Book of Common Prayer
93 The Lord is the God to whom revenge belongeth: the God of revenge hath acted freely.
2 Lift up thyself, thou that judgest the earth: render a reward to the proud.
3 How long shall sinners, O Lord: how long shall sinners glory?
4 Shall they utter, and speak iniquity: shall all speak who work injustice?
5 Thy people, O Lord, they have brought low: and they have afflicted thy inheritance.
6 They have slain the widow and the stranger: and they have murdered the fatherless.
7 And they have said: The Lord shall not see: neither shall the God of Jacob understand.
8 Understand, ye senseless among the people: and, you fools, be wise at last.
9 He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? or he that formed the eye, doth he not consider?
10 He that chastiseth nations, shall he not rebuke: he that teacheth man knowledge?
11 The Lord knoweth the thoughts of men, that they are vain.
12 Blessed is the man whom thou shalt instruct, O Lord: and shalt teach him out of thy law.
13 That thou mayst give him rest from the evil days: till a pit be dug for the wicked.
14 For the Lord will not cast off his people: neither will he forsake his own inheritance.
15 Until justice be turned into judgment: and they that are near it are all the upright in heart.
16 Who shall rise up for me against the evildoers? or who shall stand with me against the workers of iniquity?
17 Unless the Lord had been my helper, my soul had almost dwelt in hell.
18 If I said: My foot is moved: thy mercy, O Lord, assisted me.
19 According to the multitude of my sorrows in my heart, thy comforts have given joy to my soul.
20 Doth the seat of iniquity stick to thee, who framest labour in commandment?
21 They will hunt after the soul of the just, and will condemn innocent blood.
22 But the Lord is my refuge: and my God the help of my hope.
23 And he will render them their iniquity: and in their malice he will destroy them: the Lord our God will destroy them.
96 For the same David, when his land was restored again to him. The Lord hath reigned, let the earth rejoice: let many islands be glad.
2 Clouds and darkness are round about him: justice and judgment are the establishment of his throne.
3 A fire shall go before him, and shall burn his enemies round about.
4 His lightnings have shone forth to the world: the earth saw and trembled.
5 The mountains melted like wax, at the presence of the Lord: at the presence of the Lord of all the earth.
6 The heavens declared his justice: and all people saw his glory.
7 Let them be all confounded that adore graven things, and that glory in their idols. Adore him, all you his angels:
8 Sion heard, and was glad. And the daughters of Juda rejoiced, because of thy judgments, O Lord.
9 For thou art the most high Lord over all the earth: thou art exalted exceedingly above all gods.
10 You that love the Lord, hate evil: the Lord preserveth the souls of his saints, he will deliver them out of the hand of the sinner.
11 Light is risen to the just, and joy to the right of heart.
12 Rejoice, ye just, in the Lord: and give praise to the remembrance of his holiness.
34 For David himself. Judge thou, O Lord, them that wrong me: overthrow them that fight against me.
2 Take hold of arms and shield: and rise up to help me.
3 Bring out the sword, and shut up the way against them that persecute me: say to my soul: I am thy salvation.
4 Let them be confounded and ashamed that seek after my soul. Let them be turned back and be confounded that devise against me.
5 Let them become as dust before the wind: and let the angel of the Lord straiten them.
6 Let their way become dark and slippery; and let the angel of the Lord pursue them.
7 For without cause they have hidden their net for me unto destruction: without cause they have upbraided my soul.
8 Let the snare which he knoweth not come upon him: and let the net which he hath hidden catch him: and let the net which he hath hidden catch him: and into that very snare let them fall.
9 But my soul shall rejoice in the Lord; and shall be delighted in his salvation.
10 All my bones shall say: Lord, who is like to thee? Who deliverest the poor from the hand of them that are stronger than he; the needy and the poor from them that strip him.
11 Unjust witnesses rising up have asked me things I knew not.
12 They repaid me evil for good: to the depriving me of my soul.
13 But as for me, when they were troublesome to me, I was clothed with haircloth. I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer shall be turned into my bosom.
14 As a neighbour and as an own brother, so did I please: as one mourning and sorrowful so was I humbled.
15 But they rejoiced against me, and came together: scourges were gathered together upon me, and I knew not.
16 They were separated, and repented not: they tempted me, they scoffed at me with scorn: they gnashed upon me with their teeth.
17 Lord, when wilt thou look upon me? rescue thou soul from their malice: my only one from the lions.
18 I will give thanks to thee in a great church; I will praise thee in a strong people.
19 Let not them that are my enemies wrongfully rejoice over me: who have hated me without cause, and wink with the eyes.
20 For they spoke indeed peaceably to me; and speaking in the anger of the earth they devised guile.
21 And they opened their mouth wide against me; they said: Well done, well done, our eyes have seen it.
22 Thou hast seen, O Lord, be not thou silent: O Lord, depart not from me.
23 Arise, and be attentive to my judgment: to my cause, my God, and my Lord.
24 Judge me, O Lord my God according to thy justice, and let them not rejoice over me.
25 Let them not say in their hearts: It is well, it is well, to our mind: neither let them say: We have swallowed him up.
26 Let them blush: and be ashamed together, who rejoice at my evils. Let them be clothed with confusion and shame, who speak great things against me.
27 Let them rejoice and be glad, who are well pleased with my justice, and let them say always: The Lord be magnified, who delights in the peace of his servant.
28 And my tongue shall meditate thy justice, thy praise all the day long.
3 After these things, king Assuerus advanced Aman, the son of Amadathi, who was of the race of Agag: and he set his throne above all the princes that were with him.
2 And all the king's servants, that were at the doors of the palace, bent their knees, and worshipped Aman: for so the emperor had commanded them, only Mardochai did not bend his knee, nor worship him.
3 And the king's servants that were chief at the doors of the palace, said to him: Why dost thou alone not observe the king's commandment?
4 And when they were saying this often, and he would not hearken to them; they told Aman, desirous to know whether he would continue in his resolution: for he had told them that he was a Jew.
5 Now when Aman had heard this, and had proved by experience that Mardochai did not bend his knee to him, nor worship him, he was exceeding angry.
6 And he counted it nothing to lay his hands upon Mardochai alone: for he had heard that he was of the nation of the Jews, and he chose rather to destroy all the nation of the Jews that were in the kingdom of Assuerus.
7 In the first month (which is called Nisan) in the twelfth year a of the reign of Assuerus, the lot was cast into an urn, which in Hebrew is called Phur, before Aman, on what day and what month the nation of the Jews should be destroyed: and there came out the twelfth month, which is called Adar.
8 And Aman said to king Assuerus: There is a people scattered through all the provinces of thy kingdom, and separated one from another, that use new laws and ceremonies, and moreover despise the king's ordinances: and thou knowest very well that it is not expedient for thy kingdom that they should grow insolent by impunity.
9 If it please thee, decree that they may he destroyed, and I will pay ten thousand talents to thy treasurers.
10 And the king took the ring that he used, from his own hand, and gave it to Aman, the son of Amadathi of the race of Agag, the enemy of the Jews,
11 And he said to him: As to the money which thou promisest, keep it for thyself: and as to the people, do with them as seemeth good to thee.
12 And the king's scribes were called in the first month Nisan, on the thirteenth day of the same month: and they wrote, as Aman had commanded, to all the king's lieutenants, and to the judges of the provinces, and of divers nations, as every nation could read, and hear according to their different languages, in the name of king Assuerus: and the letters, sealed with his ring,
13 Were sent by the king's messengers to all provinces, to kill and destroy all the Jews, both young and old, little children, and women, in one day, that is, on the thirteenth of the twelfth month, which is called Adar, and to make a spoil of their goods.
14 And the contents of the letters were to this effect, that all provinces might know and be ready against that day.
15 The couriers that were sent made haste to fulfill the king's commandment. And immediately the edict was hung up in Susan, the king and Aman feasting together, and all the Jews that were in the city weeping.
4 Now when Mardochai had heard these things, he rent his garments, and put on sackcloth, strewing ashes on his head: and he cried with a loud voice in the street in the midst of the city, shewing the anguish of his mind.
2 And he came lamenting in this manner even to the gate of the palace: for no one clothed with sackcloth might enter the king's court.
3 And in all provinces, towns, and places, to which the king's cruel edict was come, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, wailing, and weeping, many using sackcloth and ashes for their bed.
19 You know, my dearest brethren. And let every man be swift to hear, but slow to speak, and slow to anger.
20 For the anger of man worketh not the justice of God.
21 Wherefore casting away all uncleanness, and abundance of naughtiness, with meekness receive the ingrafted word, which is able to save your souls.
22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
23 For if a man be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he shall be compared to a man beholding his own countenance in a glass.
24 For he beheld himself, and went his way, and presently forgot what manner of man he was.
25 But he that hath looked into the perfect law of liberty, and hath continued therein, not becoming a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work; this man shall be blessed in his deed.
26 And if any man think himself to be religious, not bridling his tongue, but deceiving his own heart, this man's religion is vain.
27 Religion clean and undefiled before God and the Father, is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their tribulation: and to keep one's self unspotted from this world.
6 Take heed that you do not your justice before men, to be seen by them: otherwise you shall not have a reward of your Father who is in heaven.
2 Therefore when thou dost an almsdeed, sound not a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be honoured by men. Amen I say to you, they have received their reward.
3 But when thou dost alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doth.
4 That thy alms may be in secret, and thy Father who seeth in secret will repay thee.
5 And when ye pray, you shall not be as the hypocrites, that love to stand and pray in the synagogues and corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men: Amen I say to you, they have received their reward.
6 But thou when thou shalt pray, enter into thy chamber, and having shut the door, pray to thy Father in secret: and thy Father who seeth in secret will repay thee.
16 And when you fast, be not as the hypocrites, sad. For they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Amen I say to you, they have received their reward.
17 But thou, when thou fastest anoint thy head, and wash thy face;
18 That thou appear not to men to fast, but to thy Father who is in secret: and thy Father who seeth in secret, will repay thee.
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