Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 88[a]
A song. A psalm of the Sons of Korah. For the director of music. According to mahalath leannoth.[b] A maskil[c] of Heman the Ezrahite.
1 Lord, you are the God who saves me;(A)
day and night I cry out(B) to you.
2 May my prayer come before you;
turn your ear to my cry.
3 I am overwhelmed with troubles(C)
and my life draws near to death.(D)
4 I am counted among those who go down to the pit;(E)
I am like one without strength.(F)
5 I am set apart with the dead,
like the slain who lie in the grave,
whom you remember no more,
who are cut off(G) from your care.
6 You have put me in the lowest pit,
in the darkest depths.(H)
7 Your wrath(I) lies heavily on me;
you have overwhelmed me with all your waves.[d](J)
8 You have taken from me my closest friends(K)
and have made me repulsive to them.
I am confined(L) and cannot escape;(M)
9 my eyes(N) are dim with grief.
I call(O) to you, Lord, every day;
I spread out my hands(P) to you.
10 Do you show your wonders to the dead?
Do their spirits rise up and praise you?(Q)
11 Is your love declared in the grave,
your faithfulness(R) in Destruction[e]?
12 Are your wonders known in the place of darkness,
or your righteous deeds in the land of oblivion?
13 But I cry to you for help,(S) Lord;
in the morning(T) my prayer comes before you.(U)
14 Why, Lord, do you reject(V) me
and hide your face(W) from me?
15 From my youth(X) I have suffered(Y) and been close to death;
I have borne your terrors(Z) and am in despair.(AA)
16 Your wrath(AB) has swept over me;
your terrors(AC) have destroyed me.
17 All day long they surround me like a flood;(AD)
they have completely engulfed me.
18 You have taken from me friend(AE) and neighbor—
darkness is my closest friend.
Psalm 91
1 Whoever dwells in the shelter(A) of the Most High
will rest in the shadow(B) of the Almighty.[a]
2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge(C) and my fortress,(D)
my God, in whom I trust.”
3 Surely he will save you
from the fowler’s snare(E)
and from the deadly pestilence.(F)
4 He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;(G)
his faithfulness will be your shield(H) and rampart.
5 You will not fear(I) the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.(J)
9 If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”
and you make the Most High your dwelling,
10 no harm(K) will overtake you,
no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels(L) concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;(M)
12 they will lift you up in 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 great lion and the serpent.(O)
14 “Because he[b] loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call on me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.(P)
16 With long life(Q) I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.(R)”
Psalm 92[c]
A psalm. A song. For the Sabbath day.
1 It is good to praise the Lord
and make music(S) to your name,(T) O Most High,(U)
2 proclaiming your love in the morning(V)
and your faithfulness at night,
3 to the music of the ten-stringed lyre(W)
and the melody of the harp.(X)
4 For you make me glad by your deeds, Lord;
I sing for joy(Y) at what your hands have done.(Z)
5 How great are your works,(AA) Lord,
how profound your thoughts!(AB)
6 Senseless people(AC) do not know,
fools do not understand,
7 that though the wicked spring up like grass
and all evildoers flourish,
they will be destroyed forever.(AD)
8 But you, Lord, are forever exalted.
9 For surely your enemies(AE), Lord,
surely your enemies will perish;
all evildoers will be scattered.(AF)
10 You have exalted my horn[d](AG) like that of a wild ox;(AH)
fine oils(AI) have been poured on me.
11 My eyes have seen the defeat of my adversaries;
my ears have heard the rout of my wicked foes.(AJ)
12 The righteous will flourish(AK) like a palm tree,
they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;(AL)
13 planted in the house of the Lord,
they will flourish in the courts of our God.(AM)
14 They will still bear fruit(AN) in old age,
they will stay fresh and green,
15 proclaiming, “The Lord is upright;
he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.(AO)”
Abimelek
9 Abimelek(A) son of Jerub-Baal(B) went to his mother’s brothers in Shechem and said to them and to all his mother’s clan, 2 “Ask all the citizens of Shechem, ‘Which is better for you: to have all seventy of Jerub-Baal’s sons rule over you, or just one man?’ Remember, I am your flesh and blood.(C)”
3 When the brothers repeated all this to the citizens of Shechem, they were inclined to follow Abimelek, for they said, “He is related to us.” 4 They gave him seventy shekels[a] of silver from the temple of Baal-Berith,(D) and Abimelek used it to hire reckless scoundrels,(E) who became his followers. 5 He went to his father’s home in Ophrah and on one stone murdered his seventy brothers,(F) the sons of Jerub-Baal. But Jotham,(G) the youngest son of Jerub-Baal, escaped by hiding.(H) 6 Then all the citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo(I) gathered beside the great tree(J) at the pillar in Shechem to crown Abimelek king.
7 When Jotham(K) was told about this, he climbed up on the top of Mount Gerizim(L) and shouted to them, “Listen to me, citizens of Shechem, so that God may listen to you. 8 One day the trees went out to anoint a king for themselves. They said to the olive tree, ‘Be our king.’
9 “But the olive tree answered, ‘Should I give up my oil, by which both gods and humans are honored, to hold sway over the trees?’
10 “Next, the trees said to the fig tree, ‘Come and be our king.’
11 “But the fig tree replied, ‘Should I give up my fruit, so good and sweet, to hold sway over the trees?’
12 “Then the trees said to the vine, ‘Come and be our king.’
13 “But the vine answered, ‘Should I give up my wine,(M) which cheers both gods and humans, to hold sway over the trees?’
14 “Finally all the trees said to the thornbush, ‘Come and be our king.’
15 “The thornbush said to the trees, ‘If you really want to anoint me king over you, come and take refuge in my shade;(N) but if not, then let fire come out(O) of the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon!’(P)
16 “Have you acted honorably and in good faith by making Abimelek king? Have you been fair to Jerub-Baal and his family? Have you treated him as he deserves?
19 So have you acted honorably and in good faith toward Jerub-Baal and his family today?(A) If you have, may Abimelek be your joy, and may you be his, too! 20 But if you have not, let fire come out(B) from Abimelek and consume you, the citizens of Shechem(C) and Beth Millo,(D) and let fire come out from you, the citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo, and consume Abimelek!”
21 Then Jotham(E) fled, escaping to Beer,(F) and he lived there because he was afraid of his brother Abimelek.
13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John(A) and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men,(B) they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.(C) 14 But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say. 15 So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin(D) and then conferred together. 16 “What are we going to do with these men?”(E) they asked. “Everyone living in Jerusalem knows they have performed a notable sign,(F) and we cannot deny it. 17 But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them to speak no longer to anyone in this name.”
18 Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.(G) 19 But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him?(H) You be the judges! 20 As for us, we cannot help speaking(I) about what we have seen and heard.”(J)
21 After further threats they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people(K) were praising God(L) for what had happened. 22 For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old.
The Believers Pray
23 On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God.(M) “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.(N) 25 You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David:(O)
“‘Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
26 The kings of the earth rise up
and the rulers band together
against the Lord
and against his anointed one.[a]’[b](P)
27 Indeed Herod(Q) and Pontius Pilate(R) met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus,(S) whom you anointed. 28 They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.(T) 29 Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.(U) 30 Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders(V) through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”(W)
31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken.(X) And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit(Y) and spoke the word of God(Z) boldly.(AA)
Jesus Changes Water Into Wine
2 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee.(A) Jesus’ mother(B) was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”
4 “Woman,[a](C) why do you involve me?”(D) Jesus replied. “My hour(E) has not yet come.”
5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”(F)
6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing,(G) each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.[b]
7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.
8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”
They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine.(H) He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”
11 What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs(I) through which he revealed his glory;(J) and his disciples believed in him.(K)
12 After this he went down to Capernaum(L) with his mother(M) and brothers(N) and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days.
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