Book of Common Prayer
89 1 With many words doth the Prophet praise the goodness of God, 23 For his testament and covenant, that he had made between him and his elect by Jesus Christ the son of David. 38 Then doth he complain of the great ruin, and desolation of the kingdom of David, so that to the outward appearance the promise was broken. 46 Finally, he prayeth to be delivered from his afflictions, making mention of the shortness of man’s life, and confirming himself by God’s promise.
A Psalm to give instruction, of Ethan the Ezrahite.
1 I will [a]sing the mercies of the Lord forever: with my mouth will I declare thy truth from generation to generation.
2 For I [b]said, Mercy shall be set up forever: thy truth shalt thou [c]stablish in the very heavens.
3 [d]I have made a covenant with my chosen: I have sworn to David my servant,
4 Thy seed will I stablish forever, and set up thy throne from generation to generation. Selah.
5 O Lord, even the [e]heavens shall praise thy wondrous work: yea, thy truth in the [f]Congregation of the Saints.
6 For who is equal to the Lord in the heaven? and who is like the Lord among the [g]sons of the gods?
7 God is very terrible in the assembly of the [h]Saints, and to be reverenced above all that are about him.
8 O Lord God of hosts, who is like unto thee, which art a mighty Lord, and thy truth is about thee?
9 [i]Thou rulest the raging of the Sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.
10 Thou hast beaten down Rahab as a man slain: thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy mighty arm.
11 The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: thou hast laid the foundation of the world, and all that therein is.
12 Thou hast created the North and the South: [j]Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy Name.
13 Thou hast a mighty arm: strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand.
14 [k]Righteousness and equity are the stablishment of thy throne: mercy and truth go before thy face.
15 Blessed is the people that can [l]rejoice in thee: they shall walk in the light of thy [m]countenance, O Lord.
16 They shall rejoice continually in thy Name, and in thy righteousness shall they exalt themselves.
17 For thou art the [n]glory of their strength, and by thy favor our horns shall be exalted.
18 For our [o]shield appertaineth to the Lord, and our King to the Holy one of Israel.
19 Thou spakest then in a vision unto [p]thine Holy one, and saidest, I have laid help upon one that is [q]mighty: I have exalted one chosen out of the people.
20 I have found David my servant: with mine holy oil have I anointed him.
21 Therefore mine hand shall be established with him, and mine arm shall strengthen him.
22 The enemy shall not oppress him, neither shall the wicked hurt him.
23 But I will [r]destroy his foes before his face, and plague them that hate him.
24 My truth also and my [s]mercy shall be with him, and in my Name shall his [t]horn be exalted.
25 I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the [u]floods.
26 He shall cry unto me, Thou art my [v]Father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.
27 Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.
28 My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my Covenant shall stand fast with him.
29 His seed also will I make to endure [w]forever, and his throne as the days of heaven.
30 But if his children forsake my Law, and walk not in my judgments:
31 (A)If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments:
32 Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with strokes.
33 [x]Yet my loving kindness will I not take from him, neither will I falsify my truth.
34 My Covenant will I not break, nor [y]alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
35 I have sworn once by mine holiness, [z]that I will not fail David, saying,
36 His seed shall endure forever, and his throne shall be as the sun before me.
37 He shall be established for evermore as the moon, and as a faithful [aa]witness in the heaven. Selah.
38 But thou hast rejected and abhorred, thou hast been angry with thine anointed.
39 Thou hast [ab]broken the Covenant of thy servant, and profaned his [ac]crown, casting it on the ground.
40 Thou hast broken down all his walls: thou hast laid his fortresses in ruin.
41 All that go by the way, spoil him: he is a rebuke unto his neighbors.
42 Thou hast set up the right hand of his enemies, and made all his adversaries to rejoice.
43 Thou hast also turned the edge of his sword, and hast not made him to stand in the battle.
44 Thou hast caused his dignity to decay, and cast his throne to the ground.
45 The days of his [ad]youth hast thou shortened, and covered him with shame. Selah.
46 [ae]Lord, how long wilt thou hide thyself, forever? shall thy wrath burn like fire?
47 Remember [af]of what time I am: wherefore shouldest thou create in vain all the children of men?
48 What man liveth, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? Selah.
49 Lord, where are thy former mercies, which thou swarest unto David in thy truth?
50 Remember, O Lord, the rebuke of thy servants, which I bear in my [ag]bosom of all the mighty people.
51 For [ah]thine enemies have reproached thee, O Lord, because they have reproached the [ai]footsteps of thine Anointed.
52 Praised be the Lord for evermore. So be it, even so be it.
24 And the king of Assyria brought folk from Babylon, and from [a]Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: so they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof.
25 ¶ And at the beginning of their dwelling there, they [b]feared not the Lord: therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which slew them.
26 Wherefore they spake to the king of Assyria, saying, The nations which thou hast removed and placed in the cities of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land: therefore he hath sent Lions among them, and behold, they slay them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land.
27 Then the king of Assyria commanded, saying, Carry thither one of the Priests whom ye brought thence, and let him go and dwell there, and teach them the manner of the God [c]of the country.
28 So one of the Priests, which they had carried from Samaria, came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should fear the Lord.
29 Howbeit, every nation made their gods, and put them in the houses of the high places, which the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities wherein they dwelt.
30 For the men of Babylon made [d]Succoth Benoth: and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima,
31 And the Avites made Nibhaz, and Tartak: and the Sepharvites burnt their children in the fire to Adrammelech, and Anammelech the gods of Sepharvaim.
32 Thus they feared the Lord, and appointed out Priests out of themselves for the high places, who prepared for them sacrifices in the houses of the high places.
33 (A)They [e]feared the Lord, but served their gods after the manner of the nations whom they carried thence.
34 Unto this day they do after the old manner: they neither fear God, neither do after [f]their ordinances, nor after their customs, nor after the Law, nor after the commandment, which the Lord commanded the children of Jacob (B)whom he named Israel,
35 And with whom the Lord had made a covenant, and charged them, saying, (C)Fear none other gods, nor bow yourselves to them, nor serve them, nor sacrifice to them:
36 But fear the Lord which brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power, and a stretched out arm: him fear ye, and worship him and sacrifice to him.
37 Also keep ye diligently the statutes and the ordinances and the law, and the commandment, which he wrote for you, that ye do them continually, and fear not other gods.
38 And forget not the covenant that I have made with you, neither fear ye other gods.
39 But fear the Lord your God, and he will deliver you out of the hands of all your enemies.
40 Howbeit they obeyed not, but did after their old custom.
41 So these [g]nations feared the Lord, and served their images also: so did their children, and their children’s children: as did their fathers, so do they unto this day.
25 [a]Now concerning virgins, I have no commandment of the Lord: but I give mine [b]advise, as [c]one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful.
26 I suppose then [d]this to be good for the [e]present necessity: I mean that it is good for a man so to be.
27 Art thou bound unto a wife? seek not to be loosed: art thou loosed from a wife? seek not a wife.
28 But if thou takest a wife, thou sinnest not: and if a virgin marry, she sinneth not: nevertheless, such shall have trouble in the [f]flesh: but I [g]spare you.
29 And this I say, brethren, because the time is [h]short, hereafter that both they which have wives, be as though they had none:
30 And they that [i]weep, as though they wept not: and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not: and they that buy, as though they possessed not:
31 And they that use this [j]world, as though they used it not: for the [k]fashion of this world goeth away.
25 (A)[a]Therefore I say unto you, be not careful for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink: nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more worth than meat? and the body than raiment?
26 Behold the fowls of the [b]heaven: for they sow not, neither reap, nor carry into the barns, yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
27 Which of you by [c]taking care is able to add one cubit unto his stature?
28 And why care ye for raiment? Learn how the Lilies of the field do grow: they [d]are not wearied, neither spin:
29 Yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30 Wherefore if God so clothe the grass of the field which is today, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not do much more unto you, O ye of little faith?
31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or what shall we drink? or wherewith shall we be clothed?
32 (For after all these things seek the Gentiles) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be ministered unto you.
34 Care not then for the morrow, for the morrow shall care for itself: the day hath enough with his own grief.
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