Book of Common Prayer
מ Mem
97 How I love Your instruction!(A)
It is my meditation all day long.(B)
98 Your commands make me wiser than my enemies,(C)
for they are always with me.
99 I have more insight than all my teachers
because Your decrees are my meditation.(D)
100 I understand more than the elders(E)
because I obey Your precepts.(F)
101 I have kept my feet from every evil path(G)
to follow Your word.
102 I have not turned from Your judgments,(H)
for You Yourself have instructed me.
103 How sweet Your word is(I) to my taste—
sweeter than honey in my mouth.
104 I gain understanding from Your precepts;(J)
therefore I hate every false way.(K)
נ Nun
105 Your word is a lamp for my feet(L)
and a light on my path.
106 I have solemnly sworn(M)
to keep Your righteous judgments.
107 I am severely afflicted;
Lord, give me life through Your word.(N)
108 Lord, please accept my willing offerings of praise,(O)
and teach me Your judgments.(P)
109 My life is constantly in danger,[a]
yet I do not forget Your instruction.(Q)
110 The wicked have set a trap for me,(R)
but I have not wandered from Your precepts.(S)
111 I have Your decrees as a heritage forever;
indeed, they are the joy of my heart.(T)
112 I am resolved to obey Your statutes
to the very end.[b](U)
ס Samek
113 I hate those who are double-minded,(V)
but I love Your instruction.(W)
114 You are my shelter and my shield;(X)
I put my hope in Your word.(Y)
115 Depart from me,(Z) you evil ones,
so that I may obey my God’s commands.(AA)
116 Sustain me as You promised,(AB) and I will live;
do not let me be ashamed of my hope.(AC)
117 Sustain me so that I can be safe(AD)
and always be concerned about Your statutes.(AE)
118 You reject all who stray from Your statutes,(AF)
for their deceit is a lie.
119 You remove all the wicked on earth
as if they were[c] dross;(AG)
therefore, I love Your decrees.(AH)
120 I tremble[d] in awe of You;(AI)
I fear Your judgments.
Psalm 81
A Call to Obedience
For the choir director: on the Gittith. Of Asaph.(A)
1 Sing for joy to God our strength;
shout in triumph to the God of Jacob.(B)
2 Lift up a song—play the tambourine,
the melodious lyre, and the harp.(C)
3 Blow the horn on the day of our feasts[a][b]
during the new moon(D)
and during the full moon.
4 For this is a statute for Israel,
a judgment of the God of Jacob.(E)
5 He set it up as an ordinance for Joseph
when He went throughout[c] the land of Egypt.(F)
I heard an unfamiliar language:
6 “I relieved his shoulder from the burden;
his hands were freed from carrying the basket.(G)
7 You called out in distress, and I rescued you;
I answered you from the thundercloud.(H)
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.(I)
8 Listen, My people, and I will admonish you.
Israel, if you would only listen to Me!(J)
9 There must not be a strange god among you;
you must not bow down to a foreign god.(K)
10 I am Yahweh your God,
who brought you up from the land of Egypt.(L)
Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.(M)
11 “But My people did not listen to Me;
Israel did not obey Me.(N)
12 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts
to follow their own plans.(O)
13 If only My people would listen to Me
and Israel would follow My ways,(P)
14 I would quickly subdue their enemies
and turn My hand against their foes.”(Q)
15 Those who hate the Lord
would pretend submission to Him;(R)
their doom would last forever.(S)
16 But He would feed Israel[d] with the best wheat.
“I would satisfy you with honey from the rock.”(T)
Psalm 82
A Plea for Righteous Judgment
A psalm of Asaph.(U)
1 God has taken His place in the divine assembly;
He judges among the gods:[e](V)
2 “How long will you judge unjustly
and show partiality to the wicked?(W)
3 Provide justice for the needy and the fatherless;
uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute.(X)
4 Rescue the poor and needy;
save them from the power of the wicked.”(Y)
5 They do not know or understand;
they wander in darkness.(Z)
All the foundations of the earth are shaken.(AA)
6 I said, “You are gods;(AB)
you are all sons of the Most High.(AC)
7 However, you will die like men
and fall like any other ruler.”(AD)
8 Rise up, God, judge the earth,
for all the nations belong to You.(AE)
Eli’s Family Judged
12 Eli’s sons were wicked men;(A) they had no regard for the Lord(B) 13 or for the priests’ share of the sacrifices from the people. When any man offered a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come with a three-pronged meat fork while the meat was boiling 14 and plunge it into the container or kettle or cauldron or cooking pot.(C) The priest would claim for himself whatever the meat fork brought up. This is the way they treated all the Israelites who came there to Shiloh. 15 Even before the fat was burned,(D) the priest’s servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give the priest some meat to roast, because he won’t accept boiled meat from you—only raw.” 16 If that man said to him, “The fat must be burned first; then you can take whatever you want for yourself,”(E) the servant would reply, “No, I insist that you hand it over right now. If you don’t, I’ll take it by force!” 17 So the servants’ sin was very severe in the presence of the Lord, because they treated the Lord’s offering with contempt.(F)
18 The boy Samuel served in the Lord’s presence(G) and wore a linen ephod.(H) 19 Each year his mother made him a little robe(I) and took it to him when she went with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice.(J) 20 Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife:(K) “May the Lord give you children by this woman in place of the one she[a] has given to the Lord.”(L) Then they would go home.
21 The Lord paid attention to Hannah’s need,(M) and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord.(N)
22 Now Eli was very old. He heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel(O) and how they were sleeping with the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting.(P) 23 He said to them, “Why are you doing these things? I have heard about your evil actions from all these people. 24 No, my sons, the report I hear from the Lord’s people is not good. 25 If a man sins against another man, God can intercede for him, but if a man sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him?”(Q) But they would not listen to their father, since the Lord intended to kill them.(R) 26 By contrast, the boy Samuel grew in stature and in favor with the Lord and with men.(S)
Pentecost
2 When the day of Pentecost had arrived, they were all together in one place.(A) 2 Suddenly a sound like that of a violent rushing wind(B) came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were staying.(C) 3 And tongues, like flames of fire that were divided, appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 Then they were all filled(D) with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different languages, as the Spirit gave them ability for speech.(E)
5 There were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation(F) under heaven. 6 When this sound occurred, a crowd came together and was confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 7 And they were astounded and amazed, saying,[a] “Look, aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans?(G) 8 How is it that each of us can hear in our own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites; those who live in Mesopotamia, in Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,(H) 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,(I) 11 Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking the magnificent acts of God in our own languages.” 12 They were all astounded and perplexed, saying to one another, “What could this be?” 13 But some sneered and said, “They’re full of new wine!”(J)
Peter’s Sermon
14 But Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice, and proclaimed to them: “Men of Judah and all you residents of Jerusalem, let me explain this[b] to you and pay attention to my words. 15 For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it’s only nine in the morning.[c] 16 On the contrary, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
17 And it will be in the last days, says God,
that I will pour out My Spirit on all humanity;
then your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
and your old men will dream dreams.(K)
18 I will even pour out My Spirit
on My male and female slaves in those days,
and they will prophesy.(L)
19 I will display wonders in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below:
blood and fire and a cloud of smoke.
20 The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood(M)
before the great and remarkable Day of the Lord(N) comes.
21 Then everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.(O)[d]
The Sadducees and the Resurrection
27 Some(A) of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection,(B) came up and questioned Him: 28 “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother has a wife, and dies childless, his brother should take the wife and produce offspring for his brother.(C)[a] 29 Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife and died without children. 30 Also the second[b] 31 and the third took her. In the same way, all seven died and left no children. 32 Finally, the woman died too. 33 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For all seven had married her.”[c]
34 Jesus told them, “The sons of this age(D) marry and are given in marriage.(E) 35 But those who are counted worthy(F) to take part in that age(G) and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. 36 For they cannot die anymore,(H) because they are like angels and are sons of God,(I) since they are sons of the resurrection. 37 Moses even indicated in the passage about the burning bush that the dead are raised, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.(J)[d] 38 He is not God of the dead but of the living, because all are living to[e] Him.”(K)
39 Some of the scribes answered, “Teacher, You have spoken well.” 40 And they no longer dared to ask Him anything.
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