Book of Common Prayer
To the Overcomer upon Shoshannim (lilies), A Psalm of David.
1 ¶ Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul.
2 I sink in deep mire where there is no standing; I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.
3 I am weary of my crying; my throat is dried; my eyes fail while I wait for my God.
4 Those that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head; those that would destroy me, being my enemies wrongfully, are mighty; then I restored that which I did not take away.
5 O God, thou knowest my foolishness, and my guiltiness is not hid from thee.
6 Do not let those that wait on thee, O Lord GOD of the hosts, be ashamed for my sake; do not let those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel.
7 Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame has covered my face.
8 I am become a stranger unto my brethren and an alien unto my mother’s sons.
9 For the zeal of thy house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those that reproached thee are fallen upon me.
10 When I wept with fasting of my soul, thou hast been a reproach unto me.
11 I made sackcloth also my garment, and I became a proverb to them.
12 They that sat in the gate spoke against me, and I was the song of the drunkards.
13 ¶ But I corrected my prayer unto thee, O LORD, in the time of thy good pleasure; O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy saving health.
14 Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not drown; let me be delivered from those that hate me and out of the deep waters.
15 Let not the violent force of the waters overcome me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.
16 Hear me, O LORD, for thy mercy is perceptible, look upon me according to the multitude of thy acts of compassion
17 And hide not thy face from thy slave, for I am in trouble; hear me speedily.
18 Draw near unto my soul and redeem it; deliver me because of my enemies.
19 Thou hast known my reproach and my shame and my dishonour; my adversaries are all before thee.
20 Reproach has broken my heart, and I am full of heaviness, and I looked for some to take pity, but there was no one, and for comforters, but I found none.
21 They also gave me gall for my food; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
22 ¶ Let their table become a snare before them, and that which should have been for their prosperity, let it become a stumbling block.
23 Let their eyes be darkened that they see not and make their loins continually to shake.
24 Pour out thine indignation upon them, and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them.
25 Let their palace be desolate, and let no one dwell in their tents.
26 For they persecute him whom thou hast smitten, and they boast that thou hast slain their enemies.
27 Add iniquity unto their iniquity, and let them not come into thy righteousness.
28 Let them be blotted out of the book of the living and not be written with the righteous.
29 But I am poor and sorrowful; let thy saving health, O God, set me up on high.
30 ¶ I will praise the name of God with a song and will magnify him with praises.
31 This also shall please the LORD better than the sacrifice of an ox or bullock that struggles with horns and hoofs.
32 The humble shall see this and be glad; seek God and thy heart shall live.
33 For the LORD hears the destitute and does not despise his prisoners.
34 Let the heavens and the earth praise him, the seas, and every thing that moves in them.
35 For God will protect Zion and will rebuild the cities of Judah; they shall dwell there and inherit it.
36 The seed of his slaves shall inherit it, and those that love his name shall dwell therein.
1 ¶ Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet almost departed from the way; my steps had almost slipped.
3 For I became angry against the foolish when I saw the peace of the wicked.
4 Because there is no restraint that would bring about their death, but their strength is firm.
5 They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men.
6 Therefore they are crowned with pride; they cover themselves with violence as a garment.
7 Their eyes stand out with fatness; they easily obtain the desires of their heart.
8 They are lawless and speak wickedly of doing violence; they speak loftily.
9 They set their mouth against heaven, and their tongue walks through the earth.
10 Therefore his people shall return here; and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them.
11 And they say, How does God know? and is there knowledge in the most High?
12 Behold, these ungodly men, without being troubled by the world obtain riches.
13 Verily, in vain have I cleansed my heart and washed my hands in innocency
14 and been plagued all day long and chastened every morning:
15 ¶ If I should say, I will speak as they do; behold, I should deny the generation of thy sons.
16 I shall meditate that I might understand this; it is very hard for me to see.
17 When I come into the sanctuary of God, then I shall understand their end.
18 Surely thou didst set them in slippery places; in desolation thou shalt cause them to fall.
19 How they are brought into desolation, as in a moment! They have come to an end; they are utterly consumed with terrors.
20 As the dream of one who awakes; so, O Lord, when thou shalt rise up, thou shalt despise their appearances.
21 ¶ Truly my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my kidneys.
22 But I was ignorant and did not understand; I was as a beast before thee.
23 Nevertheless I was continually with thee; thou hast apprehended me by my right hand.
24 Thou hast guided me with thy counsel, and afterward thou shalt receive me unto glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but thee? And apart from thee there is nothing upon the earth that I desire.
26 My flesh and my heart fail; the strength of my heart is that God is my portion for ever.
27 For, behold, those that stray from thee shall perish; thou dost cut off all those that go a whoring from thee.
28 But as for me, to draw near to God is good; I have put my hope in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works.
9 Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth and walk in the ways of thine heart and in the sight of thine eyes; but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.
10 Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart and put away evil from thy flesh; for childhood and youth are vanity.
12 ¶ Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth while the evil days do not come nor the years draw near when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;
2 before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain:
3 In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble and the strong men shall bow themselves and the grinders cease because they are few and those that look out of the windows are darkened;
4 and the doors outside shall be shut because the voice of the grinder is low, and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird and all the daughters of song shall be humbled;
5 when they shall also be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and appetite shall fail: because man goes to the home of his age, and the mourners shall go about the streets;
6 before the silver chain is broken, and the golden bowl is broken, and the pitcher is broken at the fountain, and the wheel is broken at the cistern;
7 and the dust returns to the earth as it was before and the spirit returns unto God who gave it.
8 ¶ Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity.
9 And the wiser the preacher became that much more did he teach wisdom to the people, causing them to listen and to search things out, and he composed many proverbs.
10 The preacher sought to find willing words and upright writings, even words of truth.
11 The words of the wise are as goads and as nails hammered into place, those of the teachers of the congregations, who are placed under one Shepherd.
12 My son, in addition to this, be admonished: of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
13 ¶ The conclusion of the entire sermon is heard: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole happiness of man.
14 For God shall bring every work to judgment with every secret thing, whether it is good or whether it is evil.
25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.
6 ¶ Brethren, if anyone is overtaken in a fault, ye who are spiritual restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself lest thou also be tempted.
2 Bear ye one another’s burdens and so fulfil the law of the Christ.
3 For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
4 But let everyone prove his own work, and then he shall have glory regarding only himself, and not in another.
5 For everyone shall bear his own burden.
6 Let the one that is taught in the word communicate unto the one that teaches in all good things.
7 Do not deceive yourselves; God is not mocked: for whatever a man sows that shall he also reap.
8 For he that sows to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption, but he that sows in the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap eternal life.
9 And let us not be weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not.
10 Therefore as long as we have the opportunity, let us do good unto everyone, especially unto those who are of the household of faith.
21 ¶ From that time forth Jesus began to declare unto his disciples, how it was expedient for him to go unto Jerusalem and to suffer many things of the elders and the princes of the priests and of the scribes and to be killed and to be raised again the third day.
22 Then Peter, taking him aside, began to rebuke him, saying, Lord, be it far from thee; in no wise shall this happen unto thee.
23 But he turned and said unto Peter, Remove thyself from before me, Satan; thou art an offence unto me, for thou dost not understand that which is of God, but that which is of men.
24 ¶ Then Jesus said unto his disciples, If anyone will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross {Gr. Stauros – stake} and follow me.
25 For whosoever desires to save his life shall lose it, and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
26 For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he shall reward everyone according to their works.
28 Verily I say unto you, There are some standing here who shall not taste of death until they have seen the Son of man coming in his kingdom.
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