Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer of the poor in spirit, when he is overwhelmed, and pours out his complaint before the LORD.
1 ¶ Hear my prayer, O LORD, and let my cry come unto thee.
2 Hide not thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble; incline thine ear unto me; in the day when I call, answer me speedily.
3 For my days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as in a hearth.
4 My heart is smitten and withered like grass so that I forget to eat my bread.
5 By reason of the voice of my groaning, my bones cleave to my skin.
6 I am like a pelican of the wilderness; I am like an owl of the desert.
7 I watch and am as a sparrow alone upon the house top.
8 My enemies reproach me all the day, and those that are mad against me are sworn against 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 shadow that declines, and I am withered like grass.
12 ¶ But thou, O LORD, shalt endure for ever and thy remembrance unto all generations.
13 Thou shalt arise and have mercy upon Zion; for the time to favour her, the set time, is come.
14 For thy slaves love her stones and have compassion on the dust thereof.
15 So the Gentiles shall fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth thy glory
16 because the LORD shall have built up Zion, and he shall be seen in his glory.
17 He shall have regarded the prayer of those who are alone and destitute and not despised their prayer.
18 This shall be written for the generation to come, and the people who shall be created shall praise JAH.
19 For he has looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from the heavens the LORD beheld the earth
20 to hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death,
21 that they might declare the name of the LORD in Zion and his praise in Jerusalem,
22 when the people are gathered together as one and the kingdoms, to serve the LORD.
23 ¶ He weakened my strength in the way; he shortened my days.
24 I said, O my God, do not cut me off in the midst of my days; thy years are from generation to generation.
25 Of old thou hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the work of thy hands.
26 They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture thou shalt change them, and they shall be changed:
27 But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.
28 The sons of thy slaves shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee.
1 ¶ O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good; for his mercy endures for ever.
2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he has redeemed from the hand of the enemy
3 and gathered them out of the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.
4 They wandered lost in the wilderness, alone and out of the way; they found no city to dwell in.
5 Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.
6 Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.
7 And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation.
8 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his mercy and for his wonderful works unto the sons of Adam!
9 For he satisfies the soul that is destitute and fills the hungry soul with goodness.
10 ¶ Such as sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and in irons,
11 because they rebelled against the words of God and condemned the counsel of the most High:
12 Therefore he brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and there was no one to help.
13 Then they cried unto the LORD 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 bonds asunder.
15 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his mercy and for his wonderful works unto the sons of Adam!
16 For he has broken the gates of brass and cut the bars of iron asunder.
17 ¶ The fools, because of the way of their rebellion, and because of their iniquities, were afflicted.
18 Their soul abhorred all manner of food, and they drew near unto the gates of death.
19 Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses.
20 He sent his word and healed them and delivered them from their graves.
21 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his mercy and for his wonderful works unto the sons of Adam!
22 And let them offer the sacrifices of praise and publish his works with singing.
23 ¶ Those that go down to the sea in ships that do work in many waters,
24 these have seen the works of the LORD and his wonders in the deep.
25 For he commands and raises the stormy wind, which lifts up its waves.
26 They mount up to the heavens; they go down again to the depths; their soul is melted because of trouble.
27 They reel to and fro and stagger like a drunken man, and all of their knowledge is of no avail.
28 Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivers them out of their afflictions.
29 He makes the storm a calm, so that its waves are still.
30 Then they are glad because they are at rest; so he brings them into the haven of his will.
31 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his mercy and for his wonderful works unto the sons of Adam!
32 Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people and praise him in the assembly of the elders.
3 ¶ Behold, I send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me; and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, and the angel of the covenant, whom ye desire: behold, he comes, said the LORD of the hosts.
2 But who may abide the time of his coming? and who shall stand when he appears? for he shall be like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap:
3 And he shall sit to refine and to purify the silver: for he shall purify the sons of Levi and purge them as gold and silver that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.
4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem shall be pleasant unto the LORD as in the days of old and as in former years.
5 And I will come near unto you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulterers and against false swearers and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and do not fear me, said the LORD of the hosts.
6 For I am the LORD, I have not changed; therefore, ye sons of Jacob have not been consumed.
7 ¶ Even from the days of your fathers, ye had departed from my ordinances and had never kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, said the LORD of the hosts. But ye said, In what shall we return?
8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, In what have we robbed thee? In the tithes and the offerings.
9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye, even this whole nation, have robbed me.
10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, and there shall be food in my house, and prove me now in this, said the LORD of the hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
11 And I will reprehend the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of the ground; neither shall the vine in the field abort, said the LORD of the hosts.
12 And all the Gentiles shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, said the LORD of the hosts.
7 Be patient, therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently until it receives the early and latter rain.
8 Be ye also patient and confirm your hearts, for the coming of the Lord draws near.
9 Complain not one against another, brethren, that ye not be condemned: behold, the judge stands before the door.
10 Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.
11 Behold, we count blessed those who endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job and have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very merciful, and full of compassion.
12 ¶ But above all things, my brethren, do not swear by heaven or by the earth or by any other oath, but let your yes be yes and your no, no; lest ye fall into condemnation.
18 ¶ And he spoke a parable unto them to this end, that it behooves us always to pray and not faint,
2 saying, There was in a city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man;
3 and there was a widow in that city, and she came unto him, saying, Defend me from my adversary.
4 And he would not for a while, but afterward he said within himself, Though I do not fear God, nor regard man,
5 yet because this widow troubles me, I will do her justice, lest by her continual coming she weary me.
6 And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge says.
7 And shall not God avenge his own elect who cry day and night unto him though he bears long regarding them?
8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man comes, shall he find faith on the earth?
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