Book of Common Prayer
The Lord’s Wonderful Works in Behalf of Israel.
105 Oh (A)give thanks to the Lord, (B)call upon His name;
(C)Make known His deeds among the peoples.
2 Sing to Him, (D)sing praises to Him;
[a](E)Speak of all His [b]wonders.
3 [c]Glory in His holy name;
Let the (F)heart of those who seek the Lord be glad.
4 Seek the Lord and (G)His strength;
(H)Seek His face continually.
5 Remember His [d](I)wonders which He has done,
His marvels and the (J)judgments [e]uttered by His mouth,
6 O seed of (K)Abraham, His servant,
O sons of (L)Jacob, His (M)chosen ones!
7 He is the Lord our God;
His (N)judgments are in all the earth.
8 He has (O)remembered His covenant forever,
The word which He commanded to a (P)thousand generations,
9 The (Q)covenant which He made with Abraham,
And His (R)oath to Isaac.
10 Then He (S)confirmed it to Jacob for a statute,
To Israel as an everlasting covenant,
11 Saying, “(T)To you I will give the land of Canaan
As the [f](U)portion of your inheritance,”
12 When they were only a (V)few men in number,
Very few, and (W)strangers in it.
13 And they wandered about from nation to nation,
From one kingdom to another people.
14 He (X)permitted no man to oppress them,
And He (Y)reproved kings for their sakes:
15 “(Z)Do not touch My anointed ones,
And do My prophets no harm.”
16 And He (AA)called for a famine upon the land;
He (AB)broke the whole staff of bread.
17 He (AC)sent a man before them,
Joseph, who was (AD)sold as a slave.
18 They afflicted his (AE)feet with fetters,
[g]He himself was laid in irons;
19 Until the time that his (AF)word came to pass,
The word of the Lord [h](AG)tested him.
20 The (AH)king sent and released him,
The ruler of peoples, and set him free.
21 He (AI)made him lord of his house
And ruler over all his possessions,
22 To [i]imprison his princes [j](AJ)at will,
That he might teach his elders wisdom.
23 (AK)Israel also came into Egypt;
Thus Jacob (AL)sojourned in the land of Ham.
24 And He (AM)caused His people to be very fruitful,
And made them stronger than their adversaries.
25 He (AN)turned their heart to hate His people,
To (AO)deal craftily with His servants.
26 He (AP)sent Moses His servant,
And (AQ)Aaron, whom He had chosen.
27 They [k](AR)performed His wondrous acts among them,
And miracles in the land of Ham.
28 He (AS)sent darkness and made it dark;
And they did not (AT)rebel against His words.
29 He (AU)turned their waters into blood
And caused their fish to die.
30 Their land swarmed with (AV)frogs
Even in the (AW)chambers of their kings.
31 He spoke, and there came a (AX)swarm of flies
And (AY)gnats in all their territory.
32 He [l]gave them (AZ)hail for rain,
And flaming fire in their land.
33 He (BA)struck down their vines also and their fig trees,
And shattered the trees of their territory.
34 He spoke, and (BB)locusts came,
And young locusts, even without number,
35 And ate up all vegetation in their land,
And ate up the fruit of their ground.
36 He also (BC)struck down all the firstborn in their land,
The (BD)first fruits of all their vigor.
37 Then He brought them out with (BE)silver and gold,
And among His tribes there was not one who stumbled.
38 Egypt was (BF)glad when they departed,
For the (BG)dread of them had fallen upon them.
39 He spread a (BH)cloud for a [m]covering,
And (BI)fire to illumine by night.
40 [n]They (BJ)asked, and He brought (BK)quail,
And satisfied them with the [o](BL)bread of heaven.
41 He opened the [p]rock and (BM)water flowed out;
[q]It ran in the dry places like a river.
42 For He (BN)remembered His holy word
With Abraham His servant;
43 And He brought forth His people with joy,
His chosen ones with a joyful (BO)shout.
44 He (BP)gave them also the lands of the [r]nations,
That they (BQ)might take possession of the fruit of the peoples’ labor,
45 So that they might (BR)keep His statutes
And observe His laws,
[s]Praise [t]the Lord!
Samson’s Marriage
14 Then Samson went down to Timnah and saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines. 2 So he came [a]back and told his father and [b]mother, “I saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines; now therefore, get her for me as a wife.” 3 Then his father and his mother said to him, “Is there no woman among the daughters of your [c](A)relatives, or among all [d]our people, that you go to (B)take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she [e]looks good to me.” 4 However, his father and mother did not know that (C)it was of the Lord, for He was seeking an occasion against the Philistines. Now at that time the Philistines were ruling over Israel.
5 Then Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother, and came as far as the vineyards of Timnah; and behold, a young lion came roaring toward him. 6 (D)The Spirit of the Lord [f]came upon him mightily, so that (E)he tore him as one tears a young goat though he had nothing in his hand; but he did not tell his father or mother what he had done. 7 So he went down and talked to the woman; and she [g]looked good to Samson. 8 When he returned later to take her, he turned aside to look at the carcass of the lion; and behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the body of the lion. 9 So he scraped [h]the honey into his [i]hands and went on, eating as he went. When he came to his father and mother, he gave some to them and they ate it; but he did not tell them that he had scraped the honey out of the body of the lion.
10 Then his father went down to the woman; and Samson made a feast there, for the young men customarily did this. 11 When they saw him, they brought thirty companions to be with him.
Samson’s Riddle
12 Then Samson said to them, “Let me now (F)propound a riddle to you; if you will indeed tell it to me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen wraps and thirty (G)changes of clothes. 13 But if you are unable to tell me, then you shall give me thirty linen wraps and thirty changes of clothes.” And they said to him, “Propound your riddle, that we may hear it.” 14 So he said to them,
“Out of the eater came something to eat,
And out of the strong came something sweet.”
But they could not tell the riddle in three days.
15 Then it came about on the [j]fourth day that they said to Samson’s wife, “(H)Entice your husband, so that he will tell us the riddle, (I)or we will burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you invited us to impoverish us? Is this not so?” 16 Samson’s wife wept before him and said, “(J)You only hate me, and you do not love me; you have propounded a riddle to the sons of my people, and have not told it to me.” And he said to her, “Behold, I have not told it to my father or mother; so should I tell you?” 17 However she wept before him seven days while their feast lasted. And on the seventh day he told her because she pressed him so hard. She then told the riddle to the sons of her people. 18 So the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down,
“What is sweeter than honey?
And what is stronger than a lion?”
And he said to them,
“If you had not plowed with my heifer,
You would not have found out my riddle.”
19 Then (K)the Spirit of the Lord [k]came upon him mightily, and he went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty of them and took their spoil and gave the changes of clothes to those who told the riddle. And his anger burned, and he went up to his father’s house.
15 And fixing their gaze on him, all who were sitting in the [a](A)Council saw his face like the face of an angel.
Stephen’s Defense
7 The high priest said, “Are these things so?”
2 And he said, “Hear me, (B)brethren and fathers! (C)The God of glory (D)appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in [b]Haran, 3 and said to him, ‘(E)Leave your country and your relatives, and come into the land that I will show you.’ 4 (F)Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in [c]Haran. (G)From there, after his father died, God had him move to this country in which you are now living. 5 But He gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot of ground, and yet, even when he had no child, (H)He promised that He would give it to him as a possession, and to his descendants after him. 6 But (I)God spoke to this effect, that his descendants would be aliens in a foreign land, and that they would [d]be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years. 7 ‘And whatever nation to which they will be in bondage I Myself will judge,’ said God, ‘and (J)after that they will come out and [e]serve Me in this place.’ 8 And He (K)gave him [f]the covenant of circumcision; and so (L)Abraham became the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day; and (M)Isaac became the father of Jacob, and (N)Jacob of the twelve (O)patriarchs.
9 “The patriarchs (P)became jealous of Joseph and sold him into Egypt. Yet God was with him, 10 and rescued him from all his afflictions, and (Q)granted him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he made him governor over Egypt and all his household.
11 “Now (R)a famine came over all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction with it, and our fathers [g]could find no food. 12 But (S)when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers there the first time. 13 On the second visit (T)Joseph [h]made himself known to his brothers, and (U)Joseph’s family was disclosed to Pharaoh. 14 Then (V)Joseph sent word and invited Jacob his father and all his relatives to come to him, (W)seventy-five [i](X)persons in all. 15 And (Y)Jacob went down to Egypt and there he and our fathers died. 16 From there they were removed to [j](Z)Shechem and laid in the tomb which Abraham had purchased for a sum of money from the sons of [k]Hamor in [l]Shechem.
27 At this point His (A)disciples came, and they were amazed that He had been speaking with a woman, yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why do You speak with her?” 28 So the woman left her waterpot, and went into the city and *said to the men, 29 “Come, see a man (B)who told me all the things that I have done; (C)this is not [a]the Christ, is it?” 30 They went out of the city, and were coming to Him.
31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging Him, saying, “(D)Rabbi, eat.” 32 But He said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33 So the (E)disciples were saying to one another, “No one brought Him anything to eat, did he?” 34 Jesus *said to them, “My food is to (F)do the will of Him who sent Me and to (G)accomplish His work. 35 Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white (H)for harvest. 36 Already he who reaps is receiving (I)wages and is gathering (J)fruit for (K)life eternal; so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. 37 For in this case the saying is true, ‘(L)One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored and you have entered into their labor.”
The Samaritans
39 From (M)that city many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “(N)He told me all the things that I have done.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they were asking Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. 41 Many more believed because of His word; 42 and they were saying to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed (O)the Savior of the world.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.