Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer of the poor in spirit, when he is overwhelmed, and pours out his complaint before the LORD.
1 ¶ Hear my prayer, O LORD, and let my cry come unto thee.
2 Hide not thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble; incline thine ear unto me; in the day when I call, answer me speedily.
3 For my days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as in a hearth.
4 My heart is smitten and withered like grass so that I forget to eat my bread.
5 By reason of the voice of my groaning, my bones cleave to my skin.
6 I am like a pelican of the wilderness; I am like an owl of the desert.
7 I watch and am as a sparrow alone upon the house top.
8 My enemies reproach me all the day, and those that are mad against me are sworn against me.
9 For I have eaten ashes like bread and mingled my drink with weeping,
10 because of thine indignation and thy wrath; for thou hast lifted me up and cast me down.
11 My days are like a shadow that declines, and I am withered like grass.
12 ¶ But thou, O LORD, shalt endure for ever and thy remembrance unto all generations.
13 Thou shalt arise and have mercy upon Zion; for the time to favour her, the set time, is come.
14 For thy slaves love her stones and have compassion on the dust thereof.
15 So the Gentiles shall fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth thy glory
16 because the LORD shall have built up Zion, and he shall be seen in his glory.
17 He shall have regarded the prayer of those who are alone and destitute and not despised their prayer.
18 This shall be written for the generation to come, and the people who shall be created shall praise JAH.
19 For he has looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from the heavens the LORD beheld the earth
20 to hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death,
21 that they might declare the name of the LORD in Zion and his praise in Jerusalem,
22 when the people are gathered together as one and the kingdoms, to serve the LORD.
23 ¶ He weakened my strength in the way; he shortened my days.
24 I said, O my God, do not cut me off in the midst of my days; thy years are from generation to generation.
25 Of old thou hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the work of thy hands.
26 They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture thou shalt change them, and they shall be changed:
27 But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.
28 The sons of thy slaves shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee.
1 ¶ O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good; for his mercy endures for ever.
2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he has redeemed from the hand of the enemy
3 and gathered them out of the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.
4 They wandered lost in the wilderness, alone and out of the way; they found no city to dwell in.
5 Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.
6 Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.
7 And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation.
8 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his mercy and for his wonderful works unto the sons of Adam!
9 For he satisfies the soul that is destitute and fills the hungry soul with goodness.
10 ¶ Such as sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and in irons,
11 because they rebelled against the words of God and condemned the counsel of the most High:
12 Therefore he brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and there was no one to help.
13 Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses.
14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and broke their bonds asunder.
15 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his mercy and for his wonderful works unto the sons of Adam!
16 For he has broken the gates of brass and cut the bars of iron asunder.
17 ¶ The fools, because of the way of their rebellion, and because of their iniquities, were afflicted.
18 Their soul abhorred all manner of food, and they drew near unto the gates of death.
19 Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses.
20 He sent his word and healed them and delivered them from their graves.
21 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his mercy and for his wonderful works unto the sons of Adam!
22 And let them offer the sacrifices of praise and publish his works with singing.
23 ¶ Those that go down to the sea in ships that do work in many waters,
24 these have seen the works of the LORD and his wonders in the deep.
25 For he commands and raises the stormy wind, which lifts up its waves.
26 They mount up to the heavens; they go down again to the depths; their soul is melted because of trouble.
27 They reel to and fro and stagger like a drunken man, and all of their knowledge is of no avail.
28 Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivers them out of their afflictions.
29 He makes the storm a calm, so that its waves are still.
30 Then they are glad because they are at rest; so he brings them into the haven of his will.
31 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his mercy and for his wonderful works unto the sons of Adam!
32 Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people and praise him in the assembly of the elders.
27 ¶ Behold, the days come, said the LORD, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and with the seed of beast.
28 And it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched over them, to pluck up and to break down and to throw down and to destroy and to afflict, so will I watch over them, to build and to plant, said the LORD.
29 In those days they shall no longer say, The fathers have eaten the sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.
30 But each one shall die for his own iniquity; every man that eats the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.
31 Behold, the days come, said the LORD, in which I will make a new covenant with the house of Jacob and with the house of Judah:
32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt because they invalidated my covenant although I was a husband unto them, said the LORD;
33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, said the LORD, I will give my law in their souls and write it in their hearts and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
34 And they shall no longer teach every man his neighbour and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD, for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, said the LORD, for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
5 ¶ Be ye therefore imitators of God, as dear children
2 and walk in charity even as the Christ also has loved us and has given himself for us as an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour.
3 ¶ But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not be once named among you as becomes saints,
4 neither dishonest words nor foolishness nor low jesting, which are not convenient, but rather giving of thanks.
5 For this ye know, that no fornicator nor unclean person nor covetous man, who is also an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
6 Let no one deceive you with vain words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
7 Be not ye, therefore, partakers with them.
8 For in another time ye were darkness, but now ye are light in the Lord: walk as children of light;
9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth),
10 approving what is well pleasing unto the Lord.
11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which they do in secret.
13 But all these things when they are reproved by the light are made manifest, for the light is that which manifests everything.
14 Therefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest and arise from the dead, and the Christ shall shine upon thee.
15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
17 Therefore, be ye not unwise, but understanding of what the will of the Lord is.
18 And be not drunk with wine, in which there is excess, but be filled with the Spirit,
19 speaking among yourselves with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and praising the Lord in your hearts,
20 giving thanks always for all things unto the God and Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
9 ¶ And as Jesus passed forth from there, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom; and he said unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him.
10 And it came to pass, as he sat at food in his house, behold, many publicans and sinners that had come sat down at the table with Jesus and his disciples.
11 And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why does your Master eat with publicans and sinners?
12 But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, Those that are whole need not a physician, but those that are sick.
13 Therefore go ye and learn what this is, I will have mercy and not sacrifice, for I am not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.
14 ¶ Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but thy disciples do not fast?
15 And Jesus said unto them, Can the sons of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then they shall fast.
16 No one mends an old garment with a piece of new cloth, for that patch takes from the garment, and the rent is made worse.
17 Neither do they put new wine into old wineskins, otherwise the wineskins break, and the wine runs out, and the wineskins perish; but they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved together.
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