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.
19 Then the king said to Ittai, the Gittite, Why dost thou also go with us? Return to thy place and abide with the king; for thou art a stranger and also an exile.
20 Whereas thou didst come but yesterday, should I this day make thee go up and down with us? Seeing I go where I go, return thou and take back thy brethren; mercy and truth are in thee.
21 And Ittai answered the king and said, As the LORD lives and as my lord the king lives, for life or for death, wherever my lord the king shall be, there also will thy slave be.
22 Then David said to Ittai, Go, therefore, and pass. And Ittai, the Gittite, passed and all his men and all the little ones that were with him.
23 And all those of the land wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed the brook Kidron; and then the king also passed, and all the people passed unto the way of the wilderness.
24 ¶ And behold Zadok also and with him all the Levites who bore the ark of the covenant of God, and they set down the ark of God. And Abiathar went up after all the people had finished leaving the city.
25 But the king said unto Zadok, Carry back the ark of God into the city; if I shall find grace in the eyes of the LORD, he will bring me again and show me both it and his tabernacle.
26 But if he should say, I have no delight in thee; behold, here I am, let him do to me as seems good unto him.
27 The king said also unto Zadok, the priest, Art not thou a seer? Return into the city in peace and your two sons with you, Ahimaaz, thy son, and Jonathan, the son of Abiathar.
28 See, I will tarry in the plain of the wilderness until you send word to me.
29 Then Zadok and Abiathar carried the ark of God again to Jerusalem, and they remained there.
30 And David went up by the ascent of Mount Olivet and wept as he went up and had his head covered, and he went barefoot. And all the people that were with him covered each one his head, and they went up, weeping as they went up.
31 ¶ And it was told David, saying, Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom. Then David said, O LORD, I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into folly.
32 And it came to pass that when David came to the top of the mount to worship God there, behold, Hushai, the Archite came to meet him, with his coat rent and earth upon his head,
33 Unto whom David said, If thou pass on with me, then thou shalt be a burden unto me;
34 but if thou return to the city and say unto Absalom, I will be thy slave, O king as I have been thy father’s slave until now, so will I now also be thy slave; then thou may defeat the counsel of Ahithophel for me.
35 Are not Zadok and Abiathar, the priests, there with thee? Therefore, it shall be that whatever thou shalt hear out of the king’s house, thou shalt tell it to Zadok and Abiathar, the priests.
36 Behold, they have there with them their two sons, Ahimaaz, Zadok’s son, and Jonathan, Abiathar’s son; and by them you shall send unto me everything that you hear.
37 So Hushai, David’s special companion came into the city, and Absalom came into Jerusalem.
37 And as Paul was to be led into the fortress, he said unto the tribunal, May I speak unto thee? Who said, Canst thou speak Greek?
38 Art not thou that Egyptian, who before these days made an uproar and led four thousand men out into the wilderness that were murderers?
39 But Paul said, I am certainly a Jew, a citizen of Tarsus, a city known in Cilicia; and, I beseech thee, suffer me to speak unto the people.
40 And when he had given him license, Paul stood on the stairs and beckoned with the hand unto the people. And when there was made a great silence, he spoke unto them in the Hebrew tongue, saying,
22 ¶ Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defense which I make now unto you.
2 (And when they heard that he spoke in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more silence, and he said,)
3 ¶ I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel and taught according to the truth of the law of the fathers, zealous toward God, as ye all are this day.
4 And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women.
5 As also the prince of the priests bears me witness, and all the estate of the elders, from whom also I received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus to bring those who were bound there unto Jerusalem to be punished.
6 And it came to pass that, as I made my journey and was come near unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me.
7 And I fell unto the ground and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why dost thou persecute me?
8 And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I Am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou dost persecute.
9 And those that were with me saw indeed the light and were afraid, but they did not hear the voice of him that spoke to me.
10 And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, Arise and go into Damascus, and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do.
11 And when I could not see for the clarity of that light, being led by the hand of those that were with me, I came into Damascus.
12 And one Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good witness of all the Jews who dwelt there,
13 came unto me and stood and said unto me, Brother Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up upon him.
14 And he said, The God of our fathers has chosen thee that thou should know his will and see that Just One and should hear the voice of his mouth.
15 For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard.
16 And now why tarriest thou? Arise and be baptized and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.
46 ¶ And so they come to Jericho, and as he went out of Jericho with his disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging.
47 And hearing that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me.
48 And many told him to be silent, but he cried even more, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.
49 Then Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Have confidence, rise; he calls thee.
50 He, therefore, casting away his garment, rose and came to Jesus.
51 And Jesus, answering, said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? And the blind man said unto him, Master, that I might receive my sight.
52 And Jesus said unto him, Go; thy faith has saved thee. And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus in the way.
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