Book of Common Prayer
69 1 The complaints, prayers, fervent zeal and great anguish of David is set forth as a figure of Christ and all his members. 21 The malicious cruelty of the enemies. 22 And their punishment also. 26 Where Judas and such traitors are accursed. 30 He gathereth courage in his affliction, and offereth praises unto God, 32 Which are more acceptable than all sacrifices: whereof all the afflicted may take comfort. 35 Finally, he doth provoke all creatures to praises, prophesying of the kingdom of Christ, and the preservation of the Church, where all the faithful, 27 And their seed shall dwell forever.
To him that excelleth upon [a]Shoshannim. A Psalm of David.
1 Save me, O God: for the [b]waters are entered even to my soul.
2 I stick fast in the deep mire, where no [c]stay is: I am come into deep waters, and the streams run over me.
3 I am weary of crying: my throat is dry: mine [d]eyes fail, while I wait for my God.
4 They that hate me without a cause, are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, and are mine enemies [e]falsely, are mighty, so that I restored that which I [f]took not.
5 O God, thou knowest my [g]foolishness, and my faults are not hid from thee.
6 Let not them that trust in thee, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed for [h]me: let not those that seek thee, be confounded through me, O God of Israel.
7 For thy sake have I suffered reproof: shame hath covered my face.
8 I am become a stranger unto my brethren, even an alien unto my mother’s sons.
9 [i]For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me, and the rebukes of them that rebuked thee, are fallen upon me.
10 I [j]wept and my soul fasted, but that was to my reproof.
11 I put on a sack also: and I became a proverb unto them.
12 They that [k]sat in the gate, spake of me, and the drunkards sang of me.
13 But Lord, I make my prayer unto thee in an [l]acceptable time, even in the multitude of thy mercy: O God, hear me in the truth of thy salvation.
14 Deliver me out of the mire, that I sink not: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the [m]deep waters.
15 Let not the water flood drown me, neither let the deep swallow me up: and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.
16 Hear me, O Lord, for thy loving-kindness is good: turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies.
17 And [n]hide not thy face from thy servant, for I am in trouble; make haste and hear me.
18 Draw near unto my soul and redeem it: deliver me because of mine enemies.
19 Thou hast known my reproof and my shame, and my dishonor: all mine [o]adversaries are before thee.
20 Rebuke hath broken mine heart, and I am full of heaviness, and [p]I looked for some to have pity on me, but there was none: and for comforters, but I found none.
21 For they gave me gall in my meat, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
22 Let their [q]table be a snare before them, and their prosperity their ruin.
23 Let their eyes be blinded that they see not: and make their [r]loins always to tremble.
24 Pour out thine anger upon them, and let thy wrathful displeasure take them.
25 Let their [s]habitation be void, and let none dwell in their tents.
26 For they persecute him, whom thou hast smitten: and they add unto the sorrow of them, whom thou hast wounded.
27 Lay [t]iniquity upon their iniquity, and let them not come into thy righteousness.
28 Let them be put out of the [u]book of life, neither let them be written with the righteous.
29 When I am poor and in heaviness, thine help, O God, shall exalt me.
30 I will praise the Name of God with a song, and magnify him with thanksgiving.
31 This also shall please the Lord better than a [v]young bullock that hath horns and hoofs.
32 The humble shall see this, and they that seek God shall be glad, and your heart shall live.
33 For the Lord heareth the poor, and despiseth not his [w]prisoners.
34 Let heaven and earth praise him: the seas and all that moveth in them.
35 For God will save Zion, and build the cities of Judah, that men may dwell there and have it in possession.
36 The [x]seed also of his servants shall inherit it: and they that love his name shall dwell therein.
73 1 The Prophet teacheth by his example that neither the worldly prosperity of the ungodly, 14 nor yet the affliction of the good ought to discourage God’s children: but rather ought to move us to consider our Father’s providence, and to cause us to reverence God’s judgments, 19 forasmuch as the wicked vanish away, 24 and the godly enter into life everlasting, 28 in hope whereof he resigneth himself into God’s hands.
A Psalm committed to Asaph.
1 Yet [a]God is good to Israel: even to the pure in heart.
2 As for me, my feet were almost gone: my steps had well near slipped.
3 For I fretted at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4 For there are [b]no bands in their death, but they are lusty and strong.
5 They are not in trouble as other men, neither are they plagued with other men.
6 [c]Therefore pride is as a chain unto them, and cruelty covereth them as a garment.
7 Their eyes stand out for fatness: [d]they have more than heart can wish.
8 They are licentious, and speak wickedly of their oppression: they talk presumptuously.
9 They [e]set their mouth against heaven, and their tongue walketh through the earth.
10 Therefore his [f]people turn hither: for waters of a full cup are wrung out to them.
11 And they [g]say, How doth God know it? or is there knowledge in the most High?
12 Lo these are the wicked, yet prosper they always, and increase in riches.
13 Certainly I have cleansed mine heart in vain, and washed mine hands in innocency.
14 For daily have I been punished, and chastened every morning.
15 If I say, [h]I will judge thus, behold the generation of thy children, I have trespassed.
16 Then thought I to know this, but it was too painful for me,
17 Until I went into the [i]Sanctuary of God: then understood I their end.
18 Surely thou hast set them in slippery places, and castest them down into desolation.
19 How suddenly are they destroyed, perished and [j]horribly consumed,
20 As a dream when one awaketh! O Lord, when [k]thou raisest us up, thou shalt make their image despised.
21 Certainly mine heart was vexed, and I was pricked in my reins.
22 So foolish was I and ignorant: I was a [l]beast before thee.
23 Yet I was always [m]with thee: thou hast holden me by my right hand.
24 Thou wilt guide me by thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.
25 Whom have I in [n]heaven but thee? and I have desired none in the earth with thee.
26 My flesh faileth and mine heart also: but God is the strength of mine heart, and my [o]portion forever.
27 For lo, that they withdraw themselves from thee, shall perish: thou destroyest all them that [p]go a whoring from thee.
28 As for me, it is good for me [q]to draw near to God: therefore I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all thy works.
Esther
1 3 King Ahasuerus maketh a royal feast. 12 Whereunto the Queen Vashti will not come. 19 For which cause she is divorced. 20 The King’s decree touching the pre-eminence of man.
1 In the days of [a]Ahasuerus (this is Ahasuerus that reigned from India even unto Ethiopia, over an [b]hundred, and seven and twenty provinces.)
2 In those days when the king Ahasuerus [c]sat on his throne, which was in the palace of (A)Shushan,
3 In the third year of his reign, he made a feast unto all his princes and his servants, even the power of Persia and Media, and to the captains and governors of the provinces which were before him,
4 That he might show the riches and glory of his kingdom, and the honor of his great majesty many days, even an hundred and fourscore days.
10 Upon the [a]seventh day when the King was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, and Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, the seven eunuchs, (that served in the presence of king Ahasuerus)
11 To bring Queen Vashti before the king with the crown royal, that he might show the people and the princes her beauty: for she was fair to look upon.
12 But the Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s word, [b]which he had given in charge to the eunuchs: therefore the King was very angry, and his wrath kindled in him.
13 Then the King said to the wise men, [c]that knew the times (for so was the King’s manner towards all that knew the law and the judgment:
14 And the next unto him was Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan the seven Princes of Persia, and Media, which saw the [d]King’s face, and sat the first in the kingdom.)
15 What shall we do unto the Queen Vashti according to the law, because she did not according to the word of the King Ahasuerus by the commission of the eunuchs?
16 Then Memucan answered before the king and the Princes, The Queen Vashti hath not only done [e]evil against the King, but against all the Princes, and against all the people that are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus.
17 For the [f]act of the Queen shall come abroad unto all women, so that they shall despise their husbands in their own eyes, and shall say, The King Ahasuerus commanded Vashti the Queen to be brought in before him, but she came not.
18 So shall the [g]Princesses of Persia and Media this day say unto all the King’s Princes, when they hear of the act of the Queen: thus shall there be much despitefulness and wrath.
19 If it please the King, let a royal decree proceed from him, and let it be written among the statutes of Persia and Media, (and let it not be transgressed) that Vashti come [h]no more before king Ahasuerus: and let the king give her royal estate unto her companion that is better than she.
17 1 Paul at Thessalonica 3 preaching Christ, 6, 7 is entertained of Jason: 10 He is sent to Berea: 15 from thence coming to Athens, 19 in Mars’ street 23 he preacheth the living God to them unknown, 34 and so many are converted unto Christ.
1 Now [a]as they passed through Amphipolis, and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a Synagogue of the Jews.
2 And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath days disputed with them by the Scriptures,
3 [b]Opening, and alleging that Christ must have suffered, and risen again from the dead, and this is Jesus Christ, whom said he, I preach to you.
4 And some of them believed, and joined in company with Paul and Silas: also of the Grecians that feared God a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few.
5 [c]But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain [d]vagabonds and wicked fellows, and when they had assembled the multitude, they made a tumult in the city, and made assault against the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.
6 But when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the heads of the city, crying, These are they which have subverted the state of the [e]world, and here they are,
7 Whom Jason hath received, and these all do against the decrees of Caesar, saying, that there is another King one Jesus.
8 Then they troubled the people, and the heads of the city, when they heard these things.
9 Notwithstanding when they had received sufficient [f]assurance of Jason and of the others, they let them go.
10 [g]And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea, which when they were come thither, entered into the Synagogue of the Jews.
11 [h]These were also more [i]noble men than they which were at Thessalonica, which received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
12 Therefore many of them believed, and of honest women, which were Grecians, and men not a few.
13 ¶ [j]But when the Jews of Thessalonica knew, that the word of God was also preached of Paul at Berea, they came thither also, and moved the people.
14 [k]But by and by the brethren sent away Paul to go as it were to the sea: but Silas and Timothy abode there still.
15 [l]And they that did conduct Paul, [m]brought him unto Athens: and when they had received a commandment unto Silas and Timothy that they should come to him at once, they departed.
36 While ye have that light, believe in that light, that ye may be the [a]children of the light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and hid himself from them.
37 ¶ [b]And though he had done so many miracles before them, yet believed they not on him,
38 That the saying of Isaiah the Prophet might be fulfilled, that he said, (A)Lord, who believed our report? and to whom is the [c]arm of the Lord revealed?
39 Therefore could they not believe, because that Isaiah saith again,
40 (B)He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart, that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
41 These things said Isaiah when he saw his glory, and spake of him.
42 [d]Nevertheless, even among the chief rulers, many believed in him: but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be cast out of the Synagogue.
43 (C)For they loved the praise of men, more than the praise of God.
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