Book of Common Prayer
55 Give ear to my prayer, O God, and hide not Thyself from my supplication.
2 Attend unto me and hear me; I mourn in my complaint and moan,
3 because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked; for they cast iniquity upon me, and in wrath they hate me.
4 My heart is sorely pained within me, and the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
5 Fearfulness and trembling have come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me.
6 And I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! For then would I fly away and be at rest.
7 Lo, then would I wander far off, and remain in the wilderness; Selah
8 I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest.”
9 Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues, for I have seen violence and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof; mischief also and sorrow are in the midst of it.
11 Wickedness is in the midst thereof; deceit and guile depart not from her streets.
12 For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it. Neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him.
13 But it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide and mine acquaintance.
14 We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in company.
15 Let death seize upon them, and let them go down alive into hell; for wickedness is in their dwellings and among them.
16 As for me, I will call upon God, and the Lord shall save me.
17 Evening and morning and at noon will I pray and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice.
18 He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me, for there were many with me.
19 God shall hear and afflict them, even He that abideth of old. Selah Because they have not changed, therefore they fear not God.
20 He hath put forth his hands against those that are at peace with him; he hath broken his covenant.
21 The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart; his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords.
22 Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee. He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.
23 But Thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction; bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days. But I will trust in Thee.
138 I will praise Thee with my whole heart; before the gods will I sing praise unto Thee.
2 I will worship toward Thy holy temple, and praise Thy name for Thy lovingkindness and for Thy truth, for Thou hast magnified Thy word above all Thy name.
3 In the day when I cried, Thou answered me, and strengthened me with strength in my soul.
4 All the kings of the earth shall praise Thee, O Lord, when they hear the words of Thy mouth.
5 Yea, they shall sing of the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord.
6 Though the Lord be high, yet hath He respect unto the lowly, but the proud He knoweth afar off.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, Thou wilt revive me; Thou shalt stretch forth Thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and Thy right hand shall save me.
8 The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me; Thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for ever; forsake not the works of Thine own hands.
139 O Lord, Thou hast searched me and known me.
2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising; Thou understandest my thought afar off.
3 Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.
4 For there is not a word on my tongue, but lo, O Lord, Thou knowest it altogether.
5 Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid Thine hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.
7 Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit? Or whither shall I flee from Thy presence?
8 If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, Thou art there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning 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 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,” even the night shall be light about me.
12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from Thee, but the night shineth as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to Thee.
13 For Thou hast possessed my reins. Thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will praise Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Thy works, and that my soul knoweth right well.
15 My substance was not hid from Thee when I was made in secret, and intricately wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being imperfect; and in Thy book all my members were written, which in continuity were fashioned, when as yet there were none of them.
17 How precious also are Thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them!
18 If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand; when I awake, I am still with Thee.
19 Surely, Thou wilt slay the wicked, O God. Depart from me therefore, ye bloody men.
20 For they speak against Thee wickedly, and Thine enemies take Thy name in vain.
21 Do I not hate them, O Lord, that hate Thee? And am I not grieved with those that rise up against Thee?
22 I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them mine enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts.
4 But it came to pass that when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was wroth and felt great indignation and mocked the Jews.
2 And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they make sacrifice? Will they finish it in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned?”
3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, “Indeed that which they build, if a fox go up, even he shall break down their stone wall.”
4 Hear, O our God, for we are despised; and turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them as a prey in the land of captivity.
5 And cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before Thee; for they have provoked Thee to anger before the builders.
6 So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together unto half its height, for the people had a mind to work.
7 But it came to pass that when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabians and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were being rebuilt, and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth,
8 and conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem and to hinder it.
9 Nevertheless we made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them.
10 And Judah said, “The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed, and there is much rubbish, so that we are not able to build the wall.”
11 And our adversaries said, “They shall not know, neither see, until we come in the midst among them and slay them and cause the work to cease.”
12 And it came to pass that when the Jews who dwelt by them came, they said unto us ten times, “From all places whence ye shall return unto us, they will be upon you.”
13 Therefore set I men in the lower places behind the wall, and on the higher places; I even set the people by families with their swords, their spears, and their bows.
14 And I looked, and rose up, and said unto the nobles and to the rulers and to the rest of the people, “Be not ye afraid of them; remember the Lord, who is great and fearsome, and fight for your brethren, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your houses.”
15 And it came to pass, when our enemies heard that it was known unto us and God had brought their counsel to nought, that we returned all of us to the wall, every one unto his work.
16 And it came to pass from that time forth, that the half of my servants wrought in the work, and the other half of them held both the spears, the shields and the bows and the jackets of mail; and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah.
17 Those who built on the wall and those who bore burdens with those who loaded — every one with one of his hands wrought in the work and with the other hand held a weapon.
18 For the builders, every one, had his sword girded by his side, and so built. And he that sounded the trumpet was by me.
19 And I said unto the nobles and to the rulers and to the rest of the people, “The work is great and large, and we are separated upon the wall, one far from another.
20 In what place therefore ye hear the sound of the trumpet, resort ye thither unto us. Our God shall fight for us.”
21 So we labored in the work; and half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning until the stars appeared.
22 Likewise at the same time said I unto the people, “Let every one with his servant lodge within Jerusalem, that in the night they may be a guard to us, and labor in the day.”
23 So neither I, nor my brethren, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us, put off our clothes, except that every one put them off for washing.
4 And I heard the number of them that were sealed: there were sealed a hundred and fortyfour thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
5 Of the tribe of Judah were sealed twelve thousand; of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand; of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand;
6 of the tribe of Asher were sealed twelve thousand; of the tribe of Naphtali were sealed twelve thousand; of the tribe of Manasseh were sealed twelve thousand;
7 of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand; of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand; of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand;
8 of the tribe of Zebulun were sealed twelve thousand; of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand; of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.
9 After this I beheld, and lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues, stood before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes and with palms in their hands.
10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation to our God who sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb!”
11 And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four living beings, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,
12 saying, “Amen. Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving, and honor and power and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen!”
13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, “Who are these that are arrayed in white robes, and from whence have they come?”
14 And I said unto him, “Sir, thou knowest.” And he said to me, “These are they that came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15 Therefore, “they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple; and He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.
16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.
17 For the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.”
31 Another parable put He forth before them, saying, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field,
32 which indeed is the least of all seeds; but when it is grown it is the greatest among herbs and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.”
33 Another parable spoke He unto them: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till the whole was leavened.”
34 All these things spoke Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spoke He not unto them,
35 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, “I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.”
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