Book of Common Prayer
49 ZAIN. Remember the word for thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope.
50 This is my comfort in mine affliction; for thy word hath quickened me.
51 The proud have derided me beyond measure: I have not declined from thy law.
52 I remembered thy judgments of old, O Jehovah, and have comforted myself.
53 Burning indignation hath taken hold upon me because of the wicked who forsake thy law.
54 Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage.
55 I have remembered thy name, O Jehovah, in the night, and have kept thy law.
56 This I have had, because I have observed thy precepts.
57 CHETH. My portion, O Jehovah, I have said, is to keep thy words.
58 I have sought thy favour with [my] whole heart: be gracious unto me according to thy word.
59 I have thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto thy testimonies.
60 I have made haste, and not delayed, to keep thy commandments.
61 The bands of the wicked have wrapped me round: I have not forgotten thy law.
62 At midnight I rise up to give thanks unto thee, because of thy righteous judgments.
63 I am the companion of all that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts.
64 The earth, O Jehovah, is full of thy loving-kindness: teach me thy statutes.
65 TETH. Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, O Jehovah, according to thy word.
66 Teach me good discernment and knowledge; for I have believed in thy commandments.
67 Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep thy word.
68 Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes.
69 The proud have forged falsehood against me: I will observe thy precepts with [my] whole heart.
70 Their heart is as fat as grease: as for me, I delight in thy law.
71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes.
72 The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver.
To the chief Musician. Of the sons of Korah. A Psalm.
49 Hear this, all ye peoples; give ear, all inhabitants of the world:
2 Both men of low and men of high degree, rich and poor alike.
3 My mouth shall speak wisdom, and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding:
4 I will incline mine ear to a parable, I will open my riddle upon the harp.
5 Wherefore should I fear in the days of adversity, [when] the iniquity of my supplanters encompasseth me?—
6 They depend upon their wealth, and boast themselves in the abundance of their riches. …
7 None can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him,
8 (For the redemption of their soul is costly, and must be given up for ever,)
9 That he should still live perpetually, [and] not see corruption.
10 For he seeth that wise men die; all alike, the fool and the brutish perish, and they leave their wealth to others.
11 Their inward thought is, that their houses are for ever, their dwelling-places from generation to generation: they call the lands after their own names.
12 Nevertheless, man being in honour abideth not: he is like the beasts that perish.
13 This their way is their folly, yet they that come after them delight in their sayings. Selah.
14 Like sheep are they laid in Sheol: Death feedeth on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their comeliness shall be for Sheol to consume, that there be no habitation for them.
15 But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol: for he will receive me. Selah.
16 Be not afraid when a man becometh rich, when the glory of his house is increased:
17 For when he dieth, he shall carry nothing away; his glory shall not descend after him.
18 Though he blessed his soul in his lifetime,—and men will praise thee when thou doest well to thyself,—
19 It shall go to the generation of his fathers: they shall never see light.
20 Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish.
To the chief Musician. On Mahalath: an instruction. Of David.
53 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God! They have corrupted themselves, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good.
2 God looked down from the heavens upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God.
3 Every one of them is gone back, they are together become corrupt: there is none that doeth good, not even one.
4 Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge, eating up my people [as] they eat bread? they call not upon God.
5 There were they in great fear, where no fear was; for God scattereth the bones of him that encampeth against thee. Thou hast put [them] to shame, for God hath despised them.
6 Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! When God turneth again the captivity of his people, Jacob shall be glad, Israel shall rejoice.
6 Then king Darius gave orders, and search was made in the house of the rolls, where the treasures were laid up in Babylon.
2 And there was found at Achmetha in the fortress that is in the province of Media a roll, and therein was a record thus written:
3 In the first year of king Cyrus, king Cyrus made a decree [concerning] the house of God at Jerusalem: Let the house be built for a place where they offer sacrifices, and let its foundations be solidly laid; its height sixty cubits, its breadth sixty cubits,
4 [with] three rows of great stones, and a row of new timber; and let the expenses be given out of the king's house:
5 and also let the golden and silver vessels of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took out of the temple that is at Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be restored and brought again to the temple that is at Jerusalem, in their place; and thou shalt put [them] in the house of God.
6 Therefore Tatnai, governor beyond the river, Shethar-boznai, and your companions the Apharsachites, who are beyond the river, be ye far from thence:
7 let the work of this house of God alone; let the governor of the Jews and the elders of the Jews build this house of God in its place.
8 Moreover, I give orders what ye shall do to these elders of the Jews, for the building of this house of God: that of the king's goods, of the tribute beyond the river, expenses be diligently given to these men, that they be not hindered.
9 And that which they have need of, both young bullocks and rams and lambs, for the burnt-offerings to the God of the heavens, wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the appointment of the priests that are at Jerusalem, let it be given them day by day without fail;
10 that they may present sweet odours to the God of the heavens, and pray for the life of the king and of his sons.
11 Also I have given order that whosoever shall alter this rescript, let timber be pulled down from his house, and being set up, let him be hanged thereon, and let his house be made a dunghill for this.
12 And the God that has caused his name to dwell there overthrow every king and people that shall put forth their hand to alter [or] to destroy this house of God which is at Jerusalem. I Darius have given [this] order; let it be done diligently.
13 Then Tatnai, governor on this side the river, Shethar-boznai, and their companions, because of that which king Darius had sent, did so diligently.
14 And the elders of the Jews built; and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they built and completed [it] according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.
15 And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of king Darius.
16 And the children of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy;
17 and they presented at the dedication of this house of God a hundred bullocks, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and for a sin-offering for all Israel, twelve he-goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel.
18 And they set the priests in their classes, and the Levites in their divisions, for the service of God, which is at Jerusalem: as it is written in the book of Moses.
19 And the children of the captivity held the passover upon the fourteenth of the first month.
20 For the priests and the Levites had purified themselves as one [man]: they were all pure; and they killed the passover for all the children of the captivity, and for their brethren the priests, and for themselves.
21 And the children of Israel that were come back out of captivity, and all such as had separated themselves to them from the filthiness of the nations of the land, to seek Jehovah the God of Israel, did eat;
22 and they kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy; for Jehovah had made them joyful, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.
5 And I saw on the right hand of him that sat upon the throne a book, written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals.
2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who [is] worthy to open the book, and to break its seals?
3 And no one was able in the heaven, or upon the earth, or underneath the earth, to open the book, or to regard it.
4 And *I* wept much because no one had been found worthy to open the book nor to regard it.
5 And one of the elders says to me, Do not weep. Behold, the lion which [is] of the tribe of Juda, the root of David, has overcome [so as] to open the book, and its seven seals.
6 And I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb standing, as slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God [which are] sent into all the earth:
7 and it came and took [it] out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.
8 And when it took the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell before the Lamb, having each a harp and golden bowls full of incenses, which are the prayers of the saints.
9 And they sing a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open its seals; because thou hast been slain, and hast redeemed to God, by thy blood, out of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation,
10 and made them to our God kings and priests; and they shall reign over the earth.
10 And the disciples came up and said to him, Why speakest thou to them in parables?
11 And he answering said to them, Because to you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of the heavens, but to them it is not given;
12 for whoever has, to him shall be given, and he shall be caused to be in abundance; but he who has not, even what he has shall be taken away from him.
13 For this cause I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear nor understand;
14 and in them is filled up the prophecy of Esaias, which says, Hearing ye shall hear and shall not understand, and beholding ye shall behold and not see;
15 for the heart of this people has grown fat, and they have heard heavily with their ears, and they have closed their eyes as asleep, lest they should see with the eyes, and hear with the ears, and understand with the heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
16 But blessed are *your* eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear;
17 for verily I say unto you, that many prophets and righteous [men] have desired to see the things which ye behold and did not see [them], and to hear the things which ye hear and did not hear [them].
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