Book of Common Prayer
To the Overcomer, A Psalm of David, the slave of the LORD, who spoke unto the LORD the words of this song in the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul: And he said,
1 ¶ I will love thee, O LORD, my strength.
2 The LORD is my rock and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.
3 I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, so shall I be saved from my enemies.
4 The pain of death compassed me, and the rivers of Belial made me afraid.
5 The pain of Sheol compassed me about: the snares of death came before me.
6 In my distress I called upon the LORD and cried unto my God; he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.
7 Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of the mountains collapsed and were removed because he was wroth.
8 Smoke went up out of his nostrils, and fire devoured out of his mouth; coals were kindled by it.
9 He lowered the heavens and came down; and darkness was under his feet.
10 And he rode upon a cherub and flew: yea, he flew upon the wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness his hiding place; in his tabernacle round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the heavens.
12 At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire.
13 The LORD thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire.
14 He sent out his arrows and scattered them; he shot out lightnings and destroyed them.
15 Then the depths of the waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.
16 He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters.
17 He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from those who hated me, even though they were too strong for me.
18 They were ready for me in the day of my calamity, but the LORD was my staff.
19 He brought me forth also into a wide place; he delivered me because he delighted in me.
20 ¶ The LORD will reward me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he shall recompense me.
21 Because I have kept the ways of the LORD and did not become wicked departing in apostasy from my God.
22 For all his judgments were before me, and I did not put away his statutes from me.
23 I was perfect before him, and I kept myself from my iniquity.
24 Therefore the LORD has recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands before his eyes.
25 With the merciful thou wilt show thyself merciful; with a perfect man thou wilt show thyself perfect;
26 with the pure thou wilt show thyself pure; and with the perverse thou wilt show thyself adversary.
27 Therefore thou wilt save the humble people; but wilt bring down high looks.
28 For thou wilt light my fire: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.
29 ¶ For with thee I have scattered armies; and in my God I have overcome walled defenses.
30 As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is precise: a shield to all those that wait in him.
31 For who is God except the LORD? or who is a refuge except our God?
32 It is God that girds me with strength and makes my way perfect.
33 He makes my feet like hinds’ feet and sets me upon my high places.
34 He trains my hands for the battle, so that a bow of bronze shall be broken by my arms.
35 In the same manner thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand will hold me up, and thy meekness shall multiply me.
36 Thou shall enlarge my steps under me, and my knees shall not tremble.
37 I shall pursue my enemies and overtake them: neither shall I turn again until they are consumed.
38 I shall smite them, and they will not be able to rise: they shall fall under my feet.
39 For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle: thou hast subdued my enemies under me.
40 Thou hast also given me the necks of my enemies that I might destroy those that hate me.
41 They cried out, but there was no one to save them: even unto the LORD, but he did not answer them.
42 Then I beat them as small as the dust before the wind: I scattered them as the dirt in the streets.
43 Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people; and thou hast made me the head of the Gentiles: a people whom I did not know served me.
44 As soon as they heard of me, they obeyed me: the sons of strangers submitted themselves unto me even against their will.
45 The strangers fell away and were afraid in their close places.
46 The LORD lives; and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted.
47 It is God that avenges me and subdues the peoples under me.
48 He delivers me from my enemies: yea, thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me: thou hast delivered me from the one who would betray me.
49 Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the Gentiles and sing praises unto thy name.
50 He gives great deliverance to his king and shows mercy to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore.
31 ¶ Thou, O king, didst see and behold a great image. This image, which was very large and whose glory was very sublime, stood before thee, and its form was terrible.
32 The head of this image was of fine gold, its breasts and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of brass,
33 its legs of iron, its feet part of iron and part of baked clay.
34 Thou didst see until a stone was cut out, not with hands, which smote the image upon its feet that were of iron and baked clay and broke them to pieces.
35 Then was the iron, the baked clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold broken to pieces together and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away that no place was found for them again; and the stone that smote the image was made into a great mountain that filled the whole earth.
36 This is the dream, and we will tell its interpretation before the king.
37 Thou, O king, art king of kings, for the God of heaven has given thee the kingdom, the power, and the strength, and the majesty.
38 And everything that is inhabited by children of men, beasts of the field, and fowls of the heaven, he has given into thine hand, and has made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.
39 And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the land.
40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron; and as iron breaks in pieces and subdues all things, and as iron that breaks all these things, it shall break in pieces and bruise.
41 And whereas thou didst see the feet and toes, part of baked potters’ clay and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divisive; but there shall be in it some of the strength of the iron, such as thou didst see the iron mixed with baked clay.
42 And as the toes of the feet were part of iron and part of baked clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly fragile.
43 Concerning that which thou didst see, the iron mixed with baked clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men, but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron does not mix with clay.
44 And in the days of those kings the God of heaven shall raise up a kingdom which eternally shall never become corrupted, and this kingdom shall not be left to another people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
45 In the manner which thou didst see that out of the mountain was cut one stone, not with hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God has shown the king what shall come to pass hereafter; and the dream is true, and its interpretation sure.
46 ¶ Then the king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face and humbled himself before Daniel and commanded that they should sacrifice presents and sweet odours unto him.
47 The king answered unto Daniel and said, Certainly the God that is your God is God of gods and the Lord of the kings and the revealer of the mysteries, seeing thou could reveal this mystery.
48 Then the king magnified Daniel and gave him many and great gifts and made him governor over the whole province of Babylon and prince of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon.
49 And Daniel requested of the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon; but Daniel was at the gate of the king.
18 ¶ Little children, it is the last hour, and as ye have heard that the antichrist comes, likewise there are also beginning to be many antichrists, by which we know that it is the last time.
19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us; but this happened that it might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
20 ¶ But ye have the anointing of the Holy One, and ye know all things.
21 I have not written unto you as if ye ignore the truth, but as unto those that know it, and that no lie is of the truth.
22 Who is a liar but he that denies that Jesus is the Christ? This same is antichrist, who denies the Father and the Son.
23 Whosoever denies the Son, the same does not have the Father. Whosoever confesses the Son, has the Father also.
24 Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. For if that which ye have heard from the beginning shall abide in you, ye also shall continue to abide in the Son and in the Father.
25 And this is the promise that he has promised us, even eternal life.
26 These things I have written unto you concerning those that seduce you.
27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abides in you, and ye do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you of all things and is truth, and is no lie; and even as it has taught you, abide ye in him.
28 ¶ And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
29 If ye know that he is righteous, also know that any one that does righteousness is born of him.
3 ¶ Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene,
2 Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came upon John the son of Zachariah in the wilderness.
3 And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins;
4 as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.
5 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low, and the crooked ways shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth;
6 and all flesh shall see the saving health of God.
7 Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who taught you to flee from the wrath to come?
8 Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham for our father; for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.
9 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees; every tree therefore which does not bring forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire.
10 And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then?
11 He answered and said unto them, He that has two coats, let him impart to him that has none; and he that has food, let him do likewise.
12 Then the publicans also came to be baptized and said unto him, Master, what shall we do?
13 And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you.
14 And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Oppress no one, neither accuse anyone falsely; and be content with your wages.
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