Book of Common Prayer
103 By David. Bless, O my soul, Jehovah, And all my inward parts -- His Holy Name.
2 Bless, O my soul, Jehovah, And forget not all His benefits,
3 Who is forgiving all thine iniquities, Who is healing all thy diseases,
4 Who is redeeming from destruction thy life, Who is crowning thee -- kindness and mercies,
5 Who is satisfying with good thy desire, Renew itself as an eagle doth thy youth.
6 Jehovah is doing righteousness and judgments For all the oppressed.
7 He maketh known His ways to Moses, To the sons of Israel His acts.
8 Merciful and gracious [is] Jehovah, Slow to anger, and abundant in mercy.
9 Not for ever doth He strive, Nor to the age doth He watch.
10 Not according to our sins hath He done to us, Nor according to our iniquities Hath He conferred benefits upon us.
11 For, as the height of the heavens [is] above the earth, His kindness hath been mighty over those fearing Him.
12 As the distance of east from west He hath put far from us our transgressions.
13 As a father hath mercy on sons, Jehovah hath mercy on those fearing Him.
14 For He hath known our frame, Remembering that we [are] dust.
15 Mortal man! as grass [are] his days, As a flower of the field so he flourisheth;
16 For a wind hath passed over it, and it is not, And its place doth not discern it any more.
17 And the kindness of Jehovah [Is] from age even unto age on those fearing Him, And His righteousness to sons' sons,
18 To those keeping His covenant, And to those remembering His precepts to do them.
19 Jehovah in the heavens Hath established His throne, And His kingdom over all hath ruled.
20 Bless Jehovah, ye His messengers, Mighty in power -- doing His word, To hearken to the voice of His Word.
21 Bless Jehovah, all ye His hosts, His ministers -- doing His pleasure.
22 Bless Jehovah, all ye His works, In all places of His dominion. Bless, O my soul, Jehovah!
5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest, by name Zacharias, of the course of Abijah, and his wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name Elisabeth;
6 and they were both righteous before God, going on in all the commands and righteousnesses of the Lord blameless,
7 and they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and both were advanced in their days.
8 And it came to pass, in his acting as priest, in the order of his course before God,
9 according to the custom of the priesthood, his lot was to make perfume, having gone into the sanctuary of the Lord,
10 and all the multitude of the people were praying without, at the hour of the perfume.
11 And there appeared to him a messenger of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of the perfume,
12 and Zacharias, having seen, was troubled, and fear fell on him;
13 and the messenger said unto him, `Fear not, Zacharias, for thy supplication was heard, and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear a son to thee, and thou shalt call his name John,
14 and there shall be joy to thee, and gladness, and many at his birth shall joy,
15 for he shall be great before the Lord, and wine and strong drink he may not drink, and of the Holy Spirit he shall be full, even from his mother's womb;
16 and many of the sons of Israel he shall turn to the Lord their God,
17 and he shall go before Him, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn hearts of fathers unto children, and disobedient ones to the wisdom of righteous ones, to make ready for the Lord, a people prepared.'
18 And Zacharias said unto the messenger, `Whereby shall I know this? for I am aged, and my wife is advanced in her days?'
19 And the messenger answering said to him, `I am Gabriel, who have been standing near before God, and I was sent to speak unto thee, and to proclaim these good news to thee,
20 and lo, thou shalt be silent, and not able to speak, till the day that these things shall come to pass, because thou didst not believe my words, that shall be fulfilled in their season.'
21 And the people were waiting for Zacharias, and wondering at his tarrying in the sanctuary,
22 and having come out, he was not able to speak to them, and they perceived that a vision he had seen in the sanctuary, and he was beckoning to them, and did remain dumb.
23 And it came to pass, when the days of his service were fulfilled, he went away to his house,