Book of Common Prayer
49 [Zain.] Remember the word to Thy servant, On which Thou hast caused me to hope.
50 This [is] my comfort in mine affliction, That Thy saying hath quickened me.
51 The proud have utterly scorned me, From Thy law I have not turned aside.
52 I remembered Thy judgments of old, O Jehovah, And I comfort myself.
53 Horror hath seized me, Because of the wicked forsaking Thy law.
54 Songs have been to me Thy statutes, In the house of my sojournings.
55 I have remembered in the night Thy name, O Jehovah, And I do keep Thy law.
56 This hath been to me, That Thy precepts I have kept!
57 [Cheth.] My portion [is] Jehovah; I have said -- to keep Thy words,
58 I appeased Thy face with the whole heart, Favour me according to Thy saying.
59 I have reckoned my ways, And turn back my feet unto Thy testimonies.
60 I have made haste, And delayed not, to keep Thy commands.
61 Cords of the wicked have surrounded me, Thy law I have not forgotten.
62 At midnight I rise to give thanks to Thee, For the judgments of Thy righteousness.
63 A companion I [am] to all who fear Thee, And to those keeping Thy precepts.
64 Of Thy kindness, O Jehovah, the earth is full, Thy statutes teach Thou me!
65 [Teth.] Good Thou didst with Thy servant, O Jehovah, According to Thy word.
66 The goodness of reason and knowledge teach me, For in Thy commands I have believed.
67 Before I am afflicted, I -- I am erring, And now Thy saying I have kept.
68 Good Thou [art], and doing good, Teach me Thy statutes.
69 Forged against me falsehood have the proud, I with the whole heart keep Thy precepts.
70 Insensate as fat hath been their heart, I -- in Thy law I have delighted.
71 Good for me that I have been afflicted, That I might learn Thy statutes.
72 Better to me [is] the law of Thy mouth Than thousands of gold and silver!
49 To the Overseer. -- By sons of Korah. A Psalm. Hear this, all ye peoples, Give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world.
2 Both low and high, together rich and needy.
3 My mouth speaketh wise things, And the meditations of my heart [are] things of understanding.
4 I incline to a simile mine ear, I open with a harp my riddle:
5 Why do I fear in days of evil? The iniquity of my supplanters doth compass me.
6 Those trusting on their wealth, And in the multitude of their riches, Do shew themselves foolish.
7 A brother doth no one at all ransom, He doth not give to God his atonement.
8 And precious [is] the redemption of their soul, And it hath ceased -- to the age.
9 And still he liveth for ever, He seeth not the pit.
10 For he seeth wise men die, Together the foolish and brutish perish, And have left to others their wealth.
11 Their heart [is]: Their houses [are] to the age, Their tabernacles to all generations. They proclaimed their names over the lands.
12 And man in honour doth not remain, He hath been like the beasts, they have been cut off.
13 This their way [is] folly for them, And their posterity with their sayings are pleased. Selah.
14 As sheep for Sheol they have set themselves, Death doth afflict them, And the upright rule over them in the morning, And their form [is] for consumption. Sheol [is] a dwelling for him.
15 Only, God doth ransom my soul from the hand of Sheol, For He doth receive me. Selah.
16 Fear not, when one maketh wealth, When the honour of his house is abundant,
17 For at his death he receiveth nothing, His honour goeth not down after him.
18 For his soul in his life he blesseth, (And they praise thee when thou dost well for thyself.)
19 It cometh to the generation of his fathers, For ever they see not the light.
20 Man in honour, who understandest not, Hath been like the beasts, they have been cut off!
53 To the Overseer. -- `On a disease.' -- An instruction, by David. A fool said in his heart, `There is no God.' They have done corruptly, Yea, they have done abominable iniquity, There is none doing good.
2 God from the heavens looked on the sons of men, To see if there be an understanding one, [One] seeking God.
3 Every one went back, together they became filthy, There is none doing good -- not even one.
4 Have not workers of iniquity known, Those eating my people have eaten bread, God they have not called.
5 There they feared a fear -- there was no fear, For God hath scattered the bones of him Who is encamping against thee, Thou hast put to shame, For God hath despised them.
6 Who doth give from Zion the salvation of Israel? When God turneth back [to] a captivity of His people, Jacob doth rejoice -- Israel is glad!
6 Then Darius the king made a decree, and they sought in the house of the books of the treasuries placed there in Babylon,
2 and there hath been found at Achmetha, in a palace that [is] in the province of Media, a roll, and a record thus written within it [is]:
3 `In the first year of Cyrus the king, Cyrus the king hath made a decree concerning the house of God in Jerusalem: the house let be builded in the place where they are sacrificing sacrifices, and its foundations strongly laid; its height sixty cubits, its breadth sixty cubits;
4 three rows of rolled stones, and a row of new wood, and the outlay let be given out of the king's house.
5 `And also, the vessels of the house of God, of gold and silver, that Nebuchadnezzar took forth out of the temple that [is] in Jerusalem, and brought to Babylon, let be given back, and go to the temple that [is] in Jerusalem, [each] to its place, and put [them] down in the house of God.
6 `Now, Tatnai, governor beyond the river, Shethar-Boznai, and their companions, the Apharsachites, who [are] beyond the river, be ye far from hence;
7 let alone the work of this house of God, let the governor of the Jews, and the elders of the Jews, build this house of God on its place.
8 `And by me is made a decree concerning that which ye do with the elders of these Jews to build this house of God, that of the riches of the king, that [are] of the tribute beyond the river, speedily let the outlay be given to these men, that they cease not;
9 and what they are needing -- both young bullocks, and rams, and lambs for burnt-offerings to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil according to the saying of the priests who [are] in Jerusalem -- let be given to them day by day without fail,
10 that they be bringing near sweet savours to the God of heaven, and praying for the life of the king, and of his sons.
11 `And by me is made a decree, that any one who changeth this thing, let wood be pulled down from his house, and being raised up, let him be smitten on it, and his house let be made a dunghill for this.
12 And God, who caused His name to dwell there, doth cast down any king and people that putteth forth his hand to change, to destroy this house of God that [is] in Jerusalem; I Darius have made a decree; speedily let it be done.'
13 Then Tatnai, governor beyond the river, Shethar-Boznai, and their companions, according to that which Darius the king hath sent, so they have done speedily;
14 and the elders of the Jews are building and prospering through the prophecy of Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah son of Iddo, and they have built and finished by the decree of the God of Israel, and by the decree of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.
15 And this house hath gone out till the third day of the month Adar, that is [in] the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.
16 And the sons of Israel have made, [and] the priests, and the Levites, and the rest of the sons of the captivity, a dedication of this house of God with joy,
17 and have brought near for the dedication of this house of God, bullocks a hundred, rams two hundred, lambs four hundred; and young he-goats for a sin-offering for all Israel, twelve, according to the number of the tribes of Israel;
18 and they have established the priests in their divisions, and the Levites in their courses, over the service of God that [is] in Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses.
19 And the sons of the captivity make the passover on the fourteenth of the first month,
20 for the priests and the Levites have been purified together -- all of them [are] pure -- and they slaughter the passover for all the sons of the captivity, and for their brethren the priests, and for themselves.
21 And the sons of Israel, those returning from the captivity, and every one who is separated from the uncleanness of the nations of the land unto them, to seek to Jehovah, God of Israel, do eat,
22 and they make the feast of unleavened things seven days with joy, for Jehovah made them to rejoice, and turned round the heart of the king of Asshur unto them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.
5 And I saw upon the right hand of Him who is sitting upon the throne a scroll, written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals;
2 and I saw a strong messenger crying with a great voice, `Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose the seals of it?'
3 and no one was able in the heaven, nor upon the earth, nor under the earth, to open the scroll, nor to behold it.
4 And I was weeping much, because no one was found worthy to open and to read the scroll, nor to behold it,
5 and one of the elders saith to me, `Weep not; lo, overcome did the Lion, who is of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, to open the scroll, and to loose the seven seals of it;
6 and I saw, and lo, in the midst of the throne, and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb hath stood as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the Seven Spirits of God, which are sent to all the earth,
7 and he came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who is sitting upon the throne.
8 And when he took the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell before the Lamb, having each one harps and golden vials full of perfumes, which are the prayers of the saints,
9 and they sing a new song, saying, `Worthy art thou to take the scroll, and to open the seals of it, because thou wast slain, and didst redeem us to God in thy blood, out of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation,
10 and didst make us to our God kings and priests, and we shall reign upon the earth.'
10 And the disciples having come near, said to him, `Wherefore in similes dost thou speak to them?'
11 And he answering said to them that -- `To you it hath been given to know the secrets of the reign of the heavens, and to these it hath not been given,
12 for whoever hath, it shall be given to him, and he shall have overabundance, and whoever hath not, even that which he hath shall be taken from him.
13 `Because of this, in similes do I speak to them, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor understand,
14 and fulfilled on them is the prophecy of Isaiah, that saith, With hearing ye shall hear, and ye shall not understand, and seeing ye shall see, and ye shall not perceive,
15 for made gross was the heart of this people, and with the ears they heard heavily, and their eyes they did close, lest they might see with the eyes, and with the ears might hear, and with the heart understand, and turn back, and I might heal them.
16 `And happy are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear,
17 for verily I say to you, that many prophets and righteous men did desire to see that which ye look on, and they did not see, and to hear that which ye hear, and they did not hear.