Book of Common Prayer
69 Save me, O God, for the waters have come in unto my soul.
2 I sink into deep mire where there is no standing; I have come into deep waters where the floods overflow me.
3 I am weary of my crying, my throat is dry; mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.
4 They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head; they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty. Then I was made to restore that which I took not away.
5 O God, Thou knowest my foolishness, and my sins are not hid from Thee.
6 Let not them that wait on Thee, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed for my sake, let not those that seek Thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel,
7 because for Thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face.
8 I have become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother’s children.
9 For the zeal for Thine house hath eaten me up, and the reproaches of them that reproached Thee have fallen upon me.
10 When I wept and chastened my soul with fasting, that was turned to my reproach.
11 I also made sackcloth my garment, and I became a proverb to them.
12 They that sit at the gate speak against me, and I have become the song of the drunkards.
13 But as for me, my prayer is unto Thee: O Lord, in an acceptable time, O God, in the multitude of Thy mercy hear me in the truth of Thy salvation.
14 Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink; let me be delivered from them that hate me and out of the deep waters.
15 Let not the floodwater overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up; and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.
16 Hear me, O Lord, for Thy lovingkindness is good; turn unto me according to the multitude of Thy tender mercies.
17 And hide not Thy face from Thy servant, for I am in trouble; hear me speedily.
18 Draw nigh unto my soul and redeem it; deliver me because of mine enemies.
19 Thou hast known my reproach and my shame and my dishonor; mine adversaries are all before Thee.
20 Reproach hath broken my heart, and I am full of heaviness; I looked for some to take pity, but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none.
21 They gave me also gall for my meat, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
22 Let their table become a snare before them, and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap.
23 Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their loins continually to shake.
24 Pour out Thine indignation upon them, and let Thy wrathful anger take hold of them.
25 Let their habitation be desolate, and let none dwell in their tents.
26 For they persecute him whom Thou hast smitten, and they talk of the grief of those whom Thou hast wounded.
27 Add iniquity unto their iniquity, and let them not come into Thy righteousness.
28 Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.
29 But I am poor and sorrowful; let Thy salvation, O God, set me up on high.
30 I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify Him with thanksgiving.
31 This also shall please the Lord better than an ox or a bullock that hath horns and hoofs.
32 The humble shall see this and be glad, and your heart shall live, that seek God.
33 For the Lord heareth the poor, and despiseth not His prisoners.
34 Let the heaven and earth praise Him, the seas and every thing that moveth therein.
35 For God will save Zion and will build the cities of Judah, that they may dwell there and possess it.
36 The seed also of His servants shall inherit it, and them that love His name shall dwell therein.
73 Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart.
2 But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped.
3 For I was envious of the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4 For there are no bands in their death, but their strength is firm.
5 They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men.
6 Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment.
7 Their eyes stand out with fatness; they have more than heart could wish.
8 They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression; they speak loftily.
9 They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth.
10 Therefore His people return hither, and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them.
11 And they say, “How doth God know? And is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12 Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches.
13 Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain and washed my hands in innocence.
14 For all the day long have I been plagued and chastened every morning.
15 If I say, “I will speak thus,” behold, I should offend against the generation of Thy children.
16 When I thought to understand this, it was too painful for me,
17 until I went into the sanctuary of God. Then understood I their end:
18 surely Thou didst set them in slippery places. Thou didst cast them down into destruction!
19 How they are brought into desolation, as in a moment! They are utterly consumed with terrors!
20 As a dream when one awaketh, so, O Lord, when Thou awakest, Thou shalt despise their image.
21 Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins.
22 So foolish was I and ignorant; I was as a beast before Thee.
23 Nevertheless I am continually with Thee; Thou hast held me by my right hand.
24 Thou shalt guide me with Thy counsel and afterward receive me to glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but Thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire beside Thee.
26 My flesh and my heart faileth, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever.
27 For lo, they that are far from Thee shall perish; Thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from Thee.
28 But it is good for me to draw near to God. I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all Thy works.
24 And Abraham was old and well stricken in age; and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things.
2 And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, who ruled over all that he had, “Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh;
3 and I will make thee swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell.
4 But thou shalt go unto my country and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac.”
5 And the servant said unto him, “Perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land. Must I bring thy son again unto the land from whence thou camest?”
6 And Abraham said unto him, “Beware thou that thou bring not my son thither again.
7 The Lord God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my kindred, and who spoke unto me and who swore unto me, saying, ‘Unto thy seed will I give this land,’ He shall send His angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife for my son from thence.
8 And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this my oath; only bring not my son thither again.”
9 And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning that matter.
10 And the servant took ten camels from the camels of his master and departed, for all the goods of his master were in his hand. And he arose and went to Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor.
11 And he made his camels to kneel down outside the city by a well of water at the time of the evening, even the time that women go out to draw water.
12 And he said, “O Lord God of my master Abraham, I pray Thee, send me good speed this day, and show kindness unto my master Abraham.
13 Behold, I stand here by the well of water, and the daughters of the men of the city come out to draw water.
14 And let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, ‘Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink,’ and she shall say, ‘Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also’ — let the same be she whom Thou hast appointed for Thy servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that Thou hast shown kindness unto my master.”
15 And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder.
16 And the damsel was very fair to look upon, a virgin, neither had any man known her; and she went down to the well and filled her pitcher and came up.
17 And the servant ran to meet her and said, “Let me, I pray thee, drink a little water from thy pitcher.”
18 And she said, “Drink, my lord”; and she hastened and let down her pitcher upon her hand, and gave him drink.
19 And when she had done giving him drink, she said, “I will draw water for thy camels also, until they have done drinking.”
20 And she hastened and emptied her pitcher into the trough, and ran again unto the well to draw water, and drew for all his camels.
21 And the man, wondering at her, held his peace to learn whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not.
22 And it came to pass, as the camels were done drinking, that the man took a golden earring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold,
23 and said, “Whose daughter art thou? Tell me, I pray thee, is there room in thy father’s house for us to lodge in?”
24 And she said unto him, “I am the daughter of Bethuel the son of Milcah, whom she bore unto Nahor.”
25 She said moreover unto him, “We have both straw and provender enough, and room to lodge in.”
26 And the man bowed down his head, and worshiped the Lord.
27 And he said, “Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master from His mercy and His truth. I, being on the way, the Lord led me to the house of my master’s brethren.”
3 For consider Him that endured such contradiction from sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
4 In striving against sin, ye have not yet resisted unto bloodshed.
5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children: “My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked by Him;
6 for whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.”
7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all arepartakers, then ye are bastards and not sons.
9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh who corrected us, and we gave them reverence. Shall we not far rather be in subjection unto the Father of Spirits, and live?
10 For verily they chastened us for a few days according to their own pleasure, but He for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness.
11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous; nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto those who are exercised thereby.
7 After these things, Jesus walked in Galilee, for He would not walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him.
2 Now the Jews’ Feast of Tabernacles was at hand.
3 His brethren therefore said unto Him, “Depart hence and go into Judea, that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest.
4 For no man doeth anything in secret if he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, show thyself to the world.”
5 For neither did His brethren believe in Him.
6 Then Jesus said unto them, “My time is not yet come, but your time is always ready.
7 The world cannot hate you, but Me it hateth, because I testify of it that the works thereof are evil.
8 Go ye up unto this feast. I go not up yet unto this feast, for My time is not yet fully come.”
9 When He had said these words unto them, He remained still in Galilee.
10 But when His brethren had gone up, then He also went up unto the feast, not openly but, as it were, in secret.
11 Then the Jews sought Him at the feast and said, “Where is he?”
12 And there was much murmuring among the people concerning Him. For some said, “He is a good man,” and others said, “Nay, for he deceiveth the people.”
13 Yet no man spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews.
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