Book of Common Prayer
To the Overcomer, A Psalm of David.
1 ¶ Blessed is he that understands regarding the poor; the LORD will deliver him in the day of evil.
2 The LORD will preserve him and keep him alive, and he shall be blessed upon the earth, and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies.
3 The LORD will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing; thou wilt soften all his bed in his sickness.
4 I said, LORD, be merciful unto me; heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee.
5 ¶ My enemies speak evil of me, When shall he die and his name perish?
6 And if he came to see me, he spoke lies: his heart gathered iniquity to itself, and when he goes out, he tells it.
7 All that hate me congregate together and murmur against me; against me do they devise my hurt.
8 A disease of Belial, they say, cleaves fast unto him, and now that he lies he shall rise up no more.
9 Even the man of my peace, in whom I trusted, who ate of my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.
10 But thou, O LORD, be merciful unto me and raise me up that I may requite them.
11 In this I shall know that I have pleased thee, that my enemy does not triumph over me.
12 And as for me, thou sustained me in my integrity and hast seated me before thy face for ever.
13 Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen.
To the Overcomer, Maschil, A Psalm of David, when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, and said unto him, David is come to the house of Ahimelech.
1 ¶ Why dost thou boast of evil, O strong man? The mercy of God is day by day.
2 Thy tongue devises wickedness like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.
3 Thou dost love evil more than good; and lying rather than to speak righteousness. Selah.
4 Thou dost love all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue.
5 God shall likewise cast thee down for ever; he shall cut thee off and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place and root thee out of the land of the living. Selah.
6 ¶ The righteous also shall see and fear and shall laugh at him, saying:
7 Behold, this is the man that did not make God his strength, but trusted in the abundance of his riches and strengthened himself in his wickedness.
8 But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; I trust in the eternal mercy of God for ever.
9 I will praise thee for ever because thou hast done it, and I will wait on thy name, for it is good before thy merciful ones.
To the Overcomer for the sons of Korah, Maschil.
1 ¶ We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their days in the times of old.
2 How thou didst drive out the Gentiles with thy hand and plant them in their place; how thou didst afflict the peoples and cast them out.
3 For they did not get the land in inheritance by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them, but thy right hand and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance because thy delight was in them.
4 Thou art my King, O God; command saving health unto Jacob.
5 Through thee will we push down our enemies; through thy name will we tread under those that rise up against us.
6 For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me.
7 But thou hast saved us from our enemies and hast put to shame those that hated us.
8 In God we boast all the day long and praise thy name for ever. Selah.
9 ¶ But thou hast cast us off and put us to shame and doth not go forth with our armies.
10 Thou makest us to turn back from the enemy, and we are spoiled by those who hate us.
11 Thou hast given us over like sheep appointed for food and hast scattered us among the Gentiles.
12 Thou hast sold thy people for nothing and dost not increase thy wealth by their price.
13 Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and a derision to those that are round about us.
14 Thou makest us a byword among the Gentiles, a shaking of the head among the people.
15 My confusion is continually before me, and the shame of my face has covered me,
16 for the voice of him that reproaches and blasphemes by reason of the enemy and of the avenger.
17 ¶ All this is come upon us; yet we have not forgotten thee, neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant.
18 Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from thy way
19 though thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons and covered us with the shadow of death.
20 If we have forgotten the name of our God or stretched out our hands to a strange god,
21 shall not God search this out? For he knows the secrets of the heart.
22 Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.
23 Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord? Arise, do not cast us off for ever.
24 Why dost thou hide thy face and forget our affliction and our oppression?
25 For our soul is bowed down to the dust; our belly cleaves unto the earth.
26 Arise for our help and ransom us for thy mercies’ sake.
32 ¶ And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron and said unto him, Rise up, make us gods which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him.
2 And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.
3 Then all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears and brought them unto Aaron,
4 who took them from their hands and fashioned it with a graving tool and made of it a molten calf. Then they said, These are thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
5 And seeing this, Aaron built an altar before the calf; and Aaron made a proclamation and said, Tomorrow shall be a feast unto the LORD.
6 And they rose up early on the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink and rose up to play.
7 ¶ Then the LORD said unto Moses, Go, descend; for thy people, which thou didst bring out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves:
8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them; they have made themselves a molten calf and have worshipped it and have sacrificed unto it and said, These are thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
9 The LORD further said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and for certain it is a stiffnecked people.
10 Now therefore let me alone that my wrath may wax hot in them and consume them; and I will put thee over a great nation.
11 Then Moses grieved before the LORD his God and said, LORD, why shall thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?
12 Why should the Egyptians speak and say, For evil did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains and to consume them from upon the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath and repent of the evil of thy people.
13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy slaves, to whom thou didst sware by thine own self and hast said unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall take it for inheritance for ever.
14 Then the LORD repented of the evil which he said should be done unto his people.
15 ¶ And Moses turned and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand; the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written.
16 And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.
17 And Joshua, hearing the noise of the people as they shouted, said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp.
18 And he answered, It is not the voice of those that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of those that cry for being overcome, but the noise of those that sing that I hear.
19 And it came to pass as soon as he came near unto the camp and he saw the calf and the dances, anger caused Moses to wax hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mount.
20 And he took the calf which they had made and burnt it in the fire and ground it to powder and scattered it upon the waters and made the sons of Israel drink it.
18 ¶ Wives, be subject to your own husbands as it is fit in the Lord.
19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter against them.
20 Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.
21 Fathers, provoke not your children lest they become disheartened.
22 Slaves, in all things hearken unto your masters according to the flesh, not serving to be seen as those who only please men, but in simplicity of heart, fearing God;
23 And whatever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men,
24 knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance, for ye serve the Lord Christ.
25 But he that does wrong shall receive the wrong which he has done, now that there is no respect of persons.
4 ¶ Masters, do that which is just and right with your slaves, knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven.
2 ¶ Persevere in prayer and watch in the same with thanksgiving,
3 praying also together for us that God would open unto us the door of the word, to speak the mystery of the Christ, for which I am also in bonds,
4 that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.
5 ¶ Walk in wisdom towards outsiders, winning the occasion.
6 Let your word be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer each one.
7 ¶ All my affairs shall Tychicus declare unto you, who is a beloved brother and a faithful servant and fellow slave in the Lord,
8 whom I have sent unto you for the same purpose, that he might know your affairs and comfort your hearts,
9 with Onesimus, a faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They shall make known unto you all the things which are happening here.
10 Aristarchus, my fellowprisoner, salutes you, and Mark, nephew to Barnabas, (concerning whom ye have received commandments, if he comes unto you, receive him),
11 and Jesus, who is called Justus, who are of the circumcision. These only are my fellowworkers unto the kingdom of God, who have been a comfort unto me.
12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a slave of Christ, salutes you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand firm, perfect and fulfilled in all the will of God.
13 For I bear witness of him, that he has a great zeal for you and those that are in Laodicea and those in Hierapolis.
14 Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas, greet you.
15 Salute the brethren who are in Laodicea and Nymphas and the congregation {Gr. ekklesia – called out ones} which is in his house.
16 And when this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read also in the congregation {Gr. ekklesia – called out ones} of the Laodiceans, and that ye likewise read the epistle from Laodicea.
17 And say to Archippus, Take heed to fulfil the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord.
18 The salutation by the hand of me Paul. Remember my bonds. Grace be with you. Amen.
5 ¶ And seeing the multitudes, he went up into the mountain; and when he had sat down, his disciples came unto him;
2 and he opened his mouth and taught them, saying,
3 ¶ Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens.
4 Blessed are those that mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
7 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God.
10 Blessed are those who suffer persecution for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens.
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