Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed, and poureth out his complaint before Jehovah.
102 Jehovah, hear my prayer, and let my cry come unto thee.
2 Hide not thy face from me: in the day of my trouble, incline thine ear unto me; in the day I call, answer me speedily.
3 For my days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as a firebrand.
4 My heart is smitten and withered like grass; yea, I have forgotten to eat my bread.
5 By reason of the voice of my groaning, my bones cleave to my flesh.
6 I am become like the pelican of the wilderness, I am as an owl in desolate places;
7 I watch, and am like a sparrow alone upon the housetop.
8 Mine enemies reproach me all the day; they that are mad against me swear by me.
9 For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping,
10 Because of thine indignation and thy wrath; for thou hast lifted me up, and cast me down.
11 My days are like a lengthened-out shadow, and I, I am withered like grass.
12 But thou, Jehovah, abidest for ever, and thy memorial from generation to generation.
13 *Thou* wilt rise up, thou wilt have mercy upon Zion: for it is the time to be gracious to her, for the set time is come.
14 For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favour her dust.
15 And the nations shall fear the name of Jehovah, and all the kings of the earth thy glory.
16 When Jehovah shall build up Zion, he will appear in his glory.
17 He will regard the prayer of the destitute one, and not despise their prayer.
18 This shall be written for the generation to come; and a people that shall be created shall praise Jah:
19 For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from the heavens hath Jehovah beheld the earth,
20 To hear the groaning of the prisoner, to loose those that are appointed to die;
21 That the name of Jehovah may be declared in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem,
22 When the peoples shall be gathered together, and the kingdoms, to serve Jehovah.
23 He weakened my strength in the way, he shortened my days.
24 I said, My God, take me not away in the midst of my days! … Thy years are from generation to generation.
25 Of old hast thou founded the earth, and the heavens are the work of thy hands:
26 *They* shall perish, but *thou* continuest; and all of them shall grow old as a garment: as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed.
27 But thou art the Same, and thy years shall have no end.
28 The children of thy servants shall abide, and their seed shall be established before thee.
107 Give ye thanks unto Jehovah; for he is good; for his loving-kindness [endureth] for ever.
2 Let the redeemed of Jehovah say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the oppressor,
3 And gathered out of the countries, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the sea.
4 They wandered in the wilderness in a desert way, they found no city of habitation;
5 Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them:
6 Then they cried unto Jehovah in their trouble, [and] he delivered them out of their distresses,
7 And he led them forth by a right way, that they might go to a city of habitation.
8 Let them give thanks unto Jehovah for his loving-kindness, and for his wondrous works to the children of men;
9 For he hath satisfied the longing soul and filled the hungry soul with good.
10 Such as inhabit darkness and the shadow of death, bound in affliction and iron,
11 Because they had rebelled against the words of God, and had despised the counsel of the Most High; …
12 And he bowed down their heart with labour; they stumbled, and there was none to help:
13 Then they cried unto Jehovah in their trouble, [and] he saved them out of their distresses;
14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke their bands in sunder.
15 Let them give thanks unto Jehovah for his loving-kindness, and for his wondrous works to the children of men;
16 For he hath broken the gates of bronze, and cut asunder the bars of iron.
17 Fools, because of their way of transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted;
18 Their soul abhorreth all manner of food, and they draw near unto the gates of death:
19 Then they cry unto Jehovah in their trouble, [and] he saveth them out of their distresses;
20 He sendeth his word, and healeth them, and delivereth them from their destructions.
21 Let them give thanks unto Jehovah for his loving-kindness, and for his wondrous works to the children of men,
22 And let them offer the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works in joyful song.
23 They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters,
24 These see the works of Jehovah, and his wonders in the deep.
25 For he speaketh, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof:
26 They mount up to the heavens, they go down to the depths; their soul is melted because of trouble;
27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and they are at their wits' end:
28 Then they cry unto Jehovah in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses;
29 He maketh the storm a calm, and the waves thereof are still:
30 And they rejoice because they are quiet; and he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
31 Let them give thanks unto Jehovah for his loving-kindness, and for his wondrous works to the children of men;
32 Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the session of the elders.
3 Behold, I send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me; and the Lord whom ye seek will suddenly come to his temple, and the Angel of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he cometh, saith Jehovah of hosts.
2 But who shall endure the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? For he will be like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' lye.
3 And he shall sit [as] a refiner and purifier of silver; and he will purify the children of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver; and they shall offer unto Jehovah an oblation in righteousness.
4 Then shall the oblation of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto Jehovah, as in the days of old, and as in former years.
5 And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against the false swearers, and against those that oppress the hired servant in [his] wages, the widow and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger [from his right], and fear not me, saith Jehovah of hosts.
6 For I Jehovah change not, and ye, sons of Jacob, are not consumed.
7 Since the days of your fathers have ye departed from my statutes, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith Jehovah of hosts. But ye say, Wherein shall we return?
8 Will a man rob God? But ye rob me. And ye say, Wherein do we rob thee? [In] tithes and heave-offerings.
9 Ye are cursed with a curse; and me ye rob, [even] this whole nation.
10 Bring the whole tithe into the treasure-house, that there may be food in my house, and prove me now herewith, saith Jehovah of hosts, if I open not to you the windows of the heavens, and pour you out a blessing, till there be no place for it.
11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast its fruit before the time in the field, saith Jehovah of hosts.
12 And all nations shall call you blessed; for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith Jehovah of hosts.
7 Have patience, therefore, brethren, till the coming of the Lord. Behold, the labourer awaits the precious fruit of the earth, having patience for it until it receive [the] early and [the] latter rain.
8 *Ye* also have patience: stablish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is drawn nigh.
9 Complain not one against another, brethren, that ye be not judged. Behold, the judge stands before the door.
10 Take [as] an example, brethren, of suffering and having patience, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of [the] Lord.
11 Behold, we call them blessed who have endured. Ye have heard of the endurance of Job, and seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is full of tender compassion and pitiful.
12 But before all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, nor by the earth, nor by any other oath; but let your yea be yea, and your nay, nay, that ye do not fall under judgment.
18 And he spoke also a parable to them to the purport that they should always pray and not faint,
2 saying, There was a judge in a city, not fearing God and not respecting man:
3 and there was a widow in that city, and she came to him, saying, Avenge me of mine adverse party.
4 And he would not for a time; but afterwards he said within himself, If even I fear not God and respect not man,
5 at any rate because this widow annoys me I will avenge her, that she may not by perpetually coming completely harass me.
6 And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge says.
7 And shall not God at all avenge his elect, who cry to him day and night, and he bears long as to them?
8 I say unto you that he will avenge them speedily. But when the Son of man comes, shall he indeed find faith on the earth?
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