Book of Common Prayer
55 Give ear to my prayer, O God, and hide not Thyself from my supplication.
2 Attend unto me and hear me; I mourn in my complaint and moan,
3 because of the voice of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked; for they cast iniquity upon me, and in wrath they hate me.
4 My heart is sorely pained within me, and the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
5 Fearfulness and trembling have come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me.
6 And I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove! For then would I fly away and be at rest.
7 Lo, then would I wander far off, and remain in the wilderness; Selah
8 I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest.”
9 Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues, for I have seen violence and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof; mischief also and sorrow are in the midst of it.
11 Wickedness is in the midst thereof; deceit and guile depart not from her streets.
12 For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it. Neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him.
13 But it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide and mine acquaintance.
14 We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in company.
15 Let death seize upon them, and let them go down alive into hell; for wickedness is in their dwellings and among them.
16 As for me, I will call upon God, and the Lord shall save me.
17 Evening and morning and at noon will I pray and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice.
18 He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me, for there were many with me.
19 God shall hear and afflict them, even He that abideth of old. Selah Because they have not changed, therefore they fear not God.
20 He hath put forth his hands against those that are at peace with him; he hath broken his covenant.
21 The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart; his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords.
22 Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee. He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.
23 But Thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction; bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days. But I will trust in Thee.
138 I will praise Thee with my whole heart; before the gods will I sing praise unto Thee.
2 I will worship toward Thy holy temple, and praise Thy name for Thy lovingkindness and for Thy truth, for Thou hast magnified Thy word above all Thy name.
3 In the day when I cried, Thou answered me, and strengthened me with strength in my soul.
4 All the kings of the earth shall praise Thee, O Lord, when they hear the words of Thy mouth.
5 Yea, they shall sing of the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord.
6 Though the Lord be high, yet hath He respect unto the lowly, but the proud He knoweth afar off.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, Thou wilt revive me; Thou shalt stretch forth Thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and Thy right hand shall save me.
8 The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me; Thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for ever; forsake not the works of Thine own hands.
139 O Lord, Thou hast searched me and known me.
2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising; Thou understandest my thought afar off.
3 Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.
4 For there is not a word on my tongue, but lo, O Lord, Thou knowest it altogether.
5 Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid Thine hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.
7 Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit? Or whither shall I flee from Thy presence?
8 If I ascend up into heaven, Thou art there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, Thou art there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 even there shall Thy hand lead me, and Thy right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,” even the night shall be light about me.
12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from Thee, but the night shineth as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to Thee.
13 For Thou hast possessed my reins. Thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will praise Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Thy works, and that my soul knoweth right well.
15 My substance was not hid from Thee when I was made in secret, and intricately wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
16 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being imperfect; and in Thy book all my members were written, which in continuity were fashioned, when as yet there were none of them.
17 How precious also are Thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them!
18 If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand; when I awake, I am still with Thee.
19 Surely, Thou wilt slay the wicked, O God. Depart from me therefore, ye bloody men.
20 For they speak against Thee wickedly, and Thine enemies take Thy name in vain.
21 Do I not hate them, O Lord, that hate Thee? And am I not grieved with those that rise up against Thee?
22 I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them mine enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts.
51 “Hearken to Me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord: Look unto the rock from whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit from whence ye are dug.
2 Look unto Abraham your father and unto Sarah that bore you; for I called him alone, and blessed him and increased him.
3 For the Lord shall comfort Zion; He will comfort all her waste places, and He will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving and the voice of melody.
4 “Hearken unto Me, My people, and give ear unto Me, O My nation; for a law shall proceed from Me, and I will make My judgment to rest as a light of the people.
5 My righteousness is near; My salvation is gone forth, and Mine arms shall judge the people. The isles shall wait upon Me, and on Mine arm shall they trust.
6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath; for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner. But My salvation shall be for ever, and My righteousness shall not be abolished.
7 “Hearken unto Me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is My law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings.
8 For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool; but My righteousness shall be for ever, and My salvation from generation to generation.”
23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, being shut apart from the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
24 Therefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
25 But after faith has come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ.
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female; for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.
7 Then came together unto Him the Pharisees and certain of the scribes, who came from Jerusalem.
2 And when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled (that is to say, unwashed) hands, they found fault.
3 For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat, unless they wash their hands oft, holding to the tradition of the elders.
4 And when they come from the market, they eat not unless they wash; and there are many other customs which they have received and hold to, as the washing of cups, pots, brazen vessels and of tables.
5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, “Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?”
6 He answered and said unto them, “Well hath Isaiah prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honoreth Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.
7 Therefore, in vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.’
8 For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold to the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups, and many other like things ye do.”
9 And He said unto them, “Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.
10 For Moses said, ‘Honor thy father and thy mother,’ and, ‘Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death.’
11 But ye say that if a man shall say to his father or mother, ‘It is Corban’ (that is to say, a gift of whatsoever thou mightest have profited from me), he shall be freed;
12 and ye suffer him no more to do aught for his father or his mother,
13 thus making the Word of God of no effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered. And many like things do ye.”
14 And when He had called all the people unto Him, He said unto them, “Hearken unto Me every one of you, and understand:
15 There is nothing from outside a man that, entering into him, can defile him; but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.
16 If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.”
17 And when He had entered into the house away from the people, His disciples asked Him concerning the parable.
18 And He said unto them, “Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive that whatsoever thing from outside entereth into a man, it cannot defile him,
19 because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly and goeth out into the drain, thereby purging all meats?”
20 And He said, “That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man.
21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
22 thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:
23 all these evil things come from within and defile the man.”
Copyright © 1994 by Deuel Enterprises, Inc.