Book of Common Prayer
God the judge of the righteous and the wicked.
A Psalm of Asaph.
50 The Mighty One, God, Jehovah, hath spoken,
And called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof.
2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God hath shined forth.
3 Our God cometh, and doth not keep silence:
A fire devoureth before him,
And it is very tempestuous round about him.
4 He calleth to the heavens above,
And to the earth, that he may judge his people:
5 Gather my saints together unto me,
Those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.
6 And the heavens [a]shall declare his righteousness;
For God is judge himself. Selah
7 Hear, O my people, and I will speak;
O Israel, and I will testify [b]unto thee:
I am God, even thy God.
8 I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices;
[c]And thy burnt-offerings are continually before me.
9 I will take no bullock out of thy house,
Nor he-goats out of thy folds.
10 For every beast of the forest is mine,
And the cattle [d]upon a thousand hills.
11 I know all the birds of the mountains;
And the wild beasts of the field are [e]mine.
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell thee;
For the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.
13 Will I eat the flesh of bulls,
Or drink the blood of goats?
14 Offer unto God the sacrifice of thanksgiving;
And pay thy vows unto the Most High;
15 And call upon me in the day of trouble:
I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.
16 But unto the wicked God saith,
What hast thou to do to declare my statutes,
And that thou hast taken my covenant in thy mouth,
17 Seeing that thou hatest [f]instruction,
And castest my words behind thee?
18 When thou sawest a thief, thou consentedst with him,
And [g]hast been partaker with adulterers.
19 Thou givest thy mouth to evil,
And thy tongue frameth deceit.
20 Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother;
Thou [h]slanderest thine own mother’s son.
21 These things hast thou done, and I kept silence;
Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such a one as thyself:
But I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.
22 Now consider this, ye that forget God,
Lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver:
23 Whoso offereth the sacrifice of thanksgiving glorifieth me;
And [i]to him that ordereth his way aright
Will I show the salvation of God.
Prayer for deliverance from enemies.
For the Chief Musician; set to Al-tashheth. A Psalm of David. Michtam; when Saul sent, and they watched the house to kill him.
59 Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God:
Set me on high from them that rise up against me.
2 Deliver me from the workers of iniquity,
And save me from the bloodthirsty men.
3 For, lo, they lie in wait for my soul;
The mighty gather themselves together against me:
Not for my transgression, nor for my sin, O Jehovah.
4 They run and prepare themselves without my fault:
Awake thou to [a]help me, and behold.
5 Even thou, O Jehovah God of hosts, the God of Israel,
Arise to visit all the nations:
Be not merciful to any wicked transgressors. Selah
6 They return at evening, they howl like a dog,
And go round about the city.
7 Behold, they belch out with their mouth;
Swords are in their lips:
For who, say they, doth hear?
8 But thou, O Jehovah, wilt laugh at them;
Thou wilt have all the nations in derision.
9 [b]Because of his strength I will give heed unto thee;
For God is my high tower.
10 My God with his lovingkindness will meet me:
God will let me see my desire upon [c]mine enemies.
11 Slay them not, lest my people forget:
[d]Scatter them by thy power, and bring them down,
O Lord our shield.
12 For the sin of their mouth, and the words of their lips,
Let them even be taken in their pride,
And for cursing and lying which they speak.
13 Consume them in wrath, consume them, so that they shall be no more:
And let them know that God ruleth in Jacob,
Unto the ends of the earth. Selah
14 And at evening let them return, let them howl like a dog,
And go round about the city.
15 They shall wander up and down for food,
And tarry all night if they be not satisfied.
16 But I will sing of thy strength;
Yea, I will sing aloud of thy lovingkindness in the morning:
For thou hast been my high tower,
And a refuge in the day of my distress.
17 Unto thee, O my strength, will I sing praises:
For God is my high tower, the God of my mercy.
Lament over defeat in battle, and prayer for help.
For the Chief Musician; set to [e]Shushan Eduth. Michtam of David, to teach; when he strove with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and Joab returned, and smote of Edom in the Valley of Salt twelve thousand.
60 O God thou hast cast us off, thou hast broken us down;
Thou hast been angry; oh restore us again.
2 Thou hast made the land to tremble; thou hast rent it:
Heal the breaches thereof; for it shaketh.
3 Thou hast showed thy people hard things:
Thou hast made us to drink the wine of staggering.
4 Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee,
That it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah
5 That thy beloved may be delivered,
Save with thy right hand, and answer [f]us.
6 God hath spoken in his holiness: I will exult;
I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth.
7 Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine;
Ephraim also is the defence of my head;
Judah is my [g]sceptre.
8 Moab is my washpot;
[h]Upon Edom will I cast my shoe:
Philistia, shout thou because of me.
9 Who will bring me into the strong city?
[i]Who hath led me unto Edom?
10 [j]Hast not thou, O God, cast us off?
And thou goest not forth, O God, with our hosts.
11 Give us help against the adversary;
For vain is the [k]help of man.
12 Through God we shall do valiantly;
For he it is that will tread down our adversaries.
Praise to the Creator and Preserver.
33 Rejoice in Jehovah, O ye righteous:
Praise is comely for the upright.
2 Give thanks unto Jehovah with the harp:
Sing praises unto him with the psaltery of ten strings.
3 Sing unto him a new song;
Play skilfully with a loud noise.
4 For the word of Jehovah is right;
And all his work is done in faithfulness.
5 He loveth righteousness and justice:
The earth is full of the lovingkindness of Jehovah.
6 By the word of Jehovah were the heavens made,
And all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.
7 He gathereth the waters of the sea together as a heap:
He layeth up the deeps in store-houses.
8 Let all the earth fear Jehovah:
Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
9 For he spake, and it was done;
He commanded, and it stood fast.
10 Jehovah bringeth the counsel of the nations to nought;
He maketh the thoughts of the peoples to be of no effect.
11 The counsel of Jehovah standeth fast for ever,
The thoughts of his heart to all generations.
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is Jehovah,
The people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.
13 Jehovah looketh from heaven;
He beholdeth all the sons of men;
14 From the place of his habitation he looketh forth
Upon all the inhabitants of the earth,
15 He that fashioneth the hearts of them all,
That considereth all their works.
16 There is no king saved by [a]the multitude of a host:
A mighty man is not delivered by great strength.
17 A horse is a vain thing for safety;
Neither doth he deliver any by his great power.
18 Behold, the eye of Jehovah is upon them that fear him,
Upon them that [b]hope in his lovingkindness;
19 To deliver their soul from death,
And to keep them alive in famine.
20 Our soul hath waited for Jehovah:
He is our help and our shield.
21 For our heart shall rejoice in him,
Because we have trusted in his holy name.
22 Let thy lovingkindness, O Jehovah, be upon us,
According as we [c]have hoped in thee.
18 For wickedness burneth as the fire; it devoureth the briers and thorns; yea, it kindleth in the thickets of the forest, and they roll upward in a column of smoke. 19 Through the wrath of Jehovah of hosts is the land [a]burnt up; and the people are as the fuel of fire: no man spareth his brother. 20 And one shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm: 21 Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh; and they together shall be against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
10 Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and to the writers that write perverseness; 2 to turn aside the needy from justice, and to rob the poor of my people of their right, that widows may be their spoil, and that they may make the fatherless their prey! 3 And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory? 4 [b]They shall only bow down under the prisoners, and shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
10 but chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of defilement, and despise dominion. Daring, self-willed, they tremble not to rail at [a]dignities: 11 whereas angels, though greater in might and power, bring not a railing judgment against them before the Lord. 12 But these, as creatures without reason, born [b]mere animals [c]to be taken and destroyed, railing in matters whereof they are ignorant, shall in their [d]destroying surely be destroyed, 13 suffering wrong as the hire of wrong-doing; men that count it pleasure to revel in the day-time, spots and blemishes, revelling in their [e]deceivings while they feast with you; 14 having eyes full of [f]adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; enticing unstedfast souls; having a heart exercised in covetousness; children of cursing; 15 forsaking the right way, they went astray, having followed the way of Balaam the son of [g]Beor, who loved the hire of wrong-doing; 16 but he was rebuked for his own transgression: a dumb ass spake with man’s voice and stayed the madness of the prophet.
3 And in those days cometh John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, saying, 2 Repent ye; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 3 For this is he that was spoken of through Isaiah the prophet, saying,
[a]The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
Make ye ready the way of the Lord,
Make his paths straight.
4 Now John himself had his raiment of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then went out unto him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about the Jordan; 6 and they were baptized of him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming [b]to his baptism, he said unto them, Ye offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bring forth therefore fruit worthy of [c]repentance: 9 and think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. 10 And even now the axe lieth at the root of the trees: every tree therefore that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 11 I indeed baptize you [d]in water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not [e]worthy to bear: he shall baptize you [f]in the Holy Spirit and in fire: 12 whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing-floor; and he will gather his wheat into the garner, but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire.
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