Book of Common Prayer

[A Psalm] of David.

37 Fret not thyself because of evil-doers, and be not envious of them that work unrighteousness;

² for they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and fade as the green herb.

³ Confide in Jehovah, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on faithfulness;

⁴ and delight thyself in Jehovah, and he will give thee the desires of thy heart.

⁵ Commit thy way unto Jehovah, and rely upon him: he will bring [it] to pass;

⁶ and he will bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.

⁷ Rest in Jehovah, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him that prospereth in his way, because of the man that bringeth mischievous devices to pass.

⁸ Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; fret not thyself: it [would be] only to do evil.

⁹ For evil-doers shall be cut off; but those that wait on Jehovah, they shall possess the land.

¹⁰ For yet a little while, and the wicked is not; and thou considerest his place, but he is not.

¹¹ But the meek shall possess the land, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of prosperity.

¹² The wicked plotteth against the righteous, and gnasheth his teeth against him.

¹³ The Lord laugheth at him; for he seeth that his day is coming.

¹⁴ The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the afflicted and needy, to slay those that are upright in [the] way:

¹⁵ their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken.

¹⁶ The little that the righteous hath is better than the abundance of many wicked;

¹⁷ for the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but Jehovah upholdeth the righteous.

¹⁸ Jehovah knoweth the days of the perfect; and their inheritance shall be for ever:

¹⁹ they shall not be ashamed in the time of evil, and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.

²⁰ For the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of Jehovah shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume, like smoke shall they consume away.

²¹ The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again; but the righteous is gracious and giveth:

²² for those blessed of him shall possess the land, and they that are cursed of him shall be cut off.

²³ The steps of a man are established by Jehovah, and he delighteth in his way:

²⁴ though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down, for Jehovah upholdeth his hand.

²⁵ I have been young, and now am old, and I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed seeking bread:

²⁶ all the day he is gracious and lendeth, and his seed shall be a blessing.

²⁷ Depart from evil, and do good, and dwell for evermore;

²⁸ for Jehovah loveth judgment, and will not forsake his saints: They are preserved for ever; but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.

²⁹ The righteous shall possess the land, and dwell therein for ever.

³⁰ The mouth of the righteous proffereth wisdom, and his tongue speaketh judgment;

³¹ the law of his God is in his heart; his goings shall not slide.

³² The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him:

³³ Jehovah will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged.

³⁴ Wait for Jehovah, and keep his way, and he will exalt thee to possess the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see [it].

³⁵ I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading like a green tree in its native soil:

³⁶ but he passed away, and behold, he was not; and I sought him, but he was not found.

³⁷ Mark the perfect, and behold the upright, for the end of [that] man is peace;

³⁸ but the transgressors shall be destroyed together; the future of the wicked shall be cut off.

³⁹ But the salvation of the righteous is of Jehovah: he is their strength in the time of trouble.

⁴⁰ And Jehovah will help them and deliver them: he will deliver them from the wicked, and save them; for they trust in him.

11 But king Solomon loved many foreign women, besides the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, Hittites;

² of the nations of which Jehovah had said to the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in to you; they would certainly turn away your heart after their gods: to these Solomon was attached in love.

³ And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.

⁴ And it came to pass when Solomon was old, [that] his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not perfect with Jehovah his God, as the heart of David his father.

⁵ And Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.

⁶ And Solomon did evil in the sight of Jehovah, and followed not fully Jehovah, as David his father.

⁷ Then did Solomon build a high place for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, on the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the children of Ammon.

⁸ And so he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

⁹ And Jehovah was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned away from Jehovah the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice,

¹⁰ and had commanded him concerning this thing, not to go after other gods; but he kept not what Jehovah had commanded.

¹¹ And Jehovah said to Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done by thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes which I commanded thee, I will certainly rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant:

¹² notwithstanding in thy days I will not do it, for David thy father's sake; I will rend it out of the hand of thy son;

¹³ only, I will not rend away all the kingdom: I will give one tribe to thy son, for David my servant's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake which I have chosen.

¹³ Who [is] wise and understanding among you; let him shew out of a good conversation his works in meekness of wisdom;

¹⁴ but if ye have bitter emulation and strife in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth.

¹⁵ This is not the wisdom which comes down from above, but earthly, natural, devilish.

¹⁶ For where emulation and strife [are], there [is] disorder and every evil thing.

¹⁷ But the wisdom from above first is pure, then peaceful, gentle, yielding, full of mercy and good fruits, unquestioning, unfeigned.

¹⁸ But [the] fruit of righteousness in peace is sown for them that make peace.

4 Whence [come] wars and whence fightings among you? [Is it] not thence,—from your pleasures, which war in your members?

² Ye lust and have not: ye kill and are full of envy, and cannot obtain; ye fight and war; ye have not because ye ask not.

³ Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask evilly, that ye may consume [it] in your pleasures.

⁴ Adulteresses, know ye not that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore is minded to be [the] friend of the world is constituted enemy of God.

⁵ Think ye that the scripture speaks in vain? Does the Spirit which has taken his abode in us desire enviously?

⁶ But he gives more grace. Wherefore he says, God sets himself against [the] proud, but gives grace to [the] lowly.

⁷ Subject yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

⁸ Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse [your] hands, sinners, and purify [your] hearts, ye double-minded.

⁹ Be wretched, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and [your] joy to heaviness.

¹⁰ Humble yourselves before [the] Lord, and he shall exalt you.

¹¹ Speak not against one another, brethren. He that speaks against [his] brother, or judges his brother, speaks against [the] law and judges [the] law. But if thou judgest [the] law, thou art not doer of [the] law, but judge.

¹² One is the lawgiver and judge, who is able to save and to destroy: but who art *thou* who judgest thy neighbour?

¹² And Pilate answering said to them again, What will ye then that I do [to him] whom ye call King of the Jews?

¹³ And they cried out again, Crucify him.

¹⁴ And Pilate said to them, What evil then has he done? But they cried out the more urgently, Crucify him.

¹⁵ And Pilate, desirous of contenting the crowd, released to them Barabbas, and delivered up Jesus, when he had scourged him, that he might be crucified.

¹⁶ And the soldiers led him away into the court which is [called the] praetorium, and they call together the whole band.

¹⁷ And they clothe him with purple, and bind round on him a crown of thorns which they had plaited.

¹⁸ And they began to salute him, Hail, King of the Jews!

¹⁹ And they struck his head with a reed, and spat on him, and, bending the knee, did him homage.

²⁰ And when they had mocked him, they took the purple off him, and put his own clothes on him; and they lead him out that they may crucify him.

²¹ And they compel to go [with them] a certain passer-by, Simon, a Cyrenian, coming from the field, the father of Alexander and Rufus, that he might carry his cross.