Book of Common Prayer

108 Unto the end, a psalm for David.

² O God, be not thou silent in my praise: for the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful man is opened against me.

³ They have spoken against me with deceitful tongues; and they have compassed me about with words of hatred; and have fought against me without cause.

⁴ Instead of making me a return of love, they detracted me: but I gave myself to prayer.

⁵ And they repaid me evil for good: and hatred for my love.

⁶ Set thou the sinner over him: and may the devil stand at his right hand.

⁷ When he is judged, may he go out condemned; and may his prayer be turned to sin.

⁸ May his days be few: and his bishopric let another take.

⁹ May his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.

¹⁰ Let his children be carried about vagabonds, and beg; and let them be cast out of their dwellings.

¹¹ May the usurer search all his substance: and let strangers plunder his labours.

¹² May there be none to help him: nor none to pity his fatherless offspring.

¹³ May his posterity be cut off; in one generation may his name be blotted out.

33 For David, when he changed his countenance before Achimelech, who dismissed him, and he went his way. [1 Kings 21.]

² I will bless the Lord at all times, his praise shall be always in my mouth.

³ In the Lord shall my soul be praised: let the meek hear and rejoice.

⁴ O magnify the Lord with me; and let us extol his name together.

⁵ I sought the Lord, and he heard me; and he delivered me from all my troubles.

⁶ Come ye to him and be enlightened: and your faces shall not be confounded.

⁷ This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him: and saved him out of all his troubles.

⁸ The angel of the Lord shall encamp round about them that fear him: and shall deliver them.

⁹ O taste, and see that the Lord is sweet: blessed is the man that hopeth in him.

¹⁰ Fear the Lord, all ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.

¹¹ The rich have wanted, and have suffered hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not be deprived of any good.

¹² Come, children, hearken to me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

¹³ Who is the man that desireth life: who loveth to see good days?

¹⁴ Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.

¹⁵ Turn away from evil and do good: seek after peace and pursue it.

¹⁶ The eyes of the Lord are upon the just: and his ears unto their prayers.

¹⁷ But the countenance of the Lord is against them that do evil things: to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.

¹⁸ The just cried, and the Lord heard them: and delivered them out of all their troubles.

¹⁹ The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a contrite heart: and he will save the humble of spirit.

²⁰ Many are the afflictions of the just; but out of them all will the Lord deliver them.

²¹ The Lord keepeth all their bones, not one of them shall be broken.

²² The death of the wicked is very evil: and they that hate the just shall be guilty.

²³ The Lord will redeem the souls of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall offend.

16 And when David was a little past the top of the hill, behold Siba the servant of Miphiboseth came to meet him with two asses, laden with two hundred loaves of bread, and a hundred bunches of raisins, a hundred cakes of figs, and a vessel of wine.

² And the king said to Siba: What mean these things? And Siba answered: The asses are for the king's household to sit on: and the loaves and the figs for thy servants to eat, and the wine to drink if any man be faint in the desert.

³ And the king said: Where is thy master's son? And Siba answered the king: He remained in Jerusalem, saying: To day will the house of Israel restore me the kingdom of my father.

⁴ And the king said to Siba: I give thee all that belonged to Miphiboseth. And Siba said: I beseech thee let me find grace before thee, my lord, O king.

⁵ And king David came as far as Bahurim: and behold there came out from thence a man of the kindred of the house of Saul named Semei, the son of Gera, and coming out he cursed as he went on,

⁶ And he threw stones at David, and at all the servants of king David: and all the people, and all the warriors walked on the right, and on the left side of the king.

⁷ And thus said Semei when he cursed the king: Come out, come out, thou man of blood, and thou man of Belial.

⁸ The Lord hath repaid thee for all the blood of the house of Saul: because thou hast usurped the kingdom in his stead, and the Lord hath given the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son: and behold thy evils press upon thee, because thou art a man of blood.

⁹ And Abisai the son of Sarvia said to the king: Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? I will go, and cut off his head.

¹⁰ And the king said: What have I to do with you, ye sons of Sarvia? Let him alone and let him curse: for the Lord hath bid him curse David: and who is he that shall dare say, why hath he done so?

¹¹ And the king said to Abisai, and to all his servants: Behold my son, who came forth from my bowels, seeketh my life: how much more now a son of Jemini? let him alone that he may curse as the Lord hath bidden him.

¹² Perhaps the Lord may look upon my affliction, and the Lord may render me good for the cursing of this day.

¹³ And David and his men with him went by the way. And Semei by the hill's side went over against him, cursing, and casting stones at him, and scattering earth.

¹⁴ And the king and all the people with him came weary, and refreshed themselves there.

¹⁵ But Absalom and all his people came into Jerusalem, and Achitophel was with him.

¹⁶ And when Chusai the Arachite, David's friend, was come to Absalom, he said to him: God save thee, O king, God save thee, O king.

¹⁷ And Absalom said to him: Is this thy kindness to thy friend? Why wentest thou not with thy friend?

¹⁸ And Chusai answered Absalom: Nay: for I will be his, whom the Lord hath chosen, and all this people, and all Israel, and with him will I abide.

¹⁹ Besides this, whom shall I serve? is it not the king's son? as I have served thy father, so will I serve thee also.

²⁰ And Absalom said to Achitophel: Consult what we are to do.

²¹ And Achitophel said to Absalom: Go in to the concubines of thy father, whom he hath left to keep the house: that when all Israel shall hear that thou hast disgraced thy father, their hands may be strengthened with thee.

²² So they spread a tent for Absalom on the top of the house, and he went in to his father's concubines before all Israel.

²³ Now the counsel of Achitophel, which he gave in those days, was as if a man should consult God: so was all the counsel of Achitophel, both when he was with David, and when he was with Absalom.

¹⁷ And it came to pass, when I was come again to Jerusalem, and was praying in the temple, that I was in a trance,

¹⁸ And saw him saying unto me: Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem; because they will not receive thy testimony concerning me.

¹⁹ And I said: Lord, they know that I cast into prison, and beat in every synagogue, them that believed in thee.

²⁰ And when the blood of Stephen thy witness was shed, I stood by and consented, and kept the garments of them that killed him.

²¹ And he said to me: Go, for unto the Gentiles afar off, will I send thee.

²² And they heard him until this word, and then lifted up their voice, saying: Away with such an one from the earth; for it is not fit that he should live.

²³ And as they cried out and threw off their garments, and cast dust into the air,

²⁴ The tribune commanded him to be brought into the castle, and that he should be scourged and tortured: to know for what cause they did so cry out against him.

²⁵ And when they had bound him with thongs, Paul saith to the centurion that stood by him: Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned?

²⁶ Which the centurion hearing, went to the tribune, and told him, saying: What art thou about to do? For this man is a Roman citizen.

²⁷ And the tribune coming, said to him: Tell me, art thou a Roman? But he said: Yea.

²⁸ And the tribune answered: I obtained the being free of this city with a great sum. And Paul said: But I was born so.

²⁹ Immediately therefore they departed from him that were about to torture him. The tribune also was afraid after he understood that he was a Roman citizen, and because he had bound him.

11 And when they were drawing near to Jerusalem and to Bethania at the mount of Olives, he sendeth two of his disciples,

² And saith to them: Go into the village that is over against you, and immediately at your coming in thither, you shall find a colt tied, upon which no man yet hath sat: loose him, and bring him.

³ And if any man shall say to you, What are you doing? say ye that the Lord hath need of him: and immediately he will let him come hither.

⁴ And going their way, they found the colt tied before the gate without, in the meeting of two ways: and they loose him.

⁵ And some of them that stood there, said to them: What do you loosing the colt?

⁶ Who said to them as Jesus had commanded them; and they let him go with them.

⁷ And they brought the colt to Jesus; and they lay their garments on him, and he sat upon him.

⁸ And many spread their garments in the way: and others cut down boughs from the trees, and strewed them in the way.

⁹ And they that went before and they that followed, cried, saying: Hosanna, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

¹⁰ Blessed be the kingdom of our father David that cometh: Hosanna in the highest.

¹¹ And he entered into Jerusalem, into the temple: and having viewed all things round about, when now the eventide was come, he went out to Bethania with the twelve.