Book of Common Prayer
106 Hallelujah!
Give thanks to the Lord because he is good,
because his mercy endures forever.
2 Who can speak about all the mighty things the Lord has done?
Who can announce all the things for which he is worthy of praise?
3 Blessed are those who defend justice
and do what is right at all times.
4 Remember me, O Lord, when you show favor to your people.
Come to help me with your salvation
5 so that I may see the prosperity of your chosen ones,
find joy in our people’s happiness,
and brag with the people who belong to you.
6 We have sinned, and so did our ancestors.
We have done wrong.
We are guilty.
7 When our ancestors were in Egypt,
they gave no thought to your miracles.
They did not remember your numerous acts of mercy,
so they rebelled at the sea, the Red Sea.
8 He saved them because of his reputation
so that he could make his mighty power known.
9 He angrily commanded the Red Sea, and it dried up.
He led them through deep water as though it were a desert.
10 He rescued them from the power of the one who hated them.
He rescued them from the enemy.
11 Water covered their adversaries.
Not one Egyptian survived.
12 Then our ancestors believed what he said.
They sang his praise.
13 They quickly forgot what he did.
They did not wait for his advice.
14 They had an unreasonable desire ⌞for food⌟ in the wilderness.
In the desert they tested God.
15 He gave them what they asked for.
He ⌞also⌟ gave them a degenerative disease.
16 In the camp certain men became envious of Moses.
They also became envious of Aaron, the Lord’s holy one.
17 The ground split open and swallowed Dathan.
It buried Abiram’s followers.
18 A fire broke out among their followers.
Flames burned up wicked people.
19 At Mount Horeb they made ⌞a statue of⌟ a calf.
They worshiped an idol made of metal.
20 They traded their glorious God [a]
for the statue of a bull that eats grass.
21 They forgot God, their savior,
the one who did spectacular things in Egypt,
22 miracles in the land of Ham,
and terrifying things at the Red Sea.
23 God said he was going to destroy them,
but Moses, his chosen one, stood in his way
to prevent him from exterminating them.
24 They refused ⌞to enter⌟ the pleasant land.
They did not believe what he said.
25 They complained in their tents.
They did not obey the Lord.
26 Raising his hand, he swore
that he would kill them in the wilderness,
27 kill their descendants among the nations,
and scatter them throughout various lands.
28 They joined in worshiping the god Baal while they were at Peor,
and they ate what was sacrificed to the dead.
29 They infuriated God by what they did,
and a plague broke out among them.
30 Then Phinehas stood between God and the people,
and the plague was stopped.
31 Because of this, Phinehas was considered righteous forever,
throughout every generation.
32 They made God angry by the water at Meribah.
Things turned out badly for Moses because of what they did,
33 since they made him bitter so that he spoke recklessly.
34 They did not destroy the people as the Lord had told them.
35 Instead, they intermarried with other nations.
They learned to do what other nations did,
36 and they worshiped their idols,
which became a trap for them.
37 They sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons.
38 They shed innocent blood,
the blood of their own sons and daughters
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan.
The land became polluted with blood.
39 They became filthy because of what they did.
They behaved like prostitutes.
40 The Lord burned with anger against his own people.
He was disgusted with those who belonged to him.
41 He handed them over to other nations,
and those who hated them ruled them.
42 Their enemies oppressed them
and made them subject to their power.
43 He rescued them many times,
but they continued to plot rebellion against him
and to sink deeper because of their sin.
44 He saw that they were suffering
when he heard their cry for help.
45 He remembered his promise [b] to them.
In keeping with his rich mercy, he changed his plans.
46 He let them find compassion
from all those who held them captive.
47 Rescue us, O Lord our God, and gather us from the nations
so that we may give thanks to your holy name
and make your praise our glory.
48 Thanks be to the Lord God of Israel
from everlasting to everlasting.
Let all the people say amen.
Hallelujah!
The Lord Chooses Saul
17 Samuel called the people to ⌞come into the presence of⌟ the Lord at Mizpah. 18 He said to the Israelites, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: I brought Israel out of Egypt and rescued you from the power of the Egyptians and all the kings who were oppressing you. 19 But now you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your troubles and distresses. You said, ‘No! Place a king over us.’ Now then, stand in front of the Lord by your tribes and family groups.”
20 When Samuel had all the tribes of Israel come forward, the tribe of Benjamin was chosen. 21 When he had the tribe of Benjamin come forward by families, the family of Matri was chosen. Then Saul, the son of Kish, was chosen. They looked for him but couldn’t find him. 22 They asked the Lord again, “Has he arrived here yet?”
The Lord answered, “He’s hiding among the baggage.”
23 They ran and got him from there. As he stood among the people, he was a head taller than everyone else. 24 Samuel asked the people, “Do you see whom the Lord has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people.”
Then all the people shouted, “Long live the king!”
25 Samuel explained the laws concerning kingship to the people. He wrote the laws on a scroll, which he placed in front of the Lord. Then Samuel sent the people back to their homes. 26 Saul also went home to Gibeah. With him went some soldiers whose hearts God had touched. 27 However, some good-for-nothing people asked, “How can this man save us?” They despised him and wouldn’t bring him presents, but he didn’t respond.
44 “In the desert our ancestors had the tent of God’s promise. Moses built this tent exactly as God had told him. He used the model he had seen. 45 After our ancestors received the tent, they brought it into this land. They did this with Joshua’s help when they took possession of the land from the nations that God forced out of our ancestors’ way. This tent remained here until the time of David, 46 who won God’s favor. David asked that he might provide a permanent place for the family of Jacob.[a] 47 But Solomon was the one who built a house for God.
48 “However, the Most High doesn’t live in a house built by humans, as the prophet says:
49 ‘The Lord says,
“Heaven is my throne.
The earth is my footstool.
What kind of house are you going to build for me?
Where will I rest?
50 Didn’t I make all these things?” ’
51 “How stubborn can you be? How can you be so heartless and disobedient? You’re just like your ancestors. They always opposed the Holy Spirit, and so do you! 52 Was there ever a prophet your ancestors didn’t persecute? They killed those who predicted that a man with God’s approval would come. You have now become the people who betrayed and murdered that man. 53 You are the people who received Moses’ Teachings, which were put into effect by angels. But you haven’t obeyed those teachings.”
Stephen Is Executed
54 As council members listened to Stephen, they became noticeably furious. 55 But Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit. He looked into heaven, saw God’s glory, and Jesus in the honored position—the one next to God the Father on the heavenly throne. 56 So Stephen said, “Look, I see heaven opened and the Son of Man in the honored position—the one next to God the Father on the throne!”
57 But the council members shouted and refused to listen. Then they rushed at Stephen with one purpose in mind, 58 and after they had thrown him out of the city, they began to stone him to death. The witnesses left their coats with a young man named Saul.
59 While council members were executing Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, welcome my spirit.” 60 Then he knelt down and shouted, “Lord, don’t hold this sin against them.” After he had said this, he died.
8 Saul approved of putting Stephen to death.
On that day widespread persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem. Most believers, except the apostles, were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.
52 Then Jesus said to the chief priests, temple guards, and leaders who had come for him, “Have you come out with swords and clubs as if I were a criminal? 53 I was with you in the temple courtyard every day and you didn’t try to arrest me. But this is your time, when darkness rules.”
54 So they arrested Jesus and led him away to the chief priest’s house.
Peter Denies Jesus(A)
Peter followed at a distance.
55 Some men had lit a fire in the middle of the courtyard. As they sat together, Peter sat among them. 56 A female servant saw him as he sat facing the glow of the fire. She stared at him and said, “This man was with Jesus.”
57 But Peter denied it by saying, “I don’t know him, woman.”
58 A little later someone else saw Peter and said, “You are one of them.”
But Peter said, “Not me!”
59 About an hour later another person insisted, “It’s obvious that this man was with him. He’s a Galilean!”
60 But Peter said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
Just then, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. 61 Then the Lord turned and looked directly at Peter. Peter remembered what the Lord had said: “Before a rooster crows today, you will say three times that you don’t know me.” 62 Then Peter went outside and cried bitterly.
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