Book of Common Prayer
Mem.
97
Oh, how I love Your law!
It is my meditation all the day.(A)
98
Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies,
For Your words are always with me.
99
I have better understanding and deeper insight than all my teachers [because of Your word],
For Your testimonies are my meditation.(B)
100
I understand more than the aged [who have not observed Your precepts],
Because I have observed and kept Your precepts.
101
I have restrained my feet from every evil way,
That I may keep Your word.(C)
102
I have not turned aside from Your ordinances,
For You Yourself have taught me.
103
How sweet are Your words to my taste,
Sweeter than honey to my mouth!(D)
104
From Your precepts I get understanding;
Therefore I hate every false way.
Nun.
105
Your word is a lamp to my feet
And a light to my path.(E)
106
I have sworn [an oath] and have confirmed it,
That I will keep Your righteous ordinances.(F)
107
I am greatly afflicted;
Renew and revive me [giving me life], O Lord, according to Your word.
108
Accept and take pleasure in the freewill offerings of my mouth, O Lord,
And teach me Your ordinances.(G)
109
My life is continually [a]in my hand,
Yet I do not forget Your law.
110
The wicked have laid a snare for me,
Yet I do not wander from Your precepts.
111
I have taken Your testimonies as a heritage forever,
For they are the joy of my heart.(H)
112
I have inclined my heart to perform Your statutes
Forever, even to the end.
Samekh.
113
I hate those who are double-minded,
But I love and treasure Your law.
114
You are my hiding place and my shield;
I wait for Your word.(I)
115
Leave me, you evildoers,
That I may keep the commandments of my God [honoring and obeying them].(J)
116
Uphold me according to Your word [of promise], so that I may live;
And do not let me be ashamed of my hope [in Your great goodness].(K)
117
Uphold me that I may be safe,
That I may have regard for Your statutes continually.
118
You have turned Your back on all those who wander from Your statutes,
For their deceitfulness is useless.
119
You have removed all the wicked of the earth like dross [for they have no value];
Therefore I love Your testimonies.
120
My flesh trembles in [reverent] fear of You,
And I am afraid and in awe of Your judgments.
God’s Goodness and Israel’s Waywardness.
To the Chief Musician; set to the [a]Philistine lute. A Psalm of Asaph.
81 Sing aloud to God our strength;
Shout for joy to the God of Jacob (Israel).
2
Raise a song, sound the timbrel,
The sweet sounding lyre with the harp.
3
Blow the trumpet at the New Moon,
At the [b]full moon, on our feast day.
4
For this is a statute for Israel,
An ordinance of the God of Jacob.
5
He established it for a testimony in [c]Joseph
When He went throughout the land of Egypt.
I heard the language [of One whom] I did not know, saying,
6
“I removed the burden from his shoulder;
His hands were freed from the basket.
7
“You called in [the time of] trouble and I rescued you;
I answered you in the secret place of thunder;
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.(A) Selah.
8
“Hear, O My people, and I will admonish you—
O Israel, if you would listen to Me!
9
“Let there be no strange god among you,
Nor shall you worship any foreign god.
10
“I am the Lord your God,
Who brought you up from the land of Egypt.
Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.
11
“But My people would not listen to My voice,
And Israel did not [consent to] obey Me.
12
“So I gave them up to the stubbornness of their heart,
To walk in [the path of] their own counsel.(B)
13
“Oh, that My people would listen to Me,
That Israel would walk in My ways!
14
“Then I would quickly subdue and humble their enemies
And turn My hand against their adversaries;
15
Those who hate the Lord would pretend obedience to Him and cringe before Him,
And their time of punishment would be forever.
16
“But I would feed Israel with the finest of the wheat;
And with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”
Unjust Judgments Rebuked.
A Psalm of Asaph.
82 God stands in the divine assembly;
He judges among the gods (divine beings).
2
How long will you judge unjustly
And show partiality to the wicked? Selah.
3
Vindicate the weak and fatherless;
Do justice and maintain the rights of the afflicted and destitute.
4
Rescue the weak and needy;
Rescue them from the hand of the wicked.
5
The rulers do not know nor do they understand;
They walk on in the darkness [of complacent satisfaction];
All the foundations of the earth [the fundamental principles of the administration of justice] are shaken.
6
I said, “You are [d]gods;
Indeed, all of you are sons of the Most High.(C)
7
“Nevertheless you will die like men
And fall like any one of the princes.”
8
Arise, O God, judge the earth!
For to You belong all the nations.(D)
Confusion of the Enemy
19 So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the edge of the camp at the beginning of the [a]middle watch, when the guards had just been changed, and they blew the trumpets and smashed the pitchers that were in their hands. 20 When three companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers, they held the torches in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow, and they shouted, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” 21 Then each stood in his place around the camp; and the entire [Midianite] army ran, crying out as they fled. 22 When Gideon’s men blew the three hundred trumpets, the Lord set the sword of one [Midianite] against another even throughout the whole army; and the army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath. 23 The men of Israel were summoned together from [the tribes of] Naphtali and Asher and all Manasseh, and they pursued Midian.
24 Then Gideon sent messengers throughout the hill country of [the tribe of] Ephraim, saying, “Come down against the Midianites and take [control of] the waters before them [thereby cutting off the Midianites], as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan [River].” So all the men of Ephraim were assembled together and they took control of the waters, as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan. 25 Then the men of Ephraim took the two leaders of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb, and they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and they killed Zeeb at the wine press of Zeeb, and pursued Midian; and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon from across the Jordan.
Zebah and Zalmunna Routed
8 And the men of [the tribe of] Ephraim said to Gideon, “What is this thing that you have done to us, not calling us when you went to fight with Midian?” And they quarreled with him vehemently. 2 But he said to them, “What have I done now [that is so significant] in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning (leftovers) of the grapes of [your tribe of] Ephraim better than the vintage (entire harvest) of [my clan of] Abiezer? 3 God has given the leaders of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb into your hands; and what was I able to do in comparison with you?” Then their anger toward him subsided when he made this statement.
4 So Gideon came to the Jordan and crossed over [the river], he and the three hundred men who were with him—exhausted, yet [still] pursuing [the enemy]. 5 He said to the men of Succoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the people who are following me since they are exhausted, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian.” 6 But the leaders of Succoth said, “Are Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hands, that we should give bread to your army?” 7 Gideon said, “For that [response], when the Lord has handed over Zebah and Zalmunna to me, I will thrash your bodies with the thorns and briars of the wilderness.” 8 He went from there up to Penuel and spoke similarly to them; and the men of Penuel answered him just as the men of Succoth had answered. 9 So Gideon said also to the men of Penuel, “When I come again in peace, I will tear down this tower.”
10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their armies, about fifteen thousand [fighting] men, all who were left of the entire army of the sons of the east; for a hundred and twenty thousand swordsmen had fallen. 11 Gideon went up by the route of those who lived in tents to the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and he attacked their camp when the camp was unsuspecting. 12 When Zebah and Zalmunna fled, he pursued them and captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and terrified the entire army.
12 And Peter, seeing this, said to the people, “You men of Israel, why are you amazed at this? Why are you staring at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? 13 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His Servant and Son Jesus [doing Him this honor], the One whom you handed over and disowned and rejected before Pilate, when he had decided to release Him.(A) 14 But you disowned and denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked for [the pardon of] a murderer to be granted to you. 15 But you killed the Prince (Author, Originator, Source) of life, whom God raised [bodily] from the dead. To this [fact] we are witnesses [for we have seen the risen Christ]. 16 And on the basis of faith in His name, it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know; and the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect health and complete wholeness in your presence.
17 “Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance [not fully aware of what you were doing], just as your rulers did also. 18 And so God has fulfilled what He foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ (Messiah, Anointed) would suffer. 19 So repent [change your inner self—your old way of thinking, regret past sins] and return [to God—seek His purpose for your life], so that your sins may be wiped away [blotted out, completely erased], so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord [restoring you like a cool wind on a hot day]; 20 and that He may send [to you] Jesus, the Christ, who has been appointed for you, 21 whom heaven must keep until the time for the [complete] restoration of all things about which God promised through the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time. 22 Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a Prophet [a]like me from your countrymen; you shall listen to Him and obey everything He tells you. 23 And it will be that every person that does not listen to and heed that Prophet will be utterly destroyed from among the people.’(B) 24 Indeed, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also announced these days. 25 You are the sons (descendants) of the prophets and [heirs] of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed (descendant) all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’(C) 26 It was for you first of all that God raised up His Servant and Son [Jesus], and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.”(D)
29 The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God [a]who takes away the sin of the world!(A) 30 This is He on behalf of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I and has priority over me, for He existed before me.’ 31 [b]I did not recognize Him [as the Messiah]; but I came baptizing [c]in water so that He would be [publicly] revealed to Israel.” 32 John gave [further] evidence [testifying officially for the record, with validity and relevance], saying, “I have seen the [d]Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him.(B) 33 I did not recognize Him [as the Messiah], but He who sent me to baptize [e]in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this One is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I myself have [actually] seen [that happen], and my testimony is that this is the Son of God!”
Jesus’ Public Ministry, First Converts
35 Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked at Jesus as He walked along, and said, “Look! The Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they [f]followed Jesus. 38 And Jesus turned and saw them following Him, and asked them, “What do you want?” They answered Him, “Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?” 39 He said to them, “Come, and you will see.” So they went [with Him] and saw where He was staying; and they stayed with Him that day, for it was about the [g]tenth hour. 40 One of the two who heard what John said and [as a result] followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first looked for and found his own brother Simon and told him, “We have found the [h]Messiah” (which translated means the Christ). 42 Andrew brought Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas (which is translated [i]Peter).”
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