Book of Common Prayer
God the judge of the righteous and the wicked.
A Psalm of Asaph.
50 The Mighty One, God, Jehovah, hath spoken,
And called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof.
2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God hath shined forth.
3 Our God cometh, and doth not keep silence:
A fire devoureth before him,
And it is very tempestuous round about him.
4 He calleth to the heavens above,
And to the earth, that he may judge his people:
5 Gather my saints together unto me,
Those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.
6 And the heavens [a]shall declare his righteousness;
For God is judge himself. Selah
7 Hear, O my people, and I will speak;
O Israel, and I will testify [b]unto thee:
I am God, even thy God.
8 I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices;
[c]And thy burnt-offerings are continually before me.
9 I will take no bullock out of thy house,
Nor he-goats out of thy folds.
10 For every beast of the forest is mine,
And the cattle [d]upon a thousand hills.
11 I know all the birds of the mountains;
And the wild beasts of the field are [e]mine.
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell thee;
For the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.
13 Will I eat the flesh of bulls,
Or drink the blood of goats?
14 Offer unto God the sacrifice of thanksgiving;
And pay thy vows unto the Most High;
15 And call upon me in the day of trouble:
I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.
16 But unto the wicked God saith,
What hast thou to do to declare my statutes,
And that thou hast taken my covenant in thy mouth,
17 Seeing that thou hatest [f]instruction,
And castest my words behind thee?
18 When thou sawest a thief, thou consentedst with him,
And [g]hast been partaker with adulterers.
19 Thou givest thy mouth to evil,
And thy tongue frameth deceit.
20 Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother;
Thou [h]slanderest thine own mother’s son.
21 These things hast thou done, and I kept silence;
Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such a one as thyself:
But I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.
22 Now consider this, ye that forget God,
Lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver:
23 Whoso offereth the sacrifice of thanksgiving glorifieth me;
And [i]to him that ordereth his way aright
Will I show the salvation of God.
Prayer for deliverance from enemies.
For the Chief Musician; set to Al-tashheth. A Psalm of David. Michtam; when Saul sent, and they watched the house to kill him.
59 Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God:
Set me on high from them that rise up against me.
2 Deliver me from the workers of iniquity,
And save me from the bloodthirsty men.
3 For, lo, they lie in wait for my soul;
The mighty gather themselves together against me:
Not for my transgression, nor for my sin, O Jehovah.
4 They run and prepare themselves without my fault:
Awake thou to [a]help me, and behold.
5 Even thou, O Jehovah God of hosts, the God of Israel,
Arise to visit all the nations:
Be not merciful to any wicked transgressors. Selah
6 They return at evening, they howl like a dog,
And go round about the city.
7 Behold, they belch out with their mouth;
Swords are in their lips:
For who, say they, doth hear?
8 But thou, O Jehovah, wilt laugh at them;
Thou wilt have all the nations in derision.
9 [b]Because of his strength I will give heed unto thee;
For God is my high tower.
10 My God with his lovingkindness will meet me:
God will let me see my desire upon [c]mine enemies.
11 Slay them not, lest my people forget:
[d]Scatter them by thy power, and bring them down,
O Lord our shield.
12 For the sin of their mouth, and the words of their lips,
Let them even be taken in their pride,
And for cursing and lying which they speak.
13 Consume them in wrath, consume them, so that they shall be no more:
And let them know that God ruleth in Jacob,
Unto the ends of the earth. Selah
14 And at evening let them return, let them howl like a dog,
And go round about the city.
15 They shall wander up and down for food,
And tarry all night if they be not satisfied.
16 But I will sing of thy strength;
Yea, I will sing aloud of thy lovingkindness in the morning:
For thou hast been my high tower,
And a refuge in the day of my distress.
17 Unto thee, O my strength, will I sing praises:
For God is my high tower, the God of my mercy.
Lament over defeat in battle, and prayer for help.
For the Chief Musician; set to [e]Shushan Eduth. Michtam of David, to teach; when he strove with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and Joab returned, and smote of Edom in the Valley of Salt twelve thousand.
60 O God thou hast cast us off, thou hast broken us down;
Thou hast been angry; oh restore us again.
2 Thou hast made the land to tremble; thou hast rent it:
Heal the breaches thereof; for it shaketh.
3 Thou hast showed thy people hard things:
Thou hast made us to drink the wine of staggering.
4 Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee,
That it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah
5 That thy beloved may be delivered,
Save with thy right hand, and answer [f]us.
6 God hath spoken in his holiness: I will exult;
I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth.
7 Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine;
Ephraim also is the defence of my head;
Judah is my [g]sceptre.
8 Moab is my washpot;
[h]Upon Edom will I cast my shoe:
Philistia, shout thou because of me.
9 Who will bring me into the strong city?
[i]Who hath led me unto Edom?
10 [j]Hast not thou, O God, cast us off?
And thou goest not forth, O God, with our hosts.
11 Give us help against the adversary;
For vain is the [k]help of man.
12 Through God we shall do valiantly;
For he it is that will tread down our adversaries.
Jehovah’s glory and man’s dignity.
For the Chief Musician; set to the Gittith. A Psalm of David.
8 O Jehovah, our Lord, How excellent is thy name in all the earth,
Who hast set thy glory [a]upon the heavens!
2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou established strength,
Because of thine adversaries,
That thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers,
The moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;
4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him?
And the son of man, that thou visitest him?
5 For thou hast made him but little lower than [b]God,
And crownest him with glory and honor.
6 Thou makest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands;
Thou hast put all things under his feet:
7 All sheep and oxen,
Yea, and the beasts of the field,
8 The birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,
Whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.
9 O Jehovah, our Lord,
How excellent is thy name in all the earth!
Longing for the Temple worship.
For the Chief Musician; set to the Gittith. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.
84 How [a]amiable are thy tabernacles,
O Jehovah of hosts!
2 My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of Jehovah;
My heart and my flesh [b]cry out unto the living God.
3 Yea, the sparrow hath found her a house,
And the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young,
Even thine altars, O Jehovah of hosts,
My King, and my God.
4 Blessed are they that dwell in thy house:
They will be still praising thee. Selah
5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee;
In whose heart are the highways to Zion.
6 Passing through the valley of [c]Weeping they make it a place of springs;
Yea, the early rain covereth it with blessings.
7 They go from strength to strength;
Every one of them appeareth before God in Zion.
8 O Jehovah God of hosts, hear my prayer;
Give ear, O God of Jacob. Selah
9 [d]Behold, O God our shield,
And look upon the face of thine anointed.
10 For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand.
I had rather [e]be a doorkeeper in the house of my God,
Than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11 For Jehovah God is a sun and a shield:
Jehovah will give grace and glory;
No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
12 O Jehovah of hosts,
Blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.
16 And moreover I saw under the sun, in the place of justice, that wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness, that wickedness was there. 17 I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time there for every [a]purpose and for every work. 18 [b]I said in my heart, It is because of the sons of men, that God may prove them, and that they may see that they themselves are but as beasts. 19 For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one [c]breath; and man hath no preeminence above the beasts: for all is vanity. 20 All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again. 21 Who knoweth the spirit [d]of man, [e]whether it goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast, whether it goeth downward to the earth? 22 Wherefore I saw that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him back to see what shall be after him?
4 Then I returned and saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and, behold, the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no comforter. 2 Wherefore I praised the dead that have been long dead more than the living that are yet alive; 3 yea, [f]better than them both did I esteem him that hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.
3 O foolish Galatians, who did bewitch you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was openly set forth crucified? 2 This only would I learn from you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the [a]hearing of faith? 3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, [b]are ye now perfected in the flesh? 4 Did ye suffer so many things in vain? if it be indeed in vain. 5 He therefore that supplieth to you the Spirit, and worketh [c]miracles [d]among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the [e]hearing of faith? 6 Even as Abraham [f]believed God, and it was reckoned unto him for righteousness. 7 [g]Know therefore that they that are of faith, the same are sons of Abraham. 8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God [h]would justify the [i]Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand unto Abraham, saying, [j]In thee shall all the nations be blessed. 9 So then they that are of faith are blessed with the faithful Abraham. 10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse: for it is written, [k]Cursed is every one who continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law, to do them. 11 Now that no man is justified [l]by the law before God, is evident: for, [m]The righteous shall live by faith; 12 and the law is not of faith; but, [n]He that doeth them shall live in them. 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us; for it is written, [o]Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: 14 that upon the Gentiles might come the blessing of Abraham in Christ Jesus; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
13 Now when Jesus heard it, he withdrew from thence in a boat, to a desert place apart: and when the multitudes heard thereof, they followed him [a]on foot from the cities. 14 And he came forth, and saw a great multitude, and he had compassion on them, and healed their sick. 15 And when even was come, the disciples came to him, saying, The place is desert, and the time is already past; send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves food. 16 But Jesus said unto them, They have no need to go away; give ye them to eat. 17 And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes. 18 And he said, Bring them hither to me. 19 And he commanded the multitudes to [b]sit down on the grass; and he took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake and gave the loaves to the disciples, and the disciples to the multitudes. 20 And they all ate, and were filled: and they took up that which remained over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. 21 And they that did eat were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
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