Book of Common Prayer
BOOK 1
1 Blessed is the man who doesn’t walk in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stand on the path of sinners,
nor sit in the seat of scoffers;
2 but his delight is in Yahweh’s[a] law.
On his law he meditates day and night.
3 He will be like a tree planted by the streams of water,
that produces its fruit in its season,
whose leaf also does not wither.
Whatever he does shall prosper.
4 The wicked are not so,
but are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
6 For Yahweh knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked shall perish.
2 Why do the nations rage,
and the peoples plot a vain thing?
2 The kings of the earth take a stand,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against Yahweh, and against his Anointed,[b] saying,
3 “Let’s break their bonds apart,
and cast their cords from us.”
4 He who sits in the heavens will laugh.
The Lord[c] will have them in derision.
5 Then he will speak to them in his anger,
and terrify them in his wrath:
6 “Yet I have set my King on my holy hill of Zion.”
7 I will tell of the decree:
Yahweh said to me, “You are my son.
Today I have become your father.
8 Ask of me, and I will give the nations for your inheritance,
the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession.
9 You shall break them with a rod of iron.
You shall dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
10 Now therefore be wise, you kings.
Be instructed, you judges of the earth.
11 Serve Yahweh with fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
12 Give sincere homage to the Son,[d] lest he be angry, and you perish on the way,
for his wrath will soon be kindled.
Blessed are all those who take refuge in him.
A Psalm by David, when he fled from Absalom his son.
3 Yahweh, how my adversaries have increased!
Many are those who rise up against me.
2 Many there are who say of my soul,
“There is no help for him in God.”[e] Selah.
3 But you, Yahweh, are a shield around me,
my glory, and the one who lifts up my head.
4 I cry to Yahweh with my voice,
and he answers me out of his holy hill. Selah.
5 I laid myself down and slept.
I awakened, for Yahweh sustains me.
6 I will not be afraid of tens of thousands of people
who have set themselves against me on every side.
7 Arise, Yahweh!
Save me, my God!
For you have struck all of my enemies on the cheek bone.
You have broken the teeth of the wicked.
8 Salvation belongs to Yahweh.
May your blessing be on your people. Selah.
For the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments. A Psalm by David.
4 Answer me when I call, God of my righteousness.
Give me relief from my distress.
Have mercy on me, and hear my prayer.
2 You sons of men, how long shall my glory be turned into dishonor?
Will you love vanity and seek after falsehood? Selah.
3 But know that Yahweh has set apart for himself him who is godly;
Yahweh will hear when I call to him.
4 Stand in awe, and don’t sin.
Search your own heart on your bed, and be still. Selah.
5 Offer the sacrifices of righteousness.
Put your trust in Yahweh.
6 Many say, “Who will show us any good?”
Yahweh, let the light of your face shine on us.
7 You have put gladness in my heart,
more than when their grain and their new wine are increased.
8 In peace I will both lay myself down and sleep,
for you alone, Yahweh, make me live in safety.
A meditation by David, which he sang to Yahweh, concerning the words of Cush, the Benjamite.
7 Yahweh, my God, I take refuge in you.
Save me from all those who pursue me, and deliver me,
2 lest they tear apart my soul like a lion,
ripping it in pieces, while there is no one to deliver.
3 Yahweh, my God, if I have done this,
if there is iniquity in my hands,
4 if I have rewarded evil to him who was at peace with me
(yes, I have plundered him who without cause was my adversary),
5 let the enemy pursue my soul, and overtake it;
yes, let him tread my life down to the earth,
and lay my glory in the dust. Selah.
6 Arise, Yahweh, in your anger.
Lift up yourself against the rage of my adversaries.
Awake for me. You have commanded judgment.
7 Let the congregation of the peoples surround you.
Rule over them on high.
8 Yahweh administers judgment to the peoples.
Judge me, Yahweh, according to my righteousness,
and to my integrity that is in me.
9 Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end,
but establish the righteous;
their minds and hearts are searched by the righteous God.
10 My shield is with God,
who saves the upright in heart.
11 God is a righteous judge,
yes, a God who has indignation every day.
12 If a man doesn’t repent, he will sharpen his sword;
he has bent and strung his bow.
13 He has also prepared for himself the instruments of death.
He makes ready his flaming arrows.
14 Behold,[a] he travails with iniquity.
Yes, he has conceived mischief,
and brought out falsehood.
15 He has dug a hole,
and has fallen into the pit which he made.
16 The trouble he causes shall return to his own head.
His violence shall come down on the crown of his own head.
17 I will give thanks to Yahweh according to his righteousness,
and will sing praise to the name of Yahweh Most High.
4 This is the history of the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that Yahweh[a] God made the earth and the heavens. 5 No plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up; for Yahweh God had not caused it to rain on the earth. There was not a man to till the ground, 6 but a mist went up from the earth, and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7 Yahweh God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. 8 Yahweh God planted a garden eastward, in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 Out of the ground Yahweh God made every tree to grow that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 10 A river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it was parted, and became the source of four rivers. 11 The name of the first is Pishon: it flows through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; 12 and the gold of that land is good. Bdellium[b] and onyx stone are also there. 13 The name of the second river is Gihon. It is the same river that flows through the whole land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is Hiddekel. This is the one which flows in front of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates. 15 Yahweh God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it. 16 Yahweh God commanded the man, saying, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; 17 but you shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”
18 Yahweh God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make him a helper comparable to[c] him.” 19 Out of the ground Yahweh God formed every animal of the field, and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. Whatever the man called every living creature became its name. 20 The man gave names to all livestock, and to the birds of the sky, and to every animal of the field; but for man there was not found a helper comparable to him. 21 Yahweh God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. As the man slept, he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22 Yahweh God made a woman from the rib which he had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. 23 The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken out of Man.” 24 Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother, and will join with his wife, and they will be one flesh. 25 The man and his wife were both naked, and they were not ashamed.
1 God, having in the past spoken to the fathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 has at the end of these days spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds. 3 His Son is the radiance of his glory, the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, who, when he had by himself purified us of our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much better than the angels as the more excellent name he has inherited is better than theirs. 5 For to which of the angels did he say at any time,
“You are my Son.
Today I have become your father?”(A)
and again,
“I will be to him a Father,
and he will be to me a Son?”(B)
6 When he again brings in the firstborn into the world he says, “Let all the angels of God worship him.”(C) 7 Of the angels he says,
“He makes his angels winds,
and his servants a flame of fire.”(D)
8 But of the Son he says,
“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.
The scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your Kingdom.
9 You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity;
therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.”(E)
10 And,
“You, Lord, in the beginning, laid the foundation of the earth.
The heavens are the works of your hands.
11 They will perish, but you continue.
They all will grow old like a garment does.
12 You will roll them up like a mantle,
and they will be changed;
but you are the same.
Your years won’t fail.”(F)
13 But which of the angels has he told at any time,
“Sit at my right hand,
until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet?”(G)
14 Aren’t they all serving spirits, sent out to do service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him. Without him, nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness hasn’t overcome[a] it.
6 There came a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 The same came as a witness, that he might testify about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but was sent that he might testify about the light. 9 The true light that enlightens everyone was coming into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world didn’t recognize him. 11 He came to his own, and those who were his own didn’t receive him. 12 But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become God’s children, to those who believe in his name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
14 The Word became flesh and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the only born[b] Son of the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 John testified about him. He cried out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me, for he was before me.’” 16 From his fullness we all received grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses. Grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.[c] 18 No one has seen God at any time. The only born[d] Son,[e] who is in the bosom of the Father, has declared him.
by Public Domain. The name "World English Bible" is trademarked.