Book of Common Prayer
119 1 The Prophet exhorteth the children of God to frame their lives according to his holy word. 123 Also he showeth wherein the true service of God standeth, that is, when we serve him according to his word, and not after our own fantasies.
ALEPH
1 Blessed are [a]those that are upright in their way, and walk in the Law of the Lord.
2 Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and seek him with their whole heart.
3 Surely they work [b]none iniquity, but walk in his ways.
4 Thou hast commanded to keep thy precepts diligently.
5 [c]Oh that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!
6 Then should I not be confounded, when I have respect unto all thy commandments.
7 I will praise thee with an upright [d]heart, when I shall learn the [e]judgments of thy righteousness.
8 I will keep thy statutes: forsake me not [f]overlong.
BETH
9 Wherewith shall a [g]young man redress his way? in taking heed thereto according to thy word.
10 With my whole heart have I sought thee: let me not wander from thy commandments.
11 I have [h]hid thy promise in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
12 Blessed art thou, O Lord: teach me thy statutes.
13 With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth.
14 I have had as great [i]delight in the way of thy testimonies, as in all riches.
15 I will meditate in thy precepts, and consider thy ways.
16 I will delight in thy statutes, and I will not forget thy word.
GIMEL
17 Be beneficial unto thy servant, that I may [j]live and keep thy word.
18 Open mine eyes, that I may see the wonders of thy Law.
19 I am a [k]stranger upon earth: hide not thy commandments from me.
20 Mine heart breaketh for the desire to thy judgments always.
21 Thou [l]hast destroyed the proud: cursed are they that do err from thy commandments.
22 Remove from me shame and contempt: for I have kept thy testimonies.
23 [m]Princes also did sit, and speak against me: but thy servant did meditate in thy statutes.
24 Also thy testimonies are my delight, and my counselors.
12 1 The Prophet lamenting the miserable estate of the people, and the decay of all good order, desireth God speedily to send succor to his children. 7 Then comforting himself, and others with the assurance of God’s help, he commendeth the constant verity that God observeth in keeping his promises.
To him that excelleth upon the eight tune. A Psalm of David.
1 Help Lord, for there is not [a]a godly man left: for the faithful are failed from among the children of men.
2 They speak deceitfully every one with his neighbor, [b]flattering with their lips, and speak with a double heart.
3 The Lord cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things:
4 Which have said, [c]With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own; who is Lord over us?
5 [d]Now for the oppression of the needy, and for the sighs of the poor, I will up, saith the Lord, and will [e]set at liberty him, whom the wicked hath [snared].
6 The words of the Lord are pure words, as the silver, tried in a furnace of earth, fined sevenfold.
7 Thou wilt keep [f]them, O Lord; thou wilt preserve him from this generation forever.
8 The wicked walk on every side; when they are exalted, [g]it is a shame for the sons of men.
13 1 David as it were overcome with sundry and new afflictions, fleeth to God as his only refuge, 3 and so at the length being encouraged through God’s promises, he conceiveth most sure confidence against the extreme horrors of death.
To him that excelleth. A Psalm of David.
1 How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord, [h]forever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?
2 How long shall I take [i]counsel within myself having weariness daily in mine heart? how long shall mine enemy be exalted above me?
3 Behold, and hear me, O Lord my God: lighten mine eyes, that I sleep not in death.
4 Lest mine enemy say, I have [j]prevailed against him: and they that afflict me, rejoice, when I slide.
5 But I trust in thy [k]mercy: mine heart shall rejoice in thy salvation; I will sing to the Lord, because he hath [l]dealt lovingly with me.
14 1 He describeth the perverse nature of men, which were so grown to licentiousness, that God was brought to utter contempt. 7 For the which thing, although he was greatly grieved, yet being persuaded that God would send some present remedy, he comforteth himself and others.
To him that excelleth. A Psalm of David.
1 The (A)fool hath said in his heart, [m]There is no God: they have [n]corrupted, and done an abominable work: there is none that doeth good.
2 The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that would understand, and seek God.
3 [o]All are gone out of the way: they are all corrupt: there is none that doeth good, no not one.
4 Do not all the workers of iniquity know that they eat up my people, as they eat bread? they call not upon the Lord.
5 [p]There they shall be taken with fear, because God is in the generation of the just.
6 You have made [q]a mock at the counsel of the poor, because the Lord is his trust.
7 Oh give salvation unto [r]Israel out of Zion: when the Lord turneth the captivity of his people, then Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.
Note that of Psalm 14:5-7, which are put into the common translation, and may seem unto some to be left out in this, are not in the same Psalm in the Hebrew text, but rather are put in more fully to express the manners of the wicked, and are gathered out of Psalms 5, 10, 36, 140; Isa. 59, and are alleged by S. Paul, and placed together in Romans 3.
The Fifth Book of Moses, called [a]Deuteronomy
1 2 A brief rehearsal of things done before, from Horeb unto Kadesh Barnea. 32 Moses reproveth the people for their incredulity. 44 The Israelites are overcome by the Amorites because they fought against the commandment of the Lord.
1 These be the words which Moses spake unto all Israel, on [b]this side Jordan in the wilderness, in the plain, [c]over against the red sea, between Paran and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and Dizahab.
2 There are eleven days’ journey from [d]Horeb unto Kadesh Barnea, by the way of mount Seir.
3 And it came to pass in the first day of the eleventh month, in the fortieth year that Moses spake unto the children of Israel according unto all that the Lord hath given him in commandment unto them.
4 After that he had slain [e](A)Sihon the King of the Amorites which dwelt in Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, which dwelt at Ashtaroth in Edrei.
5 On this side Jordan at the land of Moab [f]began Moses to declare this law, saying,
6 The Lord our God spake unto us in [g]Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount,
7 Turn you and depart, and go unto the mountain of the Amorites, and unto all places near thereunto in the plain, in the mountain, or in the valley: both Southward, and to the Sea side to the land of the Canaanites, and unto Lebanon: even unto the great river, the river [h]Perah.
8 Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and (B)possess that land which the Lord sware, unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and unto their seed after them.
9 ¶ And I spake [i]unto you the same time, saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone:
10 The Lord your God hath [j]multiplied you: and behold, ye are this day as the stars of heaven in number:
11 (The Lord God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as ye are, and bless you, as he hath promised you,)
12 How can I alone [k]bear your cumbrance and your charge, and your strife?
13 Bring you men of wisdom and of understanding, and [l]known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you:
14 Then he answered me and said, the thing is good that thou hast commanded us to do.
15 So I took the chief of your tribes, [m]wise and known men, and made them rulers over you, captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, and captains over fifty, and captains over ten, and officers among your tribes.
16 And I charged your Judges that same time, saying, Hear the controversies between your brethren, and (C)judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him.
17 Ye shall have no respect of person in judgment, (D)but shall hear the small as well as the great: ye shall not fear the face of man: for the judgment is [n]God’s: and the cause that is too hard for you, bring unto me, and I will hear it.
18 Also I commanded you the same time all the things which ye should do.
9 1 He answereth an objection, that might be brought on the Jews’ behalf, 7 and telleth of two sorts of Abraham’s children, 15 and that God worketh all things in this matter according to his will, 20 even as the potter doth. 24, 30 He proveth as well the calling of the Gentiles, 31 as also the rejecting of the Jews, 25, 27 by the testimony of the Prophets.
1 I say [a]the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience bearing me witness in the holy Ghost,
2 That I have great heaviness, and continual sorrow in mine heart.
3 For I would wish myself to be [b]separate from Christ, for my brethren that are my kinsmen according to the [c]flesh,
4 Which are the Israelites, to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the [d]glory, and the (A)[e]Covenants, and the giving of the [f]Law, and the [g]service of God, and the [h]promises.
5 Of whom are the fathers, and of whom concerning the flesh, Christ came, who is [i]God over all, blessed forever, Amen.
6 (B)[j]Notwithstanding it cannot be that the word of God should take none effect: for all they are not [k]Israel, which are of Israel:
7 Neither are they all children, because they are the seed of Abraham: (C)[l]but, In [m]Isaac shall thy seed be called:
8 [n]That is, they which are the children of the [o]flesh, are not the children of God: but the (D)children of the [p]promise, are counted for the seed.
9 [q]For this is a word of promise, (E)In this same time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son.
10 [r]Neither he only felt this, but also (F)Rebecca, when she had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac.
11 For ere the children were born, and when they had neither done good nor evil (that the [s]purpose of God might [t]remain according to election, not by works, but by him that calleth.)
12 [u]It was said unto her, (G)The Elder shall serve the younger.
13 As it is written, (H)I have loved Jacob, and have hated Esau.
14 [v]What shall we say then? Is there [w]unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
15 [x]For he saith to Moses, (I)I will [y]have mercy on him, to whom I will show mercy: and will have [z]compassion on him, on who I will have compassion.
16 [aa]So then it is not in him that [ab]willeth, nor in him that runneth, but in God that showeth mercy.
17 [ac]For the [ad]Scripture saith unto Pharaoh, (J)For this same purpose have [ae]I stirred thee up, that I might [af]show my power in thee, and that my Name might be declared throughout all the earth.
18 [ag]Therefore he hath mercy on whom he [ah]will, and whom he will he hardeneth.
27 Woe be to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites: for ye are like unto whited tombs, which appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and all filthiness.
28 So are ye also: for outward ye appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
29 (A)[a]Woe be unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites: for ye build the tombs of the Prophets, and garnish the sepulchers of the righteous,
30 And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in the blood of the Prophets.
31 So then ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them that murdered the Prophets.
32 [b]Fulfill ye also the measure of your fathers.
33 O serpents, the generation of vipers, how should ye escape the damnation of [c]hell!
34 [d]Wherefore behold, I send unto you Prophets, and wise men, and Scribes, and of them ye shall kill and crucify: and of them shall ye scourge in your Synagogues, and persecute from city to city,
35 [e]That upon you may come all the righteous blood that was shed upon the earth, (B)from the blood of Abel the righteous, unto the blood of Zechariah the son of [f]Berechiah, (C)whom ye slew between the Temple and the altar.
36 Verily I say unto you, all these things shall come upon this generation.
37 (D)[g]Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the Prophets, and stonest them which are sent to thee, how often would I have [h]gathered thy children together, as the hen gathered her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
38 Behold, your habitation shall be left unto you desolate.
39 For I say unto you, ye shall not see me henceforth till that ye say, Blessed is he that cometh in the Name of the Lord.
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