Book of Common Prayer

A contemplation by Ethan, the Ezrahite.

12 The men of Ephraim were gathered together, and passed northward; and they said to Jephthah, “Why did you pass over to fight against the children of Ammon, and didn’t call us to go with you? We will burn your house around you with fire!”

² Jephthah said to them, “I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon; and when I called you, you didn’t save me out of their hand. ³ When I saw that you didn’t save me, I put my life in my hand, and passed over against the children of Ammon, and Yahweh delivered them into my hand. Why then have you come up to me today, to fight against me?”

⁴ Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim. The men of Gilead struck Ephraim, because they said, “You are fugitives of Ephraim, you Gileadites, in the middle of Ephraim, and in the middle of Manasseh.” ⁵ The Gileadites took the fords of the Jordan against the Ephraimites. Whenever a fugitive of Ephraim said, “Let me go over,” the men of Gilead said to him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he said, “No;” ⁶ then they said to him, “Now say ‘Shibboleth;’” and he said “Sibboleth”; for he couldn’t manage to pronounce it correctly, then they seized him and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. At that time, forty-two thousand of Ephraim fell.

⁷ Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then Jephthah the Gileadite died, and was buried in the cities of Gilead.

¹² By the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. They were all with one accord in Solomon’s porch. ¹³ None of the rest dared to join them; however, the people honored them. ¹⁴ More believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women. ¹⁵ They even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mattresses, so that as Peter came by, at least his shadow might overshadow some of them. ¹⁶ The multitude also came together from the cities around Jerusalem, bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits; and they were all healed.

¹⁷ But the high priest rose up, and all those who were with him (which is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with jealousy ¹⁸ and laid hands on the apostles, then put them in public custody. ¹⁹ But an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors by night, and brought them out and said, ²⁰ “Go stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life.”

²¹ When they heard this, they entered into the temple about daybreak and taught. But the high priest and those who were with him came and called the council together, with all the senate of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. ²² But the officers who came didn’t find them in the prison. They returned and reported, ²³ “We found the prison shut and locked, and the guards standing before the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside!”

²⁴ Now when the high priest, the captain of the temple, and the chief priests heard these words, they were very perplexed about them and what might become of this. ²⁵ One came and told them, “Behold, the men whom you put in prison are in the temple, standing and teaching the people.” ²⁶ Then the captain went with the officers, and brought them without violence, for they were afraid that the people might stone them.

3 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. ² He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do, unless God is with him.”

³ Jesus answered him, “Most certainly I tell you, unless one is born anew, ^[a] he can’t see God’s Kingdom.”

⁴ Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”

⁵ Jesus answered, “Most certainly I tell you, unless one is born of water and Spirit, he can’t enter into God’s Kingdom. ⁶ That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷ Don’t marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born anew.’ ⁸ The wind^[b] blows where it wants to, and you hear its sound, but don’t know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

⁹ Nicodemus answered him, “How can these things be?”

¹⁰ Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and don’t understand these things? ¹¹ Most certainly I tell you, we speak that which we know and testify of that which we have seen, and you don’t receive our witness. ¹² If I told you earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? ¹³ No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended out of heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven. ¹⁴ As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. ¹⁶ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only born^[c] Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him. ¹⁸ He who believes in him is not judged. He who doesn’t believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only born Son of God. ¹⁹ This is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light, for their works were evil. ²⁰ For everyone who does evil hates the light and doesn’t come to the light, lest his works would be exposed. ²¹ But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his works may be revealed, that they have been done in God.”