Book of Common Prayer
A Song of degrees.
1 ¶ In my distress I cried unto the LORD, and he answered me.
2 Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips and from a deceitful tongue.
3 What shall be given unto thee? or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue?
4 Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper.
5 ¶ Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar!
6 My soul has long dwelt with those that hate peace.
7 I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war.
A Song of degrees.
1 ¶ I will lift up mine eyes unto the mountains, from whence cometh my help.
2 My help comes from the LORD, who made the heavens and earth.
3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved; he that keeps thee will not slumber.
4 Behold, he that keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand.
6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil; he shall preserve thy soul.
8 The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.
A Song of degrees of David.
1 ¶ I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.
2 Our feet stood within thy gates, O Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem, that one which is built as a city that is well united together
4 Because the tribes went up there, the tribes of JAH, the testimony to Israel, to praise the name of the LORD.
5 For there are set thrones of the judgment, the thrones of the house of David.
6 ¶ Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; those that love thee shall be brought into rest.
7 Peace be within thy walls and rest within thy palaces.
8 For my brethren and companions’ sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee.
9 Because of the house of the LORD our God, I will seek thy good.
A Song of degrees.
1 ¶ Unto thee I lift up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens.
2 Behold, as the eyes of slaves look unto the hand of their masters and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress, so our eyes wait upon the LORD our God, until he shall have mercy upon us.
3 Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us, for we are exceedingly weary of being held in contempt.
4 Our soul is exceedingly weary of the scorning of those that are at ease and of the contempt of the proud.
A Song of degrees of David.
1 ¶ If the LORD had not been for us, now may Israel say,
2 If the LORD had not been for us, when men rose up against us,
3 then they would have swallowed us up alive, when their wrath was kindled against us;
4 then the waters would have overwhelmed us; the flood would have gone over our soul;
5 then the proud waters would have gone over our soul.
6 ¶ Blessed be the LORD, who did not give us as a prey to their teeth.
7 Our soul has escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers; the snare has broken, and we are escaped.
8 Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made the heaven and the earth.
A Song of degrees.
1 ¶ Those that trust in the LORD are as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed but abides for ever.
2 As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the LORD is round about his people from now on even for ever.
3 For the rod of wickedness shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous because the righteous shall not put forth their hands unto iniquity.
4 ¶ Do good, O LORD, unto those that are good and to those that are upright in their hearts.
5 As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, the LORD shall take them away with the workers of iniquity; and peace shall be upon Israel.
A Song of degrees.
1 ¶ When the LORD shall turn again the captivity of Zion, we shall be like those that dream.
2 Then our mouth shall be filled with laughter and our tongue with singing; then they shall say among the Gentiles, The LORD has done great things with them.
3 The LORD has done great things with us, of which we shall be glad.
4 ¶ Turn again our captivity, O LORD, as the streams in the south.
5 Those that sow with tears shall reap with joy.
6 He that goes forth and weeps, bearing the precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
A Song of degrees for Solomon.
1 ¶ Unless the LORD builds the house, they labour in vain that build it; unless the LORD keeps the city, the watchmen watch in vain.
2 It is vain for you to rise up early, to come home late, to eat the bread of sorrows, because he shall give his beloved sleep.
3 Behold, sons are a heritage of the LORD, and the fruit of the womb is to be desired.
4 As arrows in the hand of a mighty man, so are the young men.
5 Happy is the man that has filled his quiver with them: he shall not be ashamed when he speaks with the enemies in the gate.
9 ¶ And Absalom met the slaves of David. And Absalom rode upon a mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of a great oak, and his head caught hold of the oak, and he was taken up between the heaven and the earth; and the mule that was under him went away.
10 And a certain man saw it and told Joab, saying, Behold, I saw Absalom hanged in an oak.
11 And Joab replied unto the man that told him, Behold, when thou didst see him, why didst thou not smite him there to the ground? I would have given thee ten shekels of silver and a girdle.
12 And the man said unto Joab, Though I should receive a thousand shekels of silver in my hand, yet I would not put forth my hand against the king’s son, for in our hearing the king charged thee and Abishai and Ittai, saying, Beware that no one touch the young man Absalom.
13 Otherwise, I should have wrought falsehood against my own soul (for there is no matter hid from the king), and thou thyself would have set thyself against me.
14 Then Joab answered, I may not tarry thus with thee. And taking three darts in his hand, he thrust them through the heart of Absalom while he was yet alive in the midst of the oak.
15 And ten young men that bore Joab’s armour surrounded and smote Absalom and slew him.
16 Then Joab blew the shofar, and the people returned from pursuing after Israel, for Joab held back the people.
17 And they took Absalom and cast him into a great pit in the forest and laid a very great heap of stones upon him; and all Israel fled each one to his tent.
18 Now Absalom, while he was alive, had taken and reared up for himself a pillar, which is in the king’s valley; for he said, I have no son to keep my name in remembrance. And he called the pillar after his own name, and it is called unto this day, Absalom’s place. {Heb. hand}
12 ¶ And when it was day, certain of the Jews banded together and they vowed under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul.
13 And they were more than forty who had made this conspiracy.
14 And they came to the princes of the priests and the elders and said, We have made a vow of anathema that we will eat nothing until we have slain Paul.
15 Now therefore ye with the council signify to the tribunal that he bring him down unto you tomorrow, as though ye would enquire something more certain concerning him, and we, before he arrives, are ready to kill him.
16 And when Paul’s sister’s son heard of their ambush, he went and entered into the fortress and told Paul.
17 Then Paul called one of the centurions unto him and said, Bring this young man unto the tribunal, for he has a certain thing to tell him.
18 So he took him and brought him to the tribunal and said, Paul the prisoner called me unto him and asked me to bring this young man unto thee, who has something to say unto thee.
19 Then the tribunal took him by the hand and went with him aside privately and asked him, What is that thou hast to tell me?
20 And he said, The Jews have agreed to ask thee that thou would bring down Paul tomorrow into the council, as though they would enquire something more certain of him.
21 But do not believe them, for more than forty of them lie in wait to ambush him, who have vowed under a curse that they will neither eat nor drink until they have killed him, and now they are ready, looking for a promise from thee.
22 So the tribunal then let the young man depart and charged him, See thou tell no one that thou hast showed these things to me.
23 And he called unto him two centurions, saying, Make ready two hundred soldiers to go to Caesarea and seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen, at the third hour of the night
24 and provide them beasts that they may set Paul on and bring him safe unto Felix the governor.
27 ¶ And they returned to Jerusalem, and as he was walking in the temple, the princes of the priests and the scribes and the elders came
28 and said unto him, By what faculty doest thou these things? and who gave thee this faculty to do these things?
29 Then Jesus, answering, said unto them, I will also ask of you one word, and respond unto me, and I will tell you with what faculty I do these things.
30 The baptism of John, was it of heaven or of men? Respond unto me.
31 Then they thought inside themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven, he will say, Why then did ye not believe him?
32 But if we shall say, Of men, we fear the people, for everyone judged regarding John that he truly was a prophet.
33 And answering, they said unto Jesus, We do not know. And Jesus, answering, said unto them, Neither shall I tell you with what faculty I do these things.
12 ¶ And he began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard and set a hedge about it and dug a place for the winefat {Place where grapes are tread} and built a tower and let it out to husbandmen and went far away.
2 And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a slave that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard.
3 And taking him, they beat him and sent him away empty.
4 And again he sent unto them another slave, and casting stones at him, they wounded him in the head and sent him away shamefully handled.
5 And again he sent another, and him they killed and many others, beating some and killing some.
6 Having yet therefore one son, his wellbeloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, They will reverence my son.
7 But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the place shall be ours.
8 And taking hold of him, they killed him and cast him out of the vineyard.
9 What, therefore, shall the lord of the vineyard do? He shall come and destroy those husbandmen and shall give his vineyard unto others.
10 And have ye not read this scripture: The stone which the builders rejected is placed as the head of the corner;
11 This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?
12 And they sought to lay hold on him but feared the multitude, for they understood that he had spoken the parable against them, and leaving him, they went away.
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