Book of Common Prayer
Jehovah’s power and dominion.
97 Jehovah reigneth; let the earth rejoice;
Let the multitude of isles be glad.
2 Clouds and darkness are round about him:
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
3 A fire goeth before him,
And burneth up his adversaries round about.
4 His lightnings lightened the world:
The earth saw, and trembled.
5 The mountains melted like wax at the presence of Jehovah,
At the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.
6 The heavens declare his righteousness,
And all the peoples have seen his glory.
7 Let all them be put to shame that serve graven images,
That boast themselves of idols:
Worship him, all ye gods.
8 Zion heard and was glad,
And the daughters of Judah rejoiced,
Because of thy judgments, O Jehovah.
9 For thou, Jehovah, art most high above all the earth:
Thou art exalted far above all gods.
10 O ye that love Jehovah, hate evil:
He preserveth the souls of his saints;
He delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.
11 Light is sown for the righteous,
And gladness for the upright in heart.
12 Be glad in Jehovah, ye righteous;
And give thanks to his holy memorial name.
Praise to Jehovah for his fidelity to Israel.
99 Jehovah reigneth; let the peoples tremble:
He [a]sitteth above the cherubim; let the earth be moved.
2 Jehovah is great in Zion;
And he is high above all the peoples.
3 Let them praise thy great and terrible name:
Holy is he.
4 The king’s strength also loveth justice;
Thou dost establish equity;
Thou executest justice and righteousness in Jacob.
5 Exalt ye Jehovah our God,
And worship at his footstool:
Holy is he.
6 Moses and Aaron among his priests,
And Samuel among them that call upon his name;
They called upon Jehovah, and he answered them.
7 He spake unto them in the pillar of cloud:
They kept his testimonies,
And the statute that he gave them.
8 Thou answeredst them, O Jehovah our God:
Thou wast a God that forgavest them,
Though thou tookest vengeance of their doings.
9 Exalt ye Jehovah our God,
And worship at his holy hill;
For Jehovah our God is holy.
All men exhorted to praise God.
A Psalm [b]of thanksgiving.
100 Make a joyful noise unto Jehovah, [c]all ye lands.
2 Serve Jehovah with gladness:
Come before his presence with singing.
3 Know ye that Jehovah, he is God:
It is he that hath made us, [d]and we are his;
We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter into his gates with [e]thanksgiving,
And into his courts with praise:
Give thanks unto him, and bless his name.
5 For Jehovah is good; his lovingkindness endureth for ever,
And his faithfulness unto all generations.
Jehovah implored to avenge his people.
94 O Jehovah, thou God to whom vengeance belongeth,
Thou God to whom vengeance belongeth, shine forth.
2 Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth:
Render to the proud their desert.
3 Jehovah, how long shall the wicked,
How long shall the wicked triumph?
4 They prate, they speak arrogantly:
All the workers of iniquity boast themselves.
5 They break in pieces thy people, O Jehovah,
And afflict thy heritage.
6 They slay the widow and the sojourner,
And murder the fatherless.
7 And they say, [a]Jehovah will not see,
Neither will the God of Jacob consider.
8 Consider, ye brutish among the people;
And ye fools, when will ye be wise?
9 He that planted the ear, shall he not hear?
He that formed the eye, shall he not see?
10 He that [b]chastiseth the nations, shall not he correct,
Even he that teacheth man knowledge?
11 Jehovah knoweth the thoughts of man,
[c]That they are [d]vanity.
12 Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O [e]Jehovah,
And teachest out of thy law;
13 That thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity,
Until the pit be digged for the wicked.
14 For Jehovah will not cast off his people,
Neither will he forsake his inheritance.
15 For judgment shall return unto righteousness;
And all the upright in heart shall follow it.
16 Who will rise up for me against the evil-doers?
Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?
17 Unless Jehovah had been my help,
My soul had soon dwelt in silence.
18 When I said, My foot slippeth;
Thy lovingkindness, O Jehovah, held me up.
19 In the multitude of my [f]thoughts within me Thy comforts delight my soul.
20 Shall the [g]throne of wickedness have fellowship with thee,
Which frameth mischief by statute?
21 They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous,
And condemn the innocent blood.
22 But Jehovah hath been my high tower,
And my God the rock of my refuge.
23 And he hath brought upon them their own iniquity,
And will cut them off in their own wickedness;
Jehovah our God will cut them off.
Praise to Jehovah, and warning against unbelief.
95 Oh come, let us sing unto Jehovah;
Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving;
Let us make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.
3 For Jehovah is a great God,
And a great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the deep places of the earth;
The [h]heights of the mountains are his also.
5 The sea is his, and he made it;
And his hands formed the dry land.
6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
Let us kneel before Jehovah our Maker:
7 For he is our God,
And we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.
To-day, [i]oh that ye would hear his voice!
8 Harden not your heart, as at [j]Meribah,
As in the day of [k]Massah in the wilderness;
9 When your fathers tempted me,
Proved me, and saw my work.
10 Forty years long was I grieved with that generation,
And said, It is a people that do err in their heart,
And they have not known my ways:
11 Wherefore I sware in my wrath,
That they should not enter into my rest.
29 Hezekiah began to reign when he was five and twenty years old; and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Abijah, the daughter of Zechariah. 2 And he did that which was right in the eyes of Jehovah, according to all that David his father had done. 3 He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of Jehovah, and repaired them.
30 And Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of Jehovah at Jerusalem, to keep the passover unto Jehovah, the God of Israel. 2 For the king had taken counsel, and his princes, and all the assembly in Jerusalem, to keep the passover in the second month. 3 For they could not keep it at that time, because the priests had not sanctified themselves in sufficient number, neither had the people gathered themselves together to Jerusalem. 4 And the thing was right in the eyes of the king and of all the assembly. 5 So they established a decree to make proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beer-sheba even to Dan, that they should come to keep the passover unto Jehovah, the God of Israel, at Jerusalem: for they had not kept it [a]in great numbers in such sort as it is written. 6 So the posts went with the letters from the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the king, saying, Ye children of Israel, turn again unto Jehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that he may return to the remnant that are escaped of you out of the hand of the kings of Assyria. 7 And be not ye like your fathers, and like your brethren, who trespassed against Jehovah, the God of their fathers, so that he gave them up [b]to desolation, as ye see. 8 Now be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers were; but [c]yield yourselves unto Jehovah, and enter into his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified for ever, and serve Jehovah your God, that his fierce anger may turn away from you. 9 For if ye turn again unto Jehovah, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that led them captive, and shall come again into this land: for Jehovah your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him.
10 So the posts passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh, even unto Zebulun: but they laughed them to scorn, and mocked them. 11 Nevertheless certain men of Asher and Manasseh and of Zebulun humbled themselves, and came to Jerusalem. 12 Also upon Judah came the hand of God to give them one heart, to do the commandment of the king and of the princes by the word of Jehovah.
13 And there assembled at Jerusalem much people to keep the feast of unleavened bread in the second month, a very great assembly. 14 And they arose and took away the altars that were in Jerusalem, and all the [d]altars for incense took they away, and cast them into the brook Kidron. 15 Then they killed the passover on the fourteenth day of the second month: and the priests and the Levites were ashamed, and sanctified themselves, and brought burnt-offerings into the house of Jehovah. 16 And they stood in their place after their order, according to the law of Moses the man of God: the priests sprinkled the blood which they received of the hand of the Levites. 17 For there were many in the assembly that had not sanctified themselves: therefore the Levites had the charge of killing the passovers for every one that was not clean, to sanctify them unto Jehovah. 18 For a multitude of the people, even many of Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun, had not cleansed themselves, yet did they eat the passover otherwise than it is written. For Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying, The good Jehovah pardon [e]every one 19 that setteth his heart to seek God, Jehovah, the God of his fathers, though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary. 20 And Jehovah hearkened to Hezekiah, and healed the people. 21 And the children of Israel that were present at Jerusalem kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with great gladness; and the Levites and the priests praised Jehovah day by day, singing with loud instruments unto Jehovah. 22 And Hezekiah spake comfortably unto all the Levites that had good understanding in the service of Jehovah. So they did eat throughout the feast for the seven days, offering sacrifices of peace-offerings, and [f]making confession to Jehovah, the God of their fathers.
23 And the whole assembly took counsel to keep other seven days; and they kept other seven days with gladness. 24 For Hezekiah king of Judah did give to the assembly for offerings a thousand bullocks and seven thousand sheep; and the princes gave to the assembly a thousand bullocks and ten thousand sheep: and a great number of priests sanctified themselves. 25 And all the assembly of Judah, with the priests and the Levites, and all the assembly that came out of Israel, and the sojourners that came out of the land of Israel, and that dwelt in Judah, rejoiced. 26 So there was great joy in Jerusalem; for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there was not the like in Jerusalem. 27 Then the priests the Levites arose and blessed the people: and their voice was heard, and their prayer came up to his holy habitation, even unto heaven.
32 But I would have you to be free from cares. He that is unmarried is careful for the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord: 33 but he that is married is careful for the things of the world, how he may please his [a]wife, 34 and is divided. So also the woman that is unmarried and the virgin is careful for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married is careful for the things of the world, how she may please her husband. 35 And this I say for your own profit; not that I may cast a [b]snare upon you, but for that which is seemly, and that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction. 36 But if any man thinketh that he behaveth himself unseemly toward his [c]virgin daughter, if she be past the flower of her age, and if need so requireth, let him do what he will; he sinneth not; let them marry. 37 But he that standeth stedfast in his heart, having no necessity, but hath power as touching his own will, and hath determined this in his own heart, to keep his own [d]virgin daughter, shall do well. 38 So then both he that giveth his own [e]virgin daughter in marriage doeth well; and he that giveth her not in marriage shall do better. 39 A wife is bound for so long time as her husband liveth; but if the husband be [f]dead, she is free to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord. 40 But she is happier if she abide as she is, after my judgment: and I think that I also have the Spirit of God.
7 Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured unto you. 3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me cast out the mote out of thine eye; and lo, the beam is in thine own eye? 5 Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.
6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast your pearls before the swine, lest haply they trample them under their feet, and turn and rend you.
7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8 for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. 9 Or what man is there of you, who, if his son shall ask him for a loaf, will give him a stone; 10 or if he shall ask for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? 12 All things therefore whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, even so do ye also unto them: for this is the law and the prophets.
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