12th May

¹ These are the words of the covenant, which the LORD commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, beside the covenant which he made with them in Horeb.² And Moses called unto all Israel, and said unto them, Ye have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt unto Pharaoh, and unto all his servants, and unto all his land;³ The great temptations which thine eyes have seen, the signs, and those great miracles:⁴ Yet the LORD hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.⁵ And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot.⁶ Ye have not eaten bread, neither have ye drunk wine or strong drink: that ye might know that I am the LORD your God.⁷ And when ye came unto this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, came out against us unto battle, and we smote them:⁸ And we took their land, and gave it for an inheritance unto the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to the half tribe of Manasseh.⁹ Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do.¹⁰ Ye stand this day all of you before the LORD your God; your captains of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, with all the men of Israel,¹¹ Your little ones, your wives, and thy stranger that is in thy camp, from the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water:¹² That thou shouldest enter into covenant with the LORD thy God, and into his oath, which the LORD thy God maketh with thee this day:¹³ That he may establish thee to day for a people unto himself, and that he may be unto thee a God, as he hath said unto thee, and as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.¹⁴ Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath;¹⁵ But with him that standeth here with us this day before the LORD our God, and also with him that is not here with us this day:¹⁶ (For ye know how we have dwelt in the land of Egypt; and how we came through the nations which ye passed by;¹⁷ And ye have seen their abominations, and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which were among them:)¹⁸ Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood;¹⁹ And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst:²⁰ The LORD will not spare him, but then the anger of the LORD and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the LORD shall blot out his name from under heaven.²¹ And the LORD shall separate him unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this book of the law:²² So that the generation to come of your children that shall rise up after you, and the stranger that shall come from a far land, shall say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses which the LORD hath laid upon it;²³ And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the LORD overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath:²⁴ Even all nations shall say, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this great anger?²⁵ Then men shall say, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt:²⁶ For they went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods whom they knew not, and whom he had not given unto them:²⁷ And the anger of the LORD was kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the curses that are written in this book:²⁸ And the LORD rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day.²⁹ The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

¹ The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.² Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.³ The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.⁴ Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.⁵ Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.⁶ From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.⁷ Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.⁸ And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.⁹ Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.¹⁰ Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.¹¹ To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.¹² When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?¹³ Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.¹⁴ Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.¹⁵ And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.¹⁶ Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;¹⁷ Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.¹⁸ Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.¹⁹ If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:²⁰ But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.²¹ How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.²² Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water:²³ Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.²⁴ Therefore saith the LORD, the LORD of hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies:²⁵ And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin:²⁶ And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city.²⁷ Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness.²⁸ And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the LORD shall be consumed.²⁹ For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen.³⁰ For ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water.³¹ And the strong shall be as tow, and the maker of it as a spark, and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them.

¹ And when it was determined that we should sail into Italy, they delivered Paul and certain other prisoners unto one named Julius, a centurion of Augustus' band.² And entering into a ship of Adramyttium, we launched, meaning to sail by the coasts of Asia; one Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, being with us.³ And the next day we touched at Sidon. And Julius courteously entreated Paul, and gave him liberty to go unto his friends to refresh himself.⁴ And when we had launched from thence, we sailed under Cyprus, because the winds were contrary.⁵ And when we had sailed over the sea of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra, a city of Lycia.⁶ And there the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing into Italy; and he put us therein.⁷ And when we had sailed slowly many days, and scarce were come over against Cnidus, the wind not suffering us, we sailed under Crete, over against Salmone;⁸ And, hardly passing it, came unto a place which is called The fair havens; nigh whereunto was the city of Lasea.⁹ Now when much time was spent, and when sailing was now dangerous, because the fast was now already past, Paul admonished them,¹⁰ And said unto them, Sirs, I perceive that this voyage will be with hurt and much damage, not only of the lading and ship, but also of our lives.¹¹ Nevertheless the centurion believed the master and the owner of the ship, more than those things which were spoken by Paul.¹² And because the haven was not commodious to winter in, the more part advised to depart thence also, if by any means they might attain to Phenice, and there to winter; which is an haven of Crete, and lieth toward the south west and north west.¹³ And when the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, loosing thence, they sailed close by Crete.¹⁴ But not long after there arose against it a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon.¹⁵ And when the ship was caught, and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive.¹⁶ And running under a certain island which is called Clauda, we had much work to come by the boat:¹⁷ Which when they had taken up, they used helps, undergirding the ship; and, fearing lest they should fall into the quicksands, strake sail, and so were driven.¹⁸ And we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest, the next day they lightened the ship;¹⁹ And the third day we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship.²⁰ And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.²¹ But after long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss.²² And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man's life among you, but of the ship.²³ For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve,²⁴ Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.²⁵ Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me.²⁶ Howbeit we must be cast upon a certain island.²⁷ But when the fourteenth night was come, as we were driven up and down in Adria, about midnight the shipmen deemed that they drew near to some country;²⁸ And sounded, and found it twenty fathoms: and when they had gone a little further, they sounded again, and found it fifteen fathoms.²⁹ Then fearing lest we should have fallen upon rocks, they cast four anchors out of the stern, and wished for the day.³⁰ And as the shipmen were about to flee out of the ship, when they had let down the boat into the sea, under colour as though they would have cast anchors out of the foreship,³¹ Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved.³² Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat, and let her fall off.³³ And while the day was coming on, Paul besought them all to take meat, saying, This day is the fourteenth day that ye have tarried and continued fasting, having taken nothing.³⁴ Wherefore I pray you to take some meat: for this is for your health: for there shall not an hair fall from the head of any of you.³⁵ And when he had thus spoken, he took bread, and gave thanks to God in presence of them all: and when he had broken it, he began to eat.³⁶ Then were they all of good cheer, and they also took some meat.³⁷ And we were in all in the ship two hundred threescore and sixteen souls.³⁸ And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, and cast out the wheat into the sea.³⁹ And when it was day, they knew not the land: but they discovered a certain creek with a shore, into the which they were minded, if it were possible, to thrust in the ship.⁴⁰ And when they had taken up the anchors, they committed themselves unto the sea, and loosed the rudder bands, and hoised up the mainsail to the wind, and made toward shore.⁴¹ And falling into a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground; and the forepart stuck fast, and remained unmoveable, but the hinder part was broken with the violence of the waves.⁴² And the soldiers' counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim out, and escape.⁴³ But the centurion, willing to save Paul, kept them from their purpose; and commanded that they which could swim should cast themselves first into the sea, and get to land:⁴⁴ And the rest, some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass, that they escaped all safe to land.