READING LESSONS

FOR USE IN

SECULAR AND OTHER SCHOOLS.

EDITED BY

THOS. A. BOWDEN, B.A., Oxon.

BIBLE READING LESSONS.

THE BOOK OF PSALMS.*

PSALM I. BLESSED is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the

ungodly,
Nor standeth in the way of sinners,
Nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful,
But his delight is in the law of the LORD;
And in his law doth he meditate day and night.
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water,
That bringeth forth his fruit in his season ;
His leaf also shall not wither;
And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

The ungodly are not so:
But are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous :
But the way of the ungodly shall perish.

PSALM V. Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my meditation. Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my

God: For unto thee will I pray. My voice shalt Thou hear in the morning, O LORD; In the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will

look up. For Thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness : Neither shall evil dwell with thee, The foolish shall not stand in thy sight : Thou hatest all workers of iniquity, Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing : The LORD will abhor the bloody and deceitful man. But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multi

tude of thy mercy : And in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple.

PSALM VIII. O LORD our LORD, How excellent is thy name in all the earth, Who hast set thy glory above the heavens ! Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings Hast Thou ordained strength Because of thine enemies, That Thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger. When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, The moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained; What is man, that Thou art mindful of him ? And the son of man, that Thou visitest him ? For Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels,

And hast crowned him with glory and honour.
Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of

thy hands;
Thou hast put all things under his feet :
All sheep and oxen,
Yea, and the beasts of the field;
The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea,
And whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.
O LORD our LORD,
How excellent is thy name in all the earth!

PSALM XI. In the LORD put I my trust : How say ye to my soul, ‘Flee as a bird to your moun

tain ? For, lo, the wicked bend their bow, * They make ready their arrow upon the string,

That they may privily shoot at the upright in heart. • If the foundations be destroyed, • What can the righteous do ?'

The Lord is in his holy temple,
The LORD's throne is in heaven :
His eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.
The LORD trieth the righteous :
But the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul

bateth.
Upon the wicked HE shall rain snares,
Fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest :
This shall be the portion of their cup.
For the righteous LORD loveth righteousness;
His countenance doth behold the upright.