Book of Common Prayer
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 [a]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, [b]oh that ye would hear his voice!
8 Harden not your heart, as at [c]Meribah,
As in the day of [d]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.
A psalm of complaint and of praise.
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
31 In thee, O Jehovah, do I take refuge;
Let me never be put to shame:
Deliver me in thy righteousness.
2 Bow down thine ear unto me; deliver me speedily:
Be thou to me a strong rock,
A house of [a]defence to save me.
3 For thou art my rock and my fortress;
Therefore for thy name’s sake lead me and guide me.
4 Pluck me out of the net that they have laid privily for me;
For thou art my stronghold.
5 Into thy hand I commend my spirit:
Thou hast redeemed me, O Jehovah, thou God of truth.
6 I hate them that regard lying vanities;
But I trust in Jehovah.
7 I will be glad and rejoice in thy lovingkindness;
For thou hast seen my affliction:
Thou hast known [b]my soul in adversities;
8 And thou hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy;
Thou hast set my feet in a large place.
9 Have mercy upon me, O Jehovah, for I am in distress:
Mine eye wasteth away with grief, yea, my soul and my body.
10 For my life is spent with sorrow,
And my years with sighing:
My strength faileth because of mine iniquity,
And my bones are wasted away.
11 Because of all mine adversaries I am become a reproach,
Yea, unto my neighbors exceedingly,
And a fear to mine acquaintance:
They that did see me without fled from me.
12 I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind:
I am like a broken vessel.
13 For I have heard the defaming of many,
Terror on every side:
While they took counsel together against me,
They devised to take away my life.
14 But I trusted in thee, O Jehovah:
I said, Thou art my God.
15 My times are in thy hand:
Deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.
16 Make thy face to shine upon thy servant:
Save me in thy lovingkindness.
17 Let me not be put to shame, O Jehovah; for I have called upon thee:
Let the wicked be put to shame, let them be silent in Sheol.
18 Let the lying lips be dumb,
Which speak against the righteous insolently,
With pride and contempt.
19 Oh how great is thy goodness,
Which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee,
Which thou hast wrought for them that take refuge in thee,
Before the sons of men!
20 In the covert of thy presence wilt thou hide them from the plottings of man:
Thou wilt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.
21 Blessed be Jehovah;
For he hath showed me his marvellous lovingkindness in a strong city.
22 As for me, I said in my [c]haste,
I am cut off from before thine eyes:
Nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications,
When I cried unto thee.
23 Oh love Jehovah, all ye his saints:
Jehovah preserveth [d]the faithful,
And plentifully rewardeth him that dealeth proudly.
24 Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
All ye that [e]hope in Jehovah.
Prayer for rescue from enemies.
A Psalm of David.
35 Strive thou, O Jehovah, with them that strive with me:
Fight thou against them that fight against me.
2 Take hold of shield and buckler,
And stand up for my help.
3 Draw out also the spear, [a]and stop the way against them that pursue me:
Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.
4 Let them be put to shame and brought to dishonor that seek after my soul:
Let them be turned back and confounded that devise my hurt.
5 Let them be as chaff before the wind,
And the angel of Jehovah driving them on.
6 Let their way be [b]dark and slippery,
And the angel of Jehovah pursuing them.
7 For without cause have they hid for me [c]their net in a pit;
Without cause have they digged a pit for my soul.
8 Let destruction come upon him unawares;
And let his net that he hath hid catch himself:
[d]With destruction let him fall therein.
9 And my soul shall be joyful in Jehovah:
It shall rejoice in his salvation.
10 All my bones shall say, Jehovah, who is like unto thee,
Who deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him,
Yea, the poor and the needy from him that robbeth him?
11 [e]Unrighteous witnesses rise up;
They ask me of things that I know not.
12 They reward me evil for good,
To the bereaving of my soul.
13 But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth:
I afflicted my soul with fasting;
And my prayer [f]returned into mine own bosom.
14 I behaved myself as though it had been my friend or my brother:
I bowed down mourning, as one that bewaileth his mother.
15 But in [g]mine adversity they rejoiced, and gathered themselves together:
The [h]abjects gathered themselves together against me, and [i]I knew it not;
They did tear me, and ceased not:
16 [j]Like the profane mockers in feasts,
They gnashed upon me with their teeth.
17 Lord, how long wilt thou look on?
Rescue my soul from their destructions,
My [k]darling from the lions.
18 I will give thee thanks in the great assembly:
I will praise thee among [l]much people.
19 Let not them that are mine enemies [m]wrongfully rejoice over me;
Neither let them wink with the eye that hate me without a cause.
20 For they speak not peace;
But they devise deceitful words against them that are quiet in the land.
21 Yea, they opened their mouth wide against me;
They said, Aha, aha, our eye hath seen it.
22 Thou hast seen it, O Jehovah; keep not silence:
O Lord, be not far from me.
23 Stir up thyself, and awake to the justice due unto me,
Even unto my cause, my God and my Lord.
24 Judge me, O Jehovah my God, according to thy righteousness;
And let them not rejoice over me.
25 Let them not say in their heart, [n]Aha, so would we have it:
Let them not say, We have swallowed him up.
26 Let them be put to shame and confounded together that rejoice at my hurt:
Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor that magnify themselves against me.
27 Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that [o]favor my righteous cause:
Yea, let them say continually, Jehovah be magnified,
Who hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.
28 And my tongue shall talk of thy righteousness
And of thy praise all the day long.
18 The word of Jehovah came unto me again, saying, 2 What mean ye, that ye use this proverb [a]concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge? 3 As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel. 4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
25 Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel: Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal? 26 When the righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, [a]and dieth [b]therein; [c]in his iniquity that he hath done shall he die. 27 Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive. 28 Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die. 29 Yet saith the house of Israel, The way of the Lord is not equal. O house of Israel, are not my ways equal? are not your ways unequal? 30 Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord Jehovah. Return ye, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; [d]so iniquity shall not be your [e]ruin. 31 Cast away from you all your transgressions, wherein ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel? 32 For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord Jehovah: wherefore turn yourselves, and live.
4 Wherefore, my brethren beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my beloved.
2 I exhort Euodia, and I exhort Syntyche, to be of the same mind in the Lord. 3 Yea, I beseech thee also, true yokefellow, help these women, for they labored with me in the [a]gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow-workers, whose names are in the book of life.
4 Rejoice in the Lord always: again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your [b]forbearance be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are [c]honorable, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are [d]of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, [e]think on these things. 9 The things which ye both learned and received and heard and saw in me, these things do: and the God of peace shall be with you.
9 I [a]pray for them: I [b]pray not for the world, but for those whom thou hast given me; for they are thine: 10 and all things that are mine are thine, and thine are mine: and I am glorified in them. 11 And I am no more in the world, and these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep them in thy name which thou hast given me, that they may be one, even as we are. 12 While I was with them, I kept them in thy name which thou hast given me: and I guarded them, and not one of them perished, but the son of perdition; [c]that the scripture might be fulfilled. 13 But now I come to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy made full in themselves. 14 I have given them thy word; and the world hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 15 I [d]pray not that thou shouldest take them [e]from the world, but that thou shouldest keep them [f]from [g]the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17 [h]Sanctify them in the truth: thy word is truth. 18 As thou didst send me into the world, even so sent I them into the world. 19 And for their sakes I [i]sanctify myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.
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