Book of Common Prayer
ALEPH.
1 ¶ Blessed are those who walk in the perfect way, who walk in the law of the LORD.
2 Blessed are those that keep his testimonies and that seek him with their whole heart.
3 For those who do no iniquity walk in his ways.
4 ¶ Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently.
5 O that my ways were ordered to keep thy statutes!
6 Then I shall not be ashamed, when I have insight unto all thy commandments.
7 ¶ I will praise thee with uprightness of heart when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments.
8 I will keep thy statutes; O do not utterly forsake me.
BETH.
9 ¶ With what shall a young man cleanse his way? when he shall keep thy word.
10 ¶ With my whole heart I have sought thee; O let me not err from thy commandments.
11 ¶ Thy spoken word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee.
12 ¶ Blessed art thou, O LORD: teach me thy statutes.
13 ¶ With my lips I have declared all the judgments of thy mouth.
14 I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies as above all riches.
15 I will meditate in thy precepts and consider thy ways.
16 I will delight myself in thy statutes; I will not forget thy words.
GIMEL.
17 ¶ Deal bountifully with thy slave that I may live and keep thy word.
18 ¶ Open my eyes, and I shall behold the wonders of thy law.
19 ¶ I am a stranger in the earth; hide not thy commandments from me.
20 ¶ My soul is broken from desiring thy judgments at all times.
21 ¶ Thou hast reprehended the proud; cursed are those who err from thy commandments.
22 ¶ Remove from me reproach and contempt, for I have kept thy testimonies.
23 ¶ Princes also sat and spoke against me as thy slave spoke according to thy statutes.
24 ¶ For thy testimonies are my delight and my counsellors.
To the Overcomer upon Sheminith, A Psalm of David.
1 ¶ Help, LORD; for the merciful man ceases, for the faithful fail from among the children of men.
2 Each one speaks vanity with his neighbour: they speak with flattering lips and with a double heart.
3 The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips and the tongue that speaks proud things:
4 Who have said, With our tongue we will prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us?
5 For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now I will arise, saith the LORD; I will set in safety the one whom the wicked one has ensnared.
6 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
7 Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.
8 The wicked press in on every side when the vilest men are exalted.
To the Overcomer, A Psalm of David.
1 ¶ How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?
2 How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
3 Consider and hear me, O LORD my God: lighten mine eyes lest I sleep the sleep of death,
4 lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; and those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved.
5 But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation.
6 I will sing unto the LORD because he has dealt bountifully with me.
To the Overcomer, A Psalm of David.
1 ¶ The fool has said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is no one that does good.
2 The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any that did understand and seek God.
3 They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is no one that does good, no, not one.
4 ¶ The workers of iniquity certainly know this; those who eat up my people as they eat bread and do not call upon the LORD.
5 There they were in great fear: for God is with the nation of the righteous.
6 Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor because the LORD is his hope.
7 Oh that the saving health of Israel were come out of Zion! When the LORD turns back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.
4 ¶ And the man knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain and said, I have gained a man by the LORD.
2 And she again bore his brother Abel. And Abel was a pastor of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
3 ¶ And in process of time it came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground a present unto the LORD.
4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD looked upon Abel and his present,
5 but he did not look upon Cain and his present. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
6 ¶ Then the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
7 If thou doest good, it shall certainly be accepted; and if thou doest not good, sin lies at the door. And his desire shall be unto thee, but thou must rule over him.
8 ¶ And Cain talked with Abel his brother, and it came to pass when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him.
9 ¶ And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not, Am I my brother’s keeper?
10 And he said, What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother’s blood cries unto me from the ground.
11 And now thou art cursed from the earth, which has opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand;
12 when thou tillest the ground, from now on it shall not yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.
13 ¶ And Cain said unto the LORD, My iniquity is greater than I can bear.
14 Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I hide; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass that anyone that finds me shall slay me.
15 And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whoever slays Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.
16 ¶ And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden.
11 For both he that sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all of one, for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren,
12 saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren; in the midst of the congregation I will praise thee.
13 And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God has given me.
14 ¶ Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that had the empire of death, that is, the devil,
15 and deliver those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to slavery.
16 For verily he did not take the angels, but he took the seed of Abraham.
17 Therefore in all things he should be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people.
18 For in that he himself has suffered and was tempted, he is also powerful to help those that are tempted.
29 ¶ The next day John saw Jesus coming unto him and said, Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.
30 This is he of whom I said, After me comes a man who is preferred before me, for he was before me.
31 And I knew him not; but that he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water.
32 And John gave testimony, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.
33 And I knew him not; but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and abiding on him, the same is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.
34 And I have seen and have given testimony that this is the Son of God.
35 And again the next day John stood, and two of his disciples,
36 and looking upon Jesus as he walked, he said, Behold the Lamb of God!
37 ¶ And the two disciples heard him speak and followed Jesus.
38 Then Jesus turned and saw them following and said unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi (which is to say, being interpreted, Master), where dwellest thou?
39 He said unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt and abode with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.
40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, brother of Simon Peter.
41 He first found his own brother Simon and said unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.
42 And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jonah: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.
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