put me in (K)the lowest pit,
In (L)dark places, in the (M)depths.
7 Your wrath (N)has rested upon me,
And You have afflicted me with (O)all Your waves. [f]Selah.
8 You have removed (P)my acquaintances far from me;
You have made me an [g](Q)object of loathing to them;
I am (R)shut up and cannot go out.
9 My (S)eye has wasted away because of affliction;
I have (T)called upon You every day, O Lord;
I have (U)spread out my [h]hands to You.
10 Will You perform wonders for the dead?
Will (V)the [i]departed spirits rise and praise You? Selah.
11 Will Your lovingkindness be declared in the grave,
Your faithfulness in [j]Abaddon?
12 Will Your wonders be made known in the (W)darkness?
And Your [k]righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
13 But I, O Lord, have cried out (X)to You for help,
And (Y)in the morning my prayer comes before You.
14 O Lord, why (Z)do You reject my soul?
Why do You (AA)hide Your face from me?
15 I was afflicted and (AB)about to die from my youth on;
I suffer (AC)Your terrors; I am [l]overcome.
16 Your (AD)burning anger has passed over me;
Your terrors have [m](AE)destroyed me.
17 They have (AF)surrounded me (AG)like water all day long;
They have (AH)encompassed me altogether.
18 You have removed (AI)lover and friend far from me;
My acquaintances are in darkness.
Security of the One Who Trusts in the Lord.
91 He who dwells in the (A)shelter of the Most High
Will abide in the (B)shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say to the Lord, “My (C)refuge and my (D)fortress,
My God, in whom I (E)trust!”
3 For it is He who delivers you from the (F)snare of the trapper
And from the deadly (G)pestilence.
4 He will (H)cover you with His pinions,
And (I)under His wings you may seek refuge;
His (J)faithfulness is a (K)shield and bulwark.
5 You (L)will not be afraid of the (M)terror by night,
Or of the (N)arrow that flies by day;
6 Of the (O)pestilence that [a]stalks in darkness,
Or of the (P)destruction that lays waste at noon.
7 A thousand may fall at your side
And ten thousand at your right hand,
But (Q)it shall not approach you.
8 You will only look on with your eyes
And (R)see the recompense of the wicked.
9 [b]For you have made the Lord, (S)my refuge,
Even the Most High, (T)your dwelling place.
10 (U)No evil will befall you,
Nor will any plague come near your [c]tent.
11 For He will give (V)His angels charge concerning you,
To guard you in all your ways.
12 They will (W)bear you up in their hands,
That you do not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will (X)tread upon the lion and cobra,
The young lion and the [d]serpent you will trample down.
14 “(Y)Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will (Z)set him securely on high, because he has (AA)known My name.
15 “He will (AB)call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in [e]trouble;
I will rescue him and (AC)honor him.
16 “With [f]a (AD)long life I will satisfy him
And [g](AE)let him see My salvation.”
Praise for the Lord’s Goodness.
A Psalm, a Song for the Sabbath day.
92 It is (AF)good to give thanks to the Lord
And to (AG)sing praises to Your name, O Most High;
2 To (AH)declare Your lovingkindness in the morning
And Your (AI)faithfulness [h]by night,
3 [i]With the (AJ)ten-stringed lute and [j]with the (AK)harp,
[k]With resounding music [l]upon the (AL)lyre.
4 For You, O Lord, have made me glad by [m]what You (AM)have done,
I will (AN)sing for joy at the (AO)works of Your hands.
5 How (AP)great are Your works, O Lord!
Your [n](AQ)thoughts are very (AR)deep.
6 A (AS)senseless man has no knowledge,
Nor does a (AT)stupid man understand this:
7 That when the wicked (AU)sprouted up like grass
And all (AV)who did iniquity flourished,
It was only that they might be (AW)destroyed forevermore.
8 But You, O Lord, are (AX)on high forever.
9 For, behold, Your enemies, O Lord,
For, behold, (AY)Your enemies will perish;
All who do iniquity will be (AZ)scattered.
10 But You have exalted my (BA)horn like that of the wild ox;
I have [o]been (BB)anointed with fresh oil.
11 And my eye has (BC)looked exultantly upon [p]my foes,
My ears hear of the evildoers who rise up against me.
12 The (BD)righteous man will [q]flourish like the palm tree,
He will grow like a (BE)cedar in Lebanon.
13 (BF)Planted in the house of the Lord,
They will flourish (BG)in the courts of our God.
14 They will still [r](BH)yield fruit in old age;
They shall be [s]full of sap and very green,
15 To [t]declare that (BI)the Lord is upright;
He is my (BJ)rock, and there is (BK)no unrighteousness in Him.
The Prophetic Call to Samuel
3 Now (A)the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord before Eli. And (B)word from the Lord was rare in those days, [a]visions were infrequent.
2 It happened at that time as Eli was lying down in his place (now (C)his eyesight had begun to grow dim and he could not see well), 3 and (D)the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord where the ark of God was, 4 that the Lord called Samuel; and he said, “(E)Here I am.” 5 Then he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, lie down again.” So he went and lay down. 6 The Lord called yet again, “Samuel!” So Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he [b]answered, “I did not call, my son, lie down again.” 7 (F)Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, nor had the word of the Lord yet been revealed to him. 8 So the Lord called Samuel again for the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli discerned that the Lord was calling the boy. 9 And Eli said to Samuel, “Go lie down, and it shall be if He calls you, that you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10 Then the Lord came and stood and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for Your servant is listening.” 11 The Lord said to Samuel, “Behold, (G)I am about to do a thing in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. 12 In that day (H)I will carry out against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. 13 For (I)I have told him that I am about to judge his house forever for (J)the iniquity which he knew, because (K)his sons brought a curse on themselves and (L)he did not rebuke them. 14 Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that (M)the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.”
15 So Samuel lay down until morning. Then he (N)opened the doors of the house of the Lord. But Samuel was afraid to tell (O)the vision to Eli. 16 Then Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” And he said, “Here I am.” 17 He said, “What is the word that He spoke to you? Please do not hide it from me. (P)May God do so to you, and more also, if you hide anything from me of all the words that He spoke to you.” 18 So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. And he said, “(Q)It is the Lord; let Him do what seems good to Him.”
19 Thus (R)Samuel grew and (S)the Lord was with him and (T)let none of his words [c]fail. 20 All Israel (U)from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the Lord. 21 And (V)the Lord appeared again at Shiloh, (W)because the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord.
The Ingathering
37 Now when they heard this, they were [a]pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “[b]Brethren, [c](A)what shall we do?” 38 Peter said to them, “(B)Repent, and each of you be (C)baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For (D)the promise is for you and your children and for all who are (E)far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” 40 And with many other words he solemnly (F)testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “[d]Be saved from this (G)perverse generation!” 41 So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand [e](H)souls. 42 They were (I)continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to (J)the breaking of bread and [f](K)to prayer.
43 [g]Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many (L)wonders and [h]signs were taking place through the apostles. 44 And all those who had believed [i]were together and (M)had all things in common; 45 and they (N)began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. 46 (O)Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and (P)breaking bread [j]from house to house, they were taking their [k]meals together with gladness and [l]sincerity of heart, 47 praising God and (Q)having favor with all the people. And the Lord (R)was adding [m]to their number day by day (S)those who were being saved.
5 (A)And while some were talking about the temple, that it was adorned with beautiful stones and votive gifts, He said, 6 “As for these things which you are looking at, the days will come in which (B)there will not be left one stone upon another which will not be torn down.”
7 They questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, when therefore will these things happen? And what will be the [a]sign when these things are about to take place?” 8 And He said, “See to it that you are not misled; for many will come in My name, saying, ‘(C)I am He,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ (D)Do not go after them. 9 When you hear of wars and disturbances, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end does not follow immediately.”
Things to Come
10 Then He continued by saying to them, “Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, 11 and there will be great earthquakes, and in various places plagues and famines; and there will be terrors and great [b]signs from heaven.
12 “But before all these things, (E)they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you to the synagogues and prisons, [c]bringing you before kings and governors for My name’s sake. 13 (F)It will lead to [d]an opportunity for your testimony. 14 (G)So make up your minds not to prepare beforehand to defend yourselves; 15 for (H)I will give you [e]utterance and wisdom which none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute. 16 But you will be betrayed even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death, 17 and you will be hated by all because of My name. 18 Yet (I)not a hair of your head will perish. 19 (J)By your endurance you will gain your [f]lives.
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