Book of Common Prayer
God the judge of the righteous and the wicked.
A Psalm of Asaph.
50 The Mighty One, God, Jehovah, hath spoken,
And called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof.
2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God hath shined forth.
3 Our God cometh, and doth not keep silence:
A fire devoureth before him,
And it is very tempestuous round about him.
4 He calleth to the heavens above,
And to the earth, that he may judge his people:
5 Gather my saints together unto me,
Those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.
6 And the heavens [a]shall declare his righteousness;
For God is judge himself. Selah
7 Hear, O my people, and I will speak;
O Israel, and I will testify [b]unto thee:
I am God, even thy God.
8 I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices;
[c]And thy burnt-offerings are continually before me.
9 I will take no bullock out of thy house,
Nor he-goats out of thy folds.
10 For every beast of the forest is mine,
And the cattle [d]upon a thousand hills.
11 I know all the birds of the mountains;
And the wild beasts of the field are [e]mine.
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell thee;
For the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.
13 Will I eat the flesh of bulls,
Or drink the blood of goats?
14 Offer unto God the sacrifice of thanksgiving;
And pay thy vows unto the Most High;
15 And call upon me in the day of trouble:
I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.
16 But unto the wicked God saith,
What hast thou to do to declare my statutes,
And that thou hast taken my covenant in thy mouth,
17 Seeing that thou hatest [f]instruction,
And castest my words behind thee?
18 When thou sawest a thief, thou consentedst with him,
And [g]hast been partaker with adulterers.
19 Thou givest thy mouth to evil,
And thy tongue frameth deceit.
20 Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother;
Thou [h]slanderest thine own mother’s son.
21 These things hast thou done, and I kept silence;
Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such a one as thyself:
But I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.
22 Now consider this, ye that forget God,
Lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver:
23 Whoso offereth the sacrifice of thanksgiving glorifieth me;
And [i]to him that ordereth his way aright
Will I show the salvation of God.
Prayer for deliverance from enemies.
For the Chief Musician; set to Al-tashheth. A Psalm of David. Michtam; when Saul sent, and they watched the house to kill him.
59 Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God:
Set me on high from them that rise up against me.
2 Deliver me from the workers of iniquity,
And save me from the bloodthirsty men.
3 For, lo, they lie in wait for my soul;
The mighty gather themselves together against me:
Not for my transgression, nor for my sin, O Jehovah.
4 They run and prepare themselves without my fault:
Awake thou to [a]help me, and behold.
5 Even thou, O Jehovah God of hosts, the God of Israel,
Arise to visit all the nations:
Be not merciful to any wicked transgressors. Selah
6 They return at evening, they howl like a dog,
And go round about the city.
7 Behold, they belch out with their mouth;
Swords are in their lips:
For who, say they, doth hear?
8 But thou, O Jehovah, wilt laugh at them;
Thou wilt have all the nations in derision.
9 [b]Because of his strength I will give heed unto thee;
For God is my high tower.
10 My God with his lovingkindness will meet me:
God will let me see my desire upon [c]mine enemies.
11 Slay them not, lest my people forget:
[d]Scatter them by thy power, and bring them down,
O Lord our shield.
12 For the sin of their mouth, and the words of their lips,
Let them even be taken in their pride,
And for cursing and lying which they speak.
13 Consume them in wrath, consume them, so that they shall be no more:
And let them know that God ruleth in Jacob,
Unto the ends of the earth. Selah
14 And at evening let them return, let them howl like a dog,
And go round about the city.
15 They shall wander up and down for food,
And tarry all night if they be not satisfied.
16 But I will sing of thy strength;
Yea, I will sing aloud of thy lovingkindness in the morning:
For thou hast been my high tower,
And a refuge in the day of my distress.
17 Unto thee, O my strength, will I sing praises:
For God is my high tower, the God of my mercy.
Lament over defeat in battle, and prayer for help.
For the Chief Musician; set to [e]Shushan Eduth. Michtam of David, to teach; when he strove with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and Joab returned, and smote of Edom in the Valley of Salt twelve thousand.
60 O God thou hast cast us off, thou hast broken us down;
Thou hast been angry; oh restore us again.
2 Thou hast made the land to tremble; thou hast rent it:
Heal the breaches thereof; for it shaketh.
3 Thou hast showed thy people hard things:
Thou hast made us to drink the wine of staggering.
4 Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee,
That it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah
5 That thy beloved may be delivered,
Save with thy right hand, and answer [f]us.
6 God hath spoken in his holiness: I will exult;
I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth.
7 Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine;
Ephraim also is the defence of my head;
Judah is my [g]sceptre.
8 Moab is my washpot;
[h]Upon Edom will I cast my shoe:
Philistia, shout thou because of me.
9 Who will bring me into the strong city?
[i]Who hath led me unto Edom?
10 [j]Hast not thou, O God, cast us off?
And thou goest not forth, O God, with our hosts.
11 Give us help against the adversary;
For vain is the [k]help of man.
12 Through God we shall do valiantly;
For he it is that will tread down our adversaries.
Jehovah’s glory and man’s dignity.
For the Chief Musician; set to the Gittith. A Psalm of David.
8 O Jehovah, our Lord, How excellent is thy name in all the earth,
Who hast set thy glory [a]upon the heavens!
2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou established strength,
Because of thine adversaries,
That thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers,
The moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;
4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him?
And the son of man, that thou visitest him?
5 For thou hast made him but little lower than [b]God,
And crownest him with glory and honor.
6 Thou makest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands;
Thou hast put all things under his feet:
7 All sheep and oxen,
Yea, and the beasts of the field,
8 The birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,
Whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.
9 O Jehovah, our Lord,
How excellent is thy name in all the earth!
Longing for the Temple worship.
For the Chief Musician; set to the Gittith. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.
84 How [a]amiable are thy tabernacles,
O Jehovah of hosts!
2 My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of Jehovah;
My heart and my flesh [b]cry out unto the living God.
3 Yea, the sparrow hath found her a house,
And the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young,
Even thine altars, O Jehovah of hosts,
My King, and my God.
4 Blessed are they that dwell in thy house:
They will be still praising thee. Selah
5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee;
In whose heart are the highways to Zion.
6 Passing through the valley of [c]Weeping they make it a place of springs;
Yea, the early rain covereth it with blessings.
7 They go from strength to strength;
Every one of them appeareth before God in Zion.
8 O Jehovah God of hosts, hear my prayer;
Give ear, O God of Jacob. Selah
9 [d]Behold, O God our shield,
And look upon the face of thine anointed.
10 For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand.
I had rather [e]be a doorkeeper in the house of my God,
Than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11 For Jehovah God is a sun and a shield:
Jehovah will give grace and glory;
No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
12 O Jehovah of hosts,
Blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.
18 Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which Jehovah thy God giveth thee, according to thy tribes; and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. 19 Thou shalt not wrest justice: thou shalt not respect persons; neither shalt thou take a bribe; for a bribe doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the [a]words of the righteous. 20 [b]That which is altogether just shalt thou follow, that thou mayest live, and inherit the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee.
14 When thou art come unto the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are round about me; 15 thou shalt surely set him king over thee, whom Jehovah thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee; thou mayest not put a foreigner over thee, who is not thy brother. 16 Only he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he may multiply horses; forasmuch as Jehovah hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way. 17 Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.
18 And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book, out of that which is before the priests the Levites: 19 and it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life; that he may learn to fear Jehovah his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them; 20 that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children, in the midst of Israel.
8 Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God which hath been given in the churches of Macedonia; 2 how that in much proof of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their [a]liberality. 3 For according to their power, I bear witness, yea and beyond their power, they gave of their own accord, 4 beseeching us with much entreaty in regard of this grace and the fellowship in the ministering to the saints: 5 and this, not as we had hoped, but first they gave their own selves to the Lord, and to us through the will of God. 6 Insomuch that we exhorted Titus, that as he had made a beginning before, so he would also complete in you this grace also. 7 But as ye abound in everything, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all earnestness, and in [b]your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also. 8 I speak not by way of commandment, but as proving through the earnestness of others the sincerity also of your love. 9 For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might become rich. 10 And herein I give my judgment: for this is expedient for you, who were the first to make a beginning a year ago, not only to do, but also to will. 11 But now complete the doing also; that as there was the readiness to will, so there may be the completion also out of your ability. 12 For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according as a man hath, not according as he hath not. 13 For I say not this that others may be eased and ye distressed; 14 but by equality: your abundance being a supply at this present time for their want, that their abundance also may become a supply for your want; that there may be equality: 15 as it is written, [c]He that gathered much had nothing over; and he that gathered little had no lack.
16 But thanks be to God, who putteth the same earnest care for you into the heart of Titus.
18 And he spake a parable unto them to the end that they ought always to pray, and not to faint; 2 saying, There was in a city a judge, who feared not God, and regarded not man: 3 and there was a widow in that city; and she came oft unto him, saying, [a]Avenge me of mine adversary. 4 And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; 5 yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, [b]lest she [c]wear me out by her continual coming. 6 And the Lord said, Hear what [d]the unrighteous judge saith. 7 And shall not God avenge his elect, that cry to him day and night, [e]and yet he is longsuffering over them? 8 I say unto you, that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of man cometh, shall he find [f]faith on the earth?
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