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.
Micah’s Idolatry
17 Now there was a man of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Micah. 2 He said to his mother, “The eleven hundred pieces of silver which were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse [a]in my hearing, behold, the silver is with me; I took it.” And his mother said, “Blessed be my son by the Lord.” 3 He then returned the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother, and his mother said, “I wholly dedicate the silver from my hand to the Lord for my son (A)to make a graven image and a molten image; now therefore, I will return [b]them to you.” 4 So when he returned the silver to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver and gave them to the silversmith who made [c]them into a graven image and a molten image, and [d]they were in the house of Micah. 5 And the man Micah had a [e](B)shrine and he made an (C)ephod and [f](D)household idols and [g]consecrated one of his sons, (E)that he might become his priest. 6 In those days (F)there was no king in Israel; (G)every man did what was right in his own eyes.
7 Now there was a young man from (H)Bethlehem in Judah, of the family of Judah, who was a Levite; and he was [h]staying there. 8 Then the man departed from the city, from Bethlehem in Judah, to [i]stay wherever he might find a place; and as he made his journey, he came to the (I)hill country of Ephraim to the house of Micah. 9 Micah said to him, “Where do you come from?” And he said to him, “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah, and I am going to [j]stay wherever I may find a place.” 10 Micah then said to him, “Dwell with me and be (J)a father and a priest to me, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, a suit of clothes, and your maintenance.” So the Levite went in. 11 The Levite agreed to live with the man, and the young man became to him like one of his sons. 12 So Micah [k]consecrated the Levite, and the young man (K)became his priest and [l]lived in the house of Micah. 13 Then Micah said, “Now I know that the Lord will prosper me, seeing I have a Levite as priest.”
44 “Our fathers had (A)the tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness, just as He who spoke to Moses directed him to make it (B)according to the pattern which he had seen. 45 And having received it in their turn, our fathers (C)brought it in with [a]Joshua upon dispossessing the [b]nations whom God drove out before our fathers, until the time of David. 46 (D)David found favor in God’s sight, and (E)asked that he might find a dwelling place for the [c]God of Jacob. 47 But it was (F)Solomon who built a house for Him. 48 However, (G)the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands; as the prophet says:
49 ‘(H)Heaven is My throne,
And earth is the footstool of My feet;
What kind of house will you build for Me?’ says the Lord,
‘Or what place is there for My repose?
50 ‘(I)Was it not My hand which made all these things?’
51 “You men who are (J)stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. 52 (K)Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of (L)the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers (M)you have now become; 53 you who received the law as (N)ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it.”
Stephen Put to Death
54 Now when they heard this, they were (O)cut to the quick, and they began gnashing their teeth at him. 55 But being (P)full of the Holy Spirit, he (Q)gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing (R)at the right hand of God; 56 and he said, “Behold, I see the (S)heavens opened up and (T)the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 57 But they cried out with a loud voice, and covered their ears and rushed at him with one impulse. 58 When they had (U)driven him out of the city, they began stoning him; and (V)the witnesses (W)laid aside their robes at the feet of (X)a young man named Saul. 59 They went on stoning Stephen as he (Y)called on the Lord and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” 60 Then (Z)falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, (AA)do not hold this sin against them!” Having said this, he [d](AB)fell asleep.
Saul Persecutes the Church
8 (AC)Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death.
And on that day a great persecution [e]began against (AD)the church in Jerusalem, and they were all (AE)scattered throughout the regions of Judea and (AF)Samaria, except the apostles.
19 Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, (A)the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever [a]the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. 20 (B)For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him (C)greater works than these, so that you will marvel. 21 For just as the Father raises the dead and (D)gives them life, even so (E)the Son also gives life to whom He wishes. 22 For not even the Father judges anyone, but (F)He has given all judgment to the Son, 23 so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. (G)He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.
24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and (H)believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and (I)does not come into judgment, but has (J)passed out of death into life.
Two Resurrections
25 Truly, truly, I say to you, (K)an hour is coming and now is, when (L)the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who (M)hear will live. 26 For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He (N)gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; 27 and He gave Him authority to (O)execute judgment, because He is [b]the Son of Man. 28 Do not marvel at this; for (P)an hour is coming, in which (Q)all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, 29 and will come forth; (R)those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.