¹ O LORD, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.

² For thou hast made of a city an heap; of a defenced city a ruin: a palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be built.

³ Therefore shall the strong people glorify thee, the city of the terrible nations shall fear thee.

⁴ For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.

⁵ Thou shalt bring down the noise of strangers, as the heat in a dry place; even the heat with the shadow of a cloud: the branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low.

⁶ And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined.

⁷ And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations.

⁸ He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.

⁹ And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.

⁸ And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying,

⁹ And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you;

¹⁰ And with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth.

¹¹ And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.

¹² And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:

¹³ I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.

¹⁴ And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud:

¹⁵ And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.

¹⁶ And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.

¹⁷ And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.

⁸ A man shall be commended according to his wisdom: but he that is of a perverse heart shall be despised.

⁹ He that is despised, and hath a servant, is better than he that honoureth himself, and lacketh bread.

¹⁰ A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.

¹¹ He that tilleth his land shall be satisfied with bread: but he that followeth vain persons is void of understanding.

¹² The wicked desireth the net of evil men: but the root of the righteous yieldeth fruit.

¹³ The wicked is snared by the transgression of his lips: but the just shall come out of trouble.

¹⁴ A man shall be satisfied with good by the fruit of his mouth: and the recompence of a man’s hands shall be rendered unto him.

¹⁵ The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.

¹⁶ A fool’s wrath is presently known: but a prudent man covereth shame.

¹⁷ He that speaketh truth sheweth forth righteousness: but a false witness deceit.

¹⁸ There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wise is health.

¹⁹ The lip of truth shall be established for ever: but a lying tongue is but for a moment.

²⁰ Deceit is in the heart of them that imagine evil: but to the counsellors of peace is joy.

²¹ There shall no evil happen to the just: but the wicked shall be filled with mischief.

²² Lying lips are abomination to the LORD: but they that deal truly are his delight.

¹ But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and there shall no torment touch them.

² In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die: and their departure is taken for misery,

³ And their going from us to be utter destruction: but they are in peace.

⁴ For though they be punished in the sight of men, yet is their hope full of immortality.

⁵ And having been a little chastised, they shall be greatly rewarded: for God proved them, and found them worthy for himself.

⁶ As gold in the furnace hath he tried them, and received them as a burnt offering.

⁷ And in the time of their visitation they shall shine, and run to and fro like sparks among the stubble.

⁸ They shall judge the nations, and have dominion over the people, and their Lord shall reign for ever.

⁹ They that put their trust in him shall understand the truth: and such as be faithful in love shall abide with him: for grace and mercy is to his saints, and he hath care for his elect.

¹⁵ But the righteous live for evermore; their reward also is with the Lord, and the care of them is with the most High.

¹⁶ Therefore shall they receive a glorious kingdom, and a beautiful crown from the Lord’s hand: for with his right hand shall he cover them, and with his arm shall he protect them.

¹⁷ He shall take to him his jealousy for complete armour, and make the creature his weapon for the revenge of his enemies.

¹⁸ He shall put on righteousness as a breastplate, and true judgment instead of an helmet.

¹⁹ He shall take holiness for an invincible shield.

²⁰ His severe wrath shall he sharpen for a sword, and the world shall fight with him against the unwise.

²¹ Then shall the right aiming thunderbolts go abroad; and from the clouds, as from a well drawn bow, shall they fly to the mark.

²² And hailstones full of wrath shall be cast as out of a stone bow, and the water of the sea shall rage against them, and the floods shall cruelly drown them.

²³ Yea, a mighty wind shall stand up against them, and like a storm shall blow them away: thus iniquity shall lay waste the whole earth, and ill dealing shall overthrow the thrones of the mighty.

¹ Hear therefore, O ye kings, and understand; learn, ye that be judges of the ends of the earth.

² Give ear, ye that rule the people, and glory in the multitude of nations.

³ For power is given you of the Lord, and sovereignty from the Highest, who shall try your works, and search out your counsels.

⁷ But though the righteous be prevented with death, yet shall he be in rest.

⁸ For honourable age is not that which standeth in length of time, nor that is measured by number of years.

⁹ But wisdom is the gray hair unto men, and an unspotted life is old age.

¹⁰ He pleased God, and was beloved of him: so that living among sinners he was translated.

¹¹ Yea speedily was he taken away, lest that wickedness should alter his understanding, or deceit beguile his soul.

¹² For the bewitching of naughtiness doth obscure things that are honest; and the wandering of concupiscence doth undermine the simple mind.

¹³ He, being made perfect in a short time, fulfilled a long time:

¹⁴ For his soul pleased the Lord: therefore hasted he to take him away from among the wicked.

¹⁵ This the people saw, and understood it not, neither laid they up this in their minds, That his grace and mercy is with his saints, and that he hath respect unto his chosen.

¹ The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a sign from heaven.

² He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, {It will be} fair weather: for the sky is red.

³ And in the morning, {It will be} foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O {ye} hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not {discern} the signs of the times?

⁴ A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed.

⁵ And when his disciples were come to the other side, they had forgotten to take bread.

⁶ Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

⁷ And they reasoned among themselves, saying, {It is} because we have taken no bread.

⁸ {Which} when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread?

⁹ Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?

¹⁰ Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?

¹¹ How is it that ye do not understand that I spake {it} not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?

¹² Then understood they how that he bade {them} not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

¹³ When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?

¹⁴ And they said, Some {say that thou art} John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.

¹⁵ He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?

¹⁶ And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

¹⁷ And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed {it} unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

¹⁸ And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. {Peter: this name signifies a rock}

¹⁹ And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

²⁰ Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.

²¹ From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.

²² Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. {Be...: Gr. Pity thyself}

²³ But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.

²⁴ Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any {man} will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

²⁵ For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

²⁶ For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

²⁷ For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.

²⁸ Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.