Book of Common Prayer
5 David oppressed with the cruelty of his enemies, and fearing greater dangers, calleth to God for succor, showing how requisite it is that God should punish the malice of his adversaries. 7 After, being assured of prosperous success, he conceiveth comfort, 12 concluding, that when God shall deliver him, others also shall be partakers of the same mercies.
To him that excelleth upon [a]Nehiloth. A Psalm of David.
1 Hear my words, O Lord: understand my [b]meditation.
2 Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my king and my God: for unto thee do I pray.
3 Hear my voice in the morning, O Lord: for in the morning will I direct me unto thee, and I will [c]wait.
4 For thou art not a God that loveth [d]wickedness, neither shall evil dwell with thee.
5 [e]The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: for thou hatest all them that work iniquity.
6 Thou shalt destroy them that speak lies: the Lord will abhor the bloody man and deceitful.
7 But I [f]will come into thine house in the multitude of thy mercy: and in thy fear will I worship toward thine holy Temple.
8 Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness, [g]because of mine enemies: make thy way plain before my face.
9 For no constancy is in their mouth: within they are very corruption: their (A)throat is an open sepulcher, and they flatter with their tongue.
10 Destroy them, O God, [h]let them [i]fall from their counsels: cast them out for the multitude of their iniquities, because they have rebelled against thee.
11 And [j]let all them that trust in thee, rejoice and triumph forever, and cover thou them: and let them that love thy name, rejoice in thee.
12 For thou Lord, wilt [k]bless the righteous, and with favor [l]wilt compass him, as with a shield.
6 When David by his sins had provoked God’s wrath, and now felt not only his hand against him, but also conceived the horrors of death everlasting, he desireth forgiveness. 6 Bewailing that if God took him away in his indignation, he should lack occasion to praise him as he was wont to do while he was among men. 9 Then suddenly feeling God’s mercy, he sharply rebuketh his enemies which rejoiced in his affliction.
To him that excelleth on Neginoth, upon the eight tune. A Psalm of David.
1 O Lord, (B)[m]rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chastise me in thy wrath.
2 Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am weak: O Lord heal me, for my [n]bones are vexed.
3 [o]My soul is also sore troubled: but Lord, how long wilt thou delay?
4 Return, O Lord: deliver my soul: save me for thy mercy’s sake.
5 For in [p]death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall praise thee?
6 I fainted in my mourning: I cause my bed every night to swim, and water my couch with my tears.
7 [q]Mine eye is dimmed for despite, and sunk in because of all mine enemies.
8 [r]Away from me all ye workers of iniquity: for the Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping.
9 The Lord hath heard my petition: the Lord will receive my prayer.
10 All mine enemies shall be confounded and sore vexed: they shall be turned back, and put to shame [s]suddenly.
10 1 He complaineth of the fraud, rapine, tyranny, and all kinds of wrong, which worldly men use, assigning the cause thereof, that wicked men, being as it were drunken with worldly prosperity, and therefore setting apart all fear and reverence towards God, think they may do all things without controlling. 15 Therefore he calleth upon God to send some remedy against these desperate evils, 16 and at length comforteth himself with hope of deliverance.
1 Why standest thou far off, O Lord, and hidest thee in [a]due time, even in affliction?
2 The wicked with pride doth persecute the poor; let them be taken in the crafts that they have imagined.
3 For the wicked hath [b]made boast of his own heart’s desire, and the covetous blesseth himself, he contemneth the Lord.
4 The wicked is so proud, that he seeketh not for God: he thinketh always, There is no God.
5 His ways always prosper: thy judgments are high above his sight; therefore [c]defieth he all his enemies.
6 He saith in his heart, I shall [d]never be moved, [e]nor be in danger.
7 His mouth is full of cursing, and deceit, and fraud; under his tongue is mischief and iniquity.
8 [f]He lieth in wait in the villages; in the secret places doth he murder the innocent; his eyes are bent against the poor.
9 He lieth in wait secretly, even as a lion in his den; he lieth in wait to spoil the poor; he doth spoil the poor, when he draweth him into his net.
10 He croucheth and boweth; therefore heaps of the [g]poor do fall by his might.
11 He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten, he hideth away his face, and will never see.
12 [h]Arise, O Lord God, lift up thine hand; forget not the poor.
13 Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? he saith in his heart, Thou wilt not [i]regard.
14 Yet thou hast seen it; for thou beholdest mischief and wrong; that thou mayest [j]take it into thine hands; the poor committeth himself unto thee; for thou art the helper of the fatherless.
15 Break thou the arm of the wicked and malicious; search his wickedness, and thou shalt find [k]none.
16 The Lord is King forever and ever; the [l]heathen are destroyed forth of his land.
17 Lord, thou hast heard the desire of the poor; thou preparest their heart; thou bendest thine ear to them,
18 [m]To judge the fatherless and poor, that earthly man [n]cause to fear no more.
11 1 This Psalm containeth two parts. In the first David showeth how hard assaults of temptations he sustained, and in how great anguish of mind he was, when Saul did persecute him. 4 Then next he rejoiceth that God sent him succor in his necessity, declaring his justice as well in governing the good, and the wicked men, as the whole world.
To him that excelleth. A Psalm of David.
1 In the Lord put I my trust; how say ye then to my soul, [o]Flee to your mountain as a bird?
2 For lo, the wicked bend their bow, and make ready their arrows upon the string, that they may secretly shoot at them which are upright in heart.
3 For the [p]foundations are cast down, what hath the [q]righteous done?
4 The Lord is in his holy palace; the Lord’s throne is in the heaven; his eyes [r]will consider; his eyelids will try the children of men.
5 The Lord will try the righteous; but the wicked, and him that loveth iniquity, doth his soul hate.
6 Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, [s]fire, and brimstone, and stormy tempest; this is the [t]portion of their cup.
7 For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness: his countenance doth behold the just.
3 1 The woman seduced by the serpent, 6 enticeth her husband to sin. 8 They both flee from God. 14 They three are punished. 15 Christ is promised. 19 Man is dust. 22 Man is cast out of Paradise.
1 Now the serpent was more [a]subtle than any beast of the field, which the Lord God had made: and he [b]said to the woman, Yea, hath God indeed said, ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden.
3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, [c]lest ye die.
4 Then the (A)serpent said to the woman, Ye shall not [d][e]die at all,
5 But God doth know that when ye shall eat thereof, your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, [f]knowing good and evil.
6 So the woman (seeing that the tree was good for meat, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired, to get knowledge) took of the fruit thereof, and did (B)eat, and gave also to her husband with her, and he [g]did eat.
7 Then the eyes of them both were opened, and they [h]knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig tree leaves together, and made themselves [i]breeches.
8 ¶ Afterward they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the [j]cool of the day, and the man and his wife [k]hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
9 But the Lord God called to the man, and said unto him, Where art thou?
10 Who said, I heard thy voice in the garden and was afraid: because I was [l]naked, therefore I hid myself.
11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
12 Then the man said, The woman which thou [m]gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
13 And the Lord God said to the woman, Why hast thou done this? And the woman said, [n]The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
14 ¶ Then the Lord God said to the serpent, [o]Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field: upon thy belly shalt thou go, and [p]dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.
15 I will also put enmity between [q]thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. He shall break thine [r]head, and thou shalt [s]bruise his heel.
16 ¶ Unto the woman he said, I will greatly increase thy [t]sorrows, and thy conceptions. In sorrow shalt thou bring forth children, and thy desire shall be subject to thine husband, and he shall (C)rule over thee.
17 ¶ Also to Adam he said, Because thou hast obeyed the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, (whereof I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it) [u]cursed is the earth for thy sake: in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life.
18 [v]Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the field.
19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return to the earth: for out of it wast thou taken, because thou art dust, and to dust shalt thou return.
20 (And the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living)
21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God [w]make coats of skins, and clothed them.
22 ¶ And the Lord God said, [x]Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil. And now lest he put forth his hand, and [y]take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever,
23 Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the earth, whence he was taken.
24 Thus he cast out the man, and at the East side of the garden of Eden he set the Cherubims, and the blade of a sword shaken, to keep the way of the tree of life.
2 1 Thereof he inferreth, that good heed must be given to Christ’s doctrine: 9 And he setteth him out unto us even as our brother in our flesh, that we may with a good will yield up ourselves wholly unto him.
1 Wherefore [a]we ought diligently to give heed to the things which [b]we have heard, lest at any time we [c]run out.
2 For if the [d]word spoken by Angels was steadfast, and every transgression, and disobedience received a just recompense of reward,
3 How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation, [e]which at the first began to be preached by the Lord, and afterward was confirmed unto us by [f]them that heard him.
4 (A)God bearing witness thereto, both with [g]signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the holy Ghost, according to his own will?
5 [h]For he hath not put in subjection unto the Angels the [i]world to come, whereof we speak.
6 [j]But (B)one in a certain place witnessed, saying, [k]What is man, that thou shouldest be mindful of him? or the [l]son of man, that thou wouldest consider him?
7 Thou [m]madest him a little inferior to the Angels: thou crownedst him with [n]glory and honor, and hast set him above the works of thine hands.
8 (C)Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. And in that he hath put all things in subjection under him, he left nothing that should not be subject unto him. [o]But we yet see not all things subdued unto him,
9 [p]But we [q]see Jesus crowned with glory and honor, (D)which was made little [r]inferior to the Angels, [s]through the [t]suffering of death, that by God’s grace he might [u]taste death for [v]all men.
10 [w]For it became [x]him, for whom are all these things, and by whom are all these things, [y]seeing that he brought many children unto glory, [z]that he should consecrate the [aa]Prince of their salvation through afflictions.
19 ¶ [a]Then this is the record of John, when the Jews sent Priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?
20 And he [b]confessed and [c]denied not, and said plainly, I (A)am not that Christ.
21 And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elijah? And he said, [d]I am not. Art thou [e]that Prophet? And he answered, No.
22 Then said they unto him, Who art thou, that we may give an answer to them that sent us? What sayest thou of thyself?
23 He said, I (B)am the voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the Prophet Isaiah.
24 [f]Now they which were sent, were of the Pharisees.
25 And they asked him, and said unto him, [g]Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, neither Elijah, nor that Prophet?
26 John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there is one [h]among you, whom ye know not.
27 (C)He it is that cometh after me, which was before me, whose shoe latchet I am not worthy to unloose.
28 These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John did baptize.
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