Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer of the poor in spirit, when he is overwhelmed, and pours out his complaint before the LORD.
1 ¶ Hear my prayer, O LORD, and let my cry come unto thee.
2 Hide not thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble; incline thine ear unto me; in the day when I call, answer me speedily.
3 For my days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as in a hearth.
4 My heart is smitten and withered like grass so that I forget to eat my bread.
5 By reason of the voice of my groaning, my bones cleave to my skin.
6 I am like a pelican of the wilderness; I am like an owl of the desert.
7 I watch and am as a sparrow alone upon the house top.
8 My enemies reproach me all the day, and those that are mad against me are sworn against me.
9 For I have eaten ashes like bread and mingled my drink with weeping,
10 because of thine indignation and thy wrath; for thou hast lifted me up and cast me down.
11 My days are like a shadow that declines, and I am withered like grass.
12 ¶ But thou, O LORD, shalt endure for ever and thy remembrance unto all generations.
13 Thou shalt arise and have mercy upon Zion; for the time to favour her, the set time, is come.
14 For thy slaves love her stones and have compassion on the dust thereof.
15 So the Gentiles shall fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth thy glory
16 because the LORD shall have built up Zion, and he shall be seen in his glory.
17 He shall have regarded the prayer of those who are alone and destitute and not despised their prayer.
18 This shall be written for the generation to come, and the people who shall be created shall praise JAH.
19 For he has looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from the heavens the LORD beheld the earth
20 to hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death,
21 that they might declare the name of the LORD in Zion and his praise in Jerusalem,
22 when the people are gathered together as one and the kingdoms, to serve the LORD.
23 ¶ He weakened my strength in the way; he shortened my days.
24 I said, O my God, do not cut me off in the midst of my days; thy years are from generation to generation.
25 Of old thou hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the work of thy hands.
26 They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture thou shalt change them, and they shall be changed:
27 But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.
28 The sons of thy slaves shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee.
1 ¶ O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good; for his mercy endures for ever.
2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he has redeemed from the hand of the enemy
3 and gathered them out of the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.
4 They wandered lost in the wilderness, alone and out of the way; they found no city to dwell in.
5 Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.
6 Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.
7 And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation.
8 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his mercy and for his wonderful works unto the sons of Adam!
9 For he satisfies the soul that is destitute and fills the hungry soul with goodness.
10 ¶ Such as sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and in irons,
11 because they rebelled against the words of God and condemned the counsel of the most High:
12 Therefore he brought down their heart with labour; they fell down, and there was no one to help.
13 Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses.
14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and broke their bonds asunder.
15 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his mercy and for his wonderful works unto the sons of Adam!
16 For he has broken the gates of brass and cut the bars of iron asunder.
17 ¶ The fools, because of the way of their rebellion, and because of their iniquities, were afflicted.
18 Their soul abhorred all manner of food, and they drew near unto the gates of death.
19 Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses.
20 He sent his word and healed them and delivered them from their graves.
21 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his mercy and for his wonderful works unto the sons of Adam!
22 And let them offer the sacrifices of praise and publish his works with singing.
23 ¶ Those that go down to the sea in ships that do work in many waters,
24 these have seen the works of the LORD and his wonders in the deep.
25 For he commands and raises the stormy wind, which lifts up its waves.
26 They mount up to the heavens; they go down again to the depths; their soul is melted because of trouble.
27 They reel to and fro and stagger like a drunken man, and all of their knowledge is of no avail.
28 Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivers them out of their afflictions.
29 He makes the storm a calm, so that its waves are still.
30 Then they are glad because they are at rest; so he brings them into the haven of his will.
31 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his mercy and for his wonderful works unto the sons of Adam!
32 Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people and praise him in the assembly of the elders.
17 ¶ And as for you, O my flock, thus hath the Lord GOD said: Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, between the rams and the he goats.
18 Does it seem a small thing unto you that ye eat of the good pastures, but ye also tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures? and that in drinking of the deep waters, ye must also foul the residue with your feet?
19 And my sheep eat that which ye have trodden with your feet, and they drink that which ye have fouled with your feet.
20 Therefore thus hath the Lord GOD said unto them; Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and between the lean sheep,
21 because ye have thrust with side and with shoulder and pushed all the weak with your horns until ye have scattered them outside.
22 I will save my flock, and they shall no longer be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.
23 And I will raise up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my slave David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.
24 And I the LORD will be their God, and my slave David prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it.
25 And I will establish with them a covenant of peace and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods.
26 And I will give unto them and to the places round about my hill blessing, and I will cause the rain to come down in its season; they shall be rains of blessing.
27 And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her fruit, and they shall be safe in their land and shall know that I am the LORD when I have broken the bands of their yoke and delivered them out of the hand of those that served themselves of them.
28 And they shall no longer be a prey to the Gentiles, neither shall the beast of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and no one shall make them afraid.
29 And I will raise up for them a plant by name, and they shall no longer be consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the Gentiles any longer.
30 Thus shall they know that I the LORD their God am with them and that they, even the house of Israel, are my people, said the Lord GOD.
31 And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, said the Lord GOD.
8 ¶ Now of the things which we have spoken, this is the sum: We have such a high priest who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,
2 a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.
3 For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices; therefore, it is also necessary that this one have something to offer.
4 For if he were on earth, he should not even be a priest, being present still the other priests that offer gifts according to the law,
5 (who serve as an example and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern showed unto thee in the mount);
6 ¶ but now a more excellent ministry is his, in that he is the mediator of a better testament, which was established upon better promises.
7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place should have been sought for the second.
8 For finding fault with them, he said, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new testament with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,
9 not according to the testament that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they did not continue in my testament, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
10 For this is the testament that I will ordain to the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord: I will give my laws into their soul and write them upon their hearts, and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
11 and no one shall teach his neighbour nor anyone his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
12 For I will reconcile their iniquities and their sins, and their iniquities I will remember no more.
13 In that he says, New, he has made the first old. Now that which decays and waxes old is ready to vanish away.
38 ¶ Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house.
39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard his word.
40 But Martha was cumbered about in much serving and came to him and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she help me.
41 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things;
42 but only one thing is necessary, and Mary has chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.
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