Book of Common Prayer
MEM.
97 ¶ O how I love thy law! it is my meditation all the day.
98 ¶ Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies, for they are eternal unto me.
99 I have more understanding than all my teachers, for thy testimonies have been my meditation.
100 I understand more than the elders because I keep thy precepts.
101 ¶ I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word.
102 ¶ I have not departed from thy judgments, for thou hast taught me.
103 ¶ How sweet have been thy spoken words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
104 Through thy precepts I have obtained understanding; therefore I have hated every false way.
NUN.
105 ¶ Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my way.
106 ¶ I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep the judgments of thy righteousness.
107 ¶ I am afflicted very much; cause me to live, O LORD, according to thy word.
108 ¶ Accept, I beseech thee, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O LORD, and teach me thy judgments.
109 ¶ My soul is continually in my hand; yet I do not forget thy law.
110 The wicked have laid a snare for me; yet did not I err from thy precepts.
111 ¶ I have taken thy testimonies as a heritage for ever; for they are the rejoicing of my heart.
112 I have inclined my heart to perform thy statutes always, even unto the end.
SAMECH.
113 ¶ I hate vain thoughts; but I love thy law.
114 ¶ Thou art my hiding place and my shield; I have waited for thy word.
115 ¶ Depart from me, ye evildoers; for I will keep the commandments of my God.
116 ¶ Uphold me according unto thy word, and I shall live; and let me not be ashamed of my hope.
117 Hold me up, and I shall be saved, and I shall delight in thy statutes continually.
118 ¶ Thou hast trodden down all those that err from thy statutes; for their deceit is falsehood.
119 Thou dost cause all the wicked of the earth to come undone like dross; therefore I have loved thy testimonies.
120 My flesh trembles for fear of thee, and I am afraid of thy judgments.
To the Overcomer upon Gittith, A Psalm of Asaph.
1 ¶ Sing aloud unto God our strength; make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.
2 Take the song and play the timbrel, the harp of joy with the psaltery.
3 Blow the shofar in the new moon in the time appointed on our solemn feast day.
4 For this is a statute of Israel and an ordinance of the God of Jacob.
5 This he ordained in Joseph for a testimony, when he went out through the land of Egypt where I heard a language that I did not understand.
6 I removed his shoulder from the burden; his hands were delivered from working with clay.
7 Thou didst call in trouble, and I delivered thee; I answered thee in the secret place of thunder; I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. Selah.
8 ¶ Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee; O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me,
9 no strange god shall be in thee, neither shalt thou worship any strange god.
10 I am the LORD thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt; open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.
11 But my people did not hearken to my voice, and Israel did not love me.
12 So I gave them up unto the hardness of their heart, and they walked in their own counsels.
13 Oh, if my people would hearken unto me and Israel would walk in my ways!
14 I would soon subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their adversaries.
15 The haters of the LORD would have submitted themselves unto him, and their time would endure for ever.
16 And God would have fed them also the finest of the wheat, and with honey out of the rock I would have satisfied thee.
A Psalm of Asaph.
1 ¶ God stands in the congregation of the mighty; he judges among the gods.
2 How long will ye judge unjustly and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah.
3 Do right concerning the poor and fatherless; do justice to the poor and destitute.
4 Deliver the poor and destitute; deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.
5 They do not know, neither do they understand; they walk in darkness; they move all the foundations of the earth.
6 ¶ I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are sons of the most High.
7 But ye shall die like men and fall like one of the tyrants.
8 Arise, O God, judge the earth, for thou shalt inherit all the Gentiles.
16 ¶ And the fame of this was heard in Pharaoh’s house, saying, Joseph’s brethren have come; and it pleased Pharaoh well, and his slaves.
17 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Say unto thy brethren, Do this: lade your beasts and go, return unto the land of Canaan
18 and take your father and your households and come unto me; and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land.
19 Now thou art commanded, do this: take wagons out of the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives and bring your father and come.
20 Also regard not your stuff, for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours.
21 And the sons of Israel did so, and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the commandment of Pharaoh, and gave them provisions for the way.
22 To each one of them all he gave changes of clothing; but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver and five changes of clothing.
23 And to his father he sent after this manner: ten asses laden with the best of Egypt and ten she asses laden with wheat and bread and food for his father on the way.
24 So he sent his brethren away, and they departed. And he said unto them, See that ye do not fight along the way.
25 ¶ And they went up out of Egypt and came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob, their father,
26 and told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is lord over all the land of Egypt. And his heart fainted, for he did not believe them.
27 And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them; and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob, their father, revived:
28 Then Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive; I will go and see him before I die.
8 ¶ Now as concerning things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but charity edifies.
2 And if anyone thinks that they know anything, they know nothing yet as they ought to know.
3 But if anyone loves God, the same is known of him.
4 ¶ As concerning, therefore, the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one.
5 For though there are some that are called gods, whether in heaven or in the earth (as there are many gods and many lords),
6 but to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.
7 ¶ Howbeit there is not in everyone that knowledge, for some with conscience of the idol unto now, eat it as a thing offered unto an idol, and their conscience being weak is defiled.
8 But food does not make us more acceptable unto God; for neither if we eat are we the better, neither if we eat not are we the worse.
9 But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours becomes a stumblingblock to those that are weak.
10 For if anyone sees thee who hast this knowledge sit at food in the idol’s temple, shall not the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols?
11 and through thy knowledge the weak brother shall perish, for whom Christ died.
12 In this manner, therefore, sinning against the brethren and wounding their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ.
13 Therefore, if food makes my brother to fall, I will never eat flesh nor do anything which may cause my brother to fall.
13 And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many that were sick, and they were healed.
14 ¶ And king Herod heard of him (for his name was spread abroad), and he said, John the Baptist has risen from the dead, and therefore virtues operate in him.
15 Others said, It is Elijah. And others said, It is the prophet or one of the prophets.
16 But when Herod heard of it, he said, This is John, whom I beheaded: he is risen from the dead.
17 For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John and bound him in prison for Herodias’ sake, his brother Philip’s wife, for he had married her.
18 For John had said unto Herod, It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother’s wife.
19 Therefore Herodias had a quarrel against him and would have killed him, but she could not;
20 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just and holy man, and respected him; and when he heard him, he did many things and heard him gladly.
21 And when a convenient day was come, that Herod on his birthday made a supper to his princes and tribunes and to the principal people of Galilee;
22 and when the daughter of Herodias came in and danced and pleased Herod and those that sat with him, the king said unto the damsel, Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it unto thee.
23 And he swore unto her, Whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it unto thee, unto the half of my kingdom.
24 And she went forth, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, The head of John the Baptist.
25 And she came in with haste unto the king and asked, saying, I will that thou give me immediately in a platter the head of John the Baptist.
26 And the king was exceeding sorry, yet for his oath’s sake and for the sakes of those who sat with him, he would not reject her.
27 And straightway the king sent an executioner and commanded his head to be brought, and he went and beheaded him in the prison
28 and brought his head in a platter and gave it to the damsel, and the damsel gave it to her mother.
29 And when his disciples heard of it, they came and took up his corpse and laid it in a tomb.
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