Book of Common Prayer
49 Remember the word unto Thy servant, upon which Thou hast caused me to hope.
50 This is my comfort in my affliction, for Thy word hath quickened me.
51 The proud have held me greatly in derision, yet have I not departed from Thy law.
52 I remembered Thy judgments of old, O Lord, and have comforted myself.
53 Horror hath taken hold upon me, because of the wicked that forsake Thy law.
54 Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage.
55 I have remembered Thy name, O Lord, in the night and have kept Thy law.
56 This I had, because I kept Thy precepts.
57 Thou art my portion, O Lord; I have said that I would keep Thy words.
58 I entreated Thy favor with my whole heart; be merciful unto me according to Thy word.
59 I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto Thy testimonies.
60 I made haste, and delayed not to keep Thy commandments.
61 The cords of the wicked have robbed me, but I have not forgotten Thy law.
62 At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto Thee, because of Thy righteous judgments.
63 I am a companion of all them that fear Thee, and of them that keep Thy precepts.
64 The earth, O Lord, is full of Thy mercy; teach me Thy statutes.
65 Thou hast dealt well with Thy servant, O Lord, according to Thy word.
66 Teach me good judgment and knowledge, for I have believed Thy commandments.
67 Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now have I kept Thy word.
68 Thou art good, and doest good; teach me Thy statutes.
69 The proud have forged a lie against me, but I will keep Thy precepts with my whole heart.
70 Their heart is as fat as grease, but I delight in Thy law.
71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn Thy statutes.
72 The law of Thy mouth is better for me than thousands of gold and silver.
49 Hear this, all ye people; give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world,
2 both low and high, rich and poor together.
3 My mouth shall speak of wisdom, and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding.
4 I will incline mine ear to a parable; I will open my dark saying upon the harp.
5 Why should I fear in the days of evil, when the iniquity at my heels shall compass me about?
6 They that trust in their wealth and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches,
7 none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him
8 (for the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever),
9 that they should still live for ever, and not see corruption.
10 For he seeth that wise men die; likewise the fool and the brutish person perish and leave their wealth to others.
11 Their inward thought is that their houses shall continue for ever, and their dwelling places to all generations; they call their lands after their own names.
12 Nevertheless man, though he be in honor, abideth not; he is like the beasts that perish.
13 This their way is their folly, yet their posterity approve their sayings. Selah
14 Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them, and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning, and their beauty shall be consumed in the grave away from their dwelling.
15 But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave, for He shall receive me. Selah
16 Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased.
17 For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away; his glory shall not descend after him.
18 Though while he lived he blessed his soul (and men will praise thee when thou doest well for thyself),
19 he shall go to the generation of his fathers; they shall never see light.
20 Man, though he is in honor but understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish.
53 The fool hath said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt and have done abominable iniquity; there is none that doeth good.
2 God looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any that understood, that had sought God.
3 Every one of them has turned back; they have altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
4 Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge—those who eat up my people as they eat bread? They have not called upon God.
5 There they were in great fear, where no fear was; for God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee; thou hast put them to shame, because God hath despised them.
6 O that the salvation of Israel might come out of Zion! When God bringeth back His captive people, Jacob shall rejoice and Israel shall be glad.
8 The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel.
9 And all the people shall know—even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria” that say in the pride and stoutness of heart:
10 “The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones; the sycamores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars.”
11 Therefore the Lord shall set up the adversaries of Rezin against him and join his enemies together,
12 the Syrians before and the Philistines behind; and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still.
13 For the people turneth not unto Him that smiteth them, neither do they seek the Lord of hosts.
14 Therefore the Lord will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day.
15 The ancient and honorable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.
16 For the leaders of this people cause them to err, and they that are led by them are destroyed.
17 Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows; for every one is a hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still.
2 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways, by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evilly spoken of.
3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you — they whose judgment now for a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.
4 For if God spared not the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness to be reserved unto judgment;
5 and spared not the old world, but saved Noah, the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the Flood upon the world of the ungodly;
6 and, turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to be overthrown, making them an example unto those who thereafter should live ungodly;
7 and if He delivered righteous Lot, vexed with the filthy conduct of the wicked
8 (for that righteous man, having dwelt among them seeing and hearing, was vexed in his righteous soul day after day with their unlawful deeds)—
9 then the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust unto the Day of Judgment to be punished,
10 but chiefly those who walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise governance. Presumptuous are they and selfwilled; they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities,
1 The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
2 As it is written in the Prophets: “Behold, I send My messenger before Thy face, who shall prepare Thy way before Thee.”
3 “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.’”
4 John baptized in the wilderness and preached the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.
5 And there went out unto him all the land of Judea and those of Jerusalem; and they were all baptized by him in the River Jordan, confessing their sins.
6 And John was clothed with camel’s hair and with a girdle of a skin about his loins, and he ate locusts and wild honey.
7 And he preached, saying, “There cometh after me One mightier than I, the strap of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose.
8 I indeed have baptized you with water, but He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.”
Copyright © 1994 by Deuel Enterprises, Inc.