Book of Common Prayer
80 1 A lamentable prayer to God to help the miseries of his Church, 8 Desiring him to consider their first estate, when his favor shined toward them, to the intent that he might finish that work which he had begun.
To him that excelleth on Shoshannim Eduth, A Psalm committed to Asaph.
1 Hear, [a]O thou shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like sheep: show thy brightness, thou that sittest between the [b]Cherubims.
2 Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh stir up thy strength, and come to help us.
3 [c]Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine that we may be saved.
4 O Lord God of hosts, how long wilt thou be [d]angry against the prayer of thy people?
5 Thou hast fed them with the bread of tears, and given them tears to drink with great measure.
6 Thou hast made us a [e]strife unto our neighbors, and our enemies laugh at us among themselves.
7 [f]Turn us again, O God of hosts: cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.
8 Thou hast brought a [g]vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it.
9 Thou madest room for it, and didst cause it to take root, and it filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the [h]goodly cedars.
11 She stretched out her branches unto the Sea, and her boughs unto the [i]river.
12 Why hast thou then broken down her hedges, so that all they, which pass by the way, have plucked her?
13 The wild [j]boar out of the wood hath destroyed it, and the wild beasts of the field have eaten it up.
14 Return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts: look down [k]from heaven and behold, and visit this vine,
15 And the vineyard, that thy right hand hath planted, and the young vine, which thou madest [l]strong for thyself.
16 It is burnt with fire, and cut down: and they perish at the [m]rebuke of thy countenance.
17 Let thine hand be upon the [n]man of thy right hand, and upon the son of man, whom thou madest strong for thine own self.
18 So will not we go back from thee, [o]revive thou us, and we shall call upon thy Name.
19 Turn us again, O Lord God of hosts: cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.
77 1 The Prophet in the Name of the Church rehearseth the greatness of his affliction, and his grievous temptations, 6 Whereby he was driven to this end to consider his former conversation, 11 and the continual course of God’s works in the preservation of his servants, and so he confirmeth his faith against these temptations.
For the excellent Musician (A)Jeduthun. A Psalm committed to Asaph.
1 My [a]voice came to God, when I cried: my voice came to God; and he heard me.
2 In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: [b]my sore ran and ceased not in the night: my soul refused comfort.
3 I did think upon God, and was [c]troubled: I prayed, and my spirit was full of anguish. Selah.
4 Thou keepest mine eyes [d]waking: I was astonied, and could not speak.
5 Then I considered the days of old: and the years of ancient time.
6 I called to remembrance my [e]song in the night: I communed with mine own heart, and my spirit searched [f]diligently.
7 Will the Lord absent himself forever? and will he show no more favor?
8 Is his [g]mercy clean gone forever? doth his promise fail forevermore?
9 Hath God forgotten to be merciful? hath he shut up his tender mercies in displeasure? Selah.
10 And I said, This is my [h]death: yet I remembered the years of the right hand of the most High.
11 I remembered the works of the Lord: certainly I remembered thy wonders of old.
12 I did also meditate all thy works, and did devise of thine acts, saying,
13 Thy way, O God, is [i]in the Sanctuary: who is so great a [j]God, as our God!
14 Thou art the God that doest wonders; thou hast declared thy power among the people.
15 Thou hast redeemed thy people with thine arm, even the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah.
16 The [k]waters saw thee, O God: the waters saw thee, and were afraid: yea, the depths trembled.
17 The clouds poured out water: the heavens gave a [l]sound: yea, thine arrows went abroad.
18 The voice of thy thunder was round about; the lightnings lightened the world: the earth trembled and shook.
19 Thy way is in the sea, and thy paths in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not [m]known.
20 Thou didst lead thy people like sheep by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
79 1 The Israelites complain to God for the great calamity and oppression that they suffered by God’s enemies, 8 and confessing their sins, flee to God’s mercies with full hope of deliverance, 10 Because their calamities were joined with the contempt of his Name, 13 for the which they promise to be thankful.
A Psalm committed to Asaph.
1 O God, [a]the heathen are come into thine inheritance: thine holy Temple have they defiled, and made Jerusalem heaps of stones.
2 The [b]dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto fowls of the heaven, and the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth.
3 Their blood have they shed like waters, round about Jerusalem, and there was none to [c]bury them.
4 We are a reproach to our [d]neighbors, even a scorn and derision unto them that are round about us.
5 Lord, how long wilt thou be angry, forever? shall thy jealousy [e]burn like fire?
6 (A)Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy Name.
7 For they have devoured Jacob, and made his dwelling place desolate.
8 Remember not against us the [f]former iniquities, but [g]make haste, and let thy tender mercies prevent us: for we are in great misery.
9 Help us, O God of our [h]salvation, for the glory of thy Name, and deliver us, and be merciful unto our sins for thy Name’s sake.
10 Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is their God? let them be known among the heathen in our sight by the vengeance of the blood of thy servants that is shed.
11 Let the sighing of the [i]prisoners come before thee: according to thy mighty arm preserve [j]the children of death,
12 And render to our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom their reproach, wherewith they have reproached thee, O Lord.
13 So we thy people, and sheep of thy pasture shall praise thee forever: and from generation to generation [k]we will set forth thy praise.
The First Book of Samuel
1 1 The genealogy of Elkanah father of Samuel. 2 His two wives. 5 Hannah was barren, and prayed to the Lord. 15 Her answer to Eli. 20 Samuel is born. 24 She doth dedicate him to the Lord.
1 There was a man of one of the two [a]Ramathaim Zophim, of mount Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.
2 And he had two wives: the name of one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.
3 (A)And this man went up out of his city every year, to worship and to sacrifice unto the Lord of hosts in [b]Shiloh, where were the two sons of Eli, Hophni, and Phinehas, Priests of the Lord.
4 And on a day, when Elkanah sacrificed, he gave to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters portions,
5 But unto Hannah he gave a worthy [c]portion: for he loved Hannah, and the Lord had made her barren.
6 ¶ And her adversary vexed her sore, forasmuch as she upbraided her, because the Lord had made her barren.
7 (And so did he year by year) and as oft as she went up to the house of the Lord, thus she vexed her, that she wept and did not eat.
8 Then said Elkanah her husband to her, Hannah, why weepest thou? and why eatest thou not? and why is thine heart troubled? am not I better to thee than ten [d]sons?
9 So Hannah rose up after that they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh (and Eli the Priest sat upon a stool by one of the posts of the [e]Temple of the Lord)
10 And she was troubled in her mind, and prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore:
11 Also she vowed a vow, and said, O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt look on the trouble of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but give unto thine handmaid a man-child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, (B)and there shall no razor come upon his head.
12 And as she continued praying before the Lord, Eli marked her mouth.
13 For Hannah spake in her heart: her lips did move only, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken.
14 And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? Put away thy [f]drunkenness from thee.
15 Then Hannah answered and said, Nay my lord, but I am a woman [g]troubled in spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have (C)poured out my soul before the Lord.
16 Count not thine handmaid [h]for a wicked woman: for of the abundance of my complaint and my grief have I spoken hitherto.
17 Then Eli answered, and said, Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant thy petition that thou hast asked of him.
18 She said again, Let thine handmaid find [i]grace in thy sight: so the woman went her way, and did eat, and looked no more sad.
19 ¶ Then they rose up early, and worshipped before the Lord, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah. Now Elkanah knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord [j]remembered her.
20 For in process of time Hannah conceived and bare a son, and she called his name Samuel, Because, said she, I have asked him of the Lord.
The Acts of the Holy Apostles, Written by Luke the Evangelist
1 1 Luke tieth this history to his Gospel. 9 Christ being taken into heaven. 10 The Apostles, 11 being warned by the Angels, 12 to return, 14 and give themselves to prayer. 15 By Peter’s motion, 18 into Judas the traitor’s place. 26 Matthias is chosen.
1 I have made the [a]former treatise, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began to [b]do and teach,
2 Until the day that he was taken up, after that he through the holy Ghost, had given commandments unto the Apostles, whom he had chosen:
3 [c]To whom also he presented himself alive after that he had suffered, by many [d]infallible tokens, being seen of them by the space of forty days, and speaking of those things which appertained to the kingdom of God.
4 (A)And when he had [e]gathered them together, he commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, (B)which said he, ye have heard of me.
5 (C)For John indeed baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized [f]with the holy Ghost within these few days.
6 [g]When they therefore were come together they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time [h]restore the kingdom to Israel?
7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times, or the [i]seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.
8 (D)But ye shall receive power of the holy Ghost, when he shall come on you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
9 (E)[j]And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up: for a cloud took him up out of their sight.
10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven, as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel.
11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing into heaven? This Jesus which is taken up [k]from you into heaven, shall so come, as ye have seen him go into heaven.
12 ¶ Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount that is called the mount of Olives, which is near to Jerusalem, being from it a Sabbath [l]day’s journey.
13 [m]And when they were [n]come in, they went up into an upper chamber, where abode both Peter and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zealot, and Judas James’s brother.
14 These all [o]continued with [p]one accord in [q]prayer and supplication with the [r]women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his [s]brethren.
9 ¶ (A)[a]Then began he to speak to the people this parable, A certain man planted a vineyard, and let it forth to husbandmen: and went into a strange country, for a great time.
10 And at the time convenient he sent a servant to the husbandmen, that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard: but the husbandmen did beat him, and sent him away empty.
11 Again he sent yet another servant: and they did beat him, and foul entreated him, and sent him away empty.
12 Moreover he sent the third, and him they wounded, and cast out.
13 Then said the Lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son: it may be that they will do reverence when they see him.
14 But when the husbandmen saw him, they reasoned with themselves, saying, This is the heir: come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.
15 So they cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him. What shall the Lord of the vineyard therefore do unto them?
16 He will come and destroy these husbandmen, and will give out his vineyard to others. But when they heard it, they said, God forbid.
17 ¶ And he beheld them, and said, What meaneth this then that is written, (B)The stone that the builders refused, that is made the head of the corner?
18 Whosoever shall fall upon that stone, shall be broken: and on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.
19 Then the high Priests, and the Scribes the same hour went about to lay hands on him (but they feared the people) for they perceived that he had spoken this parable against them.
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