Book of Common Prayer
To the Overcomer, A Song or Psalm.
1 ¶ Make a joyful noise unto God, all the earth;
2 sing forth the glory of his name; put glory into thy praise.
3 Say unto God, How terrible art thou in thy works! Through the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies submit themselves unto thee.
4 All the earth shall worship thee and shall sing unto thee; they shall sing to thy name. Selah.
5 Come and see the works of God; he is terrible in his doing toward the sons of men.
6 He turned the sea into dry land; they went through the river on foot; there did we rejoice in him.
7 He rules by his power for ever; his eyes watch the Gentiles; the rebellious shall not exalt themselves. Selah.
8 ¶ O bless our God, ye peoples, and make the voice of his praise to be heard.
9 It is he who placed our soul into life and did not suffer our feet to slip.
10 For thou, O God, hast proved us; thou hast refined us as silver is refined.
11 Thou didst bring us into the net; thou didst lay affliction upon our loins.
12 Thou hast placed a man over our head; we went through fire and through water, but thou didst bring us out into abundance.
13 ¶ I will go into thy house with burnt offerings; I will pay thee my vows,
14 which my lips have uttered and my mouth has spoken when I was in trouble.
15 I will offer unto thee burnt sacrifices of fatlings with the incense of rams; I will offer bullocks with goats. Selah.
16 Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he has done unto my soul.
17 I cried unto him with my mouth, and he was extolled with my tongue.
18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:
19 But verily God has heard me; he has attended to the voice of my prayer.
20 Blessed be God, who has not turned away my prayer nor his mercy from me.
To the Overcomer on Neginoth, A Psalm or Song.
1 ¶ God be merciful unto us and bless us and cause his face to shine upon us. Selah.
2 That thy way may be known upon the earth, thy saving health among all the Gentiles.
3 Let the peoples praise thee, O God; let all the peoples praise thee.
4 O let the Gentiles be glad and sing for joy, for thou shalt judge the people righteously and shepherd the Gentiles upon the earth. Selah.
5 Let the peoples praise thee, O God; let all the peoples praise thee.
6 Then shall the earth bring forth her fruit, and God, even our own God, shall bless us.
7 God shall bless us, and all the ends of the earth shall fear him.
To the Overcomer, A Psalm of David.
1 ¶ The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows the work of his hands.
2 One day provides a word for the next day, and one night declares wisdom unto the next night.
3 There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.
4 Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tabernacle for the sun,
5 which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber and rejoices as a strong man to run a race.
6 His going forth is from the end of the heavens, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.
7 ¶ The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
8 The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.
9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever; the rights of the LORD are true, they are all just.
10 More to be desired are they than gold, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
11 Moreover by them is thy slave warned, and in keeping them there is great reward.
12 Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.
13 Keep back thy slave also from pride and arrogance; let them not have dominion over me; then I shall be perfect, and I shall be innocent of the great rebellion.
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.
To the Overcomer: for the sons of Korah, A Song upon Alamoth.
1 ¶ God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in tribulation.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be removed and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea,
3 though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the violence thereof. Selah.
4 There is a river, the streams of which shall make glad the city of God, the sanctuary of the tents of the most High.
5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God shall help her, as the morning dawns.
6 ¶ The Gentiles raged, the kingdoms were moved; he uttered his voice, the earth melted.
7 The LORD of the hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
8 Come, behold the works of the LORD, what desolations he has made in the earth.
9 He makes wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and cuts the spear in sunder; he burns the chariot in the fire.
10 Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted in the Gentiles, I will be exalted in the earth.
11 The LORD of the hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.
11 ¶ Now Jephthah existed then, a Gileadite, a mighty man of valour, the son of a harlot unto whom Gilead had begat a son.
2 And Gilead’s wife bore him sons; and when his wife’s sons grew up, they threw Jephthah out and said unto him, Thou shalt not inherit in our father’s house, for thou art the son of a strange woman.
3 Then Jephthah fled from his brethren and dwelt in the land of Tob; and vain men joined themselves to Jephthah and went out with him.
4 ¶ And it came to pass after some days that the sons of Ammon made war against Israel.
5 And when the sons of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jephthah out of the land of Tob;
6 and they said unto Jephthah, Come, and thou shalt be our captain that we may fight with the sons of Ammon.
7 And Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, Did not ye hate me and expel me out of my father’s house? Why, therefore, are ye come unto me now when ye are in distress?
8 And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, For this same reason we turn again to thee now that thou may go with us and fight against the sons of Ammon and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.
9 Then Jephthah said unto the elders of Gilead, If ye bring me home again to fight against the sons of Ammon and the LORD delivers them before me, shall I be your head?
10 And the elders of Gilead said unto Jephthah, Let the LORD hear between us, if we do not comply with thy words.
11 Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and prince over them; and Jephthah spoke all his words before the LORD in Mizpeh.
29 ¶ Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jephthah, and he passed through Gilead and Manasseh and passed through Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he went unto the sons of Ammon.
30 And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the LORD and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the sons of Ammon into my hands,
31 whoever comes forth of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the sons of Ammon shall surely be the LORD’s, and I will offer them up for a burnt offering.
32 So Jephthah went over unto the sons of Ammon to fight against them, and the LORD delivered them into his hands.
33 And he smote them from Aroer, even unto Minnith twenty cities, and unto the plain of the vineyards, with a very great slaughter. Thus the sons of Ammon were subdued before the sons of Israel.
34 And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances; and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter.
35 And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes and said, Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of those that trouble me, for I have opened my mouth unto the LORD, and I cannot go back.
36 And she said unto him, My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the LORD, do to me according to that which has proceeded out of thy mouth, forasmuch as the LORD has taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the sons of Ammon.
37 And she said again unto her father, Let this thing be done for me; let me alone two months, that I may go up and down upon the mountains and bewail my virginity, I and my companions.
38 And he said, Go. And he sent her away for two months, and she went with her companions and bewailed her virginity upon the mountains.
39 And it came to pass at the end of two months that she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed. And she had never known a man. From here came the custom in Israel
40 that the daughters of Israel went yearly to lament the daughter of Jephthah, the Gileadite, four days in a year.
21 I speak as concerning the reproach, as though we had been weak. Howbeit in that in which another is bold, (I speak foolishly), I am bold also.
22 ¶ Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I.
23 Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more, in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths often.
24 Of the Jews five times I received forty stripes less one.
25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned; three times I suffered shipwreck, night and day I have been in the deep;
26 in journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by those of my nation, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;
27 in labour and travail, in many watches, in hunger and thirst, in many fasts, in cold and nakedness.
28 Beside those things that are without, my daily combat is the welfare of all the congregations. {Gr. ekklesia – called out ones}
29 Who is sick, and I am not sick? who stumbles, and I burn not?
30 If I must needs glory, I will glory of the things which concern my weakness.
31 The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed for evermore, knows that I do not lie.
35 ¶ And that same day, when evening was come, he said unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side.
36 And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships.
37 And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.
38 And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow; and they awoke him and said unto him, Master, dost thou not care that we perish?
39 And as he arose, he rebuked the wind and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
40 And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?
41 And they feared exceedingly and said one to another, Who is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?
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