Book of Common Prayer
Meditations and prayers relating to the law of God.
א Aleph.
119 Blessed are they that are [a]perfect in the way,
Who walk in the law of Jehovah.
2 Blessed are they that keep his testimonies,
That seek him with the whole heart.
3 Yea, they do no unrighteousness;
They walk in his ways.
4 Thou hast commanded us thy precepts,
That we should observe them diligently.
5 Oh that my ways were established
To observe thy statutes!
6 Then shall I not be put to shame,
When I have respect unto all thy commandments.
7 I will give thanks unto thee with uprightness of heart,
When I learn thy righteous judgments.
8 I will observe thy statutes:
Oh forsake me not utterly.
ב Beth.
9 Wherewith shall a young man cleanse his way?
By taking heed thereto according to thy word.
10 With my whole heart have I sought thee:
Oh let me not wander from thy commandments.
11 Thy word have I laid up in my heart,
That I might not sin against thee.
12 Blessed art thou, O Jehovah:
Teach me thy statutes.
13 With my lips have I declared
All the ordinances of thy mouth.
14 I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies,
As much as in all riches.
15 I will meditate on thy precepts,
And have respect unto thy ways.
16 I will delight myself in thy statutes:
I will not forget thy word.
ג Gimel.
17 Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live;
So will I observe thy word.
18 Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold
Wondrous things out of thy law.
19 I am a sojourner in the earth:
Hide not thy commandments from me.
20 My soul breaketh for the longing
That it hath unto thine ordinances at all times.
21 Thou hast rebuked the proud [b]that are cursed,
That do wander from thy commandments.
22 Take away from me reproach and contempt;
For I have kept thy testimonies.
23 Princes also sat and talked against me;
But thy servant did meditate on thy statutes.
24 Thy testimonies also are my delight
And [c]my counsellors.
God a helper against the treacherous.
For the Chief Musician; set to [a]the Sheminith. A Psalm of David.
12 Help, Jehovah; for the godly man ceaseth;
For [b]the faithful fail from among the children of men.
2 They speak falsehood every one with his neighbor:
With flattering lip, and with a double heart, do they speak.
3 Jehovah will cut off all flattering lips,
The tongue that speaketh great things;
4 Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail;
Our lips are [c]our own: who is lord over us?
5 Because of the oppression of the poor, because of the sighing of the needy,
Now will I arise, saith Jehovah;
I will set him in the safety he panteth for.
6 The words of Jehovah are pure words;
As silver tried in a furnace on the earth,
Purified seven times.
7 Thou wilt keep them, O Jehovah,
Thou wilt preserve them from this generation for ever.
8 The wicked walk on every side,
When vileness is exalted among the sons of men.
Prayer for help in affliction.
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
13 How long, O Jehovah? wilt thou forget me for ever?
How long wilt thou hide thy face from me?
2 How long shall I take counsel in my soul,
Having sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?
3 Consider and answer me, O Jehovah my God:
Lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;
4 Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him;
Lest mine adversaries rejoice when I am moved.
5 But I have trusted in thy lovingkindness;
My heart shall rejoice in thy salvation.
6 I will sing unto Jehovah,
Because he hath dealt bountifully with me.
The folly and wickedness of men.
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
14 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.
They are corrupt, they have done abominable works;
There is none that doeth good.
2 Jehovah looked down from heaven upon the children of men,
To see if there were any that did [d]understand,
That did seek after God.
3 They are all gone aside; they are together become filthy;
There is none that doeth good, no, not one.
4 Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge,
Who eat up my people as they eat bread,
And call not upon Jehovah?
5 There were they in great fear;
For God is in the generation of the righteous.
6 Ye put to shame the counsel of the poor,
[e]Because Jehovah is his refuge.
7 Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion!
When Jehovah [f]bringeth back the captivity of his people,
Then shall Jacob rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.
2 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
2 And it shall come to pass in the latter days, that the mountain of Jehovah’s house shall be established [a]on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. 3 And many peoples shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth [b]the law, and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem. 4 And he will judge [c]between the nations, and will decide concerning many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
5 O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of Jehovah. 6 For thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they are filled with customs from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they strike hands with the children of foreigners. 7 And their land is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land also is full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots. 8 Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made. 9 And the mean man [d]is bowed down, and the great man [e]is brought low: therefore forgive them not. 10 Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, from before the terror of Jehovah, and from the glory of his majesty. 11 The lofty looks of man shall be brought low, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and Jehovah alone shall be exalted in that day.
13 And for this cause we also thank God without ceasing, that, when ye received from us [a]the word of the message, even the word of God, ye accepted it not as the word of men, but, as it is in truth, the word of God, which also worketh in you that believe. 14 For ye, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judaea in Christ Jesus: for ye also suffered the same things of your own countrymen, even as they did of the Jews; 15 who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove out us, and please not God, and are contrary to all men; 16 forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved; to fill up their sins always: but the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost.
17 But we, brethren, being bereaved of you for [b]a short season, in presence not in heart, endeavored the more exceedingly to see your face with great desire: 18 because we would fain have come unto you, I Paul once and again; and Satan hindered us. 19 For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of glorying? Are not even ye, before our Lord Jesus at his [c]coming? 20 For ye are our glory and our joy.
19 And the scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him in that very hour; and they feared the people: for they perceived that he spake this parable against them. 20 And they watched him, and sent forth spies, who feigned themselves to be righteous, that they might take hold of his speech, so as to deliver him up to the [a]rule and to the authority of the governor. 21 And they asked him, saying, Teacher, we know that thou sayest and teachest rightly, and acceptest not the person of any, but of a truth teachest the way of God: 22 Is it lawful for us to give tribute unto Caesar, or not? 23 But he perceived their craftiness, and said unto them, 24 Show me a [b]denarius. Whose image and superscription hath it? And they said, Caesar’s. 25 And he said unto them, Then render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s. 26 And they were not able to take hold of the saying before the people: and they marvelled at his answer, and held their peace.
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