Book of Common Prayer
Israel’s Rebelliousness and the Lord’s Deliverances.
106 [a]Praise [b]the Lord!
Oh (A)give thanks to the Lord, for He (B)is good;
For (C)His lovingkindness is everlasting.
2 Who can speak of the (D)mighty deeds of the Lord,
Or can show forth all His praise?
3 How blessed are those who keep [c]justice,
[d]Who (E)practice righteousness at all times!
4 Remember me, O Lord, in Your (F)favor [e]toward Your people;
Visit me with Your salvation,
5 That I may see the (G)prosperity of Your chosen ones,
That I may (H)rejoice in the gladness of Your nation,
That I may (I)glory with Your [f]inheritance.
6 (J)We have sinned [g](K)like our fathers,
We have committed iniquity, we have behaved wickedly.
7 Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Your [h]wonders;
They (L)did not remember [i]Your abundant kindnesses,
But (M)rebelled by the sea, at the [j]Red Sea.
8 Nevertheless He saved them (N)for the sake of His name,
That He might (O)make His power known.
9 Thus He (P)rebuked the [k]Red Sea and it (Q)dried up,
And He (R)led them through the deeps, as through the wilderness.
10 So He (S)saved them from the [l]hand of the one who hated them,
And (T)redeemed them from the [m]hand of the enemy.
11 (U)The waters covered their adversaries;
Not one of them was left.
12 Then they (V)believed His words;
They (W)sang His praise.
13 They quickly (X)forgot His works;
They (Y)did not wait for His counsel,
14 But (Z)craved intensely in the wilderness,
And [n](AA)tempted God in the desert.
15 So He (AB)gave them their request,
But (AC)sent a [o]wasting disease among them.
16 When they became (AD)envious of Moses in the camp,
And of Aaron, the holy one of the Lord,
17 The (AE)earth opened and swallowed up Dathan,
And engulfed the [p]company of Abiram.
18 And a (AF)fire blazed up in their [q]company;
The flame consumed the wicked.
19 They (AG)made a calf in Horeb
And worshiped a molten image.
20 Thus they (AH)exchanged their glory
For the image of an ox that eats grass.
21 They (AI)forgot God their Savior,
Who had done (AJ)great things in Egypt,
22 [r](AK)Wonders in the land of Ham
And awesome things by the [s]Red Sea.
23 Therefore (AL)He said that He would destroy them,
Had not (AM)Moses His chosen one stood in the breach before Him,
To turn away His wrath from destroying them.
24 Then they (AN)despised the (AO)pleasant land;
They (AP)did not believe in His word,
25 But (AQ)grumbled in their tents;
They did not listen to the voice of the Lord.
26 Therefore He [t](AR)swore to them
That He would cast them down in the wilderness,
27 And that He would (AS)cast their seed among the nations
And (AT)scatter them in the lands.
28 They (AU)joined themselves also to [u]Baal-peor,
And ate (AV)sacrifices offered to the dead.
29 Thus they (AW)provoked Him to anger with their deeds,
And the plague broke out among them.
30 Then Phinehas (AX)stood up and interposed,
And so the (AY)plague was stayed.
31 And it was (AZ)reckoned to him for righteousness,
To all generations forever.
32 They also (BA)provoked Him to wrath at the waters of [v]Meribah,
So that it (BB)went hard with Moses on their account;
33 Because they (BC)were rebellious against [w]His Spirit,
He spoke rashly with his lips.
34 They (BD)did not destroy the peoples,
As (BE)the Lord commanded them,
35 But (BF)they mingled with the nations
And learned their [x]practices,
36 And (BG)served their idols,
(BH)Which became a snare to them.
37 They even (BI)sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the (BJ)demons,
38 And shed (BK)innocent blood,
The blood of their (BL)sons and their daughters,
Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan;
And the land was (BM)polluted with the blood.
39 Thus they became (BN)unclean in their [y]practices,
And (BO)played the harlot in their deeds.
40 Therefore the (BP)anger of the Lord was kindled against His people
And He (BQ)abhorred His [z](BR)inheritance.
41 Then (BS)He gave them into the hand of the [aa]nations,
And those who hated them ruled over them.
42 Their enemies also (BT)oppressed them,
And they were subdued under their [ab]power.
43 Many times He would (BU)deliver them;
They, however, were rebellious in their (BV)counsel,
And so (BW)sank down in their iniquity.
24 Then David came to (A)Mahanaim. And Absalom crossed the Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him. 25 Absalom set (B)Amasa over the army in place of Joab. Now Amasa was the son of a man whose name was [a]Ithra the Israelite, who went in to Abigail the daughter of (C)Nahash, sister of Zeruiah, Joab’s mother. 26 And Israel and Absalom camped in the land of Gilead.
27 Now when David had come to Mahanaim, Shobi (D)the son of Nahash from (E)Rabbah of the sons of Ammon, (F)Machir the son of Ammiel from Lo-debar, and (G)Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim, 28 brought (H)beds, basins, pottery, wheat, barley, flour, parched grain, beans, lentils, parched seeds, 29 honey, curds, sheep, and cheese of the herd, for David and for the people who were with him, (I)to eat; for they said, “The people are hungry and weary and thirsty in the wilderness.”
Absalom Slain
18 Then David [b]numbered the people who were with him and (J)set over them commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds. 2 David sent the people out, (K)one third under the [c]command of Joab, one third under the [d]command of Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, and one third under the [e]command of (L)Ittai the Gittite. And the king said to the people, “I myself will surely go out with you also.” 3 But the people said, “(M)You should not go out; for if we indeed flee, they will not care about us; even if half of us die, they will not care about us. But [f]you are worth ten thousand of us; therefore now it is better that you be ready to help us from the city.” 4 Then the king said to them, “Whatever seems best to you I will do.” So (N)the king stood beside the gate, and all the people went out by hundreds and thousands. 5 The king charged Joab and Abishai and Ittai, saying, “Deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom.” And (O)all the people heard when the king charged all the commanders concerning Absalom.
6 Then the people went out into the field against Israel, and the battle took place in (P)the forest of Ephraim. 7 The people of Israel were [g]defeated there before the servants of David, and the slaughter there that day was great, 20,000 men. 8 For the battle there was spread over the whole countryside, and the forest devoured more people that day than the sword devoured.
30 But on the next day, (A)wishing to know for certain why he had been accused by the Jews, he (B)released him and ordered the chief priests and all (C)the [a]Council to assemble, and brought Paul down and set him before them.
Paul before the Council
23 Paul, looking intently at (D)the [b]Council, said, “(E)Brethren, (F)I have [c]lived my life with a perfectly good conscience before God up to this day.” 2 The high priest (G)Ananias commanded those standing beside him (H)to strike him on the mouth. 3 Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, (I)you whitewashed wall! Do you (J)sit to try me according to the Law, and in violation of the Law order me to be struck?” 4 But the bystanders said, “Do you revile God’s high priest?” 5 And Paul said, “I was not aware, brethren, that he was high priest; for it is written, ‘(K)You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’”
6 But perceiving that one group were (L)Sadducees and the other Pharisees, Paul began crying out in (M)the [d]Council, “(N)Brethren, (O)I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; I am on trial for (P)the hope and resurrection of the dead!” 7 As he said this, there occurred a dissension between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. 8 For (Q)the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor an angel, nor a spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all. 9 And there occurred a great uproar; and some of (R)the scribes of the Pharisaic party stood up and began to argue heatedly, saying, “(S)We find nothing wrong with this man; (T)suppose a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?” 10 And as a great dissension was developing, the [e]commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them and ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force, and bring him into (U)the barracks.
11 But on (V)the night immediately following, the Lord stood at his side and said, “(W)Take courage; for (X)as you have (Y)solemnly witnessed to My cause at Jerusalem, so you must witness at Rome also.”
12 (A)On the next day, when they had left Bethany, He became hungry. 13 Seeing at a distance a fig tree in leaf, He went to see if perhaps He would find anything on it; and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 He said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again!” And His disciples were listening.
Jesus Drives Money Changers from the Temple
15 (B)Then they *came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple and began to drive out those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling [a]doves; 16 and He would not permit anyone to carry [b]merchandise through the temple. 17 And He began to teach and say to them, “Is it not written, ‘(C)My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? (D)But you have made it a robbers’ [c]den.” 18 The chief priests and the scribes heard this, and (E)began seeking how to destroy Him; for they were afraid of Him, for (F)the whole crowd was astonished at His teaching.
19 (G)When evening came, [d]they would go out of the city.
20 (H)As they were passing by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots up. 21 Being reminded, Peter *said to Him, “(I)Rabbi, look, the fig tree which You cursed has withered.” 22 And Jesus *answered saying to them, “(J)Have faith in God. 23 (K)Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. 24 Therefore I say to you, (L)all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you. 25 Whenever you (M)stand praying, (N)forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions. 26 [[e](O)But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions.”]
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