Book of Common Prayer
Meditations and prayers relating to the law of God.
א Aleph.
119 Blessed are they that are [a]perfect in the way,
Who walk in the law of Jehovah.
2 Blessed are they that keep his testimonies,
That seek him with the whole heart.
3 Yea, they do no unrighteousness;
They walk in his ways.
4 Thou hast commanded us thy precepts,
That we should observe them diligently.
5 Oh that my ways were established
To observe thy statutes!
6 Then shall I not be put to shame,
When I have respect unto all thy commandments.
7 I will give thanks unto thee with uprightness of heart,
When I learn thy righteous judgments.
8 I will observe thy statutes:
Oh forsake me not utterly.
ב Beth.
9 Wherewith shall a young man cleanse his way?
By taking heed thereto according to thy word.
10 With my whole heart have I sought thee:
Oh let me not wander from thy commandments.
11 Thy word have I laid up in my heart,
That I might not sin against thee.
12 Blessed art thou, O Jehovah:
Teach me thy statutes.
13 With my lips have I declared
All the ordinances of thy mouth.
14 I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies,
As much as in all riches.
15 I will meditate on thy precepts,
And have respect unto thy ways.
16 I will delight myself in thy statutes:
I will not forget thy word.
ג Gimel.
17 Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live;
So will I observe thy word.
18 Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold
Wondrous things out of thy law.
19 I am a sojourner in the earth:
Hide not thy commandments from me.
20 My soul breaketh for the longing
That it hath unto thine ordinances at all times.
21 Thou hast rebuked the proud [b]that are cursed,
That do wander from thy commandments.
22 Take away from me reproach and contempt;
For I have kept thy testimonies.
23 Princes also sat and talked against me;
But thy servant did meditate on thy statutes.
24 Thy testimonies also are my delight
And [c]my counsellors.
God a helper against the treacherous.
For the Chief Musician; set to [a]the Sheminith. A Psalm of David.
12 Help, Jehovah; for the godly man ceaseth;
For [b]the faithful fail from among the children of men.
2 They speak falsehood every one with his neighbor:
With flattering lip, and with a double heart, do they speak.
3 Jehovah will cut off all flattering lips,
The tongue that speaketh great things;
4 Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail;
Our lips are [c]our own: who is lord over us?
5 Because of the oppression of the poor, because of the sighing of the needy,
Now will I arise, saith Jehovah;
I will set him in the safety he panteth for.
6 The words of Jehovah are pure words;
As silver tried in a furnace on the earth,
Purified seven times.
7 Thou wilt keep them, O Jehovah,
Thou wilt preserve them from this generation for ever.
8 The wicked walk on every side,
When vileness is exalted among the sons of men.
Prayer for help in affliction.
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
13 How long, O Jehovah? wilt thou forget me for ever?
How long wilt thou hide thy face from me?
2 How long shall I take counsel in my soul,
Having sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?
3 Consider and answer me, O Jehovah my God:
Lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;
4 Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him;
Lest mine adversaries rejoice when I am moved.
5 But I have trusted in thy lovingkindness;
My heart shall rejoice in thy salvation.
6 I will sing unto Jehovah,
Because he hath dealt bountifully with me.
The folly and wickedness of men.
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
14 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.
They are corrupt, they have done abominable works;
There is none that doeth good.
2 Jehovah looked down from heaven upon the children of men,
To see if there were any that did [d]understand,
That did seek after God.
3 They are all gone aside; they are together become filthy;
There is none that doeth good, no, not one.
4 Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge,
Who eat up my people as they eat bread,
And call not upon Jehovah?
5 There were they in great fear;
For God is in the generation of the righteous.
6 Ye put to shame the counsel of the poor,
[e]Because Jehovah is his refuge.
7 Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion!
When Jehovah [f]bringeth back the captivity of his people,
Then shall Jacob rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.
12 Thus saith Jehovah: As the shepherd rescueth out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the children of Israel be rescued that sit in Samaria in the corner of a couch, and [a]on the silken cushions of a bed.
13 Hear ye, and testify against the house of Jacob, saith the Lord Jehovah, the God of hosts. 14 For in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him, I will also visit the altars of Beth-el; and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground. 15 And I will smite the winter-house with the summer-house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and [b]the great houses shall have an end, saith Jehovah.
4 Hear this word, ye kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, that oppress the poor, that crush the needy, that say unto their lords, Bring, and let us drink. 2 The Lord Jehovah hath sworn by his holiness, that, lo, the days shall come upon you, that they shall take you away with hooks, and your residue with fish-hooks. 3 And ye shall go out at the breaches, every one straight before her; [c]and ye shall cast yourselves into Harmon, saith Jehovah.
4 Come to Beth-el, and transgress; to Gilgal, and multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes every three days; 5 and [d]offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving of that which is leavened, and proclaim freewill-offerings and publish them: for this pleaseth you, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord Jehovah.
3 This is now, beloved, the second epistle that I write unto you; and in both of them I stir up your sincere mind by putting you in remembrance; 2 that ye should remember the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and the commandment of the Lord and Saviour through your apostles: 3 knowing this first, that [a]in the last days mockers shall come with mockery, walking after their own lusts, 4 and saying, Where is the promise of his [b]coming? for, from the day that the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. 5 For this they wilfully forget, that there were heavens from of old, and an earth compacted out of water and [c]amidst water, by the word of God; 6 by which means the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: 7 but the heavens that now are, and the earth, by the same word have been [d]stored up for fire, being reserved against the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
8 But forget not this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness; but is longsuffering to you-ward, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the [e]elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be [f]burned up.
23 And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority? 24 And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one [a]question, which if ye tell me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven or from men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say unto us, Why then did ye not believe him? 26 But if we shall say, From men; we fear the multitude; for all hold John as a prophet. 27 And they answered Jesus, and said, We know not. He also said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things. 28 But what think ye? A man had two [b]sons; and he came to the first, and said, [c]Son, go work to-day in the vineyard. 29 And he answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented himself, and went. 30 And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father? They say, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, that the [d]publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. 32 For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not; but the [e]publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye saw it, did not even repent yourselves afterward, that ye might believe him.
Public Domain (Why are modern Bible translations copyrighted?)