Book of Common Prayer
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.
A Psalm.
1 ¶ O sing unto the LORD a new song; for he has done marvellous things; his right hand has gotten him the victory, even the arm of his holiness.
2 The LORD has made known his saving health; he has openly showed his righteousness in the sight of the Gentiles.
3 He has remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the saving health of our God.
4 ¶ Sing with joy unto the LORD, all the earth; lift up thy voice and rejoice and sing praises.
5 Sing praises unto the LORD with the harp, with the harp and the voice of a song.
6 With trumpets and the sound of the shofar make a joyful noise before the LORD, the King.
7 Let the sea roar and the fullness thereof, the world and those that dwell therein.
8 Let the rivers clap their hands; let the mountains be joyful together
9 before the LORD; for he has come to judge the earth; with righteousness he shall judge the world and the peoples with equity.
3 ¶ Behold, I send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me; and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, and the angel of the covenant, whom ye desire: behold, he comes, said the LORD of the hosts.
2 But who may abide the time of his coming? and who shall stand when he appears? for he shall be like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap:
3 And he shall sit to refine and to purify the silver: for he shall purify the sons of Levi and purge them as gold and silver that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.
4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem shall be pleasant unto the LORD as in the days of old and as in former years.
5 And I will come near unto you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulterers and against false swearers and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and do not fear me, said the LORD of the hosts.
22 ¶ After these things Jesus and his disciples came into the land of Judaea, and he tarried there with them and baptized.
23 And John also was baptizing in Aenon near to Salim because there was much water there, and they came and were baptized.
24 For John was not yet cast into prison.
25 Then there arose a question between the disciples of John and the Jews about purifying.
26 And they came unto John and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan of whom thou gave witness, behold, the same baptizes, and all men come to him.
27 John answered and said, A man can receive nothing except it is given him from the heaven.
28 Ye yourselves are my witnesses that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him.
29 He that has the bride is the bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice; this my joy therefore is fulfilled.
30 It is expedient unto him to increase, but unto me, to decrease.
To the Overcomer upon Shoshannim, {lilies} A testimony of Asaph: A Psalm.
1 ¶ Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest between the cherubim, shine forth.
2 In the presence of Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh stir up thy strength and come and save us.
3 Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.
4 O LORD God of the hosts, how long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people?
5 Thou dost feed them with the bread of tears and give them tears to drink in great measure.
6 Thou dost make us a strife unto our neighbours, and our enemies laugh at us among themselves.
7 Turn us again, O God of the hosts, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.
8 ¶ Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt; thou hast cast out the Gentiles and planted it.
9 Thou didst prepare room before it and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the earth.
10 The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and its boughs were like the cedars of God.
11 She sent out her boughs unto the sea and her branches unto the river.
12 Why hast thou then broken down her hedges, so that all those who pass by the way pluck her?
13 The boar out of the wood wastes it, and the wild beast of the field devours it.
14 Return, we beseech thee, O God of the hosts: look down from heaven and behold and visit this vine
15 and the vineyard which thy right hand has planted and the branch that thou didst make strong for thyself.
16 It is burned with fire; it is cut down; they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance.
17 Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou didst make strong for thyself,
18 so we will not go back from thee. Thou shalt quicken us, and we will call upon thy name.
19 Turn us again, O LORD God of the hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.
2 Now when John had heard in the prison the works of the Christ, he sent two of his disciples,
3 and said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?
4 Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and tell John those things which you hear and see:
5 The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.
6 And blessed is he who is not offended in me.
7 ¶ And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind?
8 But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, those that wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses.
9 But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say unto you, and more than a prophet.
10 For this is he of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee.
11 Verily I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there has not risen a greater than John the Baptist; notwithstanding, he that is least in the kingdom of the heavens is greater than he.
12 From the days of John the Baptist until now, life is given unto the kingdom of the heavens, and the valiant take hold of it.
13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.
14 And if ye will receive it, this is that Elijah who was to come.
15 He that has ears to hear, let him hear.
16 ¶ But unto whom shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets and shouting unto their fellows
17 and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented.
18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He has a devil.
19 The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a gluttonous man and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified by her children.
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