Book of Common Prayer
1 ¶ By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
2 We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof;
3 when there, those that carried us away captive asked us for the words of the song; with our harps of joy hung upon the willows saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.
4 How shall we sing the song of the LORD in the land of strangers?
5 If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, my right hand shall be forgotten.
6 If I do not remember thee, my tongue shall cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I do not prefer to lift up Jerusalem as my chief joy.
7 ¶ Remember, O LORD, the sons of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Raze it, raze it, even to the foundation thereof.
8 O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewards thee as thou hast served us.
9 Happy shall he be, that takes and dashes thy offspring against the stones.
A Psalm of David.
1 ¶ Blessed be the LORD my strength, who trains my hands for the battle and my fingers for the war:
2 My mercy and my fortress; my high tower and my deliverer; my shield and he in whom I trust, who subdues my people under me.
3 LORD, what is man that thou knowest him? or the son of man, that thou esteemeth him?
4 Man is like unto vanity; his days are as a shadow that passes away.
5 Bow thy heavens, O LORD, and come down; touch the mountains, and they shall smoke.
6 Cast forth lightning and scatter them; shoot out thine arrows and destroy them.
7 Send thine hand from above; redeem me and deliver me out of many waters, from the hand of the strange sons,
8 whose mouth speaks vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
9 ¶ I will sing a new song unto thee, O God; upon a psaltery and an instrument of ten strings I will sing praises unto thee.
10 Thou, he who gives salvation unto kings, who redeems David his slave from the evil sword.
11 Redeem me, and save me from the hand of strange sons, whose mouth speaks vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood:
12 That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace;
13 that our garners may be full, affording all manner of store; that our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets;
14 that our oxen may be strong to labour; that there be no breaking in nor going out; that there be no shout of alarm in our streets.
15 Blessed is that people, that is in such a case; yea, blessed is that people, whose God is the LORD.
1 ¶ Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty,
2 who dost cover thyself with light as with a garment, who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain,
3 who dost establish his chambers between the waters, who makes the clouds his chariot, who walks upon the wings of the wind,
4 who makes his angels spirits, his ministers a flaming fire,
5 who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be moved by any age.
6 Thou didst cover it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains.
7 At thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away.
8 The mountains were exposed; they descended through the valleys unto the place which thou hast founded for them.
9 Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over, that they not turn again to cover the earth.
10 ¶ Thou art he who sends the springs into the valleys, which run among the mountains.
11 They give drink to every beast of the field; the wild asses quench their thirst.
12 Next to them the fowls of the heavens have their habitation; they sing among the leaves.
13 He waters the mountains from his chambers; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works.
14 He causes the hay to grow for the cattle and grass for the service of man, that he may bring forth bread out of the earth
15 and wine that makes glad the heart of man, making his face to shine with oil and bread which sustains man’s heart.
16 The trees of the LORD are satisfied; the cedars of Lebanon, which he has planted,
17 that the birds may make their nests there: the stork makes her house among the fir trees.
18 The high mountains are a refuge for the wild goats, and the rocks for the conies.
19 ¶ He appointed the moon for times and seasons; the sun knows his going down.
20 Thou makest darkness, and it is night, wherein all the beasts of the forest move.
21 The young lions roar after their prey and seek their food from God.
22 The sun arises, they withdraw and lay themselves down in their dens.
23 Man goes forth unto his work and to his labour until the evening.
24 O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom thou hast made them all; the earth is full of thy riches.
25 So is this great and wide sea, wherein are innumerable creeping things, both small and great beasts.
26 There go the ships; there is that leviathan, whom thou didst make to play therein.
27 These wait all upon thee, that thou may give them their food in due season.
28 Thou givest unto them, they gather; thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good.
29 Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled; thou takest away their spirit, they cease to exist and return to their dust.
30 Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created; and thou renewest the face of the earth.
31 ¶ Let the glory of the LORD endure for ever; let the LORD rejoice in his works.
32 He looks on the earth, and it trembles: he touches the mountains, and they smoke.
33 I will sing unto the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.
34 My meditation of him shall be sweet; I will be glad in the LORD.
35 Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless thou the LORD, O my soul. Halelu- JAH (Praise ye the LORD).
12 And Balaam replied unto Balak, Did I not declare also unto thy messengers which thou didst send unto me, saying,
13 If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the commandment of the LORD, to do either good or bad of my own heart; but what the LORD saith that will I speak?
14 Therefore, behold, I go now unto my people; come and I will indicate unto thee what this people shall do to thy people in the latter days.
15 ¶ And he took up his parable and said, Balaam, the son of Beor, has said, the man whose eyes are open has said,
16 he who has heard the words of God has said, and he who knows the knowledge of the most High, he who saw the vision of the Almighty, fallen, but having his eyes open:
17 I shall see him, but not now; I shall behold him, but not near by; there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel and shall smite the corners of Moab and destroy all the sons of Seth.
18 And Edom shall be taken; Seir also shall be taken by his enemies; and Israel shall do valiantly.
19 Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion and shall destroy what remains of the city.
20 And when he looked on Amalek, he took up his parable, and said, Amalek, head of the Gentiles; but his latter end shall be that he perish for ever.
21 And he looked on the Kenite and took up his parable and said, Strong is thy dwelling place, and thou puttest thy nest in a rock;
22 because the Kenite shall be thrown out, when Asshur shall carry thee away captive.
23 And he took up his parable again and said, Alas, who shall live when God shall do these things!
24 And ships shall come from the coast of Chittim and shall afflict Asshur and shall afflict Eber, but he also shall perish for ever.
25 Then Balaam rose up and went and returned to his place; and Balak also went his way.
18 For I know with certainty that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the coming glory which shall be manifested in us.
19 For the earnest hope of the creatures waits for the manifestation of the sons of God.
20 For the creatures were subjected to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who has subjected them,
21 with the hope that the same creatures shall be delivered from the slavery of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God.
22 For we now know that all the creatures groan together and travail in pain together until now.
23 And not only they, but ourselves also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, that is to say, the redemption of our body.
24 For in hope we are saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for what a man sees, he does not wait for.
25 But if we wait for that which we do not see, with patience we wait for it.
23 ¶ The same day the Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection, and asked him,
24 saying, Master, Moses said, If a man dies, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife and raise up seed unto his brother.
25 Now there were with us seven brothers, and the first, when he had married a wife, deceased, and, having no seed, left his wife unto his brother;
26 likewise the second also, and the third, unto the seventh.
27 And last of all the woman died also.
28 Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her.
29 Then Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures nor the power of God.
30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.
31 But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which is spoken unto you by God, who saith,
32 I AM the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.
33 And when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at his doctrine.
34 ¶ Then the Pharisees, hearing that he had put the Sadducees to silence, gathered together.
35 And one of them, who was an interpreter of the law, asked him a question, tempting him and saying,
36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
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