Book of Common Prayer
To the Overcomer, A Psalm of David.
1 ¶ I waited patiently for the LORD, and he inclined unto me and heard my cry.
2 He brought me up also out of the pit of hopelessness, out of the miry clay and set my feet upon a rock and straightened my steps.
3 And he has put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God; many shall see it and fear and shall wait on the LORD.
4 Blessed is that man that makes the LORD his trust and does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.
5 Thou hast increased, O LORD my God, thy wonderful works which thou hast done and thy thoughts regarding us; they are beyond our ability to express, declare, or speak; they cannot be told.
6 ¶ Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened; burnt offering and sin offering thou hast not required.
7 Then said I, Behold, I come; in the volume of the book it is written of me,
8 I delight to do thy will, O my God; thy law is within my bowels.
9 I have preached righteousness in the great congregation; behold, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD, thou knowest.
10 I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy truth and thy salvation; I have not concealed thy mercy and thy truth from the great congregation.
11 ¶ Do not withhold thy tender mercies from me, O LORD; let thy mercy and thy truth continually preserve me.
12 For innumerable evils have compassed me about; my iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to see; they are more than the hairs of my head; therefore my heart fails me.
13 Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me; O LORD, make haste to help me.
14 Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my life to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil.
15 Let them be desolate for a reward of their shame that say unto me, Aha, aha.
16 Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee; let such as love thy salvation say continually, The LORD be magnified.
17 When I am poor and needy; the Lord will remember me; thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God.
To the Overcomer on Neginoth, Maschil, A Psalm of David, when the Ziphims came and said to Saul, Does David not hide himself with us?
1 ¶ Save me, O God, in thy name and defend me by thy valour.
2 Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth.
3 For strangers are risen up against me, and oppressors seek after my soul; they have not set God before them. Selah.
4 ¶ Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is with those that uphold my soul.
5 He shall reward evil unto my enemies; cut them off in thy truth.
6 I will freely sacrifice unto thee; I will praise thy name, O LORD; for it is good.
7 For he has delivered me out of all trouble, and my eye has seen his desire upon my enemies.
To the Overcomer, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
1 ¶ Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy mercy; according unto the multitude of thy compassion eradicate my rebellion.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I acknowledge my rebellion; and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against thee, against thee only, have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight that thou be declared just in thy word and pure in thy judgment.
5 Behold, the pain of my iniquity has caused me to writhe; my mother conceived me so that sin might be removed from me.
6 Behold, thou dost desire truth in the inward parts, and in the secret things thou hast made me to know wisdom.
7 ¶ Remove the sin in me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Make me to hear joy and gladness that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
9 Hide thy face from my sins and eradicate all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from thy presence and take not thy Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore unto me the joy of thy saving health, and thy spirit of liberty shall uphold me.
13 Then I will teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners shall be converted unto thee.
14 ¶ Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips; and my mouth shall show forth thy praise.
16 For thou dost not desire sacrifice or else would I give it; thou dost not delight in burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
18 Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion; build thou the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then thou shalt be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, the burnt offering, the offering that has been totally consumed by the fire; then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.
8 ¶ And the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah, saying,
9 Thus hath the LORD of the hosts spoken, saying, Execute true judgment, and show mercy and compassion each one to his brother;
10 and do not oppress the widow nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.
11 But they refused to hearken and pulled away the shoulder and stopped their ears that they should not hear.
12 Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone lest they should hear the law and the words which the LORD of the hosts has sent by his Spirit by the hand of the former prophets; therefore came great wrath from the LORD of the hosts.
13 Therefore it is come to pass that as he cried and they would not hear, so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the LORD of the hosts:
14 but I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the Gentiles whom they did not know. Thus the land was desolate after them that no man passed through nor returned; for they laid the desirable land desolate.
8 ¶ Again the word of the LORD of the hosts came to me, saying,
2 Thus hath the LORD of the hosts said, I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury.
3 Thus hath the LORD said, I will restore Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and Jerusalem shall be called City of truth and the mountain of the LORD of the hosts, the mountain of holiness.
4 Thus hath the LORD of the hosts said; Old men and old women shall yet dwell there in the streets of Jerusalem, and each one with his staff in his hand for the multitude of the days.
5 And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls who shall play in them.
6 Thus saith the LORD of the hosts, If this should appear difficult in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be difficult in my eyes? saith the LORD of the hosts.
7 Thus hath the LORD of the hosts said; Behold, I will save my people of the land of the east and of the land where the sun sets;
8 and I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness.
6 ¶ And I saw, and, behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four animals and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.
7 And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that was seated upon the throne.
8 And when he had taken the book, the four animals and the twenty-four elders fell on their faces before the Lamb, each one of them having harps, and golden vials full of incense, which are the prayers of saints.
9 And they sang a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book and to open its seals, for thou wast slain and hast redeemed us unto God by thy blood, out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation
10 and hast made us unto our God kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth.
11 And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and of the animals and of the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;
12 saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to take power and riches and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and blessing.
13 And I heard every creature which is in heaven and upon the earth and under the earth and such as are upon the sea and all that are in it, saying, Blessing and honour and glory and power, be unto him that is seated upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.
14 And the four animals said, Amen. And the twenty-four elders fell on their faces and worshipped him that lives for ever and ever.
14 ¶ For it is like a man travelling into a far country, who called his own slaves and delivered unto them his goods.
15 And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each one according to his faculty, and straightway took his journey.
16 And after he was gone, he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same and made another five talents.
17 And likewise he that had received two, he also gained another two.
18 But he that had received one went and dug in the earth and hid his lord’s money.
19 And after a long time the lord of those slaves came and reckoned accounts with them.
20 And so he that had received five talents came and brought another five talents, saying, Lord, thou didst deliver unto me five talents; behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.
21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful slave; thou hast been faithful over a few things; I will set thee over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
22 He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou didst deliver unto me two talents; behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.
23 His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful slave; thou hast been faithful over a few things; I will set thee over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
24 Then he who had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art a hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown and gathering where thou hast not scattered;
25 therefore, I was afraid and went and hid thy talent in the earth; behold, thou hast what is thine.
26 His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful slave, thou knewest that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I have not scattered;
27 therefore, it was expedient for thee to have put my money to the bankers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with interest.
28 Take, therefore, the talent from him and give it unto him who has ten talents.
29 For unto every one that has shall be given, and he shall have abundance, but from him that has not shall be taken away even that which he has.
30 And cast ye the unprofitable slave into the outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
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