Book of Common Prayer
41 To the Overseer. -- A Psalm of David. O the happiness of him Who is acting wisely unto the poor, In a day of evil doth Jehovah deliver him.
2 Jehovah doth preserve him and revive him, He is happy in the land, And Thou givest him not into the will of his enemies.
3 Jehovah supporteth on a couch of sickness, All his bed Thou hast turned in his weakness.
4 I -- I said, `O Jehovah, favour me, Heal my soul, for I did sin against Thee,'
5 Mine enemies say evil of me: When he dieth -- his name hath perished!
6 And if he came to see -- vanity he speaketh, His heart gathereth iniquity to itself, He goeth out -- at the street he speaketh.
7 All hating me whisper together against me, Against me they devise evil to me:
8 A thing of Belial is poured out on him, And because he lay down he riseth not again.
9 Even mine ally, in whom I trusted, One eating my bread, made great the heel against me,
10 And Thou, Jehovah, favour me, And cause me to rise, And I give recompence to them.
11 By this I have known, That Thou hast delighted in me, Because my enemy shouteth not over me.
12 As to me, in mine integrity, Thou hast taken hold upon me, And causest me to stand before Thee to the age.
13 Blessed [is] Jehovah, God of Israel, From the age -- and unto the age. Amen and Amen.
52 To the Overseer. -- An instruction, by David, in the coming in of Doeg the Edomite, and he declareth to Saul, and saith to him, `David came in unto the house of Ahimelech.' What, boasteth thou in evil, O mighty one? The kindness of God [is] all the day.
2 Mischiefs doth thy tongue devise, Like a sharp razor, working deceit.
3 Thou hast loved evil rather than good, Lying, than speaking righteousness. Selah.
4 Thou hast loved all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue.
5 Also -- God doth break thee down for ever, Taketh thee, and pulleth thee out of the tent, And He hath uprooted thee Out of the land of the living. Selah.
6 And the righteous see, And fear, and laugh at him.
7 `Lo, the man who maketh not God his strong place, And trusteth in the abundance of his riches, He is strong in his mischiefs.'
8 And I, as a green olive in the house of God, I have trusted in the kindness of God, To the age and for ever,
9 I thank Thee to the age, because Thou hast done [it], And I wait [on] Thy name for [it is] good before Thy saints!
44 To the Overseer. -- By sons of Korah. An Instruction. O God, with our ears we have heard, Our fathers have recounted to us, The work Thou didst work in their days, In the days of old.
2 Thou, [with] Thy hand, nations hast dispossessed. And Thou dost plant them. Thou afflictest peoples, and sendest them away.
3 For, not by their sword Possessed they the land, And their arm gave not salvation to them, But Thy right hand, and Thine arm, And the light of Thy countenance, Because Thou hadst accepted them.
4 Thou [art] He, my king, O God, Command the deliverances of Jacob.
5 By Thee our adversaries we do push, By Thy name tread down our withstanders,
6 For, not in my bow do I trust, And my sword doth not save me.
7 For Thou hast saved us from our adversaries, And those hating us Thou hast put to shame.
8 In God we have boasted all the day, And Thy name to the age we thank. Selah.
9 In anger Thou hast cast off and causest us to blush, And goest not forth with our hosts.
10 Thou causest us to turn backward from an adversary, And those hating us, Have spoiled for themselves.
11 Thou makest us food like sheep, And among nations Thou hast scattered us.
12 Thou sellest Thy people -- without wealth, And hast not become great by their price.
13 Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbours, A scorn and a reproach to our surrounders.
14 Thou makest us a simile among nations, A shaking of the head among peoples.
15 All the day my confusion [is] before me, And the shame of my face hath covered me.
16 Because of the voice of a reproacher and reviler, Because of an enemy and a self-avenger.
17 All this met us, and we did not forget Thee, Nor have we dealt falsely in Thy covenant.
18 We turn not backward our heart, Nor turn aside doth our step from Thy path.
19 But Thou hast smitten us in a place of dragons, And dost cover us over with death-shade.
20 If we have forgotten the name of our God, And spread our hands to a strange God,
21 Doth not God search out this? For He knoweth the secrets of the heart.
22 Surely, for Thy sake we have been slain all the day, Reckoned as sheep of the slaughter.
23 Stir up -- why dost Thou sleep, O Lord? Awake, cast us not off for ever.
24 Why Thy face hidest Thou? Thou forgettest our afflictions and our oppression,
25 For bowed to the dust hath our soul, Cleaved to the earth hath our belly.
26 Arise, a help to us, And ransom us for thy kindness' sake.
24 And it cometh to pass when Saul hath turned back from after the Philistines, that they declare to him, saying, `Lo, David [is] in the wilderness of En-gedi.'
2 And Saul taketh three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and goeth to seek David and his men, on the front of the rocks of the wild goats,
3 and he cometh in unto folds of the flock, on the way, and there [is] a cave, and Saul goeth in to cover his feet; and David and his men in the sides of the cave are abiding.
4 And the men of David say unto him, `Lo, the day of which Jehovah said unto thee, Lo, I am giving thine enemy into thy hand, and thou hast done to him as it is good in thine eyes;' and David riseth and cutteth off the skirt of the upper robe which [is] on Saul -- gently.
5 And it cometh to pass afterwards that the heart of David smiteth him, because that he hath cut off the skirt which [is] on Saul,
6 and he saith to his men, `Far be it from me, by Jehovah; I do not do this thing to my lord -- to the anointed of Jehovah -- to put forth my hand against him, for the anointed of Jehovah he [is].'
7 And David subdueth his men by words, and hath not permitted them to rise against Saul; and Saul hath risen from the cave, and goeth on the way;
8 and David riseth afterwards, and goeth out from the cave, and calleth after Saul, saying, `My lord, O king!' And Saul looketh attentively behind him, and David boweth -- face to the earth -- and doth obeisance.
9 And David saith to Saul, `Why dost thou hear the words of man, saying, Lo, David is seeking thine evil?
10 Lo, this day have thine eyes seen how that Jehovah hath given thee to-day into my hand in the cave; and [one] said to slay thee, and [mine eye] hath pity on thee, and I say, I do not put forth my hand against my lord, for the anointed of Jehovah he [is].
11 `And, my father, see, yea see the skirt of thine upper robe in my hand; for by cutting off the skirt of thy upper robe, and I have not slain thee, know and see that there is not in my hand evil and transgression, and I have not sinned against thee, and thou art hunting my soul to take it!
12 `Jehovah doth judge between me and thee, and Jehovah hath avenged me of thee, and my hand is not on thee;
13 as saith the simile of the ancients, From the wicked goeth out wickedness, and my hand is not on thee.
14 `After whom hath the king of Israel come out? after whom art thou pursuing? -- after a dead dog! after one flea!
15 And Jehovah hath been for judge, and hath judged between me and thee, yea, he seeth and pleadeth my cause, and doth deliver me out of thy hand.'
16 And it cometh to pass, when David completeth to speak these words unto Saul, that Saul saith, `Is this thy voice, my son David?' and Saul lifteth up his voice, and weepeth.
17 And he saith unto David, `More righteous thou [art] than I; for thou hast done me good, and I have done thee evil;
18 and thou hast declared to-day how that thou hast done good with me, how that Jehovah shut me up into thy hand, and thou didst not slay me,
19 and that a man doth find his enemy, and hath sent him away in a good manner; and Jehovah doth repay thee good for that which thou didst to me this day.
20 `And, now, lo, I have known that thou dost certainly reign, and the kingdom of Israel hath stood in thy hand;
21 and, now, swear to me by Jehovah -- thou dost not cut off my seed after me, nor dost thou destroy my name from the house of my father.'
22 And David sweareth to Saul, and Saul goeth unto his house, and David and his men have gone up unto the fortress.
44 And on the coming sabbath, almost all the city was gathered together to hear the word of God,
45 and the Jews having seen the multitudes, were filled with zeal, and did contradict the things spoken by Paul -- contradicting and speaking evil.
46 And speaking boldly, Paul and Barnabas said, `To you it was necessary that first the word of God be spoken, and seeing ye do thrust it away, and do not judge yourselves worthy of the life age-during, lo, we do turn to the nations;
47 for so hath the Lord commanded us: I have set thee for a light of nations -- for thy being for salvation unto the end of the earth.'
48 And the nations hearing were glad, and were glorifying the word of the Lord, and did believe -- as many as were appointed to life age-during;
49 and the word of the Lord was spread abroad through all the region.
50 And the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women, and the first men of the city, and did raise persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and did put them out from their borders;
51 and they having shaken off the dust of their feet against them, came to Iconium,
52 and the disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.
4 And again he began to teach by the sea, and there was gathered unto him a great multitude, so that he, having gone into the boat, sat in the sea, and all the multitude was near the sea, on the land,
2 and he taught them many things in similes, and he said to them in his teaching:
3 `Hearken, lo, the sower went forth to sow;
4 and it came to pass, in the sowing, some fell by the way, and the fowls of the heaven did come and devour it;
5 and other fell upon the rocky ground, where it had not much earth, and immediately it sprang forth, because of not having depth of earth,
6 and the sun having risen, it was scorched, and because of not having root it did wither;
7 and other fell toward the thorns, and the thorns did come up, and choke it, and fruit it gave not;
8 and other fell to the good ground, and was giving fruit, coming up and increasing, and it bare, one thirty-fold, and one sixty, and one an hundred.'
9 And he said to them, `He who is having ears to hear -- let him hear.'
10 And when he was alone, those about him, with the twelve, did ask him of the simile,
11 and he said to them, `To you it hath been given to know the secret of the reign of God, but to those who are without, in similes are all the things done;
12 that seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand, lest they may turn, and the sins may be forgiven them.'
13 And he saith to them, `Have ye not known this simile? and how shall ye know all the similes?
14 He who is sowing doth sow the word;
15 and these are they by the way where the word is sown: and whenever they may hear, immediately cometh the Adversary, and he taketh away the word that hath been sown in their hearts.
16 `And these are they, in like manner, who on the rocky ground are sown: who, whenever they may hear the word, immediately with joy do receive it,
17 and have not root in themselves, but are temporary; afterward tribulation or persecution having come because of the word, immediately they are stumbled.
18 `And these are they who toward the thorns are sown: these are they who are hearing the word,
19 and the anxieties of this age, and the deceitfulness of the riches, and the desires concerning the other things, entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.
20 `And these are they who on the good ground have been sown: who do hear the word, and receive, and do bear fruit, one thirty-fold, and one sixty, and one an hundred.'