Book of Common Prayer
88 Of understanding, for Ethan the Ezrahite.
2 The mercies of the Lord I will sing for ever. I will shew forth thy truth with my mouth to generation and generation.
3 For thou hast said: Mercy shall be built up for ever in the heavens: thy truth shall be prepared in them.
4 I have made a covenant with my elect: I have sworn to David my servant:
5 Thy seed will I settle for ever. And I will build up thy throne unto generation and generation.
6 The heavens shall confess thy wonders, O Lord: and thy truth in the church of the saints.
7 For who in the clouds can be compared to the Lord: or who among the sons of God shall be like to God?
8 God, who is glorified in the assembly of the saints: great and terrible above all them that are about him.
9 O Lord God of hosts, who is like to thee? thou art mighty, O Lord, and thy truth is round about thee.
10 Thou rulest the power of the sea: and appeasest the motion of the waves thereof.
11 Thou hast humbled the proud one, as one that is slain: with the arm of thy strength thou hast scattered thy enemies.
12 Thine are the heavens, and thine is the earth: the world and the fulness thereof thou hast founded:
13 The north and the sea thou hast created. Thabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy name:
14 Thy arm is with might. Let thy hand be strengthened, and thy right hand exalted:
15 Justice and judgment are the preparation of thy throne. Mercy and truth shall go before thy face:
16 Blessed is the people that knoweth jubilation. They shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance:
17 And in thy name they shall rejoice all the day, and in thy justice they shall be exalted.
18 For thou art the glory of their strength: and in thy good pleasure shall our horn be exalted.
19 For our protection is of the Lord, and of our king the holy one of Israel.
20 Then thou spokest in a vision to thy saints, and saidst: I have laid help upon one that is mighty, and have exalted one chosen out of my people.
21 I have found David my servant: with my holy oil I have anointed him.
22 For my hand shall help him: and my arm shall strengthen him.
23 The enemy shall have no advantage over him: nor the son of iniquity have power to hurt him.
24 And I will cut down his enemies before his face; and them that hate him I will put to flight.
25 And my truth and my mercy shall be with him: and in my name shall his horn be exalted.
26 And I will set his hand in the sea; and his right hand in the rivers.
27 He shall cry out to me: Thou art my father: my God, and the support of my salvation.
28 And I will make him my firstborn, high above the kings of the earth.
29 I will keep my mercy for him for ever: and my covenant faithful to him.
30 And I will make his seed to endure for evermore: and his throne as the days of heaven.
31 And if his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments:
32 If they profane my justices: and keep not my commandments:
33 I will visit their iniquities with a rod: and their sins with stripes.
34 But my mercy I will not take away from him: nor will I suffer my truth to fail.
35 Neither will I profane my covenant: and the words that proceed from my mouth I will not make void.
36 Once have I sworn by my holiness: I will not lie unto David:
37 His seed shall endure for ever.
38 And his throne as the sun before me: and as the moon perfect for ever, and a faithful witness in heaven.
39 But thou hast rejected and despised: thou hast been angry with thy anointed.
40 Thou hast overthrown the covenant of thy servant: thou hast profaned his sanctuary on the earth.
41 Thou hast broken down all his hedges: thou hast made his strength fear.
42 All that pass by the way have robbed him: he is become a reproach to his neighbours.
43 Thou hast set up the right hand of them that oppress him: thou hast made all his enemies to rejoice.
44 Thou hast turned away the help of his sword; and hast not assisted him in battle.
45 Thou hast made his purification to cease: and thou hast cast his throne down to the ground.
46 Thou hast shortened the days of his time: thou hast covered him with confusion.
47 How long, O Lord, turnest thou away unto the end? shall thy anger burn like fire?
48 Remember what my substance is for hast thou made all the children of men in vain?
49 Who is the man that shall live, and not see death: that shall deliver his soul from the hand of hell?
50 Lord, where are thy ancient mercies, according to what thou didst swear to David in thy truth?
51 Be mindful, O Lord, of the reproach of thy servants (which I have held in my bosom) of many nations:
52 Wherewith thy enemies have reproached, O Lord; wherewith they have reproached the change of thy anointed.
53 Blessed be the Lord for evermore. So be it. So be it.
91 A psalm of a canticle on the sabbath day.
2 It is good to give praise to the Lord: and to sing to thy name, O most High.
3 To shew forth thy mercy in the morning, and thy truth in the night:
4 Upon an instrument of ten strings, upon the psaltery: with a canticle upon the harp.
5 For thou hast given me, O Lord, a delight in thy doings: and in the works of thy hands I shall rejoice.
6 O Lord, how great are thy works! thy thoughts are exceeding deep.
7 The senseless man shall not know: nor will the fool understand these things.
8 When the wicked shall spring up as grass: and all the workers of iniquity shall appear: That they may perish for ever and ever:
9 But thou, O Lord, art most high for evermore.
10 For behold thy enemies, O Lord, for behold thy enemies shall perish: and all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.
11 But my horn shall be exalted like that of the unicorn: and my old age in plentiful mercy.
12 My eye also hath looked down upon my enemies: and my ear shall hear of the downfall of the malignant that rise up against me.
13 The just shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow up like the cedar of Libanus.
14 They that are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of the house of our God.
15 They shall still increase in a fruitful old age: and shall be well treated,
16 That they may shew, That the Lord our God is righteous, and there is no iniquity in him.
92 The Lord hath reigned, he is clothed with beauty: the Lord is clothed with strength, and hath girded himself. For he hath established the world which shall not be moved.
2 Thy throne is prepared from of old: thou art from everlasting.
3 The floods have lifted up, O Lord: the floods have lifted up their voice. The floods have lifted up their waves,
4 With the noise of many waters. Wonderful are the surges of the sea: wonderful is the Lord on high.
5 Thy testimonies are become exceedingly credible: holiness becometh thy house, O Lord, unto length of days.
41 Her sanctuary was desolate like a wilderness, her festival days were turned into mourning, her sabbaths into reproach, her honours were brought to nothing.
42 Her dishonour was increased according to her glory, and her excellency was turned into mourning.
43 And king Antiochus wrote to all his kingdom, that all the people should be one: and every one should leave his own law.
44 And all nations consented according to the word of king Antiochus.
45 And many of Israel consented to his service, and they sacrificed to idols, and profaned the sabbath.
46 And the king sent letters by the hands of messengers to Jerusalem, and to all the cities of Juda: that they should follow the law of the nations of the earth,
47 And should forbid holocausts and sacrifices, and atonements to be made in the temple of God.
48 And should prohibit the sabbath, and the festival days, to be celebrated.
49 And he commanded the holy places to be profaned, and the holy people of Israel.
50 And he commanded altars to be built, and temples, and idols, and swine's flesh to be immolated, and unclean beasts.
51 And that they should leave their children uncircumcised, and let their souls be defiled with all uncleannesses, and abominations, to the end that they should forget the law, and should change all the justifications of God.
52 And that whosoever would not do according to the word of king Antiochus should be put to death.
53 According to all these words he wrote to his whole kingdom, and he appointed rulers over the people that should force them to do these things.
54 And they commanded the cities of Juda to sacrifice.
55 Then many of the people were gathered to them that had forsaken the law of the Lord: and they committed evils in the land:
56 And they drove away the people of Israel into lurking holes, and into the secret places of fugitives.
57 On the fifteenth day of the month Casleu, in the hundred and forty-fifth year, king Antiochus set up the abominable idol of desolation upon the altar of God, and they built altars throughout all the cities of Juda round about:
58 And they burnt incense, and sacrificed at the doors of the houses, and in the streets.
59 And they cut in pieces, and burnt with fire the books of the law of God:
60 And every one with whom the books of the testament of the Lord were found, and whosoever observed the law of the Lord, they put to death, according to the edict of the king.
61 Thus by their power did they deal with the people of Israel, that were found in the cities month after month.
62 And on the five and twentieth day of the month they sacrificed upon the altar of the idol that was over against the altar of God.
63 Now the women that circumcised their children, were slain according to the commandment of king Antiochus.
11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called faithful and true, and with justice doth he judge and fight.
12 And his eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many diadems, and he had a name written, which no man knoweth but himself.
13 And he was clothed with a garment sprinkled with blood; and his name is called, THE WORD OF GOD.
14 And the armies that are in heaven followed him on white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
15 And out of his mouth proceedeth a sharp two edged sword; that with it he may strike the nations. And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of God the Almighty.
16 And he hath on his garment, and on his thigh written: KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
13 And Jesus came into the quarters of Caesarea Philippi: and he asked his disciples, saying: Whom do men say that the Son of man is?
14 But they said: Some John the Baptist, and other some Elias, and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
15 Jesus saith to them: But whom do you say that I am?
16 Simon Peter answered and said: Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God.
17 And Jesus answering, said to him: Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven.
18 And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
19 And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.
20 Then he commanded his disciples, that they should tell no one that he was Jesus the Christ.
Public Domain (Why are modern Bible translations copyrighted?)