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.
23 And it came to pass after two full years that Absalom had sheepshearers in Baalhazor, which is beside Ephraim, and Absalom invited all the king’s sons.
24 And Absalom came to the king and said, Behold now, thy slave has sheepshearers; let the king, I beseech thee, and his slaves go with thy slave.
25 And the king said to Absalom, No, my son, let us not all go lest we be burdensome unto thee. And he pressed him; however, he would not go but blessed him.
26 Then said Absalom, If not, I pray thee, let my brother Amnon go with us. And the king said unto him, Why should he go with thee?
27 But because Absalom pressed him, he let Amnon and all the king’s sons go with him.
28 Now Absalom had commanded his servants, saying, Mark ye now when Amnon’s heart is merry with wine, and when I say unto you, Smite Amnon, then kill him. Fear not; have I not commanded you? Be courageous, and be valiant.
29 And the servants of Absalom did unto Amnon as Absalom had commanded. Then all the king’s sons arose, and they all got upon their mules and fled.
30 ¶ And it came to pass, while they were in the way, that the rumour came to David, saying, Absalom has slain all the king’s sons, and there is not one of them left.
31 Then the king arose and tore his garments and lay on the earth; and all his slaves stood by with their clothes rent.
32 And Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, David’s brother, answered and said, Do not let my lord suppose that they have slain all the young men, the king’s sons, for only Amnon is dead, for by the mouth of Absalom this has been determined from the day that he forced his sister Tamar.
33 Now, therefore, do not let my lord the king take the thing to his heart, to think that all the king’s sons are dead, for only Amnon is dead.
34 But Absalom fled. And the young man that kept the watch lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there came many people by the way of the side of the mountain behind him.
35 And Jonadab said unto the king, Behold, the king’s sons come; as thy slave said, so it is.
36 And it came to pass, as soon as he had made an end of speaking, that, behold, the king’s sons came and lifted up their voice and wept. And the king also and all his slaves wept very sore.
37 But Absalom fled and went to Talmai, the son of Ammihud, king of Geshur. And David mourned for his son every day.
38 So after Absalom fled and went to Geshur, he was there three years.
39 And King David longed to see Absalom, for he was now comforted concerning Amnon, who was dead.
17 ¶ And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the congregation. {Gr. ekklesia – called out ones}
18 And when they were come to him, he said unto them, Ye know, from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons,
19 serving the Lord with all humility and with many tears and temptations, which have befallen me by the ambushes of the Jews,
20 and how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you and have taught you publicly and from house to house,
21 testifying both to the Jews and also to the Gentiles, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
22 And now, behold, I go bound of the Spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there,
23 except that the Holy Spirit witnesses in every city, saying that prisons and tribulations await me.
24 But none of these things move me, neither do I count my life dear unto myself, only that I might finish my course with joy and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
25 And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more.
26 Therefore I take you to record this day that I am pure from the blood of everyone.
27 For I have not refrained from declaring unto you the full counsel of God.
28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has placed you as bishops to feed the congregation {Gr. ekklesia – called out ones} of God, which he has purchased with his own blood.
29 For I know this, that after my departing, grievous wolves shall enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
30 Also from among your own selves, men shall arise, speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after themselves.
31 Therefore watch and remember that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.
32 And now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is powerful to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
33 I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel.
34 Moreover, ye yourselves know that these hands have ministered unto my necessities and to those that were with me.
35 I have showed you in all things how that so labouring, ye ought to support the weak and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.
36 ¶ And when he had thus spoken, he knelt down and prayed with them all.
37 Then they all wept sore and fell on Paul’s neck and kissed him,
38 sorrowing most of all for the word which he spoke, that they should see his face no more. And they accompanied him unto the ship.
42 And whosoever shall be a stumbling block to one of these little ones that believe in me, it would be better for him if a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.
43 And if thy hand causes thee to fall, cut it off; it is better for thee to enter into life maimed than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that can never be quenched,
44 where their worm does not die, and the fire is never quenched.
45 And if thy foot causes thee to fall, cut it off; it is better for thee to enter halt into life than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that can never be quenched,
46 where their worm does not die, and the fire is never quenched.
47 And if thine eye causes thee to fall, pluck it out; it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than having two eyes to be cast into hell,
48 where their worm does not die, and the fire is never quenched.
49 For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.
50 Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltness, with what will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.
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