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.
Israel’s Future Blessing
14 [a](A)Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God,
For you have stumbled [b]because of your (B)iniquity.
2 Take words with you and return to the Lord.
Say to Him, “(C)Take away all iniquity
And [c]receive us graciously,
That we may (D)present [d]the fruit of our lips.
3 “Assyria will not save us,
We will (E)not ride on horses;
Nor will we say again, ‘(F)Our god,’
To the (G)work of our hands;
For in (H)You the [e]orphan finds mercy.”
4 I will (I)heal their apostasy,
I will (J)love them freely,
For My anger has (K)turned away from them.
5 I will be like the (L)dew to Israel;
He will blossom like the (M)lily,
And he will [f]take root like the cedars of (N)Lebanon.
6 His shoots will [g]sprout,
And his [h]beauty will be like the (O)olive tree
And his fragrance like the cedars of (P)Lebanon.
7 Those who (Q)live in his shadow
Will [i]again raise (R)grain,
And they will blossom like the vine.
His renown will be like the wine of Lebanon.
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.”
39 And He also spoke a parable to them: “(A)A blind man cannot guide a blind man, can he? Will they not both fall into a pit? 40 (B)A [a]pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will [b]be like his teacher. 41 Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 42 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye. 43 (C)For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit, nor, [c]on the other hand, a bad tree which produces good fruit. 44 (D)For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush. 45 (E)The good man out of the good [d]treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; (F)for his mouth speaks from [e]that which fills his heart.
Builders and Foundations
46 “(G)Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? 47 (H)Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and [f]acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: 48 he is like a man building a house, who [g]dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the [h]torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. 49 But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the [i]torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.