Book of Common Prayer
1 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of the scornful.
2 But his delight is in the Law of the LORD. And on His Law does he meditate day and night.
3 For he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of waters, that will bring forth her fruits in due season; whose leaf shall not fade. So, whatever he shall do shall prosper.
4 The wicked are not so; but are as the chaff which the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
6 For the LORD knows the way of the righteous. And the way of the wicked shall perish.
2 Why do the heathen rage, and the people murmur in vain?
2 The kings of the Earth stand together. And the Princes are assembled together against the LORD, and against His Christ.
3 Let us break their bands and cast their cords from us.
4 But he who dwells in the heavens shall laugh. The LORD shall hold them in derision.
5 Then shall He speak to them in His wrath, and vex them in His sore displeasure, saying,
6 “I have set My King upon Zion, My Holy Mountain.”
7 “I will declare the decree. The LORD has said to me, ‘You are My Son. This day have I begotten You.
8 “Ask of Me, and I shall give You the heathen for Your inheritance, and the ends of the Earth for Your possession.
9 “You shall crush them with a scepter of iron; and break them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.’”
10 Be wise now, therefore, you kings. Be learned, you judges of the Earth.
11 Serve the LORD in fear; and rejoice in trembling.
12 Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish on the way when His wrath shall suddenly burn. Blessed are all who trust in Him. A Psalm of David, when he fled from his son Absalom.
3 LORD, how my adversaries are increased? How many rise against me?
2 Many say to my soul, “There is no help for him in God.” Selah.
3 But You, LORD, are a buckler for me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.
4 I called to the LORD with my voice, and He heard me out of His Holy Mountain. Selah.
5 I laid down and slept; and rose up again. For the LORD sustained me.
6 I will not be afraid of tens of thousands of people who should beset me all around.
7 O LORD, arise! Help me, my God! For You have struck all my enemies upon the cheekbone. You have broken the teeth of the wicked.
8 Salvation belongs to the LORD. And Your blessing is upon Your people. Selah. To him who excels on Neginoth: A Psalm of David.
4 Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness. You have set me at liberty when I was in distress. Have mercy upon me and hear my prayer.
2 O you sons of men, how long will you turn my glory into shame, loving vanity and seeking lies? Selah.
3 But know that the LORD has chosen for Himself a godly man. The LORD will hear when I call to Him.
4 Tremble and do not sin. Examine your own heart upon your bed and be still. Selah.
5 Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and trust in the LORD.
6 Many say, “Who will show us good?” LORD, lift up the light of Your countenance upon us.
7 You have given me more joy of heart than when their wheat and their wine abounded.
8 I will lay down, and also sleep, in peace. For You only, LORD, make me dwell in safety. To him who excels upon Nehiloth: A Psalm of David.
7 O LORD my God, in You I put my trust. Save me from all who persecute me, and deliver me,
2 lest he devour my soul like a lion, and tear it in pieces, while there is no one to help.
3 O LORD, my God, if I have done this thing, if there is any wickedness in my hands,
4 if I have rewarded evil to him who had peace with me (indeed, I have delivered him without cause),
5 let the enemies persecute my soul and take it. Indeed, let him tread my life down upon the Earth, and lay my honor in the dust. Selah.
6 Arise, O LORD, in Your wrath, and lift up Yourself against the rage of my enemies. Awaken me to the judgment You have appointed.
7 So shall the congregation of the people surround You. For their sakes, therefore, return on High.
8 The LORD shall judge the people. Judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness and according to my innocence in me.
9 Oh, let the malice of the wicked come to an end. But guide the just. For the righteous God tries the hearts and reins.
10 My defense is in God, Who preserves the upright in heart.
11 God judges the righteous, and he who denounces God, every day.
12 Unless he turns, He has sharpened His sword. He has bent His bow and made it ready.
13 He has also prepared deadly weapons. He will ordain His arrows for those who persecute.
14 Behold, he shall work with wickedness, for he has conceived mischief. But he shall bring forth a lie.
15 He has made a pit, and dug it, and has fallen into the pit he made.
16 His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his cruelty shall fall upon his own head.
17 I will praise the LORD according to His righteousness and will sing praise to the Name of the LORD Most High. To him who excels on Gittith: A Psalm of David.
5 Then Adonijah, the son of Haggith, exalted himself, saying, “I will be king!” And he got himself chariots and horsemen and fifty men to run before him.
6 And his father had never disciplined him since his childhood, to say, “Why have you done this?” And he was a very pleasant man, born next after Absalom.
7 And he took counsel from Joab, the son of Zeruiah, and from Abiathar the Priest. And they looked after Adonijah.
8 But Zadok the Priest, and Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, and Nathan the Prophet, and Shimei, and Rei, and the men of might who were with David, were not with Adonijah.
9 Then, Adonijah sacrificed sheep and oxen and fat cattle by the stone of Zoheleth, which is by En Rogel, and called all his brethren the king’s sons, and all the men of Judah the king’s servants.
10 But Nathan the Prophet and Benaiah and the mighty men and Solomon, his brother, he did not call.
11 Therefore, Nathan spoke to Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon, saying, “Have you not heard that Adonijah, the son of Haggith, reigns, and David our lord does not know it?
12 “Now, therefore, come. I will now give you counsel, how to save your own life and the life of your son, Solomon.
13 “Go, and get yourself in to King David, and say to him, ‘Did you not swear to your handmaid, my lord, O king, saying, “Assuredly, Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne?” Why, then, is Adonijah king?’
14 “Behold, while you are still talking there with the king, I will also come in after you and confirm your words.”
15 So, Bathsheba went in to the king, into the chamber. And the king was very old. And Abishag the Shunammite ministered to the king.
16 And Bathsheba bowed and prostrated herself to the king. And the king said, “What is your wish?”
17 And she answered him, “My lord, you swore by the LORD your God to your handmaid, ‘Assuredly Solomon (your son) shall reign after me. And he shall sit upon my throne.’
18 “And behold, now Adonijah is king. And now, my lord, O king, you do not know it.
19 “And he has offered many oxen and fat cattle and sheep, and has called all the sons of the king and Abiathar the Priest and Joab the captain of the army. But Solomon, your servant, he has not called.
20 “And you, my lord, O king, know that the eyes of all Israel are on you, that you would tell them who would sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.
21 “For otherwise, when my lord the king shall sleep with his fathers, I and my son Solomon shall have reputations as offenders.”
22 And lo, while she still talked with the king, Nathan the Prophet also came in.
23 And they told the king, saying, “Behold, Nathan the Prophet.” And when he had come in to the king, he prostrated himself before the king upon his face, to the ground.
24 And Nathan said, “My lord, O king, have you said, ‘Adonijah shall reign after me and he shall sit upon my throne?’
25 “For he has gone down this day and has killed many oxen and fat cattle and sheep and has called all the king’s sons and the captains of the army and Abiathar the Priest. And behold, they eat and drink before him, and say, ‘God save King Adonijah!’
26 “But me, your servant, and Zadok the Priest and Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, and your servant Solomon he has not called.
27 “Is this thing done by my lord the king and you have not told your servant who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?”
28 Then, King David answered, and said, “Call Bathsheba.” And she came into the king’s presence and stood before the king.
29 And the king swore, saying, “As the LORD lives, Who has redeemed my soul out of all adversity,
30 “just as I swore to you by the LORD God of Israel, saying, ‘Assuredly Solomon your son shall reign after me and he shall sit upon my throne in my place,’ so will I certainly do this day.”
31 Then Bathsheba bowed her face to the earth and did reverence to the king, and said, “God save my lord King David forever.”
26 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You are permitted to speak for yourself.” So, Paul stretched forth the hand, and answered for himself.
2 “I consider myself happy, King Agrippa. Because today I shall answer before you all the things of which I am accused by the Jews;
3 “especially because you have knowledge of all customs and questions which are among the Jews. Therefore, I beg you to hear me patiently.
4 “Regarding my life from childhood, all the Jews know that from the beginning it was among my own nation at Jerusalem,
5 “They knew me from the beginning and could testify (if they wished) that according to the straightest sect of our religion, I lived as a Pharisee.
6 “And now I stand accused of hope in the promise made by God to our Fathers;
7 “to which our twelve tribes, earnestly serving God day and night, hope to come. For this hope’s sake, O King Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews.
8 “Why should it be thought an incredible thing by you that God should raise the dead again?
9 “Truly, I also thought to myself that I ought to do many things against the Name of Jesus of Nazareth;
10 “which I also did in Jerusalem. For I shut up many of the saints in prison, having received authority from the chief priests. And when they were put to death, I gave sentence.
11 “And I punished them throughout all the synagogues and compelled them to blaspheme. And being extremely enraged against them, I persecuted them, even to strange cities.
12 “At which time, even as I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests,
13 (at midday, O King) I saw on the way a light from Heaven, surpassing the brightness of the Sun. It shined all around me and those who went with me.
14 “So, when we had all fallen to the Earth, I heard a voice speaking to me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me? It is hard for you to kick against goads.’
15 “Then I said, ‘Who are You, Lord? And he said, ‘I am Jesus, Whom you persecute.
16 ‘But rise and stand up on your feet. For I have appeared to you for this purpose: to appoint you as a minister and a witness, both of the things which you have seen and of the things in which I will appear to you;
17 ‘I will deliver you from this people, and from the Gentiles to whom now I send you,
18 ‘to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’
19 “So, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.
20 “But I declared first to those of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judea; and then to the Gentiles, so that they would repent and turn to God, and do the works of repentance.
21 “For this reason the Jews arrested me in the Temple and planned to kill me.
22 “Nevertheless, I obtained the help of God, and continue to this day, witnessing to both small and great, saying no other things than those which the Prophets and Moses said would come.
23 “That is, that Christ should suffer. And that He would be the first Who would rise from the dead, and would show light to this people, and to the Gentiles.”
14 “Moreover, when you shall see the Abomination of Desolation (spoken of by Daniel the Prophet) set where it ought not be, let whoever hears consider it. Then let those who are in Judea flee into the mountains.
15 “And let no one who is upon the house come down into the house, nor enter into it to fetch anything out of his house.
16 “And let no one who is in the field turn back again to take his garment.
17 “Then woe shall be to those who are with child, and to those who nurse in those days.
18 “Pray, therefore, that your flight is not in the winter.
19 “For those days shall be such tribulation as was not from the beginning of the Creation (which God created) until this time, nor shall be.
20 “And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved. But for the Elect’s sake (which He has chosen) He has shortened those days.
21 “Then, if anyone says to you, ‘Lo, here is Christ’, or ‘Look, he is there’, do not believe it.
22 “For false christs shall rise, and false prophets, and shall show signs and wonders to deceive (if it were possible) the very Elect.
23 “But beware. Behold, I have shown you all things before.
24 “Moreover, in those days, after that tribulation, the Sun shall grow dark. And the Moon shall not give her light.
25 “And the stars of Heaven shall fall. And the powers which are in Heaven shall shake.
26 “And then they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and Glory.
27 “And then He shall send his angels and shall gather together His Elect from the four winds and from the utmost part of the Earth to the utmost part of Heaven.
© 2019, 2024 by Five Talents Audio. All rights reserved.