Book of Common Prayer
102 Hear my prayer, O Lord, and let my cry come unto Thee.
2 Hide not Thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble; incline Thine ear unto me. In the day when I call, answer me speedily.
3 For my days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as a hearth.
4 My heart is smitten and withered like grass, so that I forget to eat my bread.
5 By reason of the voice of my groaning my bones cleave to my skin.
6 I am like a pelican of the wilderness; I am like an owl of the desert.
7 I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the housetop.
8 Mine enemies reproach me all the day, and them that are mad against me are sworn against me.
9 For I have eaten ashes like bread and mingled my drink with weeping,
10 because of Thine indignation and Thy wrath; for Thou hast lifted me up, and cast me down.
11 My days are like a shadow that declineth, and I am withered like grass.
12 But Thou, O Lord, shalt endure for ever, and Thy remembrance unto all generations.
13 Thou shalt arise and have mercy upon Zion; for the time to favor her, yea, the set time has come.
14 For Thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favor the dust thereof.
15 So the heathen shall fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth Thy glory.
16 When the Lord shall build up Zion, He shall appear in His glory.
17 He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer.
18 This shall be written for the generation to come, and the people which shall be created shall praise the Lord.
19 For He hath looked down from the height of His sanctuary; from heaven did the Lord behold the earth,
20 to hear the groaning of the prisoner, to loose those that are appointed to death,
21 to declare the name of the Lord in Zion, and His praise in Jerusalem,
22 when people are gathered together, and the kingdoms, to serve the Lord.
23 He weakened my strength on the way; He shortened my days.
24 I said, “O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days; Thy years are throughout all generations.
25 Of old hast Thou laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Thy hands.
26 They shall perish, but Thou shalt endure; yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; and as a vesture shalt Thou change them, and they shall be changed.
27 But Thou art the same, and Thy years shall have no end.
28 The children of Thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before Thee.”
107 O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy endureth for ever.
2 Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy,
3 and gathered them out of the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.
4 They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in.
5 Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them.
6 Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them out of their distresses.
7 And He led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city for habitation.
8 Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!
9 For He satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.
10 They that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and irons,
11 because they rebelled against the words of God and contemned the counsel of the Most High,
12 therefore He brought down their heart with labor; they fell down and there was none to help.
13 Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses.
14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke their bonds asunder.
15 Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!
16 For He hath broken the gates of brass and cut the bars of iron asunder.
17 Fools, because of their transgression and because of their iniquities, are afflicted.
18 Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat, and they draw near unto the gates of death.
19 Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and He saveth them out of their distresses.
20 He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.
21 Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!
22 And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare His works with rejoicing!
23 They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters:
24 these see the works of the Lord and His wonders in the deep.
25 For He commandeth and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
26 They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths; their soul is melted because of trouble.
27 They reel to and fro and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
28 Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and He bringeth them out of their distresses.
29 He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
30 Then are they glad because they are quiet; so He bringeth them unto their desired haven.
31 Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!
32 Let them exalt Him also in the congregation of the people, and praise Him in the assembly of the elders.
10 Israel is an empty vine; he bringeth forth fruit unto himself. According to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased the altars; according to the goodness of his land they have made goodly images.
2 Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty. He shall break down their altars; He shall despoil their images.
3 For now they shall say, “We have no king, because we feared not the Lord. What then should a king do to us?”
4 They have spoken words, swearing falsely in making a covenant; thus judgment springeth up as hemlock in the furrows of the field.
5 The inhabitants of Samaria shall fear because of the calves of Bethaven; for the people thereof shall mourn over it, and the priests thereof who rejoiced on it for the glory thereof, because glory has departed from it.
6 It shall be also carried unto Assyria for a present to King Jareb. Ephraim shall receive shame, and Israel shall be ashamed of his own counsel.
7 As for Samaria, her king is cut off as the foam upon the water.
8 The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, shall be destroyed. The thorn and the thistle shall come up on their altars; and they shall say to the mountains, “Cover us!” and to the hills, “Fall on us!”
9 “O Israel, thou hast sinned from the days of Gibeah. There they stood. The battle in Gibeah against the children of iniquity did not overtake them.
10 It is in My desire that I should chastise them, and the people shall be gathered against them when they shall bind themselves in their two furrows.
11 And Ephraim is as a heifer that is taught and loveth to tread out the corn, but I passed over upon her fair neck. I will make Ephraim to ride, Judah shall plow, and Jacob shall break his clods.”
12 Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy, break up your fallow ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, till He come and rain righteousness upon you.
13 Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity, ye have eaten the fruit of lies, because thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men.
14 Therefore shall a tumult arise among thy people, and all thy fortresses shall be despoiled, as Shalman despoiled Betharbel in the day of battle: the mother was dashed in pieces upon her children.
15 So shall Bethel do unto you because of your great wickedness; in a morning shall the king of Israel be utterly cut off.
37 And as Paul was about to be led into the castle, he said unto the chief captain, “May I speak unto thee?” And he said, “Canst thou speak Greek?
38 Art not thou that Egyptian who prior to these days madest an uproar and leddest out into the wilderness four thousand men who were murderers?”
39 But Paul said, “I am a man who am a Jew of Tarsus, a city of Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city; and I beseech thee, suffer me to speak unto the people.”
40 And when he had given him leave, Paul stood on the stairs and beckoned with his hand unto the people. And when there fell a great silence, he spoke unto them in the Hebrew tongue, saying:
22 “Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defense which I make now unto you.”
2 (And when they heard that he spoke in the Hebrew tongue to them, they were the more silent.) And he said,
3 “I am verily a man who am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city of Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taughtaccording to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.
4 And I persecuted this Way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women,
5 as also the high priest doth bear me witness and all the council of the elders. From them I also received letters unto the brethren, and I went to Damascus to bring those who were there bound unto Jerusalem to be punished.
6 “And it came to pass that, as I made my journey and had come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me.
7 And I fell unto the ground and heard a voice saying unto me, ‘Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?’
8 And I answered, ‘Who art Thou, Lord?’ And He said unto me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.’
9 And those who were with me saw indeed the light and were afraid, but they heard not the voice of Him that spoke to me.
10 And I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said unto me, ‘Arise and go into Damascus, and there it shall be told thee of all the things which are appointed for thee to do.’
11 And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of those who were with me, I came into Damascus.
12 “And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, of good report among all the Jews who dwelt there,
13 came unto me and stood and said unto me, ‘Brother Saul, receive thy sight!’ And that same hour I looked up upon him.
14 And he said, ‘The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know His will and see that Just One, and shouldest hear the voice of His mouth.
15 For thou shalt be His witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard.
16 And now why tarriest thou? Arise and be baptized and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.’
12 And it came to pass in those days that He went out onto a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.
13 And when it was day, He called unto Him His disciples, and from them He chose twelve, whom also He named apostles:
14 Simon (whom He also named Peter), and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew,
15 Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called the Zealot,
16 and Judas the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot who also was the traitor.
17 And He came down with them and stood on the plain with the company of His disciples and a great multitude of people out of all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases,
18 and those who were vexed with unclean spirits; and they were healed.
19 And the whole multitude sought to touch Him, for there went virtue out of Him and healed them all.
20 And He lifted up His eyes on His disciples and said, “Blessed be ye poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God.
21 Blessed are ye that hunger now, for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now, for ye shall laugh.
22 Blessed are ye when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man’s sake.
23 Rejoice ye in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in Heaven; for in like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.
24 “But woe unto you that are rich, for ye have received your consolation.
25 Woe unto you that are full, for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now, for ye shall mourn and weep.
26 Woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets.
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