Book of Common Prayer
Maschil of Ethan the Ezrahite.
1 ¶ I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever; with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.
2 For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever in the heavens; in them thou shalt establish thy truth.
3 I have made a covenant with my chosen; I have sworn unto David my slave, saying,
4 Thy seed will I establish for ever and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah.
5 ¶ And the heavens shall praise thy wonder, O LORD, thy truth also in the congregation of the saints.
6 For who in the heavens can be compared unto the LORD? who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the LORD?
7 God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints and to be had in reverence of all those that are about him.
8 O LORD God of the hosts, who is like unto thee? Strong JAH, compassed about with thy truth.
9 Thou dost rule the raging of the sea: when its waves arise, thou dost still them.
10 Thou hast broken Egypt in pieces as one that is slain; thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy strong arm.
11 The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: the world and its fullness, thou didst found.
12 Thou hast created the north and the south; Tabor and Hermon shall sing in thy name.
13 The mighty arm is thine; strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand.
14 Thy throne is composed of righteousness and judgment; mercy and truth go before thy face.
15 ¶ Happy are the people that know how to enter into joy; they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance.
16 In thy name shall they rejoice each day; and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted.
17 For thou art the glory of their strength, and in thy favour our horn shall be exalted.
18 For the LORD is our shield, and the Holy One of Israel is our king.
19 ¶ Then thou didst speak in vision to thy holy one and didst say, I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of my people.
20 I have found David my slave; I anointed him with the oil of my holiness,
21 with whom my hand shall be established; mine arm also shall strengthen him.
22 The enemy shall not overcome him, nor the son of iniquity break him down.
23 But I will break down his foes before his face and smite those that hate him.
24 But my truth and my mercy shall be with him, and in my name shall his horn be exalted.
25 In the same manner I will set his hand also in the sea and his right hand in the rivers.
26 He shall call me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my saving health.
27 Also I will make him my firstborn, high above the kings of the earth.
28 I will keep my mercy for him for ever, and my covenant shall stand fast with him.
29 I will also make his seed to endure for ever, and his throne as the days of the heavens.
30 If his sons forsake my law and do not walk in my judgments,
31 if they profane my statutes and do not keep my commandments,
32 then I will visit their rebellion with the rod and their iniquity with stripes.
33 Nevertheless I will not take my mercy from him, neither will I falsify my truth.
34 I will not profane my covenant, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
35 Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David.
36 His seed shall endure for ever and his throne as the sun before me.
37 It shall be established for ever as the moon and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah.
38 ¶ But thou hast cast off and abhorred thine anointed; thou hast been wroth with him.
39 Thou hast made void the covenant of thy slave; thou hast profaned his crown by casting it to the ground.
40 Thou hast broken down all his hedges; thou hast brought his strong holds to ruin.
41 All that pass by the way spoil him; he is a reproach to his neighbours.
42 Thou hast set up the right hand of his adversaries; thou hast made all his enemies to rejoice.
43 Thou hast also blunted the edge of his sword and hast not made him to stand in the battle.
44 Thou hast made his clarity to cease and cast his throne down to the ground.
45 The days of his youth hast thou shortened; thou hast covered him with shame. Selah.
46 How long, O LORD? wilt thou hide thyself for ever? shall thy wrath burn like fire?
47 Remember how short my time is; why hast thou made all men subject to vanity?
48 What man is he that lives and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of Sheol? Selah.
49 Lord, where are thy former mercies, which thou didst sware unto David in thy truth?
50 Remember, Lord, the reproach of thy slaves; how I do bear in my bosom the reproach of many peoples,
51 because thine enemies have dishonoured, O LORD; they have dishonoured the footsteps of thine anointed.
52 Blessed be the LORD for ever. Amen and Amen.
5 ¶ And the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer unto Ashdod.
2 When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon.
3 And when those of Ashdod arose early in the morning, behold, Dagon had fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the LORD. And they took Dagon and set him in his place again.
4 And when they arose early on the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD, and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him.
5 Therefore, neither the priests of Dagon nor any that come into Dagon’s temple tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day.
6 ¶ But the hand of the LORD was heavy upon those of Ashdod, and he destroyed them and smote them with hemorrhoids in Ashdod and within all their borders.
7 And when they saw this, those of Ashdod said, The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us, for his hand is sore upon us and upon Dagon our god.
8 They sent, therefore, and gathered all the cardinals of the Philistines unto themselves and said, What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel? And they answered, Let the ark of the God of Israel be removed unto Gath. And they removed the ark of the God of Israel there.
9 And it came to pass that after they had removed it, the hand of the LORD was against the city with a very great destruction. And he smote the men of that city from the smallest to the greatest, and they broke out with hemorrhoids.
10 Therefore, they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And when the ark of God came to Ekron, the Ekronites cried out, saying, They have removed the ark of the God of Israel unto us to kill me and my people.
11 So they sent and gathered together all the cardinals of the Philistines and said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to his own place, that it not kill me and my people, for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city, and the hand of God had become very heavy there.
12 And those that did not die were smitten with the hemorrhoids, and the cry of the city went up to heaven.
12 ¶ And by the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were wrought in the people. (And they were all with one accord in Solomon’s porch.
13 And of the others, no one dared join themself to them, but the people magnified them.
14 And those that believed in the Lord increased in number, multitudes both of men and women.)
15 So much that they brought forth the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them.
16 There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks and those who were tormented with unclean spirits, and they were healed every one.
17 ¶ Then the prince of the priests rose up, and all those that were with him (which is the sect of the Sadducees) were filled with jealousy
18 and laid their hands on the apostles and put them in the common prison.
19 But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors and brought them forth and said,
20 Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life.
21 And when they heard that, they entered into the temple early in the morning and taught. In the meantime, the prince of the priests came, and those that were with him, and called the council together and all the elders of the sons of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought.
22 But when the officers came and found them not in the prison, they returned and told,
23 saying, We certainly found the prison shut with all security and the keepers standing outside before the doors, but when we had opened, we found no one within.
24 Now when the high priest and the captain of the temple and the princes of the priests heard these things, they were perplexed regarding what this would come to.
25 Then someone came and told them, saying, Behold, the men whom ye put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.
26 ¶ Then the captain with the officers went and brought them without violence, for they feared being stoned by the people.
29 ¶ And he spoke unto them a parable: Behold the fig tree and all the trees;
30 when they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now near at hand.
31 So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is near at hand.
32 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away until all is fulfilled.
33 The heaven and the earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with excess and drunkenness and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.
35 For as a snare it shall come on all those that dwell on the face of the whole earth.
36 Watch ye therefore and pray always that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass and to stand before the Son of man.
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