Book of Common Prayer
5 Give ear to my words, O Lord; consider my meditation.
2 Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King and my God, for unto Thee will I pray.
3 My voice shalt Thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee and will look up.
4 For Thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness; neither shall evil dwell with Thee.
5 The foolish shall not stand in Thy sight; Thou hatest all workers of iniquity.
6 Thou shalt destroy them that speak lies; the Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful man.
7 But as for me, I will come into Thy house in the multitude of Thy mercy, and in Thy fear will I worship toward Thy holy temple.
8 Lead me, O Lord, in Thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make Thy way straight before my face.
9 For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is exceeding wickedness. Their throat is an open sepulcher; they flatter with their tongue.
10 Destroy Thou them, O God! Let them fall by their own counsels. Cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions, for they have rebelled against Thee.
11 But let all those that put their trust in Thee rejoice; let them ever shout for joy, because Thou defendest them; let them also that love Thy name be joyful in Thee.
12 For Thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous; with favor wilt Thou compass him about as with a shield.
6 O Lord, rebuke me not in Thine anger, neither chasten me in Thy hot displeasure.
2 Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am weak; O Lord, heal me, for my bones are vexed.
3 My soul is also sore vexed, but Thou, O Lord, how long?
4 Return, O Lord, deliver my soul! O save me for Thy mercies’ sake!
5 For in death there is no remembrance of Thee; in the grave who shall give Thee thanks?
6 I am weary with my groaning; all the night I make my bed to swim, I water my couch with my tears.
7 Mine eye is consumed because of grief; it waxeth old because of all mine enemies.
8 Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity, for the Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping.
9 The Lord hath heard my supplication; the Lord will receive my prayer.
10 Let all mine enemies be ashamed and sorely vexed; let them turn back and be put to shame suddenly.
10 Why standest Thou afar off, O Lord? Why hidest Thou Thyself in times of trouble?
2 The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor; let them be caught in the devices that they have contrived.
3 For the wicked boasteth of his heart’s desire, and blesseth the covetous whom the Lord abhorreth.
4 The wicked, in the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God; God is not in all his thoughts.
5 His ways are always grievous; Thy judgments are far above, out of his sight; as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them.
6 He hath said in his heart, “I shall not be moved, for I shall never be in adversity.”
7 His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud; under his tongue is mischief and vanity.
8 He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages; in secret places doth he murder the innocent; his eyes are privily set against the poor.
9 He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den; he lieth in wait to catch the poor; he doth catch the poor when he draweth him into his net.
10 He croucheth and humbleth himself, that the poor may fall by his strong ones.
11 He hath said in his heart, “God hath forgotten; He hideth His face, He will never see it.”
12 Arise, O Lord! O God, lift up Thine hand! Forget not the humble.
13 Why doth the wicked contemn God? He hath said in his heart, “Thou wilt not keep account.”
14 But Thou hast seen it, for Thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite it with Thy hand. The poor committeth himself unto Thee; Thou art the helper of the fatherless.
15 Break Thou the arm of the wicked and the evil man; seek out his wickedness until Thou find none.
16 The Lord is King for ever and ever; the heathen have perished out of His land.
17 Lord, Thou hast heard the desire of the humble; Thou wilt prepare their heart, Thou wilt cause Thine ear to hear,
18 to judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may no more oppress.
11 In the Lord I put my trust; how say ye to my soul, “Flee as a bird to your mountain,
2 for lo, the wicked bend their bow and make ready their arrow upon the string, that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart;
3 if the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?”
4 The Lord is in His holy temple! The Lord’S throne is in heaven! His eyes behold; His eyelids test the children of men!
5 The Lord trieth the righteous; but the wicked and him that loveth violence, His soul hateth.
6 Upon the wicked He shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and a horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup.
7 For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness; His countenance doth behold the upright.
3 Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, “Yea, hath God said, ‘Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden,
3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, ‘Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it,lest ye die.’”
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, “Ye shall not surely die;
5 for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.”
6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof and ate, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he ate.
7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves things to gird about.
8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God, walking in the garden in the cool of the day. And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.
9 And the Lord God called unto Adam and said unto him, “Where art thou?”
10 And he said, “I heard Thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”
11 And He said, “Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?”
12 And the man said, “The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”
13 And the Lord God said unto the woman, “What is this that thou hast done?” And the woman said, “The serpent beguiled me, and I ate.”
14 And the Lord God said unto the serpent, “Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field. Upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.
15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her Seed; It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel.”
16 Unto the woman He said, “I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception. In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.”
17 And unto Adam He said, “Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying, ‘Thou shalt not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life.
18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the field.
19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return unto the ground, for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”
20 And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.
21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
22 And the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become as one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat and live for ever”—
23 therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the Garden of Eden to till the ground from whence he was taken.
24 So He drove out the man; and He placed at the east of the Garden of Eden cherubims and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
2 Therefore we ought to give even more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.
2 For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward,
3 how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed unto us by those who heard Him,
4 God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders and with divers miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to His own will?
5 For it was not unto angels that He put in subjection the world to come, of which we speak.
6 But one at a certain place testified, saying, “What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? Or the son of man, that Thou visitest him?
7 Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; Thou crowned him with glory and honor and set him over the works of Thy hands.
8 Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet.” For in putting all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now as yet we see not all things put under him.
9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man.
10 For it became Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
19 And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who art thou?”
20 And he confessed and denied not, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”
21 And they asked him, “What then? Art thou Elijah?” And he said, “I am not.” “Art thou that Prophet?” And he answered, “No.”
22 Then said they unto him, “Who art thou, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What sayest thou of thyself?”
23 He said, “I am ‘the voice of one crying in the wilderness, “Make straight the way of the Lord,”’ as said the prophet Isaiah.”
24 And those who were sent were of the Pharisees.
25 And they asked him, and said unto him, “Why dost thou baptize then if thou art not that Christ, nor Elijah, neither that Prophet?”
26 John answered them, saying, “I baptize with water, but there standeth One among you whom ye know not.
27 He it is who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose shoe’s strap I am not worthy to unloose.”
28 These things were done in Bethabara beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
Copyright © 1994 by Deuel Enterprises, Inc.