Book of Common Prayer
A Song or Psalm for the sons of Korah, to the Overcomer: to sing upon Mahalath, Maschil of Heman the Ezrahite.
1 ¶ O LORD God of my saving health, I cry day and night before Thee;
2 let my prayer come before thee; incline thine ear unto my cry;
3 for my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near unto Sheol.
4 I am counted with those that go down into the pit; I am as a man that has no strength:
5 Freed among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou dost remember no more; and they are cut off from thy hand.
6 Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps.
7 Thy wrath lies hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Selah.
8 Thou hast put away mine acquaintances far from me; thou hast made me an abomination unto them; I am shut up, and I cannot come forth.
9 My eye mourns by reason of affliction; LORD, I have called daily upon thee; I have stretched out my hands unto thee.
10 ¶ Wilt thou show wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise and praise thee? Selah.
11 Shall thy mercy be declared in the grave? or thy truth in hell?
12 Shall thy wonder be known in darkness? and thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
13 But unto thee have I cried, O LORD; and in the morning shall my prayer come before thee.
14 LORD, why dost thou cast off my soul? why dost thou hide thy face from me?
15 I am afflicted and destitute; from my youth up I have feared thee and been in awe of thee.
16 Thy fierce wrath goes over me; thy terrors have cut me off.
17 They came round about me daily like water; they compassed me about together.
18 Thou hast put lover and friend far from me, and placed my acquaintances into darkness.
1 ¶ He that dwells in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the LORD, He is my hope and my fortress: my God; in him will I secure myself.
3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler and from the mortal pestilence.
4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings thou shalt be secure: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor for the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor for the destruction that wastes at noonday.
7 Thousands shall fall at thy side and ten thousands at thy right hand, but it shall not come near thee.
8 Surely with thine eyes thou shalt behold and see the reward of the wicked.
9 ¶ Because thou hast made the LORD, who is my hope, even the most High, thy habitation,
10 no evil shall befall thee, neither shall any plague come near thy dwelling.
11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways.
12 They shall bear thee up in their hands lest thy foot stumble against a stone.
13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder; the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.
14 Because he has set his will upon me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high because he has known my name.
15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and glorify him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him and show him my saving health.
A Psalm or Song for the sabbath day.
1 ¶ It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High:
2 To show forth thy mercy in the morning and thy faithfulness every night
3 upon an instrument of ten strings and upon the psaltery, upon the harp with a pleasant sound.
4 For thou, O LORD, hast made me glad with thy work; I will delight in the works of thy hands.
5 O LORD, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep.
6 A carnal man does not know, neither does a fool understand this:
7 ¶ The wicked spring forth as the grass, and all the workers of iniquity blossom, so that they shall be destroyed for ever:
8 But thou, O LORD, art most high for evermore.
9 For, behold, thine enemies, O LORD, for behold, thine enemies shall perish; all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.
10 But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of a unicorn; I shall be anointed with fresh oil.
11 And my eye saw my desire on my enemies, and my ears heard my desire of those that rose up against me, of the wicked.
12 The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree; he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
13 Those that are planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God.
14 They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be vigorous and flourishing
15 to show that the LORD is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.
8 ¶ On that same day King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman, the Jews’ enemy, unto Esther, the queen. And Mordecai came before the king, for Esther had told what he was unto her.
2 And the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman and gave it unto Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.
3 ¶ And Esther spoke yet again before the king and fell down at his feet and besought him with tears to put away the evil of Haman, the Agagite, and his device that he had devised against the Jews.
4 Then the king held out the golden sceptre toward Esther. So Esther arose and stood before the king,
5 And said, If it pleases the king and if I have found grace in his sight and if the thing is right before the king and if I am good in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman, the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews who are in all the king’s provinces.
6 For how can I endure to see the evil that shall come unto my people? How can I endure to see the destruction of my nation?
7 Then King Ahasuerus said unto Esther, the queen, and to Mordecai, the Jew, Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and they have hanged him upon the gallows because he extended his hand against the Jews.
8 Write ye also for the Jews, as it pleases you, in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s ring; for the writing which is written in the king’s name and sealed with the king’s ring may not be revoked.
15 ¶ And Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white and with a great crown of gold and with a mantel of fine linen and purple; and the city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad.
16 The Jews had light and gladness and joy and honour.
17 And in each province and in each city wherever the king’s commandment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a banquet and a good day. And many of the people of the land became Jews, for the fear of the Jews fell upon them.
21 ¶ After these things were ended, Paul purposed by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem, after he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, saying, After I have been there, it behooves me to see Rome also.
22 So he sent into Macedonia two of those that ministered unto him, Timothy and Erastus, but he himself stayed in Asia for a season.
23 And the same time there arose no small stir about the way.
24 For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines for Diana, brought no small gain unto the craftsmen,
25 whom he called together with the workmen of like occupation and said, Sirs, ye know that by this gain we have our wealth.
26 Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that they are not gods which are made with hands
27 so that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought, but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worship.
28 And when they heard these sayings, they were full of wrath and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.
29 And the whole city was filled with confusion, and having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul’s companions in travel, they rushed with one accord into the theatre.
30 And when Paul would have entered in unto the people, the disciples suffered him not.
31 And certain of the chief persons of Asia, who were his friends, sent unto him, asking him that he not present himself in the theatre.
32 Some therefore cried one thing, and some another, for the assembly was confused; and most of them did not know why they were come together.
33 And they drew Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander beckoned with the hand and would have made his defense unto the people.
34 But when they knew that he was a Jew, all with one voice about the space of two hours cried out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.
35 Then the town scribe, appeasing the people, said, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that does not know how the city of the Ephesians is honored of the great goddess Diana and of the image which fell down from Jupiter?
36 Seeing then that these things cannot be gainsaid, ye ought to be quiet and to do nothing rashly.
37 For ye have brought here these men, who are neither guilty of sacrilege, nor blasphemers of your goddess.
38 Therefore if Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a matter against any man, the law is open, and there are proconsuls; let them accuse one another.
39 But if ye enquire any thing concerning other matters, it shall be determined in a lawful assembly.
40 For we are in danger of being accused of sedition for this day’s uproar, there being no cause by which we may give an account of this concourse.
41 And when he had thus spoken, he dismissed the assembly.
31 ¶ And he went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the sabbath days.
32 And they were astonished at his doctrine, for his word was with power.
33 And in the synagogue there was a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon and cried out with a loud voice,
34 saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art: the Holy One of God.
35 And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Be silent and come out of him. And the demon, throwing him down in the midst, came out of him and hurt him not.
36 And they were all amazed and spoke among themselves, saying, What word is this! For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.
37 And his fame went out into every place of the country round about.
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