Old/New Testament
137 1 The people of God in their banishment seeing God’s true Religion decay, lived in great anguish and sorrow of heart: the which grief the Chaldeans did so little pity, 3 That they rather increased the same daily with taunts, reproaches and blasphemies against God. 7 Wherefore the Israelites desire God, first to punish the Edomites, who provoked the Babylonians against them, 8 And moved by the Spirit of God, prophesy the destruction of Babylon, where they were handled so tyrannously.
1 By the rivers of Babel we [a]sat, and there we wept, when we remembered Zion.
2 We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst [b]thereof.
3 Then they that led us captive, [c]required of us songs and mirth, when we had hanged up our harps, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.
4 How shall we sing, said we, a song of the Lord in a strange land?
5 [d]If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget to play.
6 If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth: yea, if I prefer not Jerusalem to my [e]chief joy.
7 Remember the children of [f]Edom, O Lord, in the [g]day of Jerusalem, which said, Raze it, raze it to the foundation thereof.
8 O daughter of Babel, worthy to be destroyed, blessed shall he be that rewardeth thee, as thou hast served us.
9 [h]Blessed shall he be that taketh and dasheth thy children against the stones.
138 1 David with great courage praiseth the goodness of God toward him, the which is so great, 4 That it is known to foreign princes, who shall praise the Lord together with him. 6 And he is assured to have the like comfort of God in the time following, as he had heretofore.
A Psalm of David.
1 I will praise thee with my whole heart: even before the [i]gods will I praise thee.
2 I will worship toward thine holy [j]Temple and praise thy Name, because of thy loving-kindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy Name above all things by thy word.
3 When I called, then thou heardest me, and hast [k]increased strength in my soul.
4 All the [l]kings of the earth shall praise thee, O Lord: for they have heard the words of thy mouth.
5 And they shall sing of the ways of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord is great.
6 For the Lord is high, yet he beholdeth the lowly, but the proud he knoweth [m]afar off.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, yet wilt thou revive me: thou wilt stretch forth thine hand upon the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me.
8 The Lord will [n]perform his work toward me: O Lord, thy mercy endureth forever: forsake not the works of thine hands.
139 1 David cleanseth his heart from all hypocrisy, showeth that there is nothing so hid, which God seeth not. 13 Which he confirmeth by the creation of man. 14 After declaring his zeal and fear of God, he professeth to be enemy to all them that contemn God.
To him that excelleth. A Psalm of David.
1 O Lord, thou hast tried me, and known me.
2 Thou knowest my [o]sitting and my rising: thou understandest my thought afar off.
3 Thou [p]compassest my paths, and my lying down, and art accustomed to all my ways.
4 For there is not a word in my [q]tongue, but lo, thou knowest it wholly, O Lord.
5 Thou holdest me strait behind and before, and layest thine [r]hand upon me.
6 Thy knowledge is too wonderful for me: it is so high that I cannot attain unto it.
7 Whither shall I go from thy [s]Spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
8 If I ascend into heaven, thou art there: if I lie down in hell, thou art there.
9 Let me take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea:
10 Yet thither shall thine hand [t]lead me, and thy right hand hold me.
11 If I say, Yet the darkness shall hide me, even the night shall be [u]light about me.
12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee: but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and light are both alike.
13 For thou hast [v]possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will praise thee, for I am [w]fearfully and wondrously made: marvelous are thy works, and my soul knoweth it well.
15 My bones are not hid from thee, though I was made in a secret place, and fashioned [x]beneath in the earth.
16 Thine eyes did see me, when I was without form: [y]for in thy book were all things written, which in continuance were fashioned, when there was none of them before.
17 How [z]dear therefore are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!
18 If I should count them, they are more than the sand: when I awake, [aa]I am still with thee.
19 Oh that thou wouldest [slay], O God, the wicked and bloody men, to whom I say, Depart ye from me:
20 Which speak wickedly of thee, and being thine enemies are lifted up in vain.
21 Do not I [ab]hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? and do not I earnestly contend with those that rise up against thee?
22 I hate them with an unfeigned hatred, as they were mine utter enemies.
23 Try me, O God, and know mine heart: prove me and know my thoughts,
24 And consider if there be any [ac]way of wickedness in me, and lead me in the [ad]way forever.
13 1 He showeth that there are gifts so excellent, which in God’s sight are not corrupt, if Charity be away: 4 and therefore he digresseth unto the commendation of it.
1 Though [a]I speak with the tongues of men and [b]Angels, and have not love, I am as sounding brass, or a [c]tinkling cymbal.
2 And though I had the gift of prophecy, and knew all secrets and all knowledge, yea, if I had all [d]faith, so that I could remove (A)mountains, and had not love, I were nothing.
3 And though I feed the poor with all my goods, and though I give my body, that I be burned, and have not love, it profiteth me nothing.
4 [e]Love [f]suffereth long: it is bountiful: love envieth not: love doth not boast itself: it is not puffed up:
5 It doth [g]no uncomely thing: it seeketh not her own thing: it is not provoked to anger: it thinketh no evil:
6 It rejoiceth not in iniquity, but [h]rejoiceth in the truth:
7 It suffereth all things: it believeth all things: it hopeth all things: it endureth all things.
8 [i]Love doth never fall away, though that prophesyings be abolished, or the tongues cease, or [j]knowledge vanish away.
9 [k]For we know in [l]part, and we prophesy in part.
10 But when that which is perfect, is come, then that which is in part shall be abolished.
11 [m]When I was a child, I spake as a child: I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
12 [n]For [o]now we see through a glass darkly: but then shall we see face to face. Now I know in part: but then shall I know even as I am known.
13 [p]And now abideth faith, hope and love, even these three: but the chiefest of these is love.
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.