Book of Common Prayer
78 1 He showeth how God of his mercy chose his Church of the posterity of Abraham, 8 Reproaching the stubborn rebellion of their fathers, that the children might not only understand. 11 That God of his free mercy made his Covenant with their ancestors, 17 But also seeing them so malicious and perverse, might be ashamed, and so turn wholly to God. In this Psalm the holy Ghost hath comprehended, as it were, the sum of all God’s benefits, to the intent the ignorant and gross people might see in few words the effect of the whole histories of the Bible.
A Psalm to give [a]instruction, committed to Asaph.
1 Hear my [b]doctrine, O my people: incline your ears unto the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in a parable: I will declare high sentences of old.
3 Which we have heard and known, and our [c]fathers have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their children, but to the generation to come we will show the praise of the Lord, his power also, and his wonderful works that he hath done:
5 How he established a [d]testimony in Jacob, and ordained a Law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should teach their children:
6 That the [e]posterity might know it, and the children, which should be born, should stand up, and declare it to their children.
7 That they might [f]set their hope on God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments:
8 And not to be as their [g]fathers, a disobedient and rebellious generation: a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not faithful unto God.
9 The children of [h]Ephraim being armed and shooting with the bow, turned back in the day of battle.
10 They kept not the Covenant of God, but refused to walk in his Law,
11 And forgate his acts, and his wonderful works that he had showed them.
12 He did marvelous things in the sight of their [i]fathers in the land of Egypt; even in the field of Zoan.
13 (A)He divided the Sea, and led them through: he made also the waters to stand as an heap.
14 (B)In the daytime also he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire.
15 (C)He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as of the great depths.
16 (D)He brought floods also out of the stony rock, so that he made the waters to descend like the rivers.
17 Yet they [j]sinned still against him, and provoked the Highest in the wilderness,
18 And tempted God in their hearts in [k]requiring meat for their lust.
19 (E)They spake against God also, saying, Can God [l]prepare a table in the wilderness?
20 (F)Behold, he smote the rock, that the water gushed out, and the streams overflowed: can he give bread also? or prepare flesh for his people?
21 Therefore the Lord heard, and was angry, and the (G)fire was kindled in Jacob, and also wrath came upon Israel,
22 Because they believed not in God, and [m]trusted not in his help.
23 Yet he had commanded the [n]clouds above, and had opened the doors of heaven,
24 And had rained down Manna upon them for to eat, and had given them of the wheat of heaven.
25 (H)Man did eat the bread of Angels: he sent them meat enough.
26 He caused the [o]East wind to pass in the heaven: and through his power he brought in the South wind.
27 He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and feathered fowl as the sand of the sea.
28 And he made it fall in the midst of their camp, even round about their habitations.
29 So they did eat, and were well filled: for he gave them their desire.
30 They were not turned from their [p]lusts, but the meat was yet in their mouths,
31 When the wrath of God came even upon them, and slew [q]the strongest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel.
32 For all this they [r]sinned still, and believed not his wondrous works.
33 Therefore their days did he consume in vanity, and their years hastily.
34 And when he [s]slew them, they sought him, and they returned, and sought God early.
35 And they remembered that God was their strength, and the most high God their redeemer.
36 But they flattered him with their mouth, and dissembled with him with their tongue.
37 For their [t]heart was not upright with him: neither were they faithful in his covenant.
38 Yet he being merciful, [u]forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not, but oft times called back his anger, and did not stir up all his wrath.
39 For he remembered that they were flesh: yea, a wind that passeth and cometh not again.
40 How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness? and grieve him in the desert?
41 Yea, they [v]returned and tempted God, and [w]limited the Holy one of Israel.
42 They [x]remembered not his hand, nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy,
43 Nor him that set his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Zoan,
44 And turned their rivers into blood, and their floods, that they could not drink.
45 He sent [y]a swarm of flies among them, which devoured them, and frogs, which destroyed them.
46 He [z]gave also their fruits unto the caterpillar, and their labor unto the grasshopper.
47 He destroyed their vines with hail, and their wild fig trees with the hailstone.
48 He gave their cattle also to the hail, and their flocks to the thunderbolts.
49 He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, indignation and wrath, and vexation by the sending out of [aa]evil angels.
50 He made a way to his anger: he spared not their soul from death, but gave their life to the pestilence,
51 And smote all the firstborn in Egypt, even the [ab]beginning of their strength in the tabernacles of [ac]Ham.
52 But he made his people to go out like sheep, and led them in the wilderness like a flock.
53 Yea, he carried them out safely, and they [ad]feared not, and the Sea covered their enemies.
54 And he brought them unto the borders of his [ae]Sanctuary: even to this Mountain which his right hand purchased.
55 (I)He cast out the heathen also before them, and caused them to fall to the lot of his inheritance, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tabernacles.
56 Yet they tempted, and provoked the most high God, and kept not his testimonies,
57 But turned back, and dealt [af]falsely like their fathers: they turned like a deceitful bow.
58 And they [ag]provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to wrath with their graven images.
59 God heard this and was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel,
60 So that he [ah]forsook the habitation of Shiloh, even the Tabernacle where he dwelt among men,
61 And delivered his [ai]power into captivity, and his beauty into the enemy’s hand.
62 And he gave up his people to the sword, and was angry with his inheritance.
63 The fire [aj]devoured their chosen men, and their maids were not [ak]praised.
64 Their Priests fell by the sword, and their [al]widows lamented not.
65 But the Lord awaked as one out of sleep, and as a strong man that after his [am]wine crieth out,
66 And smote his enemies in the hinder parts, and put them to a perpetual shame.
67 Yet he refused the tabernacle of [an]Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim:
68 But chose the tribe of Judah, and mount Zion which he loved.
69 And he [ao]built his Sanctuary as an high palace, like the earth, which he established forever.
70 He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds.
71 Even from behind the ewes with young, brought he him to feed his people in Jacob, and his inheritance in Israel.
72 So [ap]he fed them according to the simplicity of his heart, and guided them by the discretion of his hands.
15 Alas: for the day, for the [a]day of the Lord is at hand, and it cometh as a destruction from the Almighty.
16 Is not the meat cut off before our eyes? and joy, and gladness from the house of our God?
17 The seed is rotten under their clods: the garners are destroyed: the barns are broken down, for the corn is withered.
18 How did the beasts mourn! the herds of cattle pine away, because they have no pasture, and the flocks of sheep are destroyed.
19 O Lord, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burnt up all the trees of the field.
20 The beasts of the field cry also unto thee: for the river of waters are dried up, and the [b]fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.
2 He prophesieth of the coming and cruelty of their enemies. 13 An exhortation to move them to convert. 18 The love of God toward his people.
1 Blow [c]the trumpet in Zion, and shout in mine holy mountain, let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord is come: for it is at hand.
2 A [d]day of darkness, and of blackness, a day of clouds and obscurity, as the morning spread upon the mountains, so is there a [e]great people, and a mighty: there was none like it from the beginning, neither shall be anymore after it, unto the years of many generations.
3 A fire devoureth before him, and behind him a flame burneth up: the land is as the garden of [f]Eden before him, and behind him a desolate wilderness, so that nothing shall escape him.
4 The beholding of him is like the sight of horses, and like the horsemen, so shall they run.
5 Like the noise of chariots in the tops of the mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, and as a mighty people prepared to the battle.
6 Before his face shall the people tremble: all faces [g]shall gather blackness.
7 They shall run like strong men, and go up to the wall like men of war, and every man shall go forward in his ways, and they shall not stay in their paths.
8 Neither shall one [h]thrust another, but everyone shall walk in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded.
9 They shall run to and fro in the city: they shall run upon the wall: they shall clime up upon the houses, and enter in at the windows like the thief.
10 The earth shall tremble before him, the heavens shall shake, the [i]sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.
11 And the Lord shall [j]utter his voice before his host: for his host is very great: for he is strong that doeth his word: (A)for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible, and who can abide it?
19 1 The heavenly company praise God for avenging the blood of his servants on the whore. 9 They are written blessed, that are called to the Lamb’s supper. 10 The Angel will not be worshipped. 11 That mighty King of Kings appeareth from heaven. 19 The battle, 20 wherein the beast is taken, and cast into the burning lake.
1 And [a]after these things I heard a great voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, [b][c]Hallelujah, salvation, and glory, and honor, and power be to the Lord our God.
2 For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath condemned the great whore which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants shed by her hand.
3 And again they said, [d]Hallelujah: and that her smoke rose up for evermore.
4 And the four and twenty Elders, and the four beasts fell down, and worshipped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen, Hallelujah.
5 [e]Then a voice came out of the [f]throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great.
6 And I heard [g]like a voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of strong thunderings, saying, Hallelujah: for the Lord that God that Almighty one hath reigned.
7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give glory to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made [h]herself ready.
8 And to her was granted, that she should be arrayed with [i]pure fine linen and shining, for the fine [j]linen is the [k]righteousness of Saints.
9 [l]Then he said unto me, Write, (A)Blessed are they which are called unto the Lamb’s supper. And he said unto me, These words of God are true.
10 [m]And I fell before his feet, (B)to worship him, but he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellow servant, and one of thy brethren, which have the [n]testimony of Jesus, Worship God: for the testimony of [o]Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy.
25 [a]Now there went great multitudes with him, and he turned and said unto them,
26 (A)If any man come to me, and [b]hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters: yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.
27 (B)[c]And whosoever beareth not his cross, and cometh after me, cannot be my disciple.
28 For which of you minding to build a tower, [d]sitting not down before, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to perform it,
29 Lest that after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to perform it, all that behold it, begin to mock him,
30 Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to make an end.
31 Or what King going to make war against another King, sitteth not down first, and taketh counsel, whether he be able with ten thousand, to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?
32 Or else while he is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth peace.
33 So likewise, whosoever he be of you, that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
34 (C)[e]Salt is good: but if salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted?
35 It is neither meet for the land, nor yet for the dunghill, but men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.