Book of Common Prayer
Prayer of a suffering penitent.
A Psalm of David, [a]to bring to remembrance.
38 O Jehovah, rebuke me not in thy wrath;
Neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.
2 For thine arrows [b]stick fast in me,
And thy hand [c]presseth me sore.
3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine indignation;
Neither is there any [d]health in my bones because of my sin.
4 For mine iniquities are gone over my head:
As a heavy burden they are too heavy for me.
5 My wounds are loathsome and corrupt,
Because of my foolishness.
6 I am [e]pained and bowed down greatly;
I go mourning all the day long.
7 For my loins are filled with burning;
And there is no soundness in my flesh.
8 I am faint and sore bruised:
I have [f]groaned by reason of the disquietness of my heart.
9 Lord, all my desire is before thee;
And my groaning is not hid from thee.
10 My heart throbbeth, my strength faileth me:
As for the light of mine eyes, it also is gone from me.
11 My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my plague;
And my kinsmen stand afar off.
12 They also that seek after my life lay snares for me;
And they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things,
And meditate deceits all the day long.
13 But I, as a deaf man, hear not;
And I am as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth.
14 Yea, I am as a man that heareth not,
And in whose mouth are no [g]reproofs.
15 For in thee, O Jehovah, do I hope:
Thou wilt answer, O Lord my God.
16 For I said, Lest they rejoice over me:
When my foot slippeth, they magnify themselves against me.
17 For I am ready to fall,
And my sorrow is continually before me.
18 For I will declare mine iniquity;
I will be sorry for my sin.
19 But mine enemies are lively, and are strong;
And they that hate me [h]wrongfully are multiplied.
20 They also that render evil for good
Are adversaries unto me, because I follow the thing that is good.
21 Forsake me not, O Jehovah:
O my God, be not far from me.
22 Make haste to help me,
O Lord, my salvation.
ד Daleth.
25 My soul cleaveth unto the dust:
Quicken thou me according to thy word.
26 I declared my ways, and thou answeredst me:
Teach me thy statutes.
27 Make me to understand the way of thy precepts:
So shall I meditate on thy wondrous works.
28 My soul [a]melteth for heaviness:
Strengthen thou me according unto thy word.
29 Remove from me the way of falsehood;
And grant me thy law graciously.
30 I have chosen the way of faithfulness:
Thine ordinances have I set before me.
31 I cleave unto thy testimonies:
O Jehovah, put me not to shame.
32 I will run the way of thy commandments,
When thou shalt enlarge my heart.
ה He.
33 Teach me, O Jehovah, the way of thy statutes;
And I shall keep it unto the end.
34 Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law;
Yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.
35 Make me to go in the path of thy commandments;
For therein do I delight.
36 Incline my heart unto thy testimonies,
And not to covetousness.
37 Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity,
And quicken me in thy ways.
38 Confirm unto thy servant thy word,
[b]Which is in order unto the fear of thee.
39 Turn away my reproach whereof I am afraid;
For thine ordinances are good.
40 Behold, I have longed after thy precepts:
Quicken me in thy righteousness.
ו Vav.
41 Let thy lovingkindnesses also come unto me, O Jehovah,
Even thy salvation, according to thy word.
42 So shall I have an answer for him that reproacheth me;
For I trust in thy word.
43 And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth;
For I have hoped in thine ordinances.
44 So shall I observe thy law continually
For ever and ever.
45 And I shall walk at liberty;
For I have sought thy precepts.
46 I will also speak of thy testimonies before kings,
And shall not be put to shame.
47 And I will delight myself in thy commandments,
Which I have loved.
48 I will lift up my hands also unto thy commandments, which I have loved;
And I will meditate on thy statutes.
8 Thus the Lord Jehovah showed me: and, behold, a basket of summer fruit. 2 And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said Jehovah unto me, The end is come upon my people Israel; I will not again pass by them any more. 3 And the songs of the [a]temple shall be wailings in that day, saith the Lord Jehovah: the dead bodies shall be many; in every place [b]shall they cast them forth with silence.
4 Hear this, O ye that would swallow up the needy, and cause the poor of the land to fail, 5 saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell grain? and the sabbath, that we may [c]set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and dealing falsely with balances of deceit; 6 that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes, and sell the refuse of the wheat? 7 Jehovah hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works. 8 Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? yea, it shall rise up wholly like the River; and it shall be troubled and sink again, like the River of Egypt. 9 And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord Jehovah, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day. 10 And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning for an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day.
11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord Jehovah, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of Jehovah. 12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east; they shall run to and fro to seek the word of Jehovah, and shall not find it. 13 In that day shall the fair virgins and the young men faint for thirst. 14 They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, As thy god, O Dan, liveth; and, As the [d]way of Beer-sheba liveth; they shall fall, and never rise up again.
17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as one dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying, Fear not; I am the first and the last, 18 and the Living one; and I [a]was dead, and behold, I am alive [b]for evermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. 19 Write therefore the things which thou sawest, and the things which are, and the things which shall come to pass hereafter; 20 the mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest [c]in my right hand, and the seven golden [d]candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven [e]candlesticks are seven churches.
2 To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:
These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, he that walketh in the midst of the seven golden [f]candlesticks: 2 I know thy works, and thy toil and [g]patience, and that thou canst not bear evil men, and didst try them that call themselves apostles, and they are not, and didst find them false; 3 and thou hast [h]patience and didst bear for my name’s sake, and hast not grown weary. 4 But I have this against thee, that thou didst leave thy first love. 5 Remember therefore whence thou art fallen, and repent and do the first works; or else I come to thee, and will move thy [i]candlestick out of its place, except thou repent. 6 But this thou hast, that thou hatest the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. To him that overcometh, to him will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the [j]Paradise of God.
23 Then spake Jesus to the multitudes and to his disciples, 2 saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat: 3 all things therefore whatsoever they bid you, these do and observe: but do not ye after their works; for they say, and do not. 4 Yea, they bind heavy burdens [a]and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with their finger. 5 But all their works they do to be seen of men: for they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, 6 and love the chief place at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, 7 and the salutations in the marketplaces, and to be called of men, Rabbi. 8 But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your teacher, and all ye are brethren. 9 And call no man your father on the earth: for one is your Father, [b]even he who is in heaven. 10 Neither be ye called masters: for one is your master, even the Christ. 11 But he that is [c]greatest among you shall be your [d]servant. 12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled; and whosoever shall humble himself shall be exalted.
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