Book of Common Prayer
Israel’s Rebelliousness and the Lord’s Deliverances.
106 Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
For His mercy and lovingkindness endure forever!(A)
2
Who can put into words the mighty deeds of the Lord?
Or who can proclaim all His praise [that is due Him]?
3
Blessed are those who observe justice [by honoring God’s precepts],
Who practice righteousness at all times.
4
Remember me, O Lord, when You favor Your people.
Visit me with Your salvation [when You rescue them],
5
That I may see the prosperity of Your chosen ones,
That I may rejoice in the gladness of Your nation,
That I may glory with Your inheritance.
6
We have sinned like our fathers;
We have committed iniquity, we have behaved wickedly.(B)
7
Our fathers in Egypt did not understand nor appreciate Your miracles;
They did not remember the abundance of Your mercies nor imprint Your lovingkindnesses on their hearts,
But they were rebellious at the sea, at the [a]Red Sea.(C)
8
Nevertheless He saved them for His name’s sake,
That He might make His [supreme] power known.
9
He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up;
And He led them through the depths as through a pasture.(D)
10
So He saved them from the hand of the one that hated them,
And redeemed them from the hand of the [Egyptian] enemy.(E)
11
And the waters covered their adversaries;
Not one of them was left.(F)
12
Then Israel believed in [the validity of] His words;
They sang His praise.
13
But they quickly forgot His works;
They did not [patiently] wait for His counsel and purpose [to be revealed regarding them],
14
But lusted intensely in the wilderness
And tempted God [with their insistent desires] in the desert.(G)
15
So He gave them their request,
But sent a wasting disease among them.(H)
16
They envied Moses in the camp,
And Aaron [the high priest], the holy one of the Lord,(I)
17
Therefore the earth opened and swallowed Dathan,
And engulfed the company of Abiram.(J)
18
And a fire broke out in their company;
The flame consumed the wicked.(K)
19
They made a calf in Horeb (Sinai)
And worshiped a cast image.(L)
20
Thus they exchanged [the true God who was] their glory
For the image of an ox that eats grass.
21
They forgot God their Savior,
Who had done such great things in Egypt,
22
Wonders in the land of Ham,
Awesome things at the Red Sea.
23
Therefore He said He would destroy them,
[And He would have done so] had not Moses, His chosen one, stepped into the gap before Him,
To turn away His wrath from destroying them.(M)
24
Then they despised the pleasant land [of Canaan];
They did not believe in His word nor rely on it,
25
But they sulked and complained in their tents;
They did not listen to the voice of the Lord.
26
Therefore He lifted up His hand [swearing] to them,
That He would cause them to fall in the wilderness,
27
And that He would cast out their descendants among the nations
And scatter them in the lands [of the earth].
28
They joined themselves also to [the idol] Baal of Peor,
And ate sacrifices offered to the dead.
29
Thus they provoked Him to anger with their practices,
And a plague broke out among them.
30
Then Phinehas [the priest] stood up and [b]interceded,
And so the plague was halted.(N)
31
And that was credited to him for righteousness,
To all generations forever.
32
They provoked Him to anger at the waters of [c]Meribah,
So that it went hard with Moses on their account;(O)
33
Because they were rebellious against His Spirit,
Moses spoke recklessly with his lips.
34
They did not destroy the [pagan] peoples [in Canaan],
As the Lord commanded them,
35
But they mingled with the [idolatrous] nations
And learned their ways,
36
And served their idols,
Which became a [dreadful] snare to them.
37
They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons(P)
38
And shed innocent blood,
Even the blood of their sons and of their daughters,
Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan;
And the land was polluted with their blood.
39
In this way they became unclean in their practices;
They played the prostitute in their own deeds [by giving their worship, which belongs to God alone, to other “gods”].
40
Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against His people
And He detested His own [d]inheritance.(Q)
41
He gave them into the hands of the nations,
And those who hated them ruled over them.
42
Their enemies also oppressed them,
And they were subdued under the [powerful] hand of their enemies.
43
Many times He rescued them;
But they were rebellious in their counsel,
And sank down in their wickedness.
44
Nevertheless He looked [sympathetically] at their distress
When He heard their cry;
45
And He remembered His covenant for their sake,
And relented [rescinding their sentence] according to the greatness of His lovingkindness [when they cried out to Him],
46
He also made them objects of compassion
Among those who had carried them away captive.(R)
47
Save us, O Lord our God,
And gather us from among the nations,
That we may give thanks to Your holy name
And glory in praising You.
48
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
From everlasting even to everlasting.
And let all the people say, “Amen.”
Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)(S)
Israel’s Future Blessing
14 O Israel, return [in repentance] to the Lord your God,
For you have stumbled and fallen [visited by tragedy], because of your sin.
2
Take the words [confessing your guilt] with you and return to the Lord.
Say to Him, “Take away all our wickedness;
Accept what is good and receive us graciously,
So that we may present the fruit of our lips (gratitude).(A)
3
“Assyria will not save us;
We will not ride on horses [relying on military might],
Nor will we say again to [the idols who are] the work of our hands,
‘You are our gods.’
For in You [O Lord] the orphan finds love and compassion and mercy.”
4
I will heal their apostasy and faithlessness;
I will love them freely,
For My anger has turned away from Israel.
5
I shall be like the dew to Israel;
He will blossom like the lily,
And he will take root like the cedars of Lebanon.
6
His shoots will sprout,
And his beauty will be like the olive tree
And his fragrance like the cedars of Lebanon.
7
Those who live in his shadow
Will again raise grain,
And they will blossom like the vine.
His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon.
8
O Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols?
It is I who have answered and will care for you and watch over you.
I am like a luxuriant cypress tree;
With Me your fruit is found [which is to nourish you].
9
Whoever is [spiritually] wise, let him understand these things;
Whoever is [spiritually] discerning and understanding, let him know them.
For the ways of the Lord are right,
And the righteous will walk in them,
But transgressors will stumble and fall in them.(B)
30 But on the next day, wanting to know the real reason why Paul was being accused by the Jews, he released him and ordered the chief priests and the whole Council (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court) to assemble; and brought Paul down and presented him before them.
Paul before the Council
23 Then Paul, looking intently at the Council (Sanhedrin, Jewish High Court), said, “Kinsmen, I have lived my life before God with a perfectly good conscience until this very day.” 2 [At this] the high priest [a]Ananias ordered those who stood beside him to strike Paul on the mouth. 3 Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you [b]whitewashed wall! Do you actually sit to judge me according to the Law, and yet in violation of the Law order me to be struck?” 4 But those who stood near Paul said, “Are you insulting the high priest of God?” 5 Paul said, “I was not aware, brothers, that he was [c]high priest; for it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’”(A)
6 But recognizing that one group were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, Paul began affirming loudly in the Council chamber, “Kinsmen, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; I am on trial for the hope and resurrection of the dead!” 7 When he said this, an angry dispute erupted between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the [whole crowded] assembly was divided [into two factions]. 8 For the Sadducees say that there is no [such thing as a] resurrection, nor an angel, nor a spirit, but the Pharisees [speak out freely and] acknowledge [their belief in] them all. 9 Then a great uproar occurred, and some of the scribes of the Pharisees’ party stood up and began to argue heatedly [in Paul’s favor], saying, “We find nothing wrong with this man; suppose a spirit or an angel has [really] spoken to him?” 10 And as the dissension became even greater, the commander, fearing that Paul would be torn to pieces by them, ordered the troops to go down and forcibly take him from them, and bring him to the barracks.
11 On the following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Be brave; for as you have solemnly and faithfully witnessed about Me at Jerusalem, so you must also testify at Rome.”
39 He also told them a parable: “Can a blind man guide [another] blind man? Will they not both fall into a hole in the ground? 40 A student is not superior to his teacher; but everyone, after he has been completely trained, will be like his teacher. 41 Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice or consider the log that is in your own eye? 42 How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, allow me to take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite (play actor, pretender), first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye. 43 For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit.(A) 44 For each tree is known and identified by its own fruit. For figs are not picked from thorn bushes, nor is a cluster of grapes picked from a briar bush. 45 The [intrinsically] good man produces what is good and honorable and moral out of the good treasure [stored] in his heart; and the [intrinsically] evil man produces what is wicked and depraved out of the evil [in his heart]; for his mouth speaks from the overflow of his heart.
A Secure Foundation
46 “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not practice what I tell you? 47 Everyone who comes to Me and listens to My words and obeys them, I will show you whom he is like:(B) 48 he is like a [far-sighted, practical, and sensible] man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and yet could not shake it, because it had been securely built and founded on the rock. 49 But the one who has [merely] heard and has not practiced [what I say], is like a [foolish] man who built a house on the ground without any foundation, and the torrent burst against it; and it immediately collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.”
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