Book of Common Prayer
40 1 David delivered from great danger doth magnify and praise the grace of God for his deliverance, and commendeth his providence toward all mankind. 5 Then doth he promise to give himself wholly to God’s service, and so declareth how God is truly worshipped. 14 Afterwards he giveth thanks and praiseth God, and having complained of his enemies, with good courage he calleth for aid and succor.
To him that excelleth. A Psalm of David.
1 I waited [a]patiently for the Lord, and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.
2 He brought me also out of the [b]horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon the rock, and ordered my goings.
3 And he hath put in my mouth [c]a new song of praise unto our God: many shall see it and fear, and shall trust in the Lord.
4 Blessed is the man that maketh the Lord his trust, and regardeth [d]not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.
5 [e]O Lord my God, thou hast made thy wonderful works so many, that none can count in order to thee thy thoughts toward us: I would declare and speak of them, but they are more than I am able to express.
6 Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire: (for [f]mine ears hast thou prepared) burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.
7 [g]Then said I, Lo, I come: for in the roll of the book it is written of me.
8 I desired to do thy good will, O my God: yea, thy Law is within mine heart.
9 I have declared thy righteousness in the [h]great congregation: lo, I will not refrain my lips: O Lord, thou knowest.
10 I have not hid thy righteousness within mine heart, but I have declared thy [i]truth and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy mercy, and thy truth from the great Congregation.
11 Withdraw not thou thy tender mercy from me, O Lord, let thy mercy and thy truth always preserve me.
12 For innumerable troubles have compassed me: my sins have taken such hold upon me, that I am not able to look up: yea, they are more in number than the hairs of mine head: therefore mine heart hath [j]failed me.
13 Let it please thee, O Lord, to deliver me: make haste, O Lord, to help me.
14 Let them be [k]confounded and put to shame together, that seek my soul to destroy it: let them be driven backward and put to rebuke that desire mine hurt.
15 Let them be [l]destroyed for a reward of their shame, which say unto me, Aha, aha.
16 Let all them that seek thee, rejoice and be glad in thee, and let them that love thy salvation, say always, [m]The Lord be praised.
17 Though I be poor and needy, the Lord thinketh on me: thou art mine helper and my deliverer: my God, make no tarrying.
54 1 David brought into great danger by reason of the Ziphites, 5 Calleth upon the Name of God to destroy his enemies, 6 Promising sacrifices and free offerings for so great deliverance.
To him that excelleth on Neginoth. A Psalm of David, to give instruction. When the Ziphims came and said unto Saul, (A)Is not David hid among us?
1 Save me, O God, [a]by thy Name, and by thy power judge me.
2 O God, hear my prayer: hearken unto the words of my mouth.
3 For [b]strangers are risen up against me, and [c]tyrants seek my soul: they have not set God before them. Selah.
4 Behold, God is mine helper: the Lord is with [d]them that uphold my soul.
5 He shall reward evil unto mine enemies: Oh cut them off in thy [e]truth!
6 Then I will sacrifice [f]freely unto thee: I will praise thy Name, O Lord, because it is good.
7 For he hath delivered me out of all trouble, and mine eye hath [g]seen my desire upon mine enemies.
51 When David was rebuked by the Prophet Nathan for his great offenses, he did not only acknowledge the same to God, with protestation of his natural corruption and iniquity, but also left a memorial thereof to his posterity. 7 Therefore first he desireth God to forgive his sins, 10 And to renew in him his holy Spirit. 13 With promise that he will not be unmindful of those great graces. 18 Finally, fearing lest God would punish the whole Church for his fault, he requireth that he would rather increase his graces toward the same.
To him that excelleth. A Psalm of David, when the Prophet Nathan [a]came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
1 Have mercy upon me, O God, [b]according to thy loving-kindness: according to the multitude of thy compassions put away mine iniquities.
2 Wash me [c]thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from mine sin.
3 For I [d]know mine iniquities, and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against thee, against thee only have I sinned, and done evil in thy sight, that thou mayest be just when thou [e]speakest, and pure when thou judgest.
5 Behold, I was born in iniquity, and in sin hath my mother conceived me.
6 Behold, thou [f]lovest truth in the inward affections: therefore hast thou taught me wisdom in the secret of mine heart.
7 Purge me with (A)hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Make me to hear [g]joy and gladness, that the [h]bones, which thou hast broken, may rejoice.
9 Hide thy face from my sins, and put away all mine iniquities.
10 [i]Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thine holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of thy salvation, and establish me with thy [j]free Spirit.
13 Then shall I teach thy [k]ways unto the wicked, and sinners shall be converted unto thee.
14 Deliver me from [l]blood, O God, which art the God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing joyfully of thy righteousness.
15 [m]Open thou my lips, O Lord, and my mouth shall show forth thy praise.
16 For thou desirest no sacrifice, though I would give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a [n]contrite spirit: a contrite and a broken heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
18 Be favorable unto [o]Zion for thy good pleasure: build the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then shalt thou accept the sacrifices of [p]righteousness, even the burnt offering and oblation: then shall they offer calves upon thine altar.
5 ¶ O [a]Assyria, the rod of my wrath: and the staff in their hands is mine indignation.
6 I will send [b]him to a dissembling nation, and I will give him a charge against the people of my wrath to take the spoil and to take the prey, and to tread them under feet like the mire in the street.
7 But he thinketh not so, neither doth his heart esteem it so: but he imagineth to destroy and to cut off not a few nations.
8 For he saith, Are not my princes altogether Kings?
9 Is not Calno as [c]Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad? Is not Samaria as Damascus?
10 Like as mine hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols, seeing their idols were above Jerusalem, and above Samaria:
11 Shall not I, as I have done to Samaria, and to the idols thereof, so do to Jerusalem, and to the idols thereof?
12 ¶ But when the Lord hath accomplished [d]all his work upon mount Zion and Jerusalem, I will visit the fruit of the proud heart [e]of the king of Assyria, and his glorious and proud looks,
13 Because he said, By the power of mine own hand have I done it, and by my wisdom, because I am wise: therefore I have removed the borders of the people, and have spoiled their treasures, and have pulled down the inhabitants like a valiant man.
14 And mine hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people, and as one that gathereth eggs that are left, so have I gathered all the earth: and there was none to move the wing or to open the mouth, or to whisper.
15 Shall the [f]axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw exalt itself against him that moveth it? as if the rod should lift up itself against him that taketh it up, or the staff should exalt itself as it were no wood.
16 Therefore shall the Lord God of hosts send among his fat men leanness, and under his glory he shall kindle a burning, like the burning of fire.
17 And the light of Israel shall be as a [g]fire, and the Holy one thereof as a flame, and it shall burn, and devour [h]his thorns and his briers in one day:
18 And shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful fields both soul [i]and flesh: and he shall be as the [j]fainting of a standard bearer.
19 And the rest of the trees of his forest shall be few, that a child may tell them.
17 (A)[a]These are [b]wells without water, and clouds carried about with a tempest, to whom the [c]black darkness is reserved forever.
18 For in speaking [d]swelling words of vanity, they [e]beguile with wantonness through the lusts of the flesh them that were [f]clean escaped from them which are wrapped in error,
19 Promising unto them liberty, and are themselves the (B)servants of corruption: for of whomsoever a man is overcome, even unto the same is he in bondage.
20 (C)[g] For if they, after they have escaped from the filthiness of the world, through the acknowledging of the Lord, and of the Savior Jesus Christ, are yet tangled again therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
21 For it had been better for them not to have acknowledged the way of righteousness, than after they have acknowledged it, to turn from the holy commandment given unto them.
22 But it is come unto them according to the true proverb, (D)The dog is returned to his own vomit: and the sow that was washed, to the wallowing in the mire.
2 ¶ (A)And when John heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, and said unto him,
3 Art thou he that should come, or shall we look for another?
4 And Jesus answering, said unto them, Go, and show John, what things ye hear and see.
5 The blind receive sight, and the halt do walk: the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, (B)and the poor receive the Gospel.
6 And blessed is he that shall not be offended in me.
7 [a]And as they departed, Jesus began to speak unto the multitude of John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? a reed shaken with the wind?
8 But what went ye out to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold they that wear soft clothing, are in kings’ houses.
9 But what went ye out to see? A Prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and more than a Prophet.
10 For this is he of whom it is written, (C)Behold, I send my messenger before thy face which shall prepare thy way before thee.
11 Verily I say unto you, Among them which are begotten of women, arose there not a greater than John Baptist, notwithstanding, he that is the least in the [b]kingdom of heaven, is greater than he.
12 And from (D)the time of John Baptist hitherto, the kingdom of God suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
13 For all the Prophets and the Law [c]prophesied unto John.
14 And if ye will receive it, this is (E)that Elijah, which was to come.
15 ¶ He that hath ears to hear let him hear.
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.