Book of Common Prayer
Book I
The righteous and the wicked contrasted.
[a]1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor standeth in the way of sinners,
Nor sitteth in the seat of scoffers:
2 But his delight is in the law of Jehovah;
And on his law doth he meditate day and night.
3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the streams of water,
That bringeth forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also doth not wither;
And [b]whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
4 The wicked are not so,
But are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
5 Therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
6 For Jehovah knoweth the way of the righteous;
But the way of the wicked shall perish.
The reign of Jehovah’s anointed.
2 Why do the nations [c]rage,
And the peoples meditate a vain thing?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves,
And the rulers take counsel together,
Against Jehovah, and against his anointed, saying,
3 Let us break their bonds asunder,
And cast away their cords from us.
4 He that sitteth in the heavens will laugh:
The Lord will have them in derision.
5 Then will he speak unto them in his wrath,
And [d]vex them in his sore displeasure:
6 Yet I have set my king
Upon my holy hill of Zion.
7 I will tell of the decree:
Jehovah said unto me, Thou art my son;
This day have I begotten thee.
8 Ask of me, and I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance,
And the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron;
Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.
10 Now therefore be wise, O ye kings:
Be instructed, ye judges of the earth.
11 Serve Jehovah with fear,
And rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the son, lest he be angry, and ye perish in the way,
For his wrath [e]will soon be kindled.
[f]Blessed are all they that take refuge in him.
Morning prayer of trust in God.
A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son.
3 Jehovah, how are mine adversaries increased!
Many are they that rise up against me.
2 Many there are that say [g]of my soul,
There is no [h]help for him in God. Selah
3 But thou, O Jehovah, art a shield about me;
My glory, and the lifter up of my head.
4 I cry unto Jehovah with my voice,
And he answereth me out of his holy hill. Selah
5 I laid me down and slept;
I awaked; for Jehovah sustaineth me.
6 I will not be afraid of ten thousands of the people
That have set themselves against me round about.
7 Arise, O Jehovah; save me, O my God:
For thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek bone;
Thou hast broken the teeth of the wicked.
8 [i]Salvation belongeth unto Jehovah:
Thy blessing be upon thy people. Selah
Evening prayer of trust in God.
For the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments. A Psalm of David.
4 Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness;
Thou hast set me at large when I was in distress:
[j]Have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.
2 O ye sons of men, how long shall my glory be turned into dishonor?
How long will ye love vanity, and seek after falsehood? Selah
3 But know that Jehovah hath set apart for himself [k]him that is godly:
Jehovah will hear when I call unto him.
4 [l]Stand in awe, and sin not:
Commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah
5 Offer the sacrifices of righteousness,
And put your trust in Jehovah.
6 Many there are that say, Who will show us any good?
Jehovah, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.
7 Thou hast put gladness in my heart,
More than they have when their grain and their new wine are increased.
8 In peace will I both lay me down and sleep;
For thou, Jehovah, [m]alone makest me dwell in safety.
Jehovah implored to defend the psalmist against the wicked.
Shiggaion of David, which he sang unto Jehovah, concerning the words of Cush a Benjamite.
7 O Jehovah my God, in thee do I take refuge:
Save me from all them that pursue me, and deliver me,
2 Lest they tear my soul like a lion,
Rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver.
3 O Jehovah my God, if I have done this;
If there be iniquity in my hands;
4 If I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me
(Yea, I have delivered him that without cause was mine adversary;)
5 Let the enemy pursue my soul, and overtake it;
Yea, let him tread my life down to the earth,
And lay my glory in the dust. Selah
6 Arise, O Jehovah, in thine anger;
Lift up thyself against the rage of mine adversaries,
And awake for me; thou hast commanded judgment.
7 [a]And let the congregation of the peoples compass thee about;
And over them return thou on high.
8 Jehovah ministereth judgment to the peoples:
Judge me, O Jehovah, according to my righteousness, and to mine integrity [b]that is in me.
9 Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but establish thou the righteous:
For the righteous God trieth the minds and [c]hearts.
10 My shield is with God,
Who saveth the upright in heart.
11 God is a righteous judge,
Yea, a God that hath indignation every day.
12 [d]If a man turn not, he will whet his sword;
He hath bent his bow, and made it ready;
13 He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death;
He maketh his arrows fiery shafts.
14 Behold, he travaileth with iniquity;
Yea, he hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood.
15 He hath made a pit, and digged it,
And is fallen into the ditch which he made.
16 His mischief shall return upon his own head,
And his violence shall come down upon his own pate.
17 I will give thanks unto Jehovah according to his righteousness,
And will sing praise to the name of Jehovah Most High.
12 Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? 13 Who hath [a]directed the Spirit of Jehovah, or being his counsellor hath taught him? 14 With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed to him the way of understanding? 15 Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are accounted as the small dust of the balance: behold, [b]he taketh up the isles as a very little thing. 16 And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt-offering. 17 All the nations are as nothing before him; they are accounted by him as [c]less than nothing, and [d]vanity.
18 To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him? 19 The image, a workman hath cast it, and the goldsmith overlayeth it with gold, and casteth for it silver chains. 20 He that is too impoverished for such an oblation chooseth a tree that will not rot; he seeketh unto him a skilful workman to [e]set up a graven image, that shall not be moved. 21 Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not [f]understood from the foundations of the earth? 22 It is he that sitteth above the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as [g]a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in; 23 that bringeth princes to nothing; that maketh the judges of the earth as [h]vanity.
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, to the saints that are [a]at Ephesus, and the faithful in Christ Jesus: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
3 Blessed be [b]the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ: 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blemish before [c]him in love: 5 having foreordained us unto adoption as sons through Jesus Christ unto himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 to the praise of the glory of his grace, [d]which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved: 7 in whom we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 [e]which he made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, 9 making known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he purposed in him 10 unto a dispensation of the fulness of the [f]times, to sum up all things in Christ, the things [g]in the heavens, and the things upon the earth; in him, I say, 11 in whom also we were made a heritage, having been foreordained according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his will; 12 to the end that we should be unto the praise of his glory, we who [h]had before hoped in Christ: 13 in whom ye also, having heard the word of the truth, the [i]gospel of your salvation,—in whom, having also believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 which is an earnest of our inheritance, unto the redemption of God’s own possession, unto the praise of his glory.
1 The beginning of the [a]gospel of Jesus Christ, [b]the Son of God.
2 Even as it is written [c]in Isaiah the prophet,
[d]Behold, I send my messenger before thy face,
Who shall prepare thy way;
3 [e]The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
Make ye ready the way of the Lord,
Make his paths straight;
4 John came, who baptized in the wilderness and preached the baptism of repentance unto remission of sins. 5 And there went out unto him all the country of Judaea, and all they of Jerusalem; and they were baptized of him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 6 And John was clothed with camel’s hair, and had a leathern girdle about his loins, and did eat locusts and wild honey. 7 And he preached, saying, There cometh after me he that is mightier than I, the latchet of whose shoes I am not [f]worthy to stoop down and unloose. 8 I baptized you [g]in water; but he shall baptize you [h]in the Holy Spirit.
9 And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John [i]in the Jordan. 10 And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens rent asunder, and the Spirit as a dove descending upon him: 11 and a voice came out of the heavens, Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I am well pleased.
12 And straightway the Spirit driveth him forth into the wilderness. 13 And he was in the wilderness forty days tempted of Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered unto him.
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