SACRED SCRIPTURE,

Collected and prepared

By a COMMITTEE appointed by
the General Affembly of the
Church of SCOTLAND.

MDCCLVI.

4

ADVERTISEMENT.

T has been often and earnestly defired by pious and devout perfons, to have our Pfalmody enlarged, by joining with the Pfalms of David, Jome other fcriptural fongs out of the New Teftament, as well as the Old. The Church of Scotland had this defign in view, not long after the revolution; and it has been at different times under their deliberation, as appears by feveral acts and recommendations of General Affemblies. By act of affembly 1742, a committee was appointed to collect and prepare tranflations and paraphrafes of facred writ, in verfe: this committee having made no report, the Affembly 1744 renewed their appointment on them for this purpose, and added Jome others to their number. In confequence of thefe appointments of the Affembly, letters were writ in name of this committee, to the feve ral prefbyteries, defiring them to fend any materials they could furnish for this pious defign. Thefe poems which are now printed and tranfhitted to prefbyteries, by act of Affembly, are partly collected from the pious and ingenious Dr. Watts and fome other writers, with fuch alterations as appeared to fit them more for the prefent

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prefent purpose; and partly furnished by minifters of this church. The ufe for which they were intended, required fimplicity and plainness of compofition and ftile. The committee who prepared them, chiefly aimed at having the fenfe af feripture expreffed in easy verfe; fuch as might be fitted to raife devotion, might be intelligible to all, and might rife above contempt from perfons of better tafte.

The General Affembly 1749, did, by their act, tranfmit thefe tranflations and paraphrafes to the committee, with inflructions to 'confider the amendments which have been offered by pref byteries, to admit fuch as they judge proper and material, and to caufe print a new impreffion of the collection fo amended, in order to its being again tranfmitted to prefbyteries accordingly, the propofed amendments have been carefully confidered and examined by the committee, and many of them admitted into this new impreffion.

Tranf