Book of Common Prayer
To the Overcomer, A Psalm of David.
1 ¶ Blessed is he that understands regarding the poor; the LORD will deliver him in the day of evil.
2 The LORD will preserve him and keep him alive, and he shall be blessed upon the earth, and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies.
3 The LORD will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing; thou wilt soften all his bed in his sickness.
4 I said, LORD, be merciful unto me; heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee.
5 ¶ My enemies speak evil of me, When shall he die and his name perish?
6 And if he came to see me, he spoke lies: his heart gathered iniquity to itself, and when he goes out, he tells it.
7 All that hate me congregate together and murmur against me; against me do they devise my hurt.
8 A disease of Belial, they say, cleaves fast unto him, and now that he lies he shall rise up no more.
9 Even the man of my peace, in whom I trusted, who ate of my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.
10 But thou, O LORD, be merciful unto me and raise me up that I may requite them.
11 In this I shall know that I have pleased thee, that my enemy does not triumph over me.
12 And as for me, thou sustained me in my integrity and hast seated me before thy face for ever.
13 Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen.
To the Overcomer, Maschil, A Psalm of David, when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, and said unto him, David is come to the house of Ahimelech.
1 ¶ Why dost thou boast of evil, O strong man? The mercy of God is day by day.
2 Thy tongue devises wickedness like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.
3 Thou dost love evil more than good; and lying rather than to speak righteousness. Selah.
4 Thou dost love all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue.
5 God shall likewise cast thee down for ever; he shall cut thee off and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place and root thee out of the land of the living. Selah.
6 ¶ The righteous also shall see and fear and shall laugh at him, saying:
7 Behold, this is the man that did not make God his strength, but trusted in the abundance of his riches and strengthened himself in his wickedness.
8 But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; I trust in the eternal mercy of God for ever.
9 I will praise thee for ever because thou hast done it, and I will wait on thy name, for it is good before thy merciful ones.
To the Overcomer for the sons of Korah, Maschil.
1 ¶ We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their days in the times of old.
2 How thou didst drive out the Gentiles with thy hand and plant them in their place; how thou didst afflict the peoples and cast them out.
3 For they did not get the land in inheritance by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them, but thy right hand and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance because thy delight was in them.
4 Thou art my King, O God; command saving health unto Jacob.
5 Through thee will we push down our enemies; through thy name will we tread under those that rise up against us.
6 For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me.
7 But thou hast saved us from our enemies and hast put to shame those that hated us.
8 In God we boast all the day long and praise thy name for ever. Selah.
9 ¶ But thou hast cast us off and put us to shame and doth not go forth with our armies.
10 Thou makest us to turn back from the enemy, and we are spoiled by those who hate us.
11 Thou hast given us over like sheep appointed for food and hast scattered us among the Gentiles.
12 Thou hast sold thy people for nothing and dost not increase thy wealth by their price.
13 Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and a derision to those that are round about us.
14 Thou makest us a byword among the Gentiles, a shaking of the head among the people.
15 My confusion is continually before me, and the shame of my face has covered me,
16 for the voice of him that reproaches and blasphemes by reason of the enemy and of the avenger.
17 ¶ All this is come upon us; yet we have not forgotten thee, neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant.
18 Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from thy way
19 though thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons and covered us with the shadow of death.
20 If we have forgotten the name of our God or stretched out our hands to a strange god,
21 shall not God search this out? For he knows the secrets of the heart.
22 Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.
23 Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord? Arise, do not cast us off for ever.
24 Why dost thou hide thy face and forget our affliction and our oppression?
25 For our soul is bowed down to the dust; our belly cleaves unto the earth.
26 Arise for our help and ransom us for thy mercies’ sake.
1 ¶ Paul, apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
2 to the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 ¶ We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you
4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the charity which ye have toward all the saints,
5 for the hope which is laid up for you in the heavens, of which ye have already heard by the word of the truth of the gospel,
6 which is come unto you, as it is in all the world, and brings forth fruit, as it does also in you, since the day ye heard it and knew the grace of God in truth,
7 as ye also learned of Epaphras, our dear fellowservant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ,
8 who also declared unto us your charity in the Spirit.
9 ¶ For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, asking that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding,
10 that ye might walk worthy of the Lord, pleasing him in everything, being fruitful in every good work, and growing in the knowledge of God,
11 strengthened with all might, according to the power of his glory unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness,
12 ¶ giving thanks unto the Father, who has made us worthy to participate in the inheritance of the saints in light,
13 who has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son,
14 in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the remission of sins,
6 ¶ And it came to pass on the second sabbath after the first that he went through the grain fields and his disciples plucked the ears of grain and ate, rubbing them in their hands.
2 And certain of the Pharisees said unto them, Why do ye that which is not lawful to do on the sabbath days?
3 And Jesus answering them said, Have ye not read so much as this, what David did, when he and those that were with him were hungry,
4 how he went into the house of God and did take and eat the showbread and gave also to those that were with him, which it is not lawful to eat but for the priests alone?
5 And he said unto them, The Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath.
6 And it came to pass also on another sabbath that he entered into the synagogue and taught, and a man was there whose right hand was withered.
7 And the scribes and Pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the sabbath day, that they might find an accusation against him.
8 But he knew their thoughts and said to the man who had the withered hand, Rise up and stand forth in the midst. And he arose and stood forth.
9 Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing: Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good or to do evil? to save a person or to destroy them?
10 And looking round about upon them all, he said unto the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he did so, and his hand was restored whole as the other.
11 And they were filled with madness and talked one with another about what they might do to Jesus.
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