Book of Common Prayer
Maschil of Ethan the Ezrahite.
1 ¶ I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever; with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.
2 For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever in the heavens; in them thou shalt establish thy truth.
3 I have made a covenant with my chosen; I have sworn unto David my slave, saying,
4 Thy seed will I establish for ever and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah.
5 ¶ And the heavens shall praise thy wonder, O LORD, thy truth also in the congregation of the saints.
6 For who in the heavens can be compared unto the LORD? who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the LORD?
7 God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints and to be had in reverence of all those that are about him.
8 O LORD God of the hosts, who is like unto thee? Strong JAH, compassed about with thy truth.
9 Thou dost rule the raging of the sea: when its waves arise, thou dost still them.
10 Thou hast broken Egypt in pieces as one that is slain; thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy strong arm.
11 The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: the world and its fullness, thou didst found.
12 Thou hast created the north and the south; Tabor and Hermon shall sing in thy name.
13 The mighty arm is thine; strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand.
14 Thy throne is composed of righteousness and judgment; mercy and truth go before thy face.
15 ¶ Happy are the people that know how to enter into joy; they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance.
16 In thy name shall they rejoice each day; and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted.
17 For thou art the glory of their strength, and in thy favour our horn shall be exalted.
18 For the LORD is our shield, and the Holy One of Israel is our king.
19 ¶ Then thou didst speak in vision to thy holy one and didst say, I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of my people.
20 I have found David my slave; I anointed him with the oil of my holiness,
21 with whom my hand shall be established; mine arm also shall strengthen him.
22 The enemy shall not overcome him, nor the son of iniquity break him down.
23 But I will break down his foes before his face and smite those that hate him.
24 But my truth and my mercy shall be with him, and in my name shall his horn be exalted.
25 In the same manner I will set his hand also in the sea and his right hand in the rivers.
26 He shall call me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my saving health.
27 Also I will make him my firstborn, high above the kings of the earth.
28 I will keep my mercy for him for ever, and my covenant shall stand fast with him.
29 I will also make his seed to endure for ever, and his throne as the days of the heavens.
30 If his sons forsake my law and do not walk in my judgments,
31 if they profane my statutes and do not keep my commandments,
32 then I will visit their rebellion with the rod and their iniquity with stripes.
33 Nevertheless I will not take my mercy from him, neither will I falsify my truth.
34 I will not profane my covenant, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
35 Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David.
36 His seed shall endure for ever and his throne as the sun before me.
37 It shall be established for ever as the moon and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah.
38 ¶ But thou hast cast off and abhorred thine anointed; thou hast been wroth with him.
39 Thou hast made void the covenant of thy slave; thou hast profaned his crown by casting it to the ground.
40 Thou hast broken down all his hedges; thou hast brought his strong holds to ruin.
41 All that pass by the way spoil him; he is a reproach to his neighbours.
42 Thou hast set up the right hand of his adversaries; thou hast made all his enemies to rejoice.
43 Thou hast also blunted the edge of his sword and hast not made him to stand in the battle.
44 Thou hast made his clarity to cease and cast his throne down to the ground.
45 The days of his youth hast thou shortened; thou hast covered him with shame. Selah.
46 How long, O LORD? wilt thou hide thyself for ever? shall thy wrath burn like fire?
47 Remember how short my time is; why hast thou made all men subject to vanity?
48 What man is he that lives and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of Sheol? Selah.
49 Lord, where are thy former mercies, which thou didst sware unto David in thy truth?
50 Remember, Lord, the reproach of thy slaves; how I do bear in my bosom the reproach of many peoples,
51 because thine enemies have dishonoured, O LORD; they have dishonoured the footsteps of thine anointed.
52 Blessed be the LORD for ever. Amen and Amen.
30 ¶ And when Rachel saw that she gave Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister and said unto Jacob, Give me sons, or else I will die.
2 And Jacob’s anger was kindled against Rachel; and he said, Am I in God’s stead, who has withheld from thee the fruit of the womb?
3 And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her.
4 And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife; and Jacob went in unto her.
5 And Bilhah conceived and gave birth to a son unto Jacob.
6 And Rachel said, God has judged me, and has also heard my voice, and has given me a son. Therefore she called his name Dan.
7 And Bilhah Rachel’s maid conceived again and gave birth to a second son unto Jacob.
8 And Rachel said, With great wrestlings I have wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed; and she called his name Naphtali.
9 When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing children, she took Zilpah, her maid and gave her Jacob to wife.
10 And Zilpah, Leah’s maid, gave birth to a son unto Jacob.
11 And Leah said, Good venture has come; and she called his name Gad.
12 And Zilpah, Leah’s maid, gave birth to a second son unto Jacob.
13 And Leah said, Blessed am I, for the daughters will call me blessed; and she called his name Asher.
14 ¶ And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest and found mandrakes in the field and brought them unto his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy son’s mandrakes.
15 And she said unto her, Is it a small matter that thou hast taken my husband and would thou take away my son’s mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with thee to night for thy son’s mandrakes.
16 And Jacob came out of the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him and said, Thou must come in unto me; for surely I have hired thee with my son’s mandrakes. And he lay with her that night.
17 And God hearkened unto Leah, and she conceived and gave birth to a fifth son unto Jacob.
18 And Leah said, God has given me my hire, because I have given my maiden to my husband; and she called his name Issachar.
19 And Leah conceived again and gave birth to the sixth son unto Jacob.
20 And Leah said, God has endued me with a good dowry; now my husband will dwell with me because I have born him six sons; and she called his name Zebulun.
21 And afterwards she gave birth to a daughter and called her name Dinah.
22 And God remembered Rachel and God hearkened to her and opened her womb.
23 And she conceived and gave birth to a son and said, God has taken away my reproach;
24 and she called his name Joseph, saying, Let the LORD add unto me another son.
1 ¶ That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life
2 (for the life is manifested, and we also saw it and bear witness and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father and appeared unto us);
3 that which we have seen and heard we declare unto you, that ye also may have communion with us; and truly our communion is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.
4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be fulfilled.
5 ¶ This then is the promise which we have heard of him and declare unto you, That God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
6 If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth;
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have communion with him in the midst of us, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son cleanses us from all sin.
8 ¶ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and there is no truth in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
9 ¶ And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man who was blind from his birth.
2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?
3 Jesus answered, Neither has this man sinned nor his parents, but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.
4 It is expedient that I do the works of him that sent me while it is day; the night comes, when no one can work.
5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
6 When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay
7 and said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam (which is by interpretation, Sent). Then he went and washed and came back seeing.
8 ¶ The neighbours, therefore, and those who before had seen him that he was blind said, Is not this he that sat and begged?
9 Some said, This is he; others said, He is like him; but he said, I am he.
10 Then they said unto him, How were thine eyes opened?
11 He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash; and I went and washed, and I received sight.
12 Then said they unto him, Where is he? He said, I know not.
13 ¶ They brought to the Pharisees him that beforehand had been blind.
14 And it was the sabbath day when Jesus had made the clay and had opened his eyes.
15 Then again the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. He said unto them, He put clay upon my eyes, and I washed and do see.
16 Therefore some of the Pharisees said, This man is not of God because he does not keep the sabbath day. Others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such signs? And there was a division among them.
17 They said unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of him, that has opened thine eyes? He said, He is a prophet.
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