4th January

¹ And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.² Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female.³ Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth.⁴ For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth.⁵ And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him.⁶ And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.⁷ And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.⁸ Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth,⁹ There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.¹⁰ And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.¹¹ In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.¹² And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.¹³ In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;¹⁴ They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort.¹⁵ And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life.¹⁶ And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in.¹⁷ And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth.¹⁸ And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters.¹⁹ And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered.²⁰ Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.²¹ And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man:²² All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.²³ And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.²⁴ And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.

¹ And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged;² The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained;³ And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated.⁴ And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.⁵ And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen.⁶ And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made:⁷ And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.⁸ Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground;⁹ But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark.¹⁰ And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark;¹¹ And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.¹² And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more.¹³ And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry.¹⁴ And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried.¹⁵ And God spake unto Noah, saying,¹⁶ Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee.¹⁷ Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth.¹⁸ And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him:¹⁹ Every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark.²⁰ And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.²¹ And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.²² While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

¹ I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works.² I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High.³ When mine enemies are turned back, they shall fall and perish at thy presence.⁴ For thou hast maintained my right and my cause; thou satest in the throne judging right.⁵ Thou hast rebuked the heathen, thou hast destroyed the wicked, thou hast put out their name for ever and ever.⁶ O thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end: and thou hast destroyed cities; their memorial is perished with them.⁷ But the LORD shall endure for ever: he hath prepared his throne for judgment.⁸ And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness.⁹ The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.¹⁰ And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.¹¹ Sing praises to the LORD, which dwelleth in Zion: declare among the people his doings.¹² When he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them: he forgetteth not the cry of the humble.¹³ Have mercy upon me, O LORD; consider my trouble which I suffer of them that hate me, thou that liftest me up from the gates of death:¹⁴ That I may shew forth all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion: I will rejoice in thy salvation.¹⁵ The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made: in the net which they hid is their own foot taken.¹⁶ The LORD is known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah.¹⁷ The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.¹⁸ For the needy shall not alway be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever.¹⁹ Arise, O LORD; let not man prevail: let the heathen be judged in thy sight.²⁰ Put them in fear, O LORD: that the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah.

¹ Why standest thou afar off, O LORD? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?² The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined.³ For the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the LORD abhorreth.⁴ The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.⁵ His ways are always grievous; thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them.⁶ He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity.⁷ His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity.⁸ He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor.⁹ He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net.¹⁰ He croucheth, and humbleth himself, that the poor may fall by his strong ones.¹¹ He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it.¹² Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up thine hand: forget not the humble.¹³ Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? he hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not require it.¹⁴ Thou hast seen it; for thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite it with thy hand: the poor committeth himself unto thee; thou art the helper of the fatherless.¹⁵ Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil man: seek out his wickedness till thou find none.¹⁶ The LORD is King for ever and ever: the heathen are perished out of his land.¹⁷ LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear:¹⁸ To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may no more oppress.

¹ Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.² Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.³ But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:⁴ That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.⁵ And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.⁶ But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.⁷ But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.⁸ Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.⁹ After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.¹⁰ Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.¹¹ Give us this day our daily bread.¹² And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.¹³ And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.¹⁴ For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:¹⁵ But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.¹⁶ Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.¹⁷ But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;¹⁸ That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.¹⁹ Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:²⁰ But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:²¹ For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.²² The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.²³ But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!²⁴ No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.²⁵ Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?²⁶ Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?²⁷ Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?²⁸ And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:²⁹ And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.³⁰ Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?³¹ Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?³² (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.³³ But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.³⁴ Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.