Book of Common Prayer
78 An Instruction of Asaph. Give ear, O my people, to my law, Incline your ear to sayings of my mouth.
2 I open with a simile my mouth, I bring forth hidden things of old,
3 That we have heard and do know, And our fathers have recounted to us.
4 We do not hide from their sons, To a later generation recounting praises of Jehovah, And His strength, and His wonders that He hath done.
5 And He raiseth up a testimony in Jacob, And a law hath placed in Israel, That He commanded our fathers, To make them known to their sons.
6 So that a later generation doth know, Sons who are born, do rise and recount to their sons,
7 And place in God their confidence, And forget not the doings of God, But keep His commands.
8 And they are not like their fathers, A generation apostate and rebellious, A generation! it hath not prepared its heart, Nor stedfast with God [is] its spirit.
9 Sons of Ephraim -- armed bearers of bow, Have turned in a day of conflict.
10 They have not kept the covenant of God, And in His law they have refused to walk,
11 And they forget His doings, And His wonders that He shewed them.
12 Before their fathers He hath done wonders, In the land of Egypt -- the field of Zoan.
13 He cleft a sea, and causeth them to pass over, Yea, He causeth waters to stand as a heap.
14 And leadeth them with a cloud by day, And all the night with a light of fire.
15 He cleaveth rocks in a wilderness, And giveth drink -- as the great deep.
16 And bringeth out streams from a rock, And causeth waters to come down as rivers.
17 And they add still to sin against Him, To provoke the Most High in the dry place.
18 And they try God in their heart, To ask food for their lust.
19 And they speak against God -- they said: `Is God able to array a table in a wilderness?'
20 Lo, He hath smitten a rock, And waters flow, yea, streams overflow. `Also -- bread [is] He able to give? Doth He prepare flesh for His people?'
21 Therefore hath Jehovah heard, And He sheweth Himself wroth, And fire hath been kindled against Jacob, And anger also hath gone up against Israel,
22 For they have not believed in God, Nor have they trusted in His salvation.
23 And He commandeth clouds from above, Yea, doors of the heavens He hath opened.
24 And He raineth on them manna to eat, Yea, corn of heaven He hath given to them.
25 Food of the mighty hath each eaten, Venison He sent to them to satiety.
26 He causeth an east wind to journey in the heavens, And leadeth by His strength a south wind,
27 And He raineth on them flesh as dust, And as sand of the seas -- winged fowl,
28 And causeth [it] to fall in the midst of His camp, Round about His tabernacles.
29 And they eat, and are greatly satisfied, And their desire He bringeth to them.
30 They have not been estranged from their desire, Yet [is] their food in their mouth,
31 And the anger of God hath gone up against them, And He slayeth among their fat ones, And youths of Israel He caused to bend.
32 With all this they have sinned again, And have not believed in His wonders.
33 And He consumeth in vanity their days, And their years in trouble.
34 If He slew them, then they sought Him, And turned back, and sought God earnestly,
35 And they remember that God [is] their rock, And God Most High their redeemer.
36 And -- they deceive Him with their mouth, And with their tongue do lie to Him,
37 And their heart hath not been right with Him, And they have not been stedfast in His covenant.
38 And He -- the Merciful One, Pardoneth iniquity, and destroyeth not, And hath often turned back His anger, And waketh not up all His fury.
39 And He remembereth that they [are] flesh, A wind going on -- and it returneth not.
40 How often do they provoke Him in the wilderness, Grieve Him in the desolate place?
41 Yea, they turn back, and try God, And the Holy One of Israel have limited.
42 They have not remembered His hand The day He ransomed them from the adversary.
43 When He set His signs in Egypt, And His wonders in the field of Zoan,
44 And He turneth to blood their streams, And their floods they drink not.
45 He sendeth among them the beetle, and it consumeth them, And the frog, and it destroyeth them,
46 And giveth to the caterpillar their increase, And their labour to the locust.
47 He destroyeth with hail their vine, And their sycamores with frost,
48 And delivereth up to the hail their beasts, And their cattle to the burning flames.
49 He sendeth on them the fury of His anger, Wrath, and indignation, and distress -- A discharge of evil messengers.
50 He pondereth a path for His anger, He kept not back their soul from death, Yea, their life to the pestilence He delivered up.
51 And He smiteth every first-born in Egypt, The first-fruit of the strong in tents of Ham.
52 And causeth His people to journey as a flock, And guideth them as a drove in a wilderness,
53 And He leadeth them confidently, And they have not been afraid, And their enemies hath the sea covered.
54 And He bringeth them in unto the border of His sanctuary, This mountain His right hand had got,
55 And casteth out nations from before them, And causeth them to fall in the line of inheritance, And causeth the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents,
56 And they tempt and provoke God Most High, And His testimonies have not kept.
57 And they turn back, And deal treacherously like their fathers, They have been turned like a deceitful bow,
58 And make Him angry with their high places, And with their graven images make Him zealous,
59 God hath heard, and sheweth Himself wroth. And kicketh exceedingly against Israel.
60 And He leaveth the tabernacle of Shiloh, The tent He had placed among men,
61 And He giveth His strength to captivity, And His beauty into the hand of an adversary,
62 And delivereth up to the sword His people, And with His inheritance shewed Himself angry.
63 His young men hath fire consumed, And His virgins have not been praised.
64 His priests by the sword have fallen, And their widows weep not.
65 And the Lord waketh as a sleeper, As a mighty one crying aloud from wine.
66 And He smiteth His adversaries backward, A reproach age-during He hath put on them,
67 And He kicketh against the tent of Joseph, And on the tribe of Ephraim hath not fixed.
68 And He chooseth the tribe of Judah, With mount Zion that He loved,
69 And buildeth His sanctuary as a high place, Like the earth, He founded it to the age.
70 And He fixeth on David His servant, And taketh him from the folds of a flock,
71 From behind suckling ones He hath brought him in, To rule over Jacob His people, And over Israel His inheritance.
72 And he ruleth them according to the integrity of his heart, And by the skilfulness of his hands leadeth them!
45 And Joseph hath not been able to refrain himself before all those standing by him, and he calleth, `Put out every man from me;' and no man hath stood with him when Joseph maketh himself known unto his brethren,
2 and he giveth forth his voice in weeping, and the Egyptians hear, and the house of Pharaoh heareth.
3 And Joseph saith unto his brethren, `I [am] Joseph, is my father yet alive?' and his brethren have not been able to answer him, for they have been troubled at his presence.
4 And Joseph saith unto his brethren, `Come nigh unto me, I pray you,' and they come nigh; and he saith, `I [am] Joseph, your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt;
5 and now, be not grieved, nor let it be displeasing in your eyes that ye sold me hither, for to preserve life hath God sent me before you.
6 `Because these two years the famine [is] in the heart of the land, and yet [are] five years, [in] which there is neither ploughing nor harvest;
7 and God sendeth me before you, to place of you a remnant in the land, and to give life to you by a great escape;
8 and now, ye -- ye have not sent me hither, but God, and He doth set me for a father to Pharaoh, and for lord to all his house, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
9 `Haste, and go up unto my father, then ye have said to him, Thus said Joseph thy son, God hath set me for lord to all Egypt; come down unto me, stay not,
10 and thou hast dwelt in the land of Goshen, and been near unto me, thou and thy sons, and thy son's sons, and thy flock, and thy herd, and all that thou hast,
11 and I have nourished thee there -- for yet [are] five years of famine -- lest thou become poor, thou and thy household, and all that thou hast.
12 `And lo, your eyes are seeing, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that [it is] my mouth which is speaking unto you;
13 and ye have declared to my father all my honour in Egypt, and all that ye have seen, and ye have hasted, and have brought down my father hither.'
14 And he falleth on the neck of Benjamin his brother, and weepeth, and Benjamin hath wept on his neck;
15 and he kisseth all his brethren, and weepeth over them; and afterwards have his brethren spoken with him.
32 And I wish you to be without anxiety; the unmarried is anxious for the things of the Lord, how he shall please the Lord;
33 and the married is anxious for the things of the world, how he shall please the wife.
34 The wife and the virgin have been distinguished: the unmarried is anxious for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit, and the married is anxious for the things of the world, how she shall please the husband.
35 And this for your own profit I say: not that I may cast a noose upon you, but for the seemliness and devotedness to the Lord, undistractedly,
36 and if any one doth think [it] to be unseemly to his virgin, if she may be beyond the bloom of age, and it ought so to be, what he willeth let him do; he doth not sin -- let him marry.
37 And he who hath stood stedfast in the heart -- not having necessity -- and hath authority over his own will, and this he hath determined in his heart -- to keep his own virgin -- doth well;
38 so that both he who is giving in marriage doth well, and he who is not giving in marriage doth better.
39 A wife hath been bound by law as long time as her husband may live, and if her husband may sleep, she is free to be married to whom she will -- only in the Lord;
40 and she is happier if she may so remain -- according to my judgment; and I think I also have the Spirit of God.
6 And he went forth thence, and came to his own country, and his disciples do follow him,
2 and sabbath having come, he began in the synagogue to teach, and many hearing were astonished, saying, `Whence hath this one these things? and what the wisdom that was given to him, that also such mighty works through his hands are done?
3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James, and Joses, and Judas, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us?' -- and they were being stumbled at him.
4 And Jesus said to them -- `A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country, and among his kindred, and in his own house;'
5 and he was not able there any mighty work to do, except on a few infirm people having put hands he did heal [them];
6 and he wondered because of their unbelief. And he was going round the villages, in a circle, teaching,
7 and he doth call near the twelve, and he began to send them forth two by two, and he was giving them power over the unclean spirits,
8 and he commanded them that they may take nothing for the way, except a staff only -- no scrip, no bread, no brass in the girdle,
9 but having been shod with sandals, and ye may not put on two coats.
10 And he said to them, `Whenever ye may enter into a house, there remain till ye may depart thence,
11 and as many as may not receive you, nor hear you, going out thence, shake off the dust that is under your feet for a testimony to them; verily I say to you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom or Gomorrah in a day of judgment than for that city.'
12 And having gone forth they were preaching that [men] might reform,
13 and many demons they were casting out, and they were anointing with oil many infirm, and they were healing [them].