Book of Common Prayer
Israel’s rebelliousness and Jehovah’s deliverances.
[a]106 Praise ye Jehovah.
Oh give thanks unto Jehovah; for he is good;
For his lovingkindness endureth for ever.
2 Who can utter the mighty acts of Jehovah,
Or show forth all his praise?
3 Blessed are they that keep justice,
And he that doeth righteousness at all times.
4 Remember me, O Jehovah, with the favor that thou bearest unto thy people;
Oh visit me with thy salvation,
5 That I may see the prosperity of thy chosen,
That I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation,
That I may glory with thine inheritance.
6 We have sinned with our fathers,
We have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly.
7 Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt;
They remembered not the multitude of thy lovingkindnesses,
But were rebellious at the sea, even at the Red Sea.
8 Nevertheless he saved them for his name’s sake,
That he might make his mighty power to be known.
9 He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it was dried up:
So he led them through the depths, as through a [b]wilderness.
10 And he saved them from the hand of him that hated them,
And redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.
11 And the waters covered their adversaries;
There was not one of them left.
12 Then believed they his words;
They sang his praise.
13 They soon forgat his works;
They waited not for his counsel,
14 But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness,
And tempted God in the desert.
15 And he gave them their request,
But sent leanness into their soul.
16 They envied Moses also in the camp,
And Aaron the [c]saint of Jehovah.
17 The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan,
And covered the company of Abiram.
18 And a fire was kindled in their company;
The flame burned up the wicked.
19 They made a calf in Horeb,
And worshipped a molten image.
20 Thus they changed their glory
For the likeness of an ox that eateth grass.
21 They forgat God their Saviour,
Who had done great things in Egypt,
22 Wondrous works in the land of Ham,
And terrible things by the Red Sea.
23 Therefore he said that he would destroy them,
Had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach,
To turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them.
24 Yea, they despised the pleasant land,
They believed not his word,
25 But murmured in their tents,
And hearkened not unto the voice of Jehovah.
26 Therefore he [d]sware unto them,
That he would [e]overthrow them in the wilderness,
27 And that he would overthrow their seed among the nations,
And scatter them in the lands.
28 They joined themselves also unto Baal-peor,
And ate the sacrifices of the dead.
29 Thus they provoked him to anger with their doings;
And the plague brake in upon them.
30 Then stood up Phinehas, and executed judgment;
And so the plague was stayed.
31 And that was reckoned unto him for righteousness,
Unto all generations for evermore.
32 They angered him also at the waters of [f]Meribah,
So that it went ill with Moses for their sakes;
33 Because they were rebellious against his spirit,
And he spake unadvisedly with his lips.
34 They did not destroy the peoples,
As Jehovah commanded them,
35 But mingled themselves with the nations,
And learned their works,
36 And served their idols,
Which became a snare unto them.
37 Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto demons,
38 And shed innocent blood,
Even the blood of their sons and of their daughters,
Whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan;
And the land was polluted with blood.
39 Thus were they defiled with their works,
And played the harlot in their doings.
40 Therefore was the wrath of Jehovah kindled against his people,
And he abhorred his inheritance.
41 And he gave them into the hand of the nations;
And they that hated them ruled over them.
42 Their enemies also oppressed them,
And they were brought into subjection under their hand.
43 Many times did he deliver them;
But they were rebellious in their counsel,
And were brought low in their iniquity.
44 Nevertheless he regarded their distress,
When he heard their cry:
45 And he remembered for them his covenant,
And repented according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses.
46 He made them also to be pitied
Of all those that carried them captive.
47 Save us, O Jehovah our God,
And gather us from among the nations,
To give thanks unto thy holy name,
And to triumph in thy praise.
48 Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Israel,
From everlasting even to everlasting.
And let all the people say, Amen.
[g]Praise ye Jehovah.
17 And there was a man of the hill-country of Ephraim, whose name was Micah. 2 And he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred pieces of silver that were taken from thee, about which thou didst utter [a]a curse, and didst also speak it in mine ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it. And his mother said, Blessed be my son of Jehovah. 3 And he restored the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother; and his mother said, I verily [b]dedicate the silver unto Jehovah from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image: now therefore I will restore it unto thee. 4 And when he restored the money unto his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver, and gave them to the founder, who made thereof a graven image and a molten image: and it was in the house of Micah. 5 And the man Micah had a house of [c]gods, and he made an ephod, and teraphim, and [d]consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest. 6 In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
7 And there was a young man out of Beth-lehem-judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite; and he sojourned there. 8 And the man departed out of the city, out of Beth-lehem-judah, to sojourn where he could find a place, and he came to the hill-country of Ephraim to the house of Micah, as he journeyed. 9 And Micah said unto him, Whence comest thou? And he said unto him, I am a Levite of Beth-lehem-judah, and I go to sojourn where I may find a place. 10 And Micah said unto him, Dwell with me, and be unto me a father and a priest, and I will give thee ten pieces of silver by the year, and a suit of apparel, and thy victuals. So the Levite went in. 11 And the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man was unto him as one of his sons. 12 And Micah consecrated the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah. 13 Then said Micah, Now know I that Jehovah will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest.
44 Our fathers had the tabernacle of the testimony in the wilderness, even as he appointed who spake unto Moses, that he should make it according to the figure that he had seen. 45 Which also our fathers, in their turn, brought in with [a]Joshua when they entered on the possession of the [b]nations, that God thrust out before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David; 46 who found favor in the sight of God, and asked to find a habitation for the God of Jacob. 47 But Solomon built him a house. 48 Howbeit the Most High dwelleth not in houses made with hands; as saith the prophet,
49 [c]The heaven is my throne,
And the earth the footstool of my feet:
What manner of house will ye build me? saith the Lord:
Or what is the place of my rest?
50 Did not my hand make all these things?
51 Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so do ye. 52 Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? and they killed them that showed before of the coming of the Righteous One; of whom ye have now become betrayers and murderers; 53 ye who received the law [d]as it was ordained by angels, and kept it not.
54 Now when they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. 55 But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, 56 and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. 57 But they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and rushed upon him with one accord; 58 and they cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And they stoned Stephen, calling upon the Lord, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. 60 And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. 8 1 And Saul was consenting unto his death.
And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church which was in Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.
19 Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father doing: for what things soever he doeth, these the Son also doeth in like manner. 20 For the Father loveth the Son, and showeth him all things that himself doeth: and greater works than these will he show him, that ye may marvel. 21 For as the Father raiseth the dead and giveth them life, even so the Son also giveth life to whom he will. 22 For neither doth the Father judge any man, but he hath given all judgment unto the Son; 23 that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father that sent him. 24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth him that sent me, hath eternal life, and cometh not into judgment, but hath passed out of death into life. 25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour cometh, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that [a]hear shall live. 26 For as the Father hath life in himself, even so gave he to the Son also to have life in himself: 27 and he gave him authority to execute judgment, because he is a son of man. 28 Marvel not at this: for the hour cometh, in which all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice, 29 and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have [b]done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment.
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