Book of Common Prayer
Israel’s Failure to Trust God
106 Praise the Lord!
Thank the Lord because he is good.
His love continues forever.
2 No one can tell all the mighty things the Lord has done.
No one can speak all his praise.
3 Happy are those people who are fair,
who do what is right at all times.
4 Lord, remember me when you are kind to your people.
Help me when you save them.
5 Let me see the good things you do for your chosen people.
Let me be happy along with your happy nation.
Let me join your own people in praising you.
6 We have sinned just as our ancestors did.
We have done wrong. We have done evil.
7 Our ancestors in Egypt
did not learn from your miracles.
They did not remember all your kindnesses.
So they turned against you at the Red Sea.
8 But the Lord saved them for his own sake,
to show his great power.
9 He commanded the Red Sea, and it dried up.
He led them through the deep sea as if it were a desert.
10 He saved them from those who hated them.
He saved them from their enemies.
11 And the water covered their enemies.
Not one of them escaped.
12 Then the people believed what the Lord said.
They sang praises to him.
13 But they quickly forgot what he had done.
They did not wait for his advice.
14 They became greedy for food in the desert.
And they tested God there.
15 So he gave them what they wanted.
But he also sent a terrible disease among them.
16 The people in the camp became jealous of Moses
and of Aaron, the holy priest of the Lord.
17 Then the ground opened up and swallowed Dathan.
It closed over Abiram’s group.
18 Then a fire burned among their followers.
Flames burned up the wicked people.
19 The people made a gold calf at Mount Sinai.
They worshiped a metal statue.
20 They exchanged their glorious God
for a statue of a bull, which eats grass.
21 They forgot the God who saved them,
who had done great things in Egypt.
22 He did miracles in Egypt.[a]
He did amazing things by the Red Sea.
23 So God said he would destroy them.
But Moses, his chosen one, stood before him.
He stopped God’s anger from destroying them.
24 Then they refused to go into the beautiful land of Canaan.
They did not believe what God promised.
25 They grumbled in their tents
and did not obey the Lord.
26 So he swore to them
that they would die in the desert.
27 He said their children would be killed by other nations
and that they would be scattered among other countries.
28 They joined in worshiping Baal at Peor.
They ate meat that had been sacrificed to lifeless statues.
29 They made the Lord angry by what they did.
So many people became sick with a terrible disease.
30 But Phinehas prayed to the Lord,
and the disease stopped.
31 The Lord will remember that Phinehas did what was right.
And God will remember this from now on.
32 The people also made the Lord angry at Meribah.
And Moses was in trouble because of them.
33 The people turned against the Spirit of God.
So Moses spoke without stopping to think.
34 The people did not destroy the other nations
as the Lord had told them to do.
35 Instead, they mixed with the other nations.
And they learned their customs.
36 They worshiped other nations’ idols.
And they were trapped by them.
37 They even killed their sons and daughters
as sacrifices to demons.
38 They killed innocent people.
They killed their own sons and daughters
as sacrifices to the idols of Canaan.
So the land was made unholy by their blood.
39 The people became unholy by their sins.
They were unfaithful to God in what they did.
40 So the Lord became angry with his people.
He hated his own children.
41 He let other nations defeat them.
He let their enemies rule over them.
42 Their enemies were cruel to them.
Their enemies kept them under their power.
43 The Lord saved his people many times.
But they continued to turn against him.
So they became even more wicked.
44 But God saw their misery.
He heard their cry.
45 He remembered his agreement with them.
And he felt sorry for them because of his great love.
46 He caused them to be pitied
by those who held them captive.
47 Lord our God, save us.
Bring us back from other nations.
Then we will thank you.
Then we will gladly praise you.
48 Praise the Lord, the God of Israel.
He always was and always will be.
Let all the people say, “Amen!”
Praise the Lord!
17 Samuel called all the people of Israel to meet with the Lord at Mizpah. 18 He said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I led Israel out of Egypt. I saved you from Egypt’s control. And I saved you from other kingdoms that were troubling you.’ 19 But now you have rejected your God. He saves you from all your troubles and problems. But you said, ‘No! We want a king to rule over us.’ Now come, stand before the Lord in your tribes and family groups.”
20 Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near. And the tribe of Benjamin was chosen. 21 Samuel had them pass by in family groups, and Matri’s family was chosen. Then he had each man of Matri’s family pass by. And Saul son of Kish was chosen. But when they looked for Saul, they could not find him. 22 Then they asked the Lord, “Has Saul come here yet?”
The Lord said, “Yes. He’s hiding behind the baggage.”
23 So they ran and brought him out. When Saul stood among the people, he was a head taller than anyone else. 24 Then Samuel said to the people, “See the man the Lord has chosen. There is no one like him among all the people.”
Then the people shouted, “Long live the king!”
25 Samuel explained the rights and duties of the king. He wrote the rules in a book and put the book before the Lord. Then he told the people to go to their homes.
26 Saul also went to his home in Gibeah. God touched the hearts of certain brave men who went along with him. 27 But some troublemakers said, “How can this man save us?” They hated Saul and refused to bring gifts to him. But Saul kept quiet.
44 “The Holy Tent where God spoke to our fathers was with the Jews in the desert. God told Moses how to make this Tent. He made it like the plan God showed him. 45 Later, Joshua led our fathers to capture the lands of the other nations. Our people went in, and God drove the other people out. When our people went into this new land, they took with them this same Tent. They received this Tent from their fathers and kept it until the time of David. 46 God was very pleased with David. He asked God to let him build a house for him, the God of Jacob.[a] 47 But Solomon was the one who built the Temple.
48 “But the Most High does not live in houses that men build with their hands. This is what the prophet says:
49 ‘Heaven is my throne.
The earth is my footstool.
So do you think you can build a house for me? says the Lord.
There is no place where I need to rest.
50 Remember, I made all these things!’” Isaiah 66:1-2
51 Stephen continued speaking: “You stubborn Jewish leaders! You have not given your hearts to God! You won’t listen to him! You are always against what the Holy Spirit is trying to tell you. Your ancestors were like this, and you are just like them! 52 Your fathers tried to hurt every prophet who ever lived. Those prophets said long ago that the Righteous One would come. But your fathers killed them. And now you have turned against the Righteous One and killed him. 53 You received the law of Moses, which God gave you through his angels. But you don’t obey it!”
Stephen Is Killed
54 When the leaders heard Stephen saying all these things, they became very angry. They were so mad that they were grinding their teeth at Stephen. 55 But Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit. He looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God. He saw Jesus standing at God’s right side. 56 He said, “Look! I see heaven open. And I see the Son of Man standing at God’s right side!”
57 Then they all shouted loudly. They covered their ears with their hands and all ran at Stephen. 58 They took him out of the city and threw stones at him until he was dead. The men who told lies against Stephen left their coats with a young man named Saul. 59 While they were throwing stones, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” 60 He fell on his knees and cried in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” After Stephen said this, he died.
8 Saul agreed that the killing of Stephen was a good thing.
52 Those who came to arrest Jesus were the leading priests, the soldiers who guarded the Temple, and the Jewish elders. Jesus said to them, “Why did you come out here with swords and sticks? Do you think I am a criminal? 53 I was with you every day in the Temple. Why didn’t you try to arrest me there? But this is your time—the time when darkness rules.”
Peter Says He Doesn’t Know Jesus
54 They arrested Jesus and took him away. They brought him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed them, but he did not go near Jesus. 55 The soldiers started a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat together. Peter sat with them. 56 A servant girl saw Peter sitting there near the light. She looked closely at Peter’s face and said, “This man was also with him!”
57 But Peter said this was not true. He said, “Girl, I don’t know him.”
58 A short time later, another person saw Peter and said, “You are also one of them.”
But Peter said, “Man, I am not!”
59 About an hour later, another man insisted, “It is true! This man was with him. He is from Galilee!”
60 But Peter said, “Man, I don’t know what you are talking about!”
Immediately, while Peter was still speaking, a rooster crowed. 61 Then the Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. And Peter remembered what the Lord had said: “Before the rooster crows tonight, you will say three times that you don’t know me.” 62 Then Peter went outside and cried with much pain in his heart.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.