Book of Common Prayer
5 David oppressed with the cruelty of his enemies, and fearing greater dangers, calleth to God for succor, showing how requisite it is that God should punish the malice of his adversaries. 7 After, being assured of prosperous success, he conceiveth comfort, 12 concluding, that when God shall deliver him, others also shall be partakers of the same mercies.
To him that excelleth upon [a]Nehiloth. A Psalm of David.
1 Hear my words, O Lord: understand my [b]meditation.
2 Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my king and my God: for unto thee do I pray.
3 Hear my voice in the morning, O Lord: for in the morning will I direct me unto thee, and I will [c]wait.
4 For thou art not a God that loveth [d]wickedness, neither shall evil dwell with thee.
5 [e]The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: for thou hatest all them that work iniquity.
6 Thou shalt destroy them that speak lies: the Lord will abhor the bloody man and deceitful.
7 But I [f]will come into thine house in the multitude of thy mercy: and in thy fear will I worship toward thine holy Temple.
8 Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness, [g]because of mine enemies: make thy way plain before my face.
9 For no constancy is in their mouth: within they are very corruption: their (A)throat is an open sepulcher, and they flatter with their tongue.
10 Destroy them, O God, [h]let them [i]fall from their counsels: cast them out for the multitude of their iniquities, because they have rebelled against thee.
11 And [j]let all them that trust in thee, rejoice and triumph forever, and cover thou them: and let them that love thy name, rejoice in thee.
12 For thou Lord, wilt [k]bless the righteous, and with favor [l]wilt compass him, as with a shield.
6 When David by his sins had provoked God’s wrath, and now felt not only his hand against him, but also conceived the horrors of death everlasting, he desireth forgiveness. 6 Bewailing that if God took him away in his indignation, he should lack occasion to praise him as he was wont to do while he was among men. 9 Then suddenly feeling God’s mercy, he sharply rebuketh his enemies which rejoiced in his affliction.
To him that excelleth on Neginoth, upon the eight tune. A Psalm of David.
1 O Lord, (B)[m]rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chastise me in thy wrath.
2 Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am weak: O Lord heal me, for my [n]bones are vexed.
3 [o]My soul is also sore troubled: but Lord, how long wilt thou delay?
4 Return, O Lord: deliver my soul: save me for thy mercy’s sake.
5 For in [p]death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall praise thee?
6 I fainted in my mourning: I cause my bed every night to swim, and water my couch with my tears.
7 [q]Mine eye is dimmed for despite, and sunk in because of all mine enemies.
8 [r]Away from me all ye workers of iniquity: for the Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping.
9 The Lord hath heard my petition: the Lord will receive my prayer.
10 All mine enemies shall be confounded and sore vexed: they shall be turned back, and put to shame [s]suddenly.
10 1 He complaineth of the fraud, rapine, tyranny, and all kinds of wrong, which worldly men use, assigning the cause thereof, that wicked men, being as it were drunken with worldly prosperity, and therefore setting apart all fear and reverence towards God, think they may do all things without controlling. 15 Therefore he calleth upon God to send some remedy against these desperate evils, 16 and at length comforteth himself with hope of deliverance.
1 Why standest thou far off, O Lord, and hidest thee in [a]due time, even in affliction?
2 The wicked with pride doth persecute the poor; let them be taken in the crafts that they have imagined.
3 For the wicked hath [b]made boast of his own heart’s desire, and the covetous blesseth himself, he contemneth the Lord.
4 The wicked is so proud, that he seeketh not for God: he thinketh always, There is no God.
5 His ways always prosper: thy judgments are high above his sight; therefore [c]defieth he all his enemies.
6 He saith in his heart, I shall [d]never be moved, [e]nor be in danger.
7 His mouth is full of cursing, and deceit, and fraud; under his tongue is mischief and iniquity.
8 [f]He lieth in wait in the villages; in the secret places doth he murder the innocent; his eyes are bent against the poor.
9 He lieth in wait secretly, even as a lion in his den; he lieth in wait to spoil the poor; he doth spoil the poor, when he draweth him into his net.
10 He croucheth and boweth; therefore heaps of the [g]poor do fall by his might.
11 He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten, he hideth away his face, and will never see.
12 [h]Arise, O Lord God, lift up thine hand; forget not the poor.
13 Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? he saith in his heart, Thou wilt not [i]regard.
14 Yet thou hast seen it; for thou beholdest mischief and wrong; that thou mayest [j]take it into thine hands; the poor committeth himself unto thee; for thou art the helper of the fatherless.
15 Break thou the arm of the wicked and malicious; search his wickedness, and thou shalt find [k]none.
16 The Lord is King forever and ever; the [l]heathen are destroyed forth of his land.
17 Lord, thou hast heard the desire of the poor; thou preparest their heart; thou bendest thine ear to them,
18 [m]To judge the fatherless and poor, that earthly man [n]cause to fear no more.
11 1 This Psalm containeth two parts. In the first David showeth how hard assaults of temptations he sustained, and in how great anguish of mind he was, when Saul did persecute him. 4 Then next he rejoiceth that God sent him succor in his necessity, declaring his justice as well in governing the good, and the wicked men, as the whole world.
To him that excelleth. A Psalm of David.
1 In the Lord put I my trust; how say ye then to my soul, [o]Flee to your mountain as a bird?
2 For lo, the wicked bend their bow, and make ready their arrows upon the string, that they may secretly shoot at them which are upright in heart.
3 For the [p]foundations are cast down, what hath the [q]righteous done?
4 The Lord is in his holy palace; the Lord’s throne is in the heaven; his eyes [r]will consider; his eyelids will try the children of men.
5 The Lord will try the righteous; but the wicked, and him that loveth iniquity, doth his soul hate.
6 Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, [s]fire, and brimstone, and stormy tempest; this is the [t]portion of their cup.
7 For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness: his countenance doth behold the just.
35 2 Unto the Levites are given cities and suburbs. 11 The cities of refuge. 16 The law of murder. 30 For one man’s witness shall no man be condemned.
1 And the Lord spake unto Moses in the plain of Moab by Jordan, toward Jericho, saying,
2 (A)Command the children of Israel, that they give unto the [a]Levites of the inheritance of their possession, [b]cities to dwell in: ye shall give also unto the Levites the suburbs of the cities round about them.
3 So they shall have the cities to dwell in, and their suburbs shall be for their cattle, and for their substance, and for all their beasts.
9 ¶ And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
10 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, (A)When ye be come over Jordan into the land of Canaan,
11 Ye shall appoint you cities, to be cities of refuge for you, that the slayer, which slayeth any person unawares, may flee thither.
12 And these cities shall be for you a refuge from thy [a]avenger, that he which killeth, die not, until he stand before the Congregation in judgment.
13 And of the cities which ye shall give, six cities shall ye have for refuge.
14 Ye shall appoint three [b]on this side Jordan, and ye shall appoint three cities in the land of (B)Canaan which shall be cities of refuge.
15 These six cities shall be a refuge for the children of Israel, and for the stranger, and for him that dwelleth [c]among you, that everyone which killeth any person unawares, may flee thither.
30 Whosoever killeth any person, the Judge shall slay the murderer, through (A)witnesses: but (B)one witness shall not testify against a person to cause him to die.
31 Moreover ye shall take no recompense for the life of the murderer, which is [a]worthy to die: but he shall be put to death.
32 Also ye shall take no recompense for him that is fled to the city of his refuge, that he should come again, and dwell in the land, before the death of the high Priest.
33 So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye shall dwell: for [b]blood defileth the land: and the land cannot be [c]cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.
34 Defile not therefore the land which ye shall inhabit, for I dwell in the midst thereof: For I the Lord dwell among the children of Israel.
31 [a]What shall we then say to these things? If God be on our side, who can be against us?
32 Who spared not his own Son, but gave him for us all to death, how shall he not with him [b]give us all things also?
33 [c]Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s chosen? it is [d]God that justifieth.
34 Who shall condemn? it is Christ which is dead: yea, or rather, which is risen again, who is also at the right hand of God, and maketh request also for us.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of [e]Christ? shall tribulation or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 As it is written, (A)For thy sake are we killed all day long: we are counted as sheep for the slaughter:
37 [f]Nevertheless, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
38 For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor Angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
13 ¶ [a]Woe therefore be unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, [b]hypocrites, because ye shut up the kingdom of heaven before men: for ye yourselves go not in, neither suffer ye them that would [c]enter, to come in.
14 (A)[d]Woe be unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites: for ye devour widows’ houses, even [e]under a color of long prayers: wherefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.
15 Woe be unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites: for ye compass sea and [f]land to make one of your profession: and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell, than you yourselves.
16 Woe be unto you blind guides, which say, Whosoever sweareth by the Temple, it is nothing: but whosoever sweareth by the gold of the Temple, he [g]offendeth.
17 Ye fools and blind, Whether is greater, the gold, or the Temple that [h]sanctifieth the gold?
18 And whosoever sweareth by the altar, it is nothing: but whosoever sweareth by the offering that is upon it, offendeth.
19 Ye fools and blind, whether is greater, the offering, or the altar which sanctifieth the offering?
20 Whosoever therefore sweareth by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.
21 (B)And whosoever sweareth by the Temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein.
22 (C)And he that sweareth by heaven, sweareth by the [i]throne of God, and by him that sitteth theron.
23 ¶ (D)[j]Woe be to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites: for ye tithe mint, and anise, and cummin, and leave the weightier matters of the law, as judgment, and mercy and [k]fidelity. These ought ye to have done, and not to have left the other.
24 Ye blind guides, which strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel.
25 ¶ [l]Woe be to you, (E)Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites: for ye make clean the utter side of the cup, and of the platter: but within they are full of bribery and excess.
26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
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