Book of Common Prayer

Michtam of David.

16 Preserve me, O God: for I trust in thee.

² Thou [my soul] hast said to Jehovah, Thou art the Lord: my goodness [extendeth] not to thee;—

³ To the saints that are on the earth, and to the excellent [thou hast said], In them is all my delight.

⁴ Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another: their drink-offerings of blood will I not offer, and I will not take up their names into my lips.

⁵ Jehovah is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot.

⁶ The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.

⁷ I will bless Jehovah, who giveth me counsel; even in the nights my reins instruct me.

⁸ I have set Jehovah continually before me; because [he is] at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

⁹ Therefore my heart rejoiceth, and my glory exulteth; my flesh moreover shall dwell in hope.

¹⁰ For thou wilt not leave my soul to Sheol, neither wilt thou allow thy Holy One to see corruption.

¹¹ Thou wilt make known to me the path of life: thy countenance is fulness of joy; at thy right hand are pleasures for evermore.

A Prayer of David.

17 Hear the right, O Jehovah, attend unto my cry; give ear unto my prayer, which is not out of feigned lips.

² Let my judgment come forth from thy presence, let thine eyes regard equity.

³ Thou hast proved my heart, thou hast visited me by night; thou hast tried me, thou hast found nothing: my thought goeth not beyond my word.

⁴ Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept from the paths of the violent [man].

⁵ When thou holdest my goings in thy paths, my footsteps slip not.

⁶ I have called upon thee, for thou answerest me, O God. Incline thine ear unto me, hear my speech.

⁷ Shew wondrously thy loving-kindnesses, O thou that savest by thy right hand them that trust [in thee] from those that rise up [against them].

⁸ Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings,

⁹ From the wicked that destroy me, my deadly enemies, who compass me about.

¹⁰ They are enclosed in their own fat; with their mouth they speak proudly.

¹¹ They have now encompassed us in our steps; their eyes have they set, bowing down to the earth.

¹² He is like a lion that is greedy of its prey, and as a young lion lurking in secret places.

¹³ Arise, Jehovah, anticipate him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, thy sword;

¹⁴ From men [who are] thy hand, O Jehovah, from men of this age: their portion is in [this] life, and their belly thou fillest with thy hid [treasure]; they have their fill of sons, and leave the rest of their [substance] to their children.

¹⁵ As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.

To the chief Musician. Upon Aijeleth-Shahar. A Psalm of David.

22 My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? [why art thou] far from my salvation, from the words of my groaning?

² My God, I cry by day, and thou answerest not; and by night, and there is no rest for me:

³ And thou art holy, thou that dwellest amid the praises of Israel.

⁴ Our fathers confided in thee: they confided, and thou didst deliver them.

⁵ They cried unto thee, and were delivered; they confided in thee, and were not confounded.

⁶ But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and the despised of the people.

⁷ All they that see me laugh me to scorn; they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, [saying:]

⁸ Commit it to Jehovah—let him rescue him; let him deliver him, because he delighteth in him!

⁹ But thou art he that took me out of the womb; thou didst make me trust, upon my mother's breasts.

¹⁰ I was cast upon thee from the womb; thou art my God from my mother's belly.

¹¹ Be not far from me, for trouble is near; for there is none to help.

¹² Many bulls have encompassed me; Bashan's strong ones have beset me round.

¹³ They gape upon me with their mouth, [as] a ravening and a roaring lion.

¹⁴ I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is become like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.

¹⁵ My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaveth to my palate; and thou hast laid me in the dust of death.

¹⁶ For dogs have encompassed me; an assembly of evil-doers have surrounded me: they pierced my hands and my feet.

¹⁷ I may count all my bones. They look, they stare upon me;

¹⁸ They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.

¹⁹ But thou, Jehovah, be not far [from me]; O my strength, haste thee to help me.

²⁰ Deliver my soul from the sword; my only one from the power of the dog;

²¹ Save me from the lion's mouth. Yea, from the horns of the buffaloes hast thou answered me.

²² I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.

²³ Ye that fear Jehovah, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and revere him, all ye the seed of Israel.

²⁴ For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him: but when he cried unto him, he heard.

²⁵ My praise is from thee, in the great congregation; I will pay my vows before them that fear him.

²⁶ The meek shall eat and be satisfied; they shall praise Jehovah that seek him: your heart shall live for ever.

²⁷ All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn unto Jehovah, and all the families of the nations shall worship before thee:

²⁸ For the kingdom is Jehovah's, and he ruleth among the nations.

²⁹ All the fat ones of the earth shall eat and worship; all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him, and he that cannot keep alive his own soul.

³⁰ A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.

³¹ They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done [it].

5 And Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon; for he had heard that they had anointed him king in the place of his father; for Hiram always loved David.

² And Solomon sent to Hiram, saying,

³ Thou knowest that David my father could not build a house unto the name of Jehovah his God, because of the wars which were about him on every side, until Jehovah put them under the soles of his feet.

⁴ But now Jehovah my God has given me rest on every side: there is neither adversary nor evil event.

⁵ And behold, I purpose to build a house unto the name of Jehovah my God, as Jehovah spoke to David my father saying, Thy son, whom I will set upon thy throne in thy stead, he shall build a house unto my name.

⁶ And now command that they hew me cedar-trees out of Lebanon; and my servants shall be with thy servants; and I will give thee hire for thy servants according to all that thou shalt say; for thou knowest that there is not among us any that are experienced in cutting timber like to the Zidonians.

⁷ And it came to pass when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly, and said, Blessed be Jehovah this day, who has given to David a wise son over this great people.

⁸ And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying, I have heard the things which thou sentest to me for: I will do all thy desire concerning timber of cedar, and concerning timber of cypress.

⁹ My servants shall bring [them] down from Lebanon to the sea; and I will convey them by sea [in] rafts to the place that thou shalt appoint me, and will cause them to be broken up there, and thou shalt receive them. And thou shalt accomplish my desire in giving food for my household.

¹⁰ So Hiram gave Solomon cedar-trees and cypress-trees [according to] all his desire.

¹¹ And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat as food for his household, and twenty measures of beaten oil: thus gave Solomon to Hiram year by year.

¹² And Jehovah gave Solomon wisdom as he promised him. And there was peace between Hiram and Solomon; and they two made a league.

¹³ And king Solomon raised a levy out of all Israel; and the levy was thirty thousand men.

¹⁴ And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousand a month by courses; a month they were in Lebanon, two months at home; and Adoniram was over the levy.

¹⁵ And Solomon had seventy thousand that bore burdens, and eighty thousand stone-masons in the mountains;

¹⁶ besides the overseers whom Solomon had set over the work, three thousand three hundred, who ruled over the people that wrought in the work.

¹⁷ And the king commanded, and they brought great stones, costly stones, hewn stones, to lay the foundation of the house.

¹⁸ And Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders and the Giblites hewed them, and prepared timber and stones to build the house.

6 And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of Jehovah.

⁷ And the house, when it was being built, was built of stone entirely made ready before it was brought thither; so that there was neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron heard in the house while it was being built.

28 And when we got safe [to land] we then knew that the island was called Melita.

² But the barbarians shewed us no common kindness; for, having kindled a fire, they took us all in because of the rain that was falling and because of the cold.

³ And Paul having gathered a [certain] quantity of sticks together in a bundle and laid [it] on the fire, a viper coming out from the heat seized his hand.

⁴ And when the barbarians saw the beast hanging from his hand, they said to one another, This man is certainly a murderer, whom, [though] saved out of the sea, Nemesis has not allowed to live.

⁵ *He* however, having shaken off the beast into the fire, felt no harm.

⁶ But *they* expected that he would have swollen or fallen down suddenly dead. But when they had expected a long time and saw nothing unusual happen to him, changing their opinion, they said he was a god.

⁷ Now in the country surrounding that place were the lands belonging to the chief man of the island, by name Publius, who received us and gave [us] hospitality three days in a very friendly way.

⁸ And it happened that the father of Publius lay ill of fever and dysentery; to whom Paul entered in, and having prayed and laid his hands on him cured him.

⁹ But this having taken place, the rest also who had sicknesses in the island came and were healed:

¹⁰ who also honoured us with many honours, and on our leaving they made presents to us of what should minister to our wants.

¹¹ And after three months we sailed in a ship which had wintered in the island, an Alexandrian, with [the] Dioscuri for its ensign.

¹² And having come to Syracuse we remained three days.

¹³ Whence, going in a circuitous course, we arrived at Rhegium; and after one day, the wind having changed to south, on the second day we came to Puteoli,

¹⁴ where, having found brethren, we were begged to stay with them seven days. And thus we went to Rome.

¹⁵ And thence the brethren, having heard about us, came to meet us as far as Appii Forum and Tres Tabernae, whom when Paul saw, he thanked God and took courage.

¹⁶ And when we came to Rome, [the centurion delivered up the prisoners to the praetorian prefect, but] Paul was allowed to remain by himself with the soldier who kept him.

²⁷ And Jesus says to them, All ye shall be offended, for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered abroad.

²⁸ But after I am risen, I will go before you into Galilee.

²⁹ But Peter said to him, Even if all should be offended, yet not *I*.

³⁰ And Jesus says to him, Verily I say to thee, that thou to-day, in this night, before [the] cock shall crow twice, thou shalt thrice deny me.

³¹ But he said [so much] exceedingly the more, If I should have to die with thee, I will in no wise deny thee. And likewise said they all too.

³² And they come to a place of which the name [is] Gethsemane, and he says to his disciples, Sit here while I shall pray.

³³ And he takes with him Peter and James and John, and he began to be amazed and oppressed in spirit.

³⁴ And he says to them, My soul is full of grief even unto death; abide here and watch.

³⁵ And, going forward a little, he fell upon the earth; and he prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass away from him.

³⁶ And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible to thee: take away this cup from me; but not what *I* will, but what *thou* [wilt].

³⁷ And he comes and finds them sleeping. And he says to Peter, Simon, dost thou sleep? Hast thou not been able to watch one hour?

³⁸ Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed [is] willing, but the flesh weak.

³⁹ And going away, he prayed again, saying the same thing.

⁴⁰ And returning, he found them again sleeping, for their eyes were heavy; and they knew not what they should answer him.

⁴¹ And he comes the third time and says to them, Sleep on now, and take your rest. It is enough; the hour is come; behold, the Son of man is delivered up into the hands of sinners.

⁴² Arise, let us go; behold, he that delivers me up has drawn nigh.