Book of Common Prayer
A Song of degrees of David.
1 ¶ LORD, my heart has not become haughty, nor mine eyes lofty; neither have I walked in grandeur, nor in wonderful things above and beyond that which pertains to me.
2 Rather I have quieted myself and caused my soul to become silent, that I might be as a child that is weaned of his mother, as one who is weaned from my own life.
3 Let Israel wait for the LORD from now on and for ever.
¶ A Song of degrees.
1 LORD, remember David and all his afflictions:
2 How he swore unto the LORD and vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob;
3 surely I will not come into the habitation of my house nor go up into my bed,
4 I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids,
5 until I find out a place for the LORD, a habitation for the mighty God of Jacob.
6 Behold, we heard of her in Ephratah; we found her in the fields of the wood.
7 We will go into his tents; we will worship at his footstool.
8 Arise, O LORD, into thy rest; thou, and the ark of thy strength.
9 Thy priests are clothed with righteousness, and thy merciful ones shout for joy.
10 For the love of thy slave David, do not turn away thy face from thine anointed.
11 ¶ The LORD has sworn truth unto David; he will not turn from it; Of the fruit of thy body I will set upon thy throne.
12 If thy sons will keep my covenant and my testimony that I shall teach them, their sons shall also sit upon thy throne for ever.
13 For the LORD has chosen Zion; he has desired her for his habitation.
14 This shall be my rest for ever; here I will dwell; for I have desired her.
15 I will abundantly bless her provision; I will satisfy her poor with bread.
16 I will also clothe her priests with saving health, and her merciful ones shall shout aloud for joy.
17 There will I make the horn of David to bud; I have ordained a lamp for my anointed.
18 His enemies I will clothe with shame, but upon himself shall his crown blossom.
A Song of degrees of David.
1 ¶ Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
2 It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that runs down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard, that goes down to the skirts of his garments;
3 as the dew of Hermon, that descends upon the mountains of Zion; for there the LORD commands blessing and eternal life.
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.
19 ¶ And it was told Joab, Behold, the king weeps and mourns for Absalom.
2 And that day the salvation was turned into mourning for all the people, for the people heard it said that day how the king was grieved for his son.
3 And the people entered by stealth that day into the city, as people being ashamed steal away when they flee in battle.
4 But the king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!
5 And Joab entering into the house of the king, said unto him, Thou hast shamed this day the faces of all thy slaves, who this day have saved thy life and the lives of thy sons and of thy daughters and the lives of thy wives and the lives of thy concubines,
6 by loving those who hate thee and hating thy friends. For thou hast declared this day that thou dost not regard thy princes nor thy slaves. For this day I perceive that if Absalom had lived and we had all died today, then this would be right in thine eyes.
7 Now, therefore, arise, go forth and speak unto the heart of thy slaves, for I swear by the LORD, if thou go not forth, not one of them will abide with thee tonight and that will be worse unto thee than all the evil that has come upon thee from thy youth until now.
8 Then the king arose and sat in the gate. And it was declared unto all the people, saying, Behold, the king sits in the gate. And all the people came before the king, but Israel had fled every man to his tent.
9 ¶ And all the people were in contention throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, The king saved us out of the hand of our enemies, and he delivered us out of the hand of the Philistines, and now he has fled out of the land for Absalom.
10 And Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle. Now, therefore, why are ye silent regarding bringing the king back?
11 And King David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar, the priests, saying, Speak unto the elders of Judah, saying, Why shall ye be the last to bring the king back to his house? Seeing that the word of all Israel has come to the king, to return him to his house.
12 Ye are my brethren, ye are my bones and my flesh; why then are ye the last to bring back the king?
13 Likewise say ye to Amasa, Art thou not of my bone and of my flesh? God do so to me and more also, if thou be not captain of the host before me continually in the place of Joab.
14 And he inclined the heart of all the men of Judah, even as the heart of one man, so that they sent this word unto the king, Return thou and all thy slaves.
15 So the king returned and came to the Jordan. And Judah came to Gilgal, to go to meet the king, to conduct the king over the Jordan.
16 ¶ And Shimei, the son of Gera, son of Jemini, who was of Bahurim, hastened and came down with the men of Judah to meet King David.
17 And there were a thousand men of Benjamin with him; likewise Ziba, the slave of the house of Saul and his fifteen sons and his twenty slaves with him, who went over the Jordan before the king.
18 Then the ferry boat went over to carry over the king’s household and to do what he desired. Then Shimei, the son of Gera, fell down before the king, as he was passing the Jordan,
19 And said unto the king, Let not my lord impute iniquity unto me, neither retain the memory of the wickedness that thy slave did the day that my lord the king went out of Jerusalem, that the king should guard it in his heart.
20 For I, thy slave, know that I have sinned; therefore, behold, I am come the first this day of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king.
21 But Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, answered and said, Shall not Shimei be put to death for this because he cursed the LORD’s anointed?
22 Then David said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah, that ye should this day be adversaries unto me? Shall anyone be put to death today in Israel? Do I not know that I am this day king over Israel?
23 And the king said unto Shimei, Thou shalt not die. And the king swore unto him.
24 ¶ And after five days Ananias, the prince of the priests, descended with the elders and with a certain orator named Tertullus, who informed the governor against Paul.
2 And when he was called forth, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying, Seeing that by thee we enjoy great peace and that very worthy deeds are done unto this nation by thy prudence,
3 we accept it always and in all places, most noble Felix, with all thankfulness.
4 Notwithstanding, that I be not further tedious unto thee, I pray thee that thou would hear us of thy clemency a few words.
5 For we have found this man a pestilent fellow and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world and prince of the seditious sect of the Nazarenes,
6 who also has gone about to profane the temple, whom we took and would have judged according to our law.
7 But the tribunal Lysias came upon us, and with great violence took him away out of our hands,
8 commanding his accusers to come unto thee; by examining of whom thou may take knowledge of all these things, of which we accuse him.
9 And the Jews also assented, saying that these things were so.
10 ¶ Then Paul, after the governor had beckoned unto him to speak, answered, Forasmuch as I know that thou hast been of many years a judge unto this nation, I do the more cheerfully answer for myself;
11 because thou art able to understand that there have been but twelve days since I went up to Jerusalem to worship.
12 And they neither found me in the temple disputing with any man, neither raising up the people, neither in the synagogues, nor in the city,
13 neither can they prove the things of which they now accuse me.
14 But this I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call a sect, so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets,
15 and have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.
16 And for this reason do I exercise myself to have always a conscience void of offense toward God and toward men.
17 Now after many years I came to bring alms to my nation and offerings.
18 Whereupon certain Jews from Asia found me purified in the temple, neither with multitude, nor with tumult,
19 who ought to have been here before thee and object if they had anything against me.
20 Or else let these same here say if they have found any evil doing in me, while I stood before the council,
21 except it be for this one voice, that I cried out standing among them, Touching the resurrection of the dead, I am called in question by you this day.
22 ¶ And when Felix heard these things, he deferred them, saying, I shall have more information regarding that way, when Lysias the tribunal shall come down, Then I will know the uttermost of your matter.
23 And he commanded a centurion to keep Paul and to let him have liberty, and that he should forbid none of his own to minister or come unto him.
28 ¶ And one of the scribes came, having heard their dispute and knowing that he had given a good response unto them, asked him, Which is the principal commandment of all?
29 And Jesus responded unto him, The principal of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel, The Lord our God, the Lord is one;
30 and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy thought and with all thy strength: this is the principal commandment.
31 And the second is like it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is no other commandment greater than these.
32 Then the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth, that God is one, and there is none other outside of him;
33 and to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the soul and with all the strength and to love his neighbour as himself is more than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.
34 Then Jesus, seeing that he responded wisely, said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that dared ask him any question.
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