Book of Common Prayer
1 ¶ Blessed is the man that does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of the scornful.
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in his law he meditates day and night.
3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.
4 ¶ The ungodly are not so but are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
6 For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
1 ¶ Why do the Gentiles rage, and the peoples imagine a vain thing?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his anointed, saying,
3 let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us.
4 He that sits in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.
5 Then he shall speak unto them in his wrath and trouble them in his sore displeasure.
6 Yet I have set my king upon Zion, the mountain of my holiness.
7 ¶ I will declare the decree; the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day I have begotten thee.
8 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the Gentiles for thine inheritance and unto the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.
10 ¶ Understand now therefore, O ye kings: receive chastening, ye judges of the earth.
11 Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way when his wrath is kindled in a little while. Blessed are all those that put their trust in him.
A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son.
1 ¶ LORD, how are they increased that trouble me! Many are they that rise up against me.
2 There are many who say of my soul, There is no help for him in God. Selah.
3 But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me; my glory and the lifter up of my head.
4 ¶ I cried unto the LORD with my voice, and he answered me out of the mountain of his holiness. Selah.
5 I laid me down and slept; I awaked, for the LORD sustained me.
6 I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people that have set themselves against me round about.
7 Arise, O LORD; save me, O my God, for thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the jawbone; thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly.
8 Salvation belongs unto the LORD; thy blessing shall be upon thy people. Selah.
To the Overcomer in Neginoth, A Psalm of David.
1 ¶ Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness; thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.
2 O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame? how long will ye love vanity, and seek after the lie? Selah.
3 But know that the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for himself; the LORD will hear when I call unto him.
4 Stand in awe, and sin not; meditate in your heart upon your bed, and desist. Selah.
5 Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the LORD.
6 ¶ There are many that say, Who will show us any good? LORD, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.
7 Thou hast put gladness in my heart in the time that their grain and their wine multiplied.
8 I will both lay me down in peace and sleep: for thou only, O LORD, dost make me to be confident.
Shiggaion of David, which he sang unto the LORD, concerning the words of Cush the Benjamite.
1 ¶ O LORD my God, in thee I have put my trust: save me from all those that persecute me, and deliver me
2 Lest they take my soul, as a lion dismembers his prey when there is none to deliver.
3 O LORD my God, if I have done this: if there is iniquity in my hands,
4 if I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me, then let my persecutor escape without retribution.
5 Let the enemy persecute my soul, and take it; let him tread down my life upon the earth and lay my honour in the dust. Selah.
6 Arise, O LORD, in thine anger; lift up thyself because of the rage of mine enemies: and awake the judgment in my favour that thou hast commanded.
7 So shall the congregation of the people compass thee about, for their sakes therefore return thou on high.
8 The LORD shall judge the people: judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me.
9 Let wickedness consume the wicked; but establish the just: for the righteous God is he who tries the hearts and kidneys.
10 ¶ My shield is in God, he who saves the upright in heart.
11 God is he who judges the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.
12 If he does not turn, he will whet his sword; he has bent his bow and made it ready.
13 He has also prepared for him the weapons of death; he ordains his arrows against the persecutors.
14 Behold, he travails with iniquity and has conceived of his own work and brought forth falsehood.
15 He made a pit and deepened it and shall fall into the ditch which he made.
16 His work shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate.
17 I will praise the LORD according to his righteousness and will sing praise to the name of the LORD most high.
5 ¶ Then Adonijah, the son of Haggith, exalted himself, saying, I will reign, and he prepared chariots and horsemen for himself and fifty men to run before him.
6 And his father had not displeased him at any time in saying, Why hast thou done so? and he also was very handsome; and he had begotten him after Absalom.
7 And he conferred with Joab, the son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar, the priest who helped Adonijah.
8 But Zadok the priest, and Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, and Nathan, the prophet, and Shimei and Rei and the mighty men of David did not follow Adonijah.
9 And Adonijah slew sheep and oxen and fat cattle by the stone of Zoheleth, which is by Enrogel, and called all his brethren, the king’s sons, and all the men of Judah, the king’s slaves;
10 but he did not invite Nathan, the prophet, nor Benaiah nor the mighty men nor Solomon his brother.
11 ¶ And Nathan spoke unto Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon, saying, Hast thou not heard that Adonijah, the son of Haggith, reigns without David our lord knowing of it?
12 Now, therefore, come, let me, I pray thee, give thee counsel that thou may deliver thine own life and the life of thy son Solomon.
13 Go and enter in unto King David and say unto him, Didst not thou, my lord, O king, swear unto thy handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon, thy son, shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne? Why then does Adonijah reign?
14 And while thou art yet speaking there with the king, I also will come in after thee and finish thy words.
15 And Bathsheba went in unto the king into the chamber; and the king was very old; and Abishag, the Shunammite, ministered unto the king.
16 And Bathsheba bowed and worshipped the king. And the king said, What dost thou desire?
17 And she said unto him, My lord, thou didst sware by the LORD thy God unto thy handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon, thy son, shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne;
18 and now, behold, Adonijah reigns; and now, my lord the king, thou dost not know it.
19 He has slain oxen and fat cattle and sheep in abundance and has called all the sons of the king and Abiathar, the priest, and Joab, the captain of the host; but he has not invited Solomon, thy slave.
20 And thou, my lord, O king, the eyes of all Israel are upon thee that thou should tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him.
21 Otherwise, it shall come to pass, when my lord the king shall sleep with his fathers that I and my son Solomon shall be counted as sinners.
22 And while she yet spoke with the king, Nathan, the prophet, also came in.
23 And they told the king, saying, Behold Nathan, the prophet. And when he was come in before the king, he bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground.
24 And Nathan said, My lord, O king, hast thou said, Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne?
25 For today he has gone down and has slain oxen and fat cattle and sheep in abundance and has called all the king’s sons and the captains of the host and Abiathar, the priest; and, behold, they eat and drink before him and say, Long live King Adonijah.
26 But he did not invite me, thy slave, nor Zadok, the priest, nor Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, nor thy slave Solomon.
27 Is this thing done by my lord the king, and thou hast not declared unto thy slave who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?
28 Then King David answered and said, Call me Bathsheba. And she came into the king’s presence and stood before the king.
29 And the king swore and said, As the LORD lives, who has ransomed my soul out of all distress,
30 even as I swore unto thee by the LORD God of Israel, saying, Assuredly Solomon, thy son, shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne in my stead; even so will I certainly do this day.
31 Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the earth and did reverence to the king and said, Let my lord King David live for ever.
26 ¶ Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Thou art permitted to speak for thyself. Then Paul stretched forth the hand and answered for himself:
2 I esteem myself blessed, King Agrippa, because I shall answer for myself this day before thee concerning all the things of which I am accused of the Jews,
3 especially because I know thee to be expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews; therefore, I beseech thee to hear me patiently.
4 My manner of life from my youth, which from the beginning was among my own nation at Jerusalem, is known of all the Jews,
5 who knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, that after the most perfect sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.
6 And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers;
7 unto which promise our twelve tribes, constantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope’s sake, King Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews.
8 Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you that God should raise the dead?
9 I verily had thought that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
10 Which things I also did in Jerusalem, and I shut up many of the saints in prison, having received authority from the princes of the priests, and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them.
11 And I punished them often in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto foreign cities.
12 ¶ Whereupon as I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the princes of the priests,
13 at midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and those who journeyed with me.
14 And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why dost thou persecute me? It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
15 And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou dost persecute.
16 But rise and stand upon thy feet, for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen and of those things in which I will appear unto thee;
17 delivering thee from the people and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee
18 to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive remission of sins and inheritance among those who are sanctified by the faith that is in me.
19 Whereupon, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision,
20 but I announced first unto those of Damascus and at Jerusalem and throughout all the coasts of Judaea and then to the Gentiles that they should repent and turn to God, doing works worthy of repentance.
21 For these causes the Jews caught me in the temple and went about to kill me.
22 Having, therefore, obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said should come:
23 that the Christ should suffer and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead and should show light unto this people and to the Gentiles.
14 ¶ But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation (spoken of by Daniel the prophet) standing where it ought not, he that reads, let him understand, then let those that are in Judaea flee to the mountains;
15 and let him that is on the housetop not go down into the house, neither enter therein to take any thing out of his house;
16 and let him that is in the field not turn back again even to take up his garment.
17 But woe to those that are with child and to those that give suck in those days!
18 Pray, therefore, that your flight not be in winter.
19 For those days shall be of affliction such as never was from the beginning of the creation of the things which God created unto this time, neither shall be.
20 And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved, but for the elect’s sake, whom he has chosen, he has shortened those days.
21 And then if anyone should say to you, Behold, here is the Christ, or, Behold, he is there, do not believe him;
22 for false Christs and false prophets shall rise and shall show signs and wonders to seduce, if possible, even the elect.
23 But take ye heed; behold, I have told you everything beforehand.
24 ¶ But in those days after that affliction, the sun shall darken, and the moon shall not give her light,
25 and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers that are in the heavens shall be shaken.
26 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.
27 And then shall he send his angels and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth unto the uttermost part of the heaven.
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