Book of Common Prayer

1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the wicked, and standeth not in the way of sinners, and sitteth not in the seat of scorners;

² But his delight is in Jehovah's law, and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

³ And he [is] as a tree planted by brooks of water, which giveth its fruit in its season, and whose leaf fadeth not; and all that he doeth prospereth.

⁴ The wicked are not so; but are as the chaff which the wind driveth away.

⁵ Therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

⁶ For Jehovah knoweth the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked shall perish.

2 Why are the nations in tumultuous agitation, and [why] do the peoples meditate a vain thing?

² The kings of the earth set themselves, and the princes plot together, against Jehovah and against his anointed:

³ Let us break their bonds asunder, and cast away their cords from us!

⁴ He that dwelleth in the heavens shall laugh, the Lord shall have them in derision.

⁵ Then will he speak to them in his anger, and in his fierce displeasure will he terrify them:

⁶ And *I* have anointed my king upon Zion, the hill of my holiness.

⁷ I will declare the decree: Jehovah hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; *I* this day have begotten thee.

⁸ Ask of me, and I will give thee nations for an inheritance, and for thy possession the ends of the earth:

⁹ Thou shalt break them with a sceptre of iron, as a potter's vessel thou shalt dash them in pieces.

¹⁰ And now, O kings, be ye wise, be admonished, 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, though his anger burn but a little. Blessed are all who have their trust in him.

A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son.

3 Jehovah, how many are they that trouble me, many they that rise up against me!

² Many say of my soul, There is no salvation for him in God. Selah.

³ But thou, Jehovah, art a shield about me; my glory, and the lifter up of my head.

⁴ With my voice will I call to Jehovah, and he will answer me from the hill of his holiness. Selah.

⁵ I laid me down and slept; I awaked, for Jehovah sustaineth me.

⁶ I will not fear for myriads of the people that have set themselves against me round about.

⁷ Arise, Jehovah; save me, my God! For thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheekbone, thou hast broken the teeth of the wicked.

⁸ Salvation is of Jehovah; thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah.

To the chief Musician. On stringed instruments. A Psalm of David.

4 When I call, answer me, O God of my righteousness: in pressure thou hast enlarged me; be gracious unto me, and hear my prayer.

² Ye sons of men, till when is my glory [to be put] to shame? [How long] will ye love vanity, will ye seek after a lie? Selah.

³ But know that Jehovah hath set apart the pious [man] for himself: Jehovah will hear when I call unto him.

⁴ Be moved with anger, and sin not; meditate in your own hearts upon your bed, and be still. Selah.

⁵ Offer sacrifices of righteousness, and confide in Jehovah.

⁶ Many say, Who shall cause us to see good? Lift up upon us the light of thy countenance, O Jehovah.

⁷ Thou hast put joy in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their new wine was in abundance.

⁸ In peace will I both lay me down and sleep; for thou, Jehovah, alone makest me to dwell in safety.

Shiggaion of David, which he sang to Jehovah, concerning the words of Cush the Benjaminite.

7 Jehovah my God, in thee have I trusted: save me from all my pursuers, and deliver me;

² Lest he tear my soul like a lion, crushing it while there is no deliverer.

³ Jehovah my God, if I have done this, if there be iniquity in my hands;

⁴ If I have rewarded evil to him that was at peace with me; (indeed I have freed him that without cause oppressed me;)

⁵ Let the enemy pursue after my soul, and take [it], and let him tread down my life to the earth, and lay my glory in the dust. Selah.

⁶ Arise, Jehovah, in thine anger; lift thyself up against the raging of mine oppressors, and awake for me: thou hast commanded judgment.

⁷ And the assembly of the peoples shall encompass thee; and for their sakes return thou on high.

⁸ Jehovah shall minister judgment to the peoples. Judge me, Jehovah, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity which is in me.

⁹ Oh let the wrong of the wicked come to an end, and establish thou the righteous [man]; even thou that triest the hearts and reins, the righteous God.

¹⁰ My shield is with God, who saveth the upright in heart.

¹¹ God is a righteous judge, and a God who is indignant all the day.

¹² If one turn not, he will sharpen his sword; he hath bent his bow and made it ready,

¹³ And he hath prepared for him instruments of death; his arrows hath he made burning.

¹⁴ Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, yea, he hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood:

¹⁵ He digged a pit, and hollowed it out, and is fallen into the hole that he made.

¹⁶ His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violence shall come down upon his own pate.

¹⁷ I will praise Jehovah according to his righteousness, and will sing forth the name of Jehovah the Most High.

⁵ And Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will be king; and he provided himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.

⁶ And his father had not grieved him at any time in saying, Why doest thou so? and he was also a very comely man; and [his mother] bore him after Absalom.

⁷ And he conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar the priest; and they helped Adonijah and followed [him].

⁸ But Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and Nathan the prophet, and Shimei, and Rei, and the mighty men whom David had, were not with Adonijah.

⁹ And Adonijah sacrificed sheep and oxen and fatted cattle by the stone of Zoheleth, which is by En-rogel, and invited all his brethren, the king's sons, and all the men of Judah, the king's servants;

¹⁰ but Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, and the mighty men, and Solomon his brother, he did not invite.

¹¹ And Nathan spoke to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, saying, Hast thou not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith is king, and David our lord does not know [it]?

¹² And now, come, let me, I pray thee, give thee counsel, that thou mayest save thine own life, and the life of thy son Solomon.

¹³ Go and get thee in to king David, and say to him, Didst not thou, my lord, O king, swear to thy handmaid saying, Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne? why then does Adonijah reign?

¹⁴ Behold, while thou yet talkest there with the king, I also will come in after thee and confirm thy words.

¹⁵ And Bathsheba went in to the king into the chamber; and the king was very old; and Abishag the Shunammite ministered to the king.

¹⁶ And Bathsheba bowed and did obeisance to the king. And the king said, What wouldest thou?

¹⁷ And she said to him, My lord, thou hast sworn by Jehovah thy God to thy handmaid, [saying,] Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne.

¹⁸ And now behold, Adonijah is king; and now, my lord the king, thou knowest it not.

¹⁹ And he has sacrificed oxen and fatted cattle and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the sons of the king and Abiathar the priest and Joab the captain of the host; but Solomon thy servant has he not invited.

²⁰ And thou, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are upon thee, that thou shouldest tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.

²¹ Otherwise it shall come to pass when my lord the king shall sleep with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon will be counted offenders.

²² And behold, while she yet talked with the king, Nathan the prophet also came in.

²³ And they told the king saying, Behold, Nathan the prophet. And when he was come in before the king, he bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground.

²⁴ And Nathan said, My lord, O king, hast thou said, Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne?

²⁵ For he is gone down this day, and has sacrificed oxen and fatted cattle and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the king's sons, and the captains of the host, and Abiathar the priest; and behold, they eat and drink before him, and say, God save king Adonijah!

²⁶ But me, [even] me thy servant, and Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and thy servant Solomon, he has not invited.

²⁷ Is this thing done by my lord the king, and thou hast not shewn to thy servants who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?

²⁸ Then king David answered and said, Call me Bathsheba. And she came into the king's presence, and stood before the king.

²⁹ And the king swore, and said, [As] Jehovah liveth, who has redeemed my soul out of all distress,

³⁰ even as I swore to thee by Jehovah the God of Israel, saying, Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my stead; even so will I certainly do this day.

³¹ And Bathsheba bowed with her face to the earth, and did reverence to the king, and said, Let my lord king David live for ever.

26 And Agrippa said to Paul, It is permitted thee to speak for thyself. Then Paul stretching out his hand answered in his defence:

² I count myself happy, king Agrippa, in having to answer to-day before thee concerning all of which I am accused by the Jews,

³ especially because thou art acquainted with all the customs and questions which are among the Jews; wherefore I beseech thee to hear me patiently.

⁴ My manner of life then from my youth, which from its commencement was passed among my nation in Jerusalem, know all the Jews,

⁵ who knew me before from the outset [of my life], if they would bear witness, that according to the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.

⁶ And now I stand to be judged because of the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers,

⁷ to which our whole twelve tribes serving incessantly day and night hope to arrive; about which hope, O king, I am accused of [the] Jews.

⁸ Why should it be judged a thing incredible in your sight if God raises the dead?

⁹ *I* indeed myself thought that I ought to do much against the name of Jesus the Nazaraean.

¹⁰ Which also I did in Jerusalem, and myself shut up in prisons many of the saints, having received the authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death I gave my vote.

¹¹ And often punishing them in all the synagogues, I compelled them to blaspheme. And, being exceedingly furious against them, I persecuted them even to cities out [of our own land].

¹² And when, [engaged] in this, I was journeying to Damascus, with authority and power from the chief priests,

¹³ at mid-day, on the way, I saw, O king, a light above the brightness of the sun, shining from heaven round about me and those who were journeying with me.

¹⁴ And, when we were all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? [it is] hard for thee to kick against goads.

¹⁵ And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, *I* am Jesus whom *thou* persecutest:

¹⁶ but rise up and stand on thy feet; for, for this purpose have I appeared to thee, to appoint thee to be a servant and a witness both of what thou hast seen, and of what I shall appear to thee in,

¹⁷ taking thee out from among the people, and the nations, to whom *I* send thee,

¹⁸ to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive remission of sins and inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith in me.

¹⁹ Whereupon, king Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision;

²⁰ but have, first to those both in Damascus and Jerusalem, and to all the region of Judaea, and to the nations, announced that they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance.

²¹ On account of these things the Jews, having seized me in the temple, attempted to lay hands on and destroy me.

²² Having therefore met with [the] help which is from God, I have stood firm unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying nothing else than those things which both the prophets and Moses have said should happen,

²³ [namely,] whether Christ should suffer; whether he first, through resurrection of [the] dead, should announce light both to the people and to the nations.

¹⁴ But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation standing where it should not, (he that reads let him consider [it],) then let those in Judaea flee to the mountains;

¹⁵ and him that is upon the housetop not come down into the house, nor enter [into it] to take away anything out of his house;

¹⁶ and him that is in the field not return back to take his garment.

¹⁷ But woe to those that are with child and to those that give suck in those days!

¹⁸ And pray that it may not be in winter time;

¹⁹ for those days shall be distress such as there has not been the like since [the] beginning of creation which God created, until now, and never shall be;

²⁰ and if [the] Lord had not cut short those days, no flesh should have been saved; but on account of the elect whom he has chosen, he has cut short those days.

²¹ And then if any one say to you, Lo, here [is] the Christ, or Lo, there, believe [it] not.

²² For false Christs and false prophets will arise, and give signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

²³ But do *ye* take heed: behold, I have told you all things beforehand.

²⁴ But in those days, after that distress, the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give its light;

²⁵ and the stars of heaven shall be falling down, and the powers which are in the heavens shall be shaken;

²⁶ and then shall they see the Son of man coming in clouds with great power and glory;

²⁷ and then shall he send his angels and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from end of earth to end of heaven.