Book of Common Prayer
33 He turneth rivers into a wilderness,
And watersprings into a thirsty ground;
34 A fruitful land into a salt desert,
For the wickedness of them that dwell therein.
35 He turneth a wilderness into a pool of water,
And a dry land into watersprings.
36 And there he maketh the hungry to dwell,
That they may prepare a city of habitation,
37 And sow fields, and plant vineyards,
And get them fruits of increase.
38 He blesseth them also, so that they are multiplied greatly;
And he suffereth not their cattle to decrease.
39 Again, they are diminished and bowed down
Through oppression, trouble, and sorrow.
40 He poureth contempt upon princes,
And causeth them to wander in the waste, where there is no way.
41 Yet setteth he the needy on high from affliction,
And maketh him families like a flock.
42 The upright shall see it, and be glad;
And all iniquity shall stop her mouth.
43 Whoso is wise will give heed to these things;
And they will consider the lovingkindnesses of Jehovah.
God praised, and supplicated to give victory.
A Song, a Psalm of David.
108 My heart is fixed, O God;
I will sing, yea, I will sing praises, even with my glory.
2 Awake, psaltery and harp:
I myself will [a]awake right early.
3 I will give thanks unto thee, O Jehovah, among the peoples;
And I will sing praises unto thee among the nations.
4 For thy lovingkindness is great above the heavens;
And thy truth reacheth unto the skies.
5 Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens,
And thy glory above all the earth.
6 That thy beloved may be delivered,
Save with thy right hand, and answer [b]us.
7 God hath spoken in his holiness: I will exult;
I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth.
8 Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine;
Ephraim also is the defence of my head;
Judah is my [c]sceptre.
9 Moab is my washpot;
[d]Upon Edom will I cast my shoe;
Over Philistia will I shout.
10 Who will bring me into the fortified city?
Who [e]hath led me unto Edom?
11 [f]Hast not thou cast us off, O God?
And thou goest not forth, O God, with our hosts.
12 Give us help against the adversary;
For vain is the [g]help of man.
13 Through God we shall do valiantly:
For he it is that will tread down our adversaries.
Praise to the Creator and Preserver.
33 Rejoice in Jehovah, O ye righteous:
Praise is comely for the upright.
2 Give thanks unto Jehovah with the harp:
Sing praises unto him with the psaltery of ten strings.
3 Sing unto him a new song;
Play skilfully with a loud noise.
4 For the word of Jehovah is right;
And all his work is done in faithfulness.
5 He loveth righteousness and justice:
The earth is full of the lovingkindness of Jehovah.
6 By the word of Jehovah were the heavens made,
And all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.
7 He gathereth the waters of the sea together as a heap:
He layeth up the deeps in store-houses.
8 Let all the earth fear Jehovah:
Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
9 For he spake, and it was done;
He commanded, and it stood fast.
10 Jehovah bringeth the counsel of the nations to nought;
He maketh the thoughts of the peoples to be of no effect.
11 The counsel of Jehovah standeth fast for ever,
The thoughts of his heart to all generations.
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is Jehovah,
The people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.
13 Jehovah looketh from heaven;
He beholdeth all the sons of men;
14 From the place of his habitation he looketh forth
Upon all the inhabitants of the earth,
15 He that fashioneth the hearts of them all,
That considereth all their works.
16 There is no king saved by [a]the multitude of a host:
A mighty man is not delivered by great strength.
17 A horse is a vain thing for safety;
Neither doth he deliver any by his great power.
18 Behold, the eye of Jehovah is upon them that fear him,
Upon them that [b]hope in his lovingkindness;
19 To deliver their soul from death,
And to keep them alive in famine.
20 Our soul hath waited for Jehovah:
He is our help and our shield.
21 For our heart shall rejoice in him,
Because we have trusted in his holy name.
22 Let thy lovingkindness, O Jehovah, be upon us,
According as we [c]have hoped in thee.
16 And when David was a little past the top of the ascent, behold, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him, with a couple of asses saddled, and upon them two hundred loaves of bread, and a hundred clusters of raisins, and a hundred of summer fruits, and a [a]bottle of wine. 2 And the king said unto Ziba, What meanest thou by these? And Ziba said, The asses are for the king’s household to ride on; and the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat; and the wine, that such as are faint in the wilderness may drink. 3 And the king said, And where is thy master’s son? And Ziba said unto the king, Behold, he abideth at Jerusalem; for he said, To-day will the house of Israel restore me the kingdom of my father. 4 Then said the king to Ziba, Behold, thine is all that pertaineth unto Mephibosheth. And Ziba said, I do obeisance; let me find favor in thy sight, my lord, O king.
5 And when king David came to Bahurim, behold, there came out thence a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera; he came out, and cursed still as he came. 6 And he cast stones at David, and at all the servants of king David: and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left. 7 And thus said Shimei when he cursed, Begone, begone, thou man of blood, and base fellow: 8 Jehovah hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned; and Jehovah hath delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son; and, behold, thou art taken in thine own mischief, because thou art a man of blood.
9 Then said Abishai the son of Zeruiah unto the king, Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? let me go over, I pray thee, and take off his head. 10 And the king said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah? [b]Because he curseth, and because Jehovah hath said unto him, Curse David; who then shall say, Wherefore hast thou done so? 11 And David said to Abishai, and to all his servants, Behold, my son, who came forth from my bowels, seeketh my life: how much more may this Benjamite now do it? let him alone, and let him curse; for Jehovah hath bidden him. 12 It may be that Jehovah will look on the wrong done unto me, and that Jehovah will requite me good for his cursing of me this day. 13 So David and his men went by the way; and Shimei went along on the hill-side over against him, and cursed as he went, and threw stones [c]at him, and cast dust. 14 And the king, and all the people that were with him, came [d]weary; and he refreshed himself there.
15 And Absalom, and all the people, the men of Israel, came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel with him. 16 And it came to pass, when Hushai the Archite, David’s friend, was come unto Absalom, that Hushai said unto Absalom, Long live the king, Long live the king. 17 And Absalom said to Hushai, Is this thy kindness to thy friend? why wentest thou not with thy friend? 18 And Hushai said unto Absalom, Nay; but whom Jehovah, and this people, and all the men of Israel have chosen, his will I be, and with him will I abide. 19 And again, whom should I serve? should I not serve in the presence of his son? as I have served in thy father’s presence, so will I be in thy presence.
20 Then said Absalom to Ahithophel, Give your counsel what we shall do. 21 And Ahithophel said unto Absalom, Go in unto thy father’s concubines, that he hath left to keep the house; and all Israel will hear that thou art abhorred of thy father: then will the hands of all that are with thee be strong. 22 So they spread Absalom a tent upon the top of the house; and Absalom went in unto his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel. 23 And the counsel of Ahithophel, which he gave in those days, was as if a man inquired at the [e]oracle of God: so was all the counsel of Ahithophel both with David and with Absalom.
17 And it came to pass, that, when I had returned to Jerusalem, and while I prayed in the temple, I fell into a trance, 18 and saw him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem; because they will not receive of thee testimony concerning me. 19 And I said, Lord, they themselves know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on thee: 20 and when the blood of Stephen thy witness was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting, and keeping the garments of them that slew him. 21 And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee forth far hence unto the Gentiles.
22 And they gave him audience unto this word; and they lifted up their voice, and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth: for it is not fit that he should live. 23 And as they cried out, and threw off their garments, and cast dust into the air, 24 the [a]chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle, bidding that he should be examined by scourging, that he might know for what cause they so shouted against him. 25 And when they had tied him up [b]with the thongs, Paul said unto the centurion that stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned? 26 And when the centurion heard it, he went to the [c]chief captain and told him, saying, What art thou about to do? for this man is a Roman. 27 And the [d]chief captain came and said unto him, Tell me, art thou a Roman? And he said, Yea. 28 And the [e]chief captain answered, With a great sum obtained I this citizenship. And Paul said, But I am a Roman born. 29 They then that were about to examine him straightway departed from him: and the [f]chief captain also was afraid when he knew that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him.
11 And when they draw nigh unto Jerusalem, unto Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount of Olives, he sendeth two of his disciples, 2 and saith unto them, Go your way into the village that is over against you: and straightway as ye enter into it, ye shall find a colt tied, whereon no man ever yet sat; loose him, and bring him. 3 And if any one say unto you, Why do ye this? say ye, The Lord hath need of him; and straightway he [a]will send him [b]back hither. 4 And they went away, and found a colt tied at the door without in the open street; and they loose him. 5 And certain of them that stood there said unto them, What do ye, loosing the colt? 6 And they said unto them even as Jesus had said: and they let them go. 7 And they bring the colt unto Jesus, and cast on him their garments; and he sat upon him. 8 And many spread their garments upon the way; and others [c]branches, which they had cut from the fields. 9 And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord: 10 Blessed is the kingdom that cometh, the kingdom of our father David: Hosanna in the highest.
11 And he entered into Jerusalem, into the temple; and when he had looked round about upon all things, it being now eventide, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve.
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