Book of Common Prayer
A Song of degrees. Of David.
131 Jehovah, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty; neither do I exercise myself in great matters, and in things too wonderful for me.
2 Surely I have restrained and composed my soul, like a weaned child with its mother: my soul within me is as a weaned child.
3 Let Israel hope in Jehovah, from henceforth and for evermore.
A Song of degrees.
132 Jehovah, remember for David all his affliction;
2 How he swore unto Jehovah, vowed unto the Mighty One of Jacob:
3 I will not come into the tent of my house, I will not go up to the couch of my bed;
4 I will not give sleep to mine eyes, slumber to mine eyelids,
5 Until I find out a place for Jehovah, habitations for the Mighty One of Jacob. …
6 Behold, we heard of it at Ephratah, we found it in the fields of the wood.
7 Let us go into his habitations, let us worship at his footstool.
8 Arise, Jehovah, into thy rest, thou and the ark of thy strength.
9 Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness, and let thy saints shout for joy.
10 For thy servant David's sake, turn not away the face of thine anointed.
11 Jehovah hath sworn [in] truth unto David; he will not turn from it: Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne;
12 If thy children keep my covenant, and my testimonies which I will teach them, their children also for evermore shall sit upon thy throne.
13 For Jehovah hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his dwelling:
14 This is my rest for ever; here will I dwell, for I have desired it.
15 I will abundantly bless her provision; I will satisfy her needy ones with bread;
16 And I will clothe her priests with salvation, and her saints shall shout aloud for joy.
17 There will I cause the horn of David to bud forth; I have ordained a lamp for mine anointed.
18 His enemies will I clothe with shame; but upon himself shall his crown flourish.
A Song of degrees. Of David.
133 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
2 Like the precious oil upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, upon Aaron's beard, that ran down to the hem of his garments;
3 As the dew of Hermon that descendeth on the mountains of Zion; for there hath Jehovah commanded the blessing, life for evermore.
A Song of degrees.
134 Behold, bless Jehovah, all ye servants of Jehovah, who by night stand in the house of Jehovah.
2 Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless Jehovah.
3 Jehovah, the maker of heavens and earth, bless thee out of Zion.
135 Hallelujah! Praise the name of Jehovah; praise, ye servants of Jehovah,
2 Ye that stand in the house of Jehovah, in the courts of the house of our God.
3 Praise ye Jah; for Jehovah is good: sing psalms unto his name; for it is pleasant.
4 For Jah hath chosen Jacob unto himself, Israel for his own possession.
5 For *I* know that Jehovah is great, and our Lord is above all gods.
6 Whatsoever Jehovah pleased, he hath done in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all deeps;
7 Who causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; who maketh lightnings for the rain; who bringeth the wind out of his treasuries:
8 Who smote the firstborn of Egypt, both of man and beast;
9 Who sent signs and miracles into the midst of thee, O Egypt, upon Pharaoh and upon all his servants;
10 Who smote great nations, and slew mighty kings,
11 Sihon king of the Amorites, and Og king of Bashan, and all the kingdoms of Canaan;
12 And gave their land for an inheritance, an inheritance unto Israel his people.
13 Thy name, O Jehovah, is for ever; thy memorial, O Jehovah, from generation to generation.
14 For Jehovah will judge his people, and will repent in favour of his servants.
15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of men's hands:
16 They have a mouth, and they speak not; eyes have they, and they see not;
17 They have ears, and they hear not; neither is there any breath in their mouth.
18 They that make them are like unto them,—every one that confideth in them.
19 House of Israel, bless ye Jehovah; house of Aaron, bless ye Jehovah;
20 House of Levi, bless ye Jehovah; ye that fear Jehovah, bless Jehovah.
21 Blessed be Jehovah out of Zion, who dwelleth at Jerusalem! Hallelujah!
19 And it was told Joab, Behold, the king weeps and mourns for Absalom.
2 And the victory that day was [turned] into mourning for all the people; for the people heard say that day, The king is grieved for his son.
3 And the people stole away that day into the city, as people steal away when ashamed of fleeing in battle.
4 And the king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, My son Absalom! Absalom, my son, my son!
5 And Joab came into the house to the king, and said, Thou hast put to shame this day the faces of all thy servants who have this day saved thy life, and the lives of thy sons and of thy daughters, and the lives of thy wives and the lives of thy concubines;
6 in that thou lovest them that hate thee, and hatest those that love thee. For thou hast declared this day, that neither princes nor servants are anything to thee: for to-day I perceive, that if Absalom had lived, and all we had died to-day, then it would have been right in thine eyes.
7 But now arise, go forth, and speak consolingly to thy servants; for I swear by Jehovah, if thou go not forth, there will not tarry one with thee this night; and that would be worse to thee than all the evil that has befallen thee from thy youth until now.
8 Then the king arose, and sat in the gate. And they told all the people, saying, Behold, the king is sitting in the gate. And all the people came before the king. Now Israel had fled every man to his tent.
9 And all the people were at strife throughout the tribes of Israel, saying, The king delivered us out of the hand of our enemies, and he saved us out of the hand of the Philistines; and now he is fled out of the land because of Absalom.
10 And Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle; and now why are ye silent as to bringing the king back?
11 And king David sent to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, saying, Speak to the elders of Judah saying, Why are ye the last to bring the king back to his house? seeing the speech of all Israel is come to the king, to his house.
12 Ye are my brethren, ye are my bone and my flesh; and why will ye be the last to bring back the king?
13 And say to Amasa, Art thou not my bone and my flesh? God do so to me and more also, if thou be not captain of the host before me continually instead of Joab.
14 And he bowed the heart of all the men of Judah as of one man; and they sent to the king, Return, thou and all thy servants.
15 And the king returned and came as far as the Jordan. And Judah came to Gilgal, to go to meet the king, to conduct the king over the Jordan.
16 And Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, who was of Bahurim, hasted and came down with the men of Judah to meet king David.
17 And there were a thousand men of Benjamin with him, and Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him; and they forded the Jordan before the king.
18 And a ferry boat passed to and fro to carry over the king's household, and to do what he thought good. And Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king as he was [just] crossing over the Jordan.
19 And he said to the king, Let not my lord impute iniquity to me, neither do thou remember that which thy servant did perversely the day that my lord the king went out of Jerusalem, that the king should take it to heart.
20 For thy servant knows that I have sinned; and behold, I am come the first this day of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king.
21 And Abishai the son of Zeruiah answered and said, Should not Shimei be put to death for this, because he cursed Jehovah's anointed?
22 And David said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah, that ye should this day be adversaries to me? Should there any man be put to death this day in Israel? for do not I know that I am this day king over Israel?
23 And the king said to Shimei, Thou shalt not die. And the king swore to him.
24 And after five days came down the high priest Ananias, with the elders, and a certain orator called Tertullus, and laid their informations against Paul before the governor.
2 And he having been called, Tertullus began to accuse, saying, Seeing we enjoy great peace through thee, and that excellent measures are executed for this nation by thy forethought,
3 we receive [it] always and everywhere, most excellent Felix, with all thankfulness.
4 But that I may not too much intrude on thy time, I beseech thee to hear us briefly in thy kindness.
5 For finding this man a pest, and moving sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a leader of the sect of the Nazaraeans;
6 who also attempted to profane the temple; whom we also had seized, [and would have judged according to our law;
7 but Lysias, the chiliarch, coming up, took [him] away with great force out of our hands,
8 having commanded his accusers to come to thee;] of whom thou canst thyself, in examining [him], know the certainty of all these things of which we accuse him.
9 And the Jews also joined in pressing the matter against [Paul], saying that these things were so.
10 But Paul, the governor having beckoned to him to speak, answered, Knowing that for many years thou hast been judge to this nation, I answer readily as to the things which concern myself.
11 As thou mayest know that there are not more than twelve days since I went up to worship at Jerusalem,
12 and neither in the temple did they find me discoursing to any one, or making any tumultuous gathering together of the crowd, nor in the synagogues, nor in the city;
13 neither can they make good the things of which they now accuse me.
14 But this I avow to thee, that in the way which they call sect, so I serve my fathers' God, believing all things which are written throughout the law, and in the prophets;
15 having hope towards God, which they themselves also receive, that there is to be a resurrection both of just and unjust.
16 For this cause I also exercise [myself] to have in everything a conscience without offence towards God and men.
17 And after a lapse of many years I arrived, bringing alms to my nation, and offerings.
18 Whereupon they found me purified in the temple, with neither crowd nor tumult. But it was certain Jews from Asia,
19 who ought to appear before thee and accuse, if they have anything against me;
20 or let these themselves say what wrong they found in me when I stood before the council,
21 [other] than concerning this one voice which I cried standing amongst them: I am judged this day by you touching [the] resurrection of [the] dead.
22 And Felix, knowing accurately the things concerning the way, adjourned them, saying, When Lysias the chiliarch is come down I will determine your affair;
23 ordering the centurion to keep him, and that he should have freedom, and to hinder none of his friends to minister to him.
28 And one of the scribes who had come up, and had heard them reasoning together, perceiving that he had answered them well, demanded of him, Which is [the] first commandment of all?
29 And Jesus answered him, [The] first commandment of all [is], Hear, Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord;
30 and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thine understanding, and with all thy strength. This is [the] first commandment.
31 And a second like it [is] this: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is not another commandment greater than these.
32 And the scribe said to him, Right, teacher; thou hast spoken according to [the] truth. For he is one, and there is none other besides him;
33 and to love him with all the heart, and with all the intelligence, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbour as one's self, is more than all the burnt-offerings and sacrifices.
34 And Jesus, seeing that he had answered intelligently, said to him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no one dared question him any more.
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