Book of Common Prayer
Michtam of David.
1 ¶ Preserve me, O God: for in thee I have put my trust.
2 I said unto the LORD, Thou art my goodness: I have no goodness apart from thee;
3 to the saints that are in the earth and to the excellent: all my delight is towards them.
4 The sorrows of those that hasten after another god shall be multiplied; their drink offerings of blood I will not offer, nor take up their names into my lips.
5 The LORD is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup; thou dost maintain my lot.
6 The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a beautiful inheritance.
7 I will bless the LORD, who gives me counsel: my kidneys also instruct me in the night seasons.
8 ¶ I have set the LORD always before me: because when he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices: my flesh also shall rest secure.
10 For thou wilt not leave my soul in Sheol; neither wilt thou suffer thy Merciful One to see corruption.
11 Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; in thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
A Prayer of David.
1 ¶ Hear righteousness, O LORD, attend unto my cry, give ear unto my prayer, that does not go out of feigned lips.
2 Let my sentence come forth from thy presence; let thine eyes behold uprightness.
3 Thou hast proved my heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou hast refined me and hast found no iniquity; that which I thought did not pass through my mouth.
4 Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have observed the ways of the violent.
5 Sustain my steps in thy ways that my footsteps not slip.
6 I have called upon thee, because thou dost hear me, O God: incline thine ear unto me and hear my speech.
7 Show thy mercy to be marvellous, O Saviour of those who put their trust in thee, from those that rise up against thy right hand.
8 ¶ Keep me as the apple of the eye; hide me with the shadow of thy wings,
9 from the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who compass me about.
10 They are closed in with their own fat; with their mouth they speak proudly.
11 They have now compassed us in our steps: they have set their eyes upon throwing us down to the earth
12 like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places.
13 Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, with thy sword;
14 from men, with thy hand, O LORD, from men of the world, who have their portion in this life and whose belly thou dost fill with thy provision: they satisfy their sons and leave the rest to their family.
15 As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness.
A Song of degrees.
1 ¶ Behold, bless ye the LORD, all ye slaves of the LORD, who by night stand in the house of the LORD.
2 Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the LORD.
3 The LORD that made the heavens and the earth bless thee out of Zion.
1 ¶ Halelu-JAH. Praise ye the name of the LORD; praise him, O ye slaves of the LORD.
2 Ye that stand in the house of the LORD, in the courts of the house of our God,
3 praise JAH; for the LORD is good; sing praises unto his name; for it is pleasant.
4 For JAH has chosen Jacob unto himself and Israel for his own possession.
5 ¶ For I know that the LORD is great and that our Lord is above all gods.
6 Whatever the LORD desired, he did in the heavens and in the earth, in the seas and in all the deep places.
7 He who causes the clouds to ascend from the ends of the earth, made the lightnings in the rain; he who brings the winds out of his treasuries.
8 He who smote the firstborn of Egypt, both of man and beast;
9 sent signs and wonders into the midst of thee, O Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his slaves.
10 He who smote many Gentiles and slew mighty kings,
11 Sihon king of the Amorites and Og king of Bashan, and all the kingdoms of Canaan
12 gave their land for a heritage, a heritage unto Israel his people.
13 Thy name, O LORD, is eternal, and thy memorial, O LORD, from generation to generation.
14 For the LORD will judge his people, and he will repent himself concerning his slaves.
15 ¶ The idols of the Gentiles are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.
16 They have a mouth, but they do not speak; they have eyes, but they do not see;
17 they have ears, but they do not hear; neither is there any spirit in their mouths.
18 Let those that make them become like unto them and every one that trusts in them.
19 Bless the LORD, O house of Israel; bless the LORD, O house of Aaron:
20 Bless the LORD, O house of Levi; ye that fear the LORD, bless the LORD.
21 Blessed be the LORD out of Zion who dwells at Jerusalem. Halelu-JAH.
3 ¶ Nebuchadnezzar the king made a statue of gold, whose height was sixty cubits and its breadth six cubits; he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.
2 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the great ones, the assistants and captains, the judges, the treasurers, those of the council, presidents, and all the governors of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the statue which Nebuchadnezzar the king had raised up.
3 Then the great ones, the assistants and captains, the judges, the treasurers, those of the council, presidents, and all the governors of the provinces, were gathered together unto the dedication of the statue that Nebuchadnezzar the king had raised up; and they stood before the statue that Nebuchadnezzar the king had raised up.
4 Then a herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages,
5 that when ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and of every musical instrument, ye are to fall down and worship the statue of gold that Nebuchadnezzar the king has raised up:
6 and whoever does not fall down and worship shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.
7 Therefore, when all the peoples heard the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and every musical instrument, all the peoples, nations, and languages, fell down and worshipped the statue of gold that Nebuchadnezzar the king had raised up.
8 ¶ Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and accused the Jews.
9 They spoke and said to the king Nebuchadnezzar, O king, live for ever.
10 Thou, O king, hast made a law that every man upon hearing the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and every musical instrument, shall fall down and worship the statue of gold;
11 and whoever does not fall down and worship that he should be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.
12 There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee; they do not worship thy gods, nor do they worship the statue of gold which thou hast raised up.
13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these men before the king.
14 Nebuchadnezzar spoke and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that ye do not honour my gods, nor worship the statue of gold which I have set up?
15 Now, are ye ready when ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and of every musical instrument to fall down and worship the statue which I made? For if ye do not worship, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that god that shall deliver you out of my hands?
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to King Nebuchadnezzar, We are not careful to answer thee in this matter.
17 Behold, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not worship thy god, nor honour the statue which thou hast raised up.
3 ¶ Behold, what charity the Father has given us, that we should be called the sons of God; therefore the world does not know us, because it does not know him.
2 Beloved, now we are the sons of God, and it is not yet made manifest what we shall be; but we know that if he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
3 And every one that has this hope in him purifies himself, even as he is pure.
4 ¶ Whosoever commits sin transgresses also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
5 And ye know that he appeared to take away our sins, and there is no sin in him.
6 Whosoever abides in him does not sin: whosoever sins has not seen him or known him.
7 Little children, let no one deceive you; he that does righteousness is righteous, even as he also is righteous.
8 He that commits sin is of the devil; for the devil sins from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God appeared, that he might undo the works of the devil.
9 Whosoever is born of God does not commit sin; for his seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
10 In this the sons of God are manifest, and the sons of the devil: whosoever does not righteousness and that loves not his brother is not of God.
15 ¶ And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not,
16 John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you in water, but one mightier than I comes, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose; he shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire;
17 whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his threshing floor and will gather the wheat into his storehouse, but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.
18 And exhorting many other things he announced the gospel unto the people.
19 Then Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him for Herodias his brother Philip’s wife and for all the evils which Herod had done,
20 added yet this above all, that he shut up John in prison.
21 ¶ Now when all the people were baptized, it came to pass that, Jesus also being baptized and praying, the heaven was opened,
22 and the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee is my delight.
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