Book of Common Prayer
30 I will extol Thee, O Lord, for Thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me.
2 O Lord my God, I cried unto Thee, and Thou hast healed me.
3 O Lord, Thou hast brought up my soul from the grave; Thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.
4 Sing unto the Lord, O ye His saints, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holiness.
5 For His anger endureth but a moment, and in His favor is life; weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
6 And in my prosperity I said, “I shall never be moved.”
7 Lord, by Thy favor Thou hast made my mountain to stand strong; when Thou didst hide Thy face, I was troubled.
8 I cried to Thee, O Lord; and unto the Lord I made supplication:
9 “What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise Thee? Shall it declare Thy truth?
10 Hear, O Lord, and have mercy upon me; Lord, be Thou my helper!”
11 Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing; Thou hast put off my sackcloth and girded me with gladness,
12 to the end that my glory may sing praise to Thee and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto Thee for ever.
32 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
2 Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
3 When I kept silent, my bones waxed old through my groaning all the day long.
4 For day and night Thy hand was heavy upon me; the sap of my soul was turned into the drought of summer. Selah
5 I acknowledged my sin unto Thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, “I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord,” and Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah
6 For this shall every one that is godly pray unto Thee in a time when Thou mayest be found; surely the floods of great waters shall not come nigh unto him.
7 Thou art my hiding place; Thou shalt preserve me from trouble; Thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah
8 “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go; I will guide thee with Mine eye.
9 Be ye not as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding, whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they not come near unto thee.”
10 Many shall be the sorrows of the wicked; but he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about.
11 Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, ye righteous; and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart!
42 As the hart panteth for the water brooks, so panteth my soul for Thee, O God.
2 My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God?
3 My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, “Where is thy God?”
4 When I remember these things, I pour out my soul within me, for I had gone with the multitude; I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday.
5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance.
6 O my God, my soul is cast down within me; therefore will I remember Thee from the land of Jordan and of the Hermonites, from the hill of Mizar.
7 Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of Thy waterspouts; all Thy waves and Thy billows have gone over me.
8 Yet the Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night His song shall be with me and my prayer unto the God of my life.
9 I will say unto God my rock, “Why hast Thou forgotten me? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”
10 As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me, while they say daily unto me, “Where is thy God?”
11 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise Him, who is the health of my countenance and my God.
43 Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation; O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.
2 For Thou art the God of my strength; why dost Thou cast me off? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
3 O send out Thy light and Thy truth! Let them lead me. Let them bring me unto Thy holy hill and to Thy tabernacles.
4 Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy; yea, upon the harp will I praise Thee, O God, my God.
5 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him, who is the health of my countenance and my God.
7 And in the days of Artaxerxes, Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel and the rest of their companions wrote unto Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the writing of the letter was written in the Syrian tongue, and interpreted in the Syrian tongue.
11 (This is the copy of the letter that they sent unto him, even unto Artaxerxes the king.) “Thy servants, the men on this side of the river, and at such a time.
12 Be it known unto the king that the Jews who came up from thee to us have come unto Jerusalem, building the rebellious and the bad city, and have set up the walls thereof, and joined the foundations.
13 Be it known now unto the king that, if this city be built and the walls set up again, then they will not pay toll, tribute, and custom, and so thou shalt bring damage to the revenue of the kings.
14 Now because we have maintenance from the king’s palace, and it was not meet for us to see the king’s dishonor, therefore have we sent and certified this to the king,
15 that search may be made in the book of the records of thy fathers. So shalt thou find in the book of the records and know that this city is a rebellious city, and hurtful unto kings and provinces, and that they have moved sedition within the same in old times, for which cause this city was destroyed.
16 We certify to the king that if this city be built again, and the walls thereof set up, by this means thou shalt have no portion on this side of the river.”
17 Then sent the king an answer unto Rehum the chancellor, and to Shimshai the scribe, and to the rest of their companions who dwell in Samaria, and unto the rest beyond the river: “Peace, and at such a time.
18 The letter which ye sent unto us hath been plainly read before me.
19 And I commanded, and search hath been made, and it is found that this city in old times hath made insurrection against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made therein.
20 There have been mighty kings also over Jerusalem, who have ruled over all countries beyond the river; and toll, tribute, and custom were paid unto them.
21 Give ye now command to cause these men to cease, and that this city be not built until another command shall be given from me.
22 Take heed now that ye fail not to do this. Why should damage grow to the hurt of the kings?”
23 Now when the copy of King Artaxerxes’ letter was read before Rehum and Shimshai the scribe and their companions, they went up in haste to Jerusalem unto the Jews, and made them cease by force and power.
24 Then ceased the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem. So it ceased unto the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.
1 Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy our brother, Unto Philemon our dearly beloved, and fellow laborer,
2 and to our beloved Apphia, and Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in thy house:
3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
4 I thank my God, making mention of thee always in my prayers,
5 having heard of thy love and faith which thou hast toward the Lord Jesus and toward all saints,
6 that the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.
7 For we have great joy and consolation in thy love, because the hearts of the saints are refreshed by thee, brother.
8 Therefore, though I might be bold enough in Christ to enjoin thee to do that which is befitting,
9 yet for love’s sake rather I beseech thee, being such a one as Paul the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ.
10 I beseech thee for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds.
11 In time past he was to thee unprofitable, but now profitable to thee and to me.
12 I am sending him back. Thou therefore receive him, who is mine own heart.
13 I would have retained him with me, that in thy stead he might have ministered unto me in the bonds of the Gospel;
14 but without thy mind would I do nothing, that thy goodness should not be, as it were, of necessity but willingly.
15 For perhaps he therefore departed for a season, that thou shouldest receive him back for ever—
16 not now as a servant, but more than a servant: as a brother beloved, especially to me, but how much more unto thee, both in the flesh and in the Lord.
17 If thou count me therefore a partner, receive him as myself.
18 If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee aught, put that on mine account.
19 I, Paul, have written this with mine own hand: I will repay it; albeit I do not say to thee how thou owest unto me even thine own self besides.
20 Yea, brother, let me have joy of thee in the Lord; refresh my soul in the Lord.
21 Having confidence in thy obedience I wrote unto thee, knowing that thou wilt also do more than I say.
22 But besides prepare me also a lodging, for I trust that through your prayers I shall be given unto you.
23 There salute thee Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus;
24 also Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke, my fellow laborers.
25 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.
33 Either make the tree good and his fruit good, or else make the tree corrupt and his fruit corrupt; for the tree is known by his fruit.
34 “O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things; and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.
36 But I say unto you that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the Day of Judgment.
37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.”
38 Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, “Master, we would see a sign from thee.”
39 But He answered and said unto them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah.
40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
41 The men of Nineveh shall rise in the Judgment with this generation and shall condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, a greater than Jonah is here.
42 The queen of the south shall rise up in the Judgment with this generation and shall condemn it, for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, a greater than Solomon is here.
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