Book of Common Prayer
Prayer for the destruction of the treacherous.
For the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments. Maschil of David.
55 Give ear to my prayer, O God;
And hide not thyself from my supplication.
2 Attend unto me, and answer me:
I am restless in my complaint, and moan,
3 Because of the voice of the enemy,
Because of the oppression of the wicked;
For they cast iniquity upon me,
And in anger they persecute me.
4 My heart is sore pained within me:
And the terrors of death are fallen upon me.
5 Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me,
And horror hath overwhelmed me.
6 And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove!
Then would I fly away, and be at rest.
7 Lo, then would I wander far off,
I would lodge in the wilderness. Selah
8 I would [a]haste me to a shelter
From the stormy wind and tempest.
9 [b]Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongue;
For I have seen violence and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof:
Iniquity also and mischief are in the midst of it.
11 Wickedness is in the midst thereof:
[c]Oppression and guile depart not from its streets.
12 For it was not an enemy that reproached me;
Then I could have borne it:
Neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me;
Then I would have hid myself from him:
13 But it was thou, a man mine equal,
My companion, and my familiar friend.
14 We took sweet counsel together;
We walked in the house of God with the throng.
15 [d]Let death come suddenly upon them,
Let them go down alive into Sheol;
For wickedness is in their dwelling, in [e]the midst of them.
16 As for me, I will call upon God;
And Jehovah will save me.
17 Evening, and morning, and at noonday, will I complain, and moan;
And he will hear my voice.
18 He hath redeemed my soul in peace [f]from the battle that was against me;
For they were many that strove with me.
19 God will hear, and [g]answer them,
Even he that abideth of old, Selah
The men who have no changes,
And who fear not God.
20 He hath put forth his hands against such as were at peace with him:
He hath profaned his covenant.
21 His mouth was smooth as butter,
But his heart was war:
His words were softer than oil,
Yet were they drawn swords.
22 Cast [h]thy burden upon Jehovah, and he will sustain thee:
He will never suffer the righteous to be moved.
23 But thou, O God, wilt bring them down into the pit of destruction:
Bloodthirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half their days;
But I will trust in thee.
Thanksgiving for Jehovah’s favor.
A Psalm of David.
138 I will give thee thanks with my whole heart:
Before the gods will I sing praises unto thee.
2 I will worship toward thy holy temple,
And give thanks unto thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth:
For thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.
3 In the day that I called thou answeredst me,
Thou didst encourage me with strength in my soul.
4 All the kings of the earth shall give thee thanks, O Jehovah,
For they have heard the words of thy mouth.
5 Yea, they shall sing of the ways of Jehovah;
For great is the glory of Jehovah.
6 For though Jehovah is high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly;
But the haughty he knoweth from afar.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me;
Thou wilt stretch forth thy hand against the wrath of mine enemies,
And thy right hand will save me.
8 Jehovah will perfect that which concerneth me:
Thy lovingkindness, O Jehovah, endureth for ever;
Forsake not the works of thine own hands.
God’s omnipresence and omniscience.
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
139 O Jehovah, thou hast searched me, and known me.
2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising;
Thou understandest my thought afar off.
3 Thou [a]searchest out my path and my lying down,
And art acquainted with all my ways.
4 For there is not a word in my tongue,
But, lo, O Jehovah, thou knowest it altogether.
5 Thou hast beset me behind and before,
And laid thy hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is high, I cannot attain unto it.
7 Whither shall I go from thy Spirit?
Or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
8 If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there:
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, thou art there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;
10 Even there shall thy hand lead me,
And thy right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall [b]overwhelm me,
[c]And the light about me shall be night;
12 Even the darkness hideth not from thee,
But the night shineth as the day:
The darkness and the light are both alike to thee.
13 For thou didst form my [d]inward parts:
Thou didst [e]cover me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will give thanks unto thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made:
Wonderful are thy works;
And that my soul knoweth right well.
15 My frame was not hidden from thee,
When I was made in secret,
And curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
16 Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance;
And in thy book they were all written,
Even the days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was none of them.
17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God!
How great is the sum of them!
18 If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand:
When I awake, I am still with thee.
19 [f]Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God:
Depart from me therefore, ye bloodthirsty men.
20 For they [g]speak against thee wickedly,
And thine enemies [h]take thy name in vain.
21 Do not I hate them, O Jehovah, that hate thee?
And [i]am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?
22 I hate them with perfect hatred:
They are become mine enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart:
Try me, and know my thoughts;
18 And Moses reared up the tabernacle, and laid its sockets, and set up the boards thereof, and put in the bars thereof, and reared up its pillars. 19 And he spread the tent over the tabernacle, and put the covering of the tent above upon it; as Jehovah commanded Moses. 20 And he took and put the testimony into the ark, and set the staves on the ark, and put the mercy-seat above upon the ark: 21 and he brought the ark into the tabernacle, and set up the veil of the screen, and screened the ark of the testimony; as Jehovah commanded Moses. 22 And he put the table in the tent of meeting, upon the side of the tabernacle northward, without the veil. 23 And he set the bread in order upon it before Jehovah; as Jehovah commanded Moses. 24 And he put the candlestick in the tent of meeting, over against the table, on the side of the tabernacle southward. 25 And he [a]lighted the lamps before Jehovah; as Jehovah commanded Moses. 26 And he put the golden altar in the tent of meeting before the veil: 27 and he burnt thereon incense of sweet spices; as Jehovah commanded Moses. 28 And he put the screen of the door to the tabernacle. 29 And he set the altar of burnt-offering at the door of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting, and offered upon it the burnt-offering and the meal-offering; as Jehovah commanded Moses. 30 And he set the laver between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water therein, wherewith to wash. 31 And Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet thereat; 32 when they went into the tent of meeting, and when they came near unto the altar, they washed; as Jehovah commanded Moses. 33 And he reared up the court round about the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the screen of the gate of the court. So Moses finished the work.
34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of Jehovah filled the tabernacle. 35 And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of meeting, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of Jehovah filled the tabernacle. 36 And when the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward, throughout all their journeys: 37 but if the cloud was not taken up, then they journeyed not till the day that it was taken up. 38 For the cloud of Jehovah was upon the tabernacle by day, and there was fire therein by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.
4 Finally then, brethren, we beseech and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that, as ye received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, even as ye do walk,—that ye abound more and more. 2 For ye know what [a]charge we gave you through the Lord Jesus. 3 For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye abstain from fornication; 4 that each one of you know how to possess himself of his own vessel in sanctification and honor, 5 not in the passion of lust, even as the Gentiles who know not God; 6 that no man [b]transgress, and wrong his brother in the matter: because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as also we [c]forewarned you and testified. 7 For God called us not for uncleanness, but in sanctification. 8 Therefore he that rejecteth, rejecteth not man, but God, who giveth his Holy Spirit unto you.
9 But concerning love of the brethren ye have no need that one write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another; 10 for indeed ye do it toward all the brethren that are in all Macedonia. But we exhort you, brethren, that ye abound more and more; 11 and that ye [d]study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your hands, even as we charged you; 12 that ye may walk becomingly toward them that are without, and may have need of nothing.
38 Ye have heard that it was said, An [a]eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: 39 but I say unto you, Resist not [b]him that is evil: but whosoever smiteth thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if any man would go to law with thee, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. 41 And whosoever shall [c]compel thee to go one mile, go with him two. 42 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.
43 Ye have heard that it was said, [d]Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy: 44 but I say unto you, Love your enemies, and pray for them that persecute you; 45 that ye may be sons of your Father who is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust. 46 For if ye love them that love you, what reward have ye? do not even the [e]publicans the same? 47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the Gentiles the same? 48 Ye therefore shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
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