Book of Common Prayer
A Song of degrees.
1 ¶ In my distress I cried unto the LORD, and he answered me.
2 Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips and from a deceitful tongue.
3 What shall be given unto thee? or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue?
4 Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper.
5 ¶ Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar!
6 My soul has long dwelt with those that hate peace.
7 I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war.
A Song of degrees.
1 ¶ I will lift up mine eyes unto the mountains, from whence cometh my help.
2 My help comes from the LORD, who made the heavens and earth.
3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved; he that keeps thee will not slumber.
4 Behold, he that keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand.
6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil; he shall preserve thy soul.
8 The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.
A Song of degrees of David.
1 ¶ I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.
2 Our feet stood within thy gates, O Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem, that one which is built as a city that is well united together
4 Because the tribes went up there, the tribes of JAH, the testimony to Israel, to praise the name of the LORD.
5 For there are set thrones of the judgment, the thrones of the house of David.
6 ¶ Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; those that love thee shall be brought into rest.
7 Peace be within thy walls and rest within thy palaces.
8 For my brethren and companions’ sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee.
9 Because of the house of the LORD our God, I will seek thy good.
A Song of degrees.
1 ¶ Unto thee I lift up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens.
2 Behold, as the eyes of slaves look unto the hand of their masters and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress, so our eyes wait upon the LORD our God, until he shall have mercy upon us.
3 Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us, for we are exceedingly weary of being held in contempt.
4 Our soul is exceedingly weary of the scorning of those that are at ease and of the contempt of the proud.
A Song of degrees of David.
1 ¶ If the LORD had not been for us, now may Israel say,
2 If the LORD had not been for us, when men rose up against us,
3 then they would have swallowed us up alive, when their wrath was kindled against us;
4 then the waters would have overwhelmed us; the flood would have gone over our soul;
5 then the proud waters would have gone over our soul.
6 ¶ Blessed be the LORD, who did not give us as a prey to their teeth.
7 Our soul has escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers; the snare has broken, and we are escaped.
8 Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made the heaven and the earth.
A Song of degrees.
1 ¶ Those that trust in the LORD are as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed but abides for ever.
2 As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the LORD is round about his people from now on even for ever.
3 For the rod of wickedness shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous because the righteous shall not put forth their hands unto iniquity.
4 ¶ Do good, O LORD, unto those that are good and to those that are upright in their hearts.
5 As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, the LORD shall take them away with the workers of iniquity; and peace shall be upon Israel.
A Song of degrees.
1 ¶ When the LORD shall turn again the captivity of Zion, we shall be like those that dream.
2 Then our mouth shall be filled with laughter and our tongue with singing; then they shall say among the Gentiles, The LORD has done great things with them.
3 The LORD has done great things with us, of which we shall be glad.
4 ¶ Turn again our captivity, O LORD, as the streams in the south.
5 Those that sow with tears shall reap with joy.
6 He that goes forth and weeps, bearing the precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
A Song of degrees for Solomon.
1 ¶ Unless the LORD builds the house, they labour in vain that build it; unless the LORD keeps the city, the watchmen watch in vain.
2 It is vain for you to rise up early, to come home late, to eat the bread of sorrows, because he shall give his beloved sleep.
3 Behold, sons are a heritage of the LORD, and the fruit of the womb is to be desired.
4 As arrows in the hand of a mighty man, so are the young men.
5 Happy is the man that has filled his quiver with them: he shall not be ashamed when he speaks with the enemies in the gate.
15 And she said, Behold, thy sister-in-law has returned to her people and to her gods; return thou after thy sister-in-law.
16 And Ruth said, Do not intreat me to leave thee or to return from following after thee, for wherever thou goest, I will go; and wherever thou shalt lodge, I will lodge; thy people shall be my people and thy God my God.
17 Where thou diest, I will die, and there will I be buried; let the LORD do so unto me and let him give unto me that only death shall part thee and me.
18 When she saw that she was courageous to go with her, then she left off speaking to her.
19 ¶ So the two walked until they came to Bethlehem. And it came to pass, entering into Bethlehem, that all the city was moved because of them, and they said, Is this Naomi?
20 And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara; for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.
21 I went out full, and the LORD has brought me home again empty. Why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the LORD has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?
22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, with her, who returned out of the fields of Moab, and they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest.
12 ¶ For our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with carnal wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the world and more abundantly towards you.
13 For we write no other things unto you than what ye read or also know, and I trust ye shall know them even to the end
14 as also ye have known in part, that we are your rejoicing, even as ye also are ours in the day of the Lord Jesus.
15 ¶ And in this confidence I was minded to come unto you before that ye might have a second grace
16 and to pass by you into Macedonia and to come again out of Macedonia unto you and of you to be sent forward to Judaea.
17 When I, therefore, was thus minded, did I use lightness? or the things that I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, that of me there should be yes, yes, and no, no?
18 But God is faithful that our word toward you has not been yes and no.
19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timothy, has not been yes and no, but in him was yes.
20 For all the promises of God are yes in him, and in him Amen, by us for the glory of God.
21 Now he who confirms us with you unto Christ and has anointed us is God;
22 who has also sealed us and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.
13 ¶ Ye are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost its savour, with what shall it be salted? From then on it is good for nothing, but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of men.
14 Ye are the light of the world. A city set upon a mountain cannot be hid.
15 Neither do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on the lampstand, and it gives light unto all that are in the house.
16 Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in the heavens.
17 ¶ Think not that I am come to undo the law or the prophets; I am not come to undo, but to fulfil.
18 For verily I say unto you, Until heaven and earth pass away, not one jot or one tittle shall pass from the law until all is fulfilled.
19 Whosoever therefore shall undo one of these least commandments and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of the heavens; but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of the heavens.
20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of the heavens.
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