Psalms 137; Psalms 138; Psalms 139; 1 Corinthians 13

Psalms 137

1 (136-1) Upon the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and wept: when we remembered Sion:

2 (136-2) On the willows in the midst thereof we hung up our instruments.

3 (136-3) For there they that led us into captivity required of us the words of songs. And they that carried us away, said: Sing ye to us a hymn of the songs of Sion.

4 (136-4) How shall we sing the song of the Lord in a strange land?

5 (136-5) If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand be forgotten.

6 (136-6) Let my tongue cleave to my jaws, if I do not remember thee: If I make not Jerusalem the beginning of my joy.

7 (136-7) Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom, in the day of Jerusalem: Who say: Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.

8 (136-8) O daughter of Babylon, miserable: blessed shall he be who shall repay thee thy payment which thou hast paid us.

9 (136-9) Blessed be he that shall take and dash thy little ones against the rock.

Psalms 138

1 (137-1) <For David himself.> I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart: for thou hast heard the words of my mouth. I will sing praise to thee in the sight of the angels:

2 (137-2) I will worship towards thy holy temple, and I will give glory to thy name. For thy mercy, and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy holy name above all.

3 (137-3) In what day soever I shall call upon thee, hear me: thou shalt multiply strength in my soul.

4 (137-4) May all the kings of the earth give glory to thee: for they have heard all the words of thy mouth.

5 (137-5) And let them sing in the ways of the Lord: for great is the glory of the Lord.

6 (137-6) For the Lord is high, and looketh on the low: and the high he knoweth afar off.

7 (137-7) If I shall walk in the midst of tribulation, thou wilt quicken me: and thou hast stretched forth thy hand against the wrath of my enemies: and thy right hand hath saved me.

8 (137-8) The Lord will repay for me: thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for ever: O despise not the works of thy hands.

Psalms 139

1 (138-1) <Unto the end, a psalm of David.> Lord, thou hast proved me, and known me:

2 (138-2) Thou hast known my sitting down, and my rising up.

3 (138-3) Thou hast understood my thoughts afar off: my path and my line thou hast searched out.

4 (138-4) And thou hast foreseen all my ways: for there is no speech in my tongue.

5 (138-5) Behold, O Lord, thou hast known all things, the last and those of old: thou hast formed me, and hast laid thy hand upon me.

6 (138-6) Thy knowledge is become wonderful to me: it is high, and I cannot reach to it.

7 (138-7) Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy face?

8 (138-8) If I ascend into heaven, thou art there: if I descend into hell, thou art present.

9 (138-9) If I take my wings early in the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea:

10 (138-10) Even there also shall thy hand lead me: and thy right hand shall hold me.

11 (138-11) And I said: Perhaps darkness shall cover me: and night shall be my light in my pleasures.

12 (138-12) But darkness shall not be dark to thee, and night shall be light all the day: the darkness thereof, and the light thereof are alike to thee.

13 (138-13) For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast protected me from my mother’s womb.

14 (138-14) I will praise thee, for thou art fearfully magnified: wonderful are thy works, and my soul knoweth right well.

15 (138-15) My bone is not hidden from thee, which thou hast made in secret: and my substance in the lower parts of the earth.

16 (138-16) Thy eyes did see my imperfect being, and in thy book all shall be written: days shall be formed, and no one in them.

17 (138-17) But to me thy friends, O God, are made exceedingly honourable: their principality is exceedingly strengthened.

18 (138-18) I will number them, and they shall be multiplied above the sand, I rose up and am still with thee.

19 (138-19) If thou wilt kill the wicked, O God: ye men of blood, depart from me:

20 (138-20) Because you say in thought: They shall receive thy cities in vain.

21 (138-21) Have I not hated them, O Lord, that hated thee: and pined away because of thy enemies?

22 (138-22) I have hated them with a perfect hatred: and they are become enemies to me.

23 (138-23) Prove me, O God, and know my heart: examine me, and know my paths.

24 (138-24) And see if there be in me the way of iniquity: and lead me in the eternal way.

1 Corinthians 13

1 If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

2 And if I should have prophecy and should know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I should have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

3 And if I should distribute all my goods to feed the poor, and if I should deliver my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

4 Charity is patient, is kind: charity envieth not, dealeth not perversely, is not puffed up,

5 Is not ambitious, seeketh not her own, is not provoked to anger, thinketh no evil:

6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth with the truth:

7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

8 Charity never falleth away: whether prophecies shall be made void or tongues shall cease or knowledge shall be destroyed.

9 For we know in part: and we prophesy in part.

10 But when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away.

11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child. But, when I became a man, I put away the things of a child.

12 We see now through a glass in a dark manner: but then face to face. Now I know in part: but then I shall know even as I am known.

13 And now there remain faith, hope, and charity, these three: but the greatest of these is charity.