Book of Common Prayer

Prayer of a suffering penitent.

A Psalm of David, ^[a]to bring to remembrance.

ד Daleth.

ה He.

ו Vav.

²⁴ Thus saith Jehovah, thy Redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb: I am Jehovah, that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth ^[a](who is with me?); ²⁵ that frustrateth the signs of the ^[b]liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish; ²⁶ that confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers; that saith of Jerusalem, She shall be inhabited; and of the cities of Judah, They shall be built, and I will raise up the waste places thereof; ²⁷ that saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers; ²⁸ That saith of ^[c]Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure, even saying of Jerusalem, She shall be built; ^[d]and of the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.

45 Thus saith Jehovah to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him, and I will loose the loins of kings; to open the doors before him, and the gates shall not be shut: ² I will go before thee, and make the rough places smooth; I will break in pieces the doors of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron; ³ and I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that it is I, Jehovah, who call thee by thy name, even the God of Israel. ⁴ For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel my chosen, I have called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me. ⁵ I am Jehovah, and there is none else; besides me there is no God. I will gird thee, though thou hast not known me; ⁶ that they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none besides me: I am Jehovah, and there is none else. ⁷ I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil; I am Jehovah, that doeth all these things.

5 Be ye therefore imitators of God, as beloved children; ² and walk in love, even as Christ also loved you, and gave himself up for ^[a]us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for an odor of a sweet smell.

³ But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as becometh saints; ⁴ nor filthiness, nor foolish talking, or jesting, which are not befitting: but rather giving of thanks. ⁵ For this ye know of a surety, that no fornicator, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. ⁶ Let no man deceive you with empty words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the sons of disobedience. ⁷ Be not ye therefore partakers with them; ⁸ for ye were once darkness, but are now light in the Lord: walk as children of light ⁹ (for the fruit of the light is in all goodness and righteousness and truth), ¹⁰ proving what is well-pleasing unto the Lord; ¹¹ and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather even ^[b]reprove them; ¹² for the things which are done by them in secret it is a shame even to speak of. ¹³ But all things when they are ^[c]reproved are made manifest by the light: for everything that is made manifest is light. ¹⁴ Wherefore he saith, ^[d]Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall shine upon thee.

4 And again he began to teach by the sea side. And there is gathered unto him a very great multitude, so that he entered into a boat, and sat in the sea; and all the multitude were by the sea on the land. ² And he taught them many things in parables, and said unto them in his teaching, ³ Hearken: Behold, the sower went forth to sow: ⁴ and it came to pass, as he sowed, some seed fell by the way side, and the birds came and devoured it. ⁵ And other fell on the rocky ground, where it had not much earth; and straightway it sprang up, because it had no deepness of earth: ⁶ and when the sun was risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. ⁷ And other fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit. ⁸ And others fell into the good ground, and yielded fruit, growing up and increasing; and brought forth, thirtyfold, and sixtyfold, and a hundredfold. ⁹ And he said, Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

¹⁰ And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parables. ¹¹ And he said unto them, Unto you is given the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all things are done in parables: ¹² that seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest haply they should turn again, and it should be forgiven them. ¹³ And he saith unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how shall ye know all the parables? ¹⁴ The sower soweth the word. ¹⁵ And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; and when they have heard, straightway cometh Satan, and taketh away the word which hath been sown in them. ¹⁶ And these in like manner are they that are sown upon the rocky places, who, when they have heard the word, straightway receive it with joy; ¹⁷ and they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, straightway they stumble. ¹⁸ And others are they that are sown among the thorns; these are they that have heard the word, ¹⁹ and the cares of the ^[a]world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. ²⁰ And those are they that were sown upon the good ground; such as hear the word, and accept it, and bear fruit, thirtyfold, and sixtyfold, and a hundredfold.