Book of Common Prayer
105 1 He praiseth the singular grace of God, who hath of all the people of the world chosen a peculiar people to himself, and having chosen them, never ceaseth to do them good, even for his promise’s sake.
1 Praise the Lord, and call upon his Name: [a]declare his works among the people.
2 Sing unto him, sing praise unto him, and talk of all his wondrous works.
3 Rejoice in his holy Name, let the heart of them that seek the Lord, rejoice.
4 Seek the Lord and his [b]strength: seek his face continually.
5 Remember his [c]marvelous works that he hath done, his wonders, and the [d]judgments of his mouth,
6 Ye seed of Abraham his servant, ye children of Jacob, which are his elect.
7 He is the Lord our God: his judgments are through all the earth.
8 He hath always remembered his covenant, and promise, that he made to a thousand generations,
9 Even that which he [e]made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac:
10 And since hath confirmed it to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant,
11 Saying, [f]Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance.
12 Albeit they were few in number, yea very few, and strangers in the land,
13 And walked about from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people,
14 Yet suffered he no man to do them wrong, but reproved [g]Kings for their sakes, saying,
15 Touch not mine [h]anointed, and do my [i]Prophets no harm.
16 Moreover, he called a famine upon the land, and utterly brake the [j]staff of bread.
17 But he sent a man before them: Joseph was sold for a slave.
18 They held his feet in the stocks, and he was laid in irons,
19 Until [k]his appointed time came, and the counsel of the Lord had tried him.
20 The King sent and loosed him: even the Ruler of the people delivered him.
21 He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance,
22 That he should bind his [l]princes unto his will, and teach his Ancients wisdom.
23 Then Israel came to Egypt, and Jacob was a stranger in the land of Ham.
24 And he increased his people exceedingly, and made them stronger than their oppressors.
25 [m]He turned their heart to hate his people, and to deal craftily with his servants.
26 Then sent he Moses his servant, and Aaron whom he had chosen.
27 They showed among them the message of his signs, and wonders in the land of Ham.
28 He sent darkness, and made it dark: and they were not [n]disobedient unto his commission.
29 (A)He turned their waters into blood, and slew their fish.
30 (B)Their land brought forth frogs, even in their King’s chambers.
31 He [o]spake, and there came swarms of flies and lice in all their quarters.
32 He gave them [p]hail for rain, and flames of fire in their land.
33 He smote their vines also and their fig trees, and brake down the trees in their coasts.
34 [q]He spake and the grasshoppers came, and caterpillars innumerable,
35 And did eat up all the grass in their land, and devoured the fruit of their ground.
36 (C)He smote also all the firstborn in their land, even the beginning of all their strength.
37 He brought them forth also with silver and gold, and there was [r]none feeble among their tribes.
38 Egypt was [s]glad at their departing: for the fear of them had fallen upon them.
39 He spread a cloud to be a covering, and fire to give light in the night.
40 They [t]asked, and he brought quails, and he filled them with the bread of heaven.
41 He opened the rock, and the water flowed out, and ran in the dry places like a river.
42 For he remembered his holy [u]promise to Abraham his servant,
43 And he brought forth his people with [v]joy, and his chosen with gladness,
44 And gave them the lands of the heathen, and they took the labors of the people in possession,
45 That they might [w]keep his statutes, and observe his Laws. Praise ye the Lord.
14 2 Samson desireth to have a wife of the Philistines. 6 He killeth a lion. 12 He propoundeth a riddle. 19 He killeth thirty. 20 His wife forsaketh him, and taketh another.
1 Now Samson went down to Timnah, and saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines,
2 And he came up and told his father and his mother and said, I have seen a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore [a]give me her to wife.
3 Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there [b]never a wife among the daughters of thy brethren, and among all my people, that thou must go to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Give me her, for she pleaseth me well.
4 But his father and his mother knew not that it came of the Lord, that he should seek an occasion against the [c]Philistines: for at that time the Philistines reigned over Israel.
5 ¶ Then went Samson, and his father and his mother down to Timnah, and came to the vineyards of Timnah: and behold, a young lion roared upon him.
6 And the Spirit of the Lord [d]came upon him, and he tare him, as one should have rent a kid, and had nothing in his hand, neither told he his father nor his mother what he had done.
7 And he went down, and talked with the woman which was beautiful in the eyes of Samson.
8 ¶ And within a few days, when he returned [e]to receive her, he went aside to see the carcass of the lion: and behold, there was a swarm of bees, and honey in the body of the lion.
9 And he took thereof in his hands, and went eating, and came to his father and to his mother, and gave unto them, and they did eat: but he told not them, that he had taken the honey out of the body of the lion.
10 So his father went down unto the woman, and Samson made there a [f]feast: for so used the young men to do.
11 And when [g]they saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him.
12 Then Samson said unto them, I will now put forth a riddle unto you: and if you can declare it me within seven days of the feast, and find it out, I will give you thirty sheets, and thirty [h]change of garments.
13 But if you cannot declare it me, then shall ye give me thirty sheets and thirty change of garments. And they answered him, Put forth thy riddle, that we may hear it.
14 And he said unto them, Out of the eater came meat, and out of the strong came sweetness: and they could not in three days expound the riddle.
15 And when the seventh day was [i]come, they said unto Samson’s wife, Entice thine husband that he may declare us the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father’s house with fire. Have ye called us [j]to possess us? is it not so?
16 And Samson’s wife wept before him, and said, Surely thou hatest me, and lovest me not: for thou hast put forth a riddle unto the [k]children of my people, and hast not told it me. And he said unto her, Behold, I have not told it my father nor my mother, and shall I tell it thee?
17 Then Samson’s wife wept before him [l]seven days, while their feast lasted, and when the seventh day came, he told her, because she was importunate upon him: so she told the riddle to the children of her people.
18 And the men of the city said unto him the seventh day before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a Lion? Then said he unto them, [m]If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle.
19 And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he went down [n]to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them and spoiled them, and gave change of garments unto them, which expounded the riddle: and his wrath was kindled, and he went up to his father’s house.
15 And as all that sat in the Council looked steadfastly on him, they [a]saw his face as it had been the face of an Angel.
7 1 Stephen pleading his cause, showeth that God chose the Fathers, 20 before Moses was born, 42 and before the Temple was built: 44 And that all outward ceremonies were ordained according to the heavenly Pattern. 54 The Jews gnashing their teeth, 59 stone him.
1 Then [b]said the chief Priest, Are these things so?
2 [c]And he said, Ye men, brethren, and Fathers, hearken, (A)That God of [d]glory appeared unto our father Abraham, while he was in [e]Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran,
3 And said unto him, Come out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall show thee.
4 Then came he out of the land of the Chaldeans, and dwelt in Haran. And after that his father was dead, God brought him from thence into this land, wherein ye now dwell,
5 And he gave him none inheritance in it, [f]no not the breadth of a foot: yet he [g]promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child.
6 But God spake thus, that his (B)seed should be a sojourner in a strange land: and that they should keep it in bondage, and entreat it evil [h]four hundred years.
7 But the nation to whom they shall be in bondage, will I judge, saith God: and after that, they shall come forth and serve me in this place.
8 (C)He gave him also the covenant of circumcision: and to Abraham begat(D)Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day: and Isaac begat (E)Jacob, and Jacob the twelve (F)Patriarchs.
9 [i]And the Patriarchs moved with envy, sold (G)Joseph into Egypt: but God was [j]with him,
10 And delivered him out of all his afflictions, and (H)gave him [k]favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt, who made him governor over Egypt, and over his whole house.
11 ¶ Then came there a famine over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction, that our fathers found no sustenance.
12 But when (I)Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent our fathers first:
13 (J)And at the second time Joseph was known of his brethren, and Joseph’s kindred was made known unto Pharaoh.
14 Then sent Joseph and caused his father to be brought, and all his kindred, even threescore and fifteen souls.
15 So (K)Jacob went down into Egypt, and he (L)died, and our fathers,
16 And were [l]removed into Shechem, and were put in the sepulcher, that Abraham had bought (M)for money of the sons of Hamor, son of Shechem.
27 ¶ And upon that, came his disciples, and marveled that he talked with a woman: yet no man said unto him, What askest thou? or why talkest thou with her.
28 The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and said to the men,
29 Come, see a man which hath told me all things that ever I did: is not he that Christ?
30 Then they went out of the city, and came unto him.
31 ¶ In the meanwhile, the disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat.
32 [a]But he said unto them, I have meat to eat, that ye know not of.
33 Then said the disciples between themselves, Hath any man brought him meat?
34 Jesus said unto them, My meat is that I may do the will of him that sent me, and finish his work.
35 [b]Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the regions: (A)for they are white already unto harvest.
36 [c]And he that reapeth, receiveth reward, and gathered fruit unto life eternal, that both he that soweth, and he that reapeth might rejoice together.
37 For herein is the [d]saying true, that one soweth and another reapeth.
38 I sent you to reap that, whereon ye bestowed no labor: other men labored, and ye are entered into their labors.
39 [e]Now many of the Samaritans of that city believed in him, for the saying of the woman which testified, He hath told me all things that ever I did.
40 Then when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him, that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days.
41 And many more believed because of his own word.
42 And they said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed that Christ the Savior of the world.
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