Book of Common Prayer
To the chief Musician. On stringed instruments: an instruction. Of David.
55 Give ear to my prayer, O God; and hide not thyself from my supplication.
2 Attend unto me, and answer me: I wander about in my plaint, and I moan aloud,
3 Because of the voice of the enemy; because of the oppression of the wicked: for they cast iniquity upon me, and in anger they persecute me.
4 My heart is writhing within me, and the terrors of death are fallen upon me.
5 Fear and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me.
6 And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away, and be at rest;
7 Behold, I would flee afar off, I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah;
8 I would hasten my escape from the stormy wind, from the tempest.
9 Swallow [them] up, Lord; divide their tongue: for I have seen violence and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof; and iniquity and mischief are in the midst of it.
11 Perversities are in the midst thereof; and oppression and deceit depart not from its streets.
12 For it is not an enemy that hath reproached me—then could I have borne it; neither is it he that hateth me that hath magnified [himself] against me—then would I have hidden myself from him;
13 But it was thou, a man mine equal, mine intimate, my familiar friend. …
14 We who held sweet intercourse together. To the house of God we walked amid the throng.
15 Let death seize upon them, let them go down alive into Sheol. For wickedness is in their dwellings, in their midst.
16 As for me, unto God will I call; and Jehovah will save me.
17 Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray and moan aloud; and he will hear my voice.
18 He hath redeemed my soul in peace from the battle against me: for there were many about me.
19 God will hear, and afflict them: he that is seated of old, (Selah) … because there is no change in them, and they fear not God.
20 He hath put forth his hands against such as are at peace with him; he hath profaned his covenant.
21 Smooth were the milky [words] of his mouth, but his heart was war; his words were softer than oil, yet are they drawn swords.
22 Cast thy burden upon Jehovah, and *he* will sustain thee: he will never suffer the righteous to be moved.
23 And thou, O God, wilt bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days. But as for me, I will confide in thee.
[A Psalm] of David.
138 I will give thee thanks with my whole heart; before the gods will I sing psalms of thee.
2 I will bow down toward the temple of thy holiness, and celebrate thy name for thy loving-kindness and for thy truth; for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.
3 In the day when I called thou answeredst me; thou didst encourage me with strength in my soul.
4 All the kings of the earth shall celebrate thee, Jehovah, when they have heard the words of thy mouth;
5 And they shall sing in the ways of Jehovah, for great is the glory of Jehovah.
6 For Jehovah is high; but he looketh upon the lowly, and the proud he knoweth afar off.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou wilt stretch forth thy hand against the anger of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me.
8 Jehovah will perfect what concerneth me: thy loving-kindness, O Jehovah, [endureth] for ever; forsake not the works of thine own hands.
To the chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
139 Jehovah, thou hast searched me, and known [me].
2 *Thou* knowest my down-sitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off;
3 Thou searchest out my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways;
4 For there is not yet a word on my tongue, [but] lo, O Jehovah, thou knowest it altogether.
5 Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thy hand upon me.
6 O knowledge too wonderful for me! it is high, I cannot [attain] unto it.
7 Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? and whither flee from thy presence?
8 If I ascend up into the heavens thou art there; or if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, thou [art there];
9 [If] I take the wings of the dawn [and] dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
11 And if I say, Surely darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night;
12 Even darkness hideth not from thee, and the night shineth as the day: the darkness is as the light.
13 For thou hast possessed my reins; thou didst cover me in my mother's womb.
14 I will praise thee, for I am fearfully, wonderfully made. Marvellous are thy works; and [that] my soul knoweth right well.
15 My bones were not hidden from thee when I was made in secret, curiously wrought in the lower parts of the earth.
16 Thine eyes did see my unformed substance, and in thy book all [my members] were written; [during many] days were they fashioned, when [as yet] there was none of them.
17 But how precious are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!
18 [If] I would count them, they are more in number than the sand. When I awake, I am still with thee.
19 Oh that thou wouldest slay the wicked, O +God! And ye men of blood, depart from me.
20 For they speak of thee wickedly, they take [thy name] in vain, thine enemies.
21 Do not I hate them, O Jehovah, that hate thee? and do not I loathe them that rise up against thee?
22 I hate them with perfect hatred; I account them mine enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; prove me, and know my thoughts;
12 Put on therefore, as [the] elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, longsuffering;
13 forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any should have a complaint against any; even as the Christ has forgiven you, so also [do] *ye*.
14 And to all these [add] love, which is the bond of perfectness.
15 And let the peace of Christ preside in your hearts, to which also ye have been called in one body, and be thankful.
16 Let the word of the Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another, in psalms, hymns, spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to God.
17 And everything, whatever ye may do in word or in deed, [do] all things in [the] name of [the] Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father by him.
18 And the disciples of John brought him word concerning all these things:
19 and John, having called two of his disciples, sent to Jesus, saying, Art *thou* he that is coming, or are we to wait for another?
20 But the men having come to him said, John the baptist has sent us to thee, saying, Art *thou* he that is coming, or are we to wait for another?
21 In that hour he healed many of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and to many blind he granted sight.
22 And Jesus answering said to them, Go, bring back word to John of what ye have seen and heard: that blind see, lame walk, lepers are cleansed, deaf hear, dead are raised, poor are evangelized;
23 and blessed is whosoever shall not be offended in me.
24 And the messengers of John having departed, he began to speak to the crowds concerning John: What went ye out into the wilderness to behold? a reed shaken by the wind?
25 But what went ye out to see? a man clothed in delicate garments? Behold, those who are in splendid clothing and live luxuriously are in the courts of kings.
26 But what went ye out to see? a prophet? Yea, I say to you, and [what is] more excellent than a prophet.
27 This is he concerning whom it is written, Behold, *I* send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way before thee;
28 for I say unto you, Among them that are born of women a greater [prophet] is no one than John [the baptist]; but he who is a little one in the kingdom of God is greater than he.
29 (And all the people who heard [it], and the tax-gatherers, justified God, having been baptised with the baptism of John;
30 but the Pharisees and the lawyers rendered null as to themselves the counsel of God, not having been baptised by him.)
31 To whom therefore shall I liken the men of this generation, and to whom are they like?
32 They are like children sitting in the market-place, and calling one to another and saying, We have piped to you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept.
33 For John the baptist has come neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and ye say, He has a demon.
34 The Son of man has come eating and drinking, and ye say, Behold an eater and wine-drinker, a friend of tax-gatherers and sinners;
35 and wisdom has been justified of all her children.
Public Domain (Why are modern Bible translations copyrighted?)