Book of Common Prayer
1 ¶ The LORD reigns; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles be glad thereof.
2 Clouds and darkness are round about him; righteousness and judgment are the seat of his throne.
3 A fire shall go before him and burn up his enemies round about.
4 His lightnings enlightened the world; the earth saw and trembled.
5 The mountains melted like wax at the presence of the LORD, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.
6 The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory.
7 Let all those that serve graven images be confounded, those that boast of idols; worship him, all ye gods.
8 ¶ Zion heard and was glad; and the daughters of Judah rejoiced because of thy judgments, O LORD.
9 For thou, O LORD, art high above all the earth; thou art exalted far above all gods.
10 Ye that love the LORD are to hate evil; he preserves the souls of his saints; he delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.
11 Light is sown for the righteous and gladness for the upright in heart.
12 Rejoice in the LORD, ye righteous, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.
1 ¶ The LORD reigns; the peoples shall tremble; he who sits above the cherubim reigns; the earth shall be moved.
2 The LORD is great in Zion, and he is high above all the peoples.
3 Let them praise thy great and terrible name, for it is holy.
4 The king’s strength is that he loves judgment; thou dost establish equity; thou dost execute judgment and righteousness in Jacob.
5 Exalt ye the LORD our God and worship at the footstool of his feet, which is holy.
6 ¶ Moses and Aaron are among his priests and Samuel among those that call upon his name; they called upon the LORD, and he answered them.
7 He spoke unto them in the pillar of fire; they kept his testimonies and the order that he gave them.
8 Thou didst answer them, O LORD our God; thou wast a God that didst forgive them, and an avenger for their works.
9 Exalt the LORD our God and worship at the mountain of his holiness, for the LORD our God is holy.
A Psalm of praise.
1 ¶ Make a joyful noise unto the LORD all the earth.
2 Serve the LORD with gladness; come before his presence with joy.
3 Know ye that the LORD he is God; it is he that has made us and not we ourselves; we are his people and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise; be thankful unto him and bless his name.
5 For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endures to all generations.
1 ¶ O LORD God, to whom vengeance belongs; O God, to whom vengeance belongs, show thyself.
2 Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth: render a reward to the proud.
3 LORD, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph?
4 How long shall they utter and speak hard things? and all the workers of iniquity boast themselves?
5 They break in pieces thy people, O LORD, and afflict thy heritage.
6 They slay the widow and the stranger and murder the fatherless.
7 Yet they say, JAH shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard it.
8 Understand, ye carnal ones among the people, and, ye fools, when will ye be wise?
9 He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see?
10 He that chastens the Gentiles, shall he not correct? he that teaches man knowledge, shall not he know?
11 The LORD knows the thoughts of man, that they are vanity.
12 ¶ Blessed is the man whom thou dost chasten, O JAH, and teach him out of thy law,
13 to cause him to rest in the days of adversity, until the pit is dug for the wicked.
14 For the LORD will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance.
15 But the judgment shall be returned unto righteousness, and all the upright in heart shall follow it.
16 Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?
17 Unless the LORD had been my help, my soul would have quickly dwelt with the dead.
18 When I said, My foot slips, thy mercy, O LORD, held me up.
19 In the multitude of my thoughts within me, thy comforts delight my soul.
20 Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, who creates toil under the guise of law?
21 They gather themselves together as an army against the life of the righteous and condemn the innocent blood.
22 But the LORD is my refuge, and my God is the rock of my trust.
23 And he shall bring upon them their own iniquity and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; yea, the LORD our God shall cut them off.
1 ¶ O come, let us bring joy unto the LORD; let us sing with joy unto the rock of our saving health.
2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving and sing unto him with joy.
3 For the LORD is a great God and a great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the deep places of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also.
5 The sea is his, and he made it; and his hands formed the dry land.
6 O come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD our maker.
7 ¶ For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. Today if ye will hear his voice,
8 harden not your heart, as in the provocation and as in the day of trials in the wilderness
9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work.
10 Forty years long I was grieved with this generation and said, It is a people that err from the heart, who have not known my ways;
11 unto whom I swore in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.
13 ¶ And the sons of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.
2 And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the tribe of Dan, whose name was Manoah, and his wife was barren, (she had never born children).
3 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto this woman and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren and hast had no children, but thou shalt conceive and bear a son.
4 Now keep thyself and drink no wine nor strong drink and eat no unclean thing.
5 For thou shalt conceive and bear a son, and no razor shall come on his head, for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb; and he shall begin to save Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.
6 Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man of God came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible; but I did not ask him where he was from, neither did he tell me his name;
7 but he said unto me, Behold, thou shalt conceive and bear a son, and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing; for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death.
8 ¶ Then Manoah prayed unto the LORD and said, O my Lord, let the man of God whom thou didst send come again unto us and teach us what we shall do unto the child that shall be born.
9 And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God came again unto the woman as she sat in the field, but Manoah her husband was not with her.
10 And the woman made haste and ran and told her husband and said unto him, Behold, the man that came unto me has appeared unto me today.
11 And Manoah arose and went after his wife and came to the man and said unto him, Art thou the man that spoke unto this woman? And he said, I am.
12 Then Manoah said, Now let thy word come to pass. How shall we order the child, and what shall he do?
13 And the angel of the LORD replied unto Manoah, Let the woman keep herself from all that I said.
14 She may not eat of any thing that comes of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing; all that I commanded her let her keep.
15 ¶ And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, I pray thee, let us detain thee until we shall have made ready a kid for thee.
27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council, and the prince of the priests asked them,
28 saying, Did we not strictly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.
29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We must persuade God rather than men.
30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew, hanging him on a tree.
31 God has exalted him with his right hand as Prince and Saviour, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.
32 And we are his witnesses of these things, and so is also the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those that persuade him.
33 When they heard that, they were divided and took counsel to slay them.
34 Then a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, who had a reputation among all the people, stood up in the council and commanded to put the apostles forth a little space
35 and said unto them, Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do as concerning these men.
36 For before these days, rose up Theudas, boasting himself to be somebody; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves; who was slain; and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered and brought to nought.
37 After this man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing and drew away many people after him; he also perished, and all those that consented with him were dispersed.
38 And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men and let them alone; for if this counsellor or this work is of men, it will come to nought,
39 but if it is of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest ye be found fighting against God.
40 And they agreed with him; and when they had called the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus and let them go.
41 And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.
42 And daily in the temple and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach the gospel of Jesus the Christ.
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.
31 He that comes from above is above all; he that is of the earth is earthly and speaks earthly things: he that comes from heaven is above all.
32 And what he has seen and heard, that he testifies; and no one receives his testimony.
33 He that has received his testimony has set to his seal that God is true.
34 For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for God does not give the Spirit by measure unto him.
35 The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.
36 He that believes in the Son has eternal life, and he that does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.
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