Book of Common Prayer
Mem
97 How I (A)love Your Law!
It is my (B)meditation all the day.
98 Your (C)commandments make me wiser than my enemies,
For they are ever [a]mine.
99 I have more insight than all my teachers,
For Your testimonies are my (D)meditation.
100 I understand (E)more than those who are old,
Because I have (F)complied with Your precepts.
101 I have (G)restrained my feet from every evil way,
So that I may keep Your word.
102 I have not (H)turned aside from Your judgments,
For You Yourself have taught me.
103 How (I)sweet are Your [b]words to my [c]taste!
Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
104 From Your precepts I (J)get understanding;
Therefore I (K)hate every false way.
Nun
105 Your word is a (L)lamp to my feet
And a light to my path.
106 I have (M)sworn and I will confirm it,
That I will keep Your righteous judgments.
107 I am exceedingly (N)afflicted;
[d](O)Revive me, Lord, according to Your word.
108 Be pleased to accept the [e](P)voluntary offerings of my mouth, Lord,
And (Q)teach me Your judgments.
109 My [f](R)life is continually [g]in my hand,
Yet I do not (S)forget Your Law.
110 The wicked have (T)set a [h]trap for me,
Yet I have not (U)wandered from Your precepts.
111 I have (V)inherited Your testimonies forever,
For they are the (W)joy of my heart.
112 I have (X)inclined my heart to perform Your statutes
Forever, even (Y)to the end.
Samekh
113 I hate those who are (Z)double-minded,
But I love Your (AA)Law.
114 You are my (AB)hiding place and my (AC)shield;
I [i](AD)wait for Your word.
115 (AE)Leave me, you evildoers,
So that I may (AF)comply with the commandments of my God.
116 (AG)Sustain me according to Your [j]word, that I may live;
And (AH)do not let me be [k]ashamed of my hope.
117 Sustain me so that I may be (AI)safe,
That I may (AJ)have regard for Your statutes continually.
118 You have [l]rejected all those (AK)who stray from Your statutes,
For their deceitfulness is [m]useless.
119 You have [n]removed all the wicked of the earth like [o](AL)impurities;
Therefore I (AM)love Your testimonies.
120 My flesh [p](AN)trembles from the fear of You,
And I am (AO)afraid of Your judgments.
God’s Goodness and Israel’s Waywardness.
For the music director; [a]on the Gittith. A Psalm of Asaph.
81 (A)Sing for joy to God our (B)strength;
Shout (C)joyfully to the (D)God of Jacob.
2 Raise a song, strike (E)the tambourine,
The sweet sounding (F)lyre with the (G)harp.
3 Blow the trumpet at the (H)new moon,
At the full moon, on our (I)feast day.
4 For it is a statute for Israel,
An ordinance of the God of Jacob.
5 He established it as a testimony in Joseph
When he [b](J)went throughout the land of Egypt.
I heard a (K)language I did not know:
6 “I [c](L)relieved his shoulder of the burden,
His hands were freed from the [d]basket.
7 You (M)called in trouble and I rescued you;
I (N)answered you in the hiding place of thunder;
I put you to the test at the (O)waters of Meribah. Selah
8 (P)Hear, My people, and I will admonish you;
Israel, if you (Q)would listen to Me!
9 There shall be no (R)strange god among you;
Nor shall you worship a foreign god.
10 (S)I, the Lord, am your God,
Who brought you up from the land of Egypt;
(T)Open your mouth wide and I will (U)fill it.
11 “But My people (V)did not listen to My voice,
And Israel did not [e]obey Me.
12 So I (W)gave [f]them over to the stubbornness of their heart,
To walk by their own plans.
13 Oh that My people (X)would listen to Me,
That Israel would (Y)walk in My ways!
14 I would quickly (Z)subdue their enemies
And (AA)turn My hand against their adversaries.
15 (AB)Those who hate the Lord would (AC)pretend to obey Him,
And their time of punishment would be forever.
16 [g]But I would feed you with the [h](AD)finest of the wheat,
And with (AE)honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”
Unjust Judgments Rebuked.
A Psalm of Asaph.
82 God takes His (AF)position in [i]His assembly;
He (AG)judges in the midst of the (AH)gods.
2 How long will you (AI)judge unjustly
And (AJ)show partiality to the wicked? Selah
3 (AK)Vindicate the weak and fatherless;
Do justice to the afflicted and destitute.
4 (AL)Rescue the weak and needy;
Save them from the hand of the wicked.
5 They (AM)do not know nor do they understand;
They (AN)walk around in darkness;
All the (AO)foundations of the earth are shaken.
6 [j]I (AP)said, “You are gods,
And all of you are (AQ)sons of the Most High.
7 Nevertheless (AR)you will die like men,
And fall like (AS)one of the princes.”
8 (AT)Arise, God, (AU)judge the earth!
For You (AV)possess all the nations.
The Sin of Eli’s Sons
12 Now the sons of Eli were [a](A)useless men; they did not know the Lord. 13 (B)And this was the custom of the priests with the people: when anyone was offering a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come while the meat was cooking, with a three-pronged fork in his hand. 14 And he would thrust it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; everything that the fork brought up, the priest would take for himself. They did so in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. 15 Also, before (C)they [b]burned the fat, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give the priest meat for roasting, as he will not take cooked meat from you, only raw.” 16 And if the man said to him, “They must [c]burn the fat [d]first, then take as much as [e]you desire,” then he would say, “No, but you must give it to me now; and if not, I am taking it by force!” 17 And so the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord, for the men (D)treated the offering of the Lord disrespectfully.
Samuel before the Lord as a Boy
18 Now (E)Samuel was ministering before the Lord, as a boy (F)wearing a linen ephod. 19 And his mother would make for him a little (G)robe and bring it up to him from year to year when she would come up with her husband to offer (H)the yearly sacrifice. 20 Then Eli would (I)bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, “May the Lord give you [f]children from this woman in place of the [g]one she (J)requested of the Lord.” And they went to their own [h]home.
21 [i](K)The Lord indeed visited Hannah, and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. And (L)the boy Samuel grew up [j]before the Lord.
Eli Rebukes His Sons
22 Now Eli was very old; and he heard about (M)everything that his sons were doing to all Israel, and that they slept with (N)the women who served at the doorway of the tent of meeting. 23 So he said to them, “Why are you doing such things as these, the evil things that I hear from all these people? 24 No, my sons; for the report is not good (O)which I hear the Lord’s people circulating. 25 If one person sins against another, (P)God will mediate for him; but (Q)if a person sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for the (R)Lord desired to put them to death.
26 Now the boy (S)Samuel was continuing to grow and to be in favor both with the Lord and with people.
The Day of Pentecost
2 When (A)the day of Pentecost [a]had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly a noise like a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled (B)the whole house where they were sitting. 3 And tongues that looked like fire appeared to them, [b]distributing themselves, and a tongue [c]rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all (C)filled with the Holy Spirit and began to (D)speak with different [d]tongues, as the Spirit was giving them the ability to speak out.
5 Now there were Jews residing in Jerusalem, (E)devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And when (F)this sound occurred, the crowd came together and they were bewildered, because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own [e]language. 7 (G)They were amazed and astonished, saying, “[f]Why, are not all these who are speaking (H)Galileans? 8 And how is it that we each hear them in our own [g]language [h]to which we were born? 9 Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, and (I)Cappadocia, (J)Pontus and [i](K)Asia, 10 (L)Phrygia and (M)Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya around (N)Cyrene, and [j](O)visitors from Rome, both Jews and [k](P)proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own [l]tongues of the mighty deeds of God.” 12 And (Q)they all continued in amazement and great perplexity, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others were jeering and saying, “(R)They are full of [m]sweet wine!”
Peter’s Sermon
14 But Peter, taking his stand with (S)the other eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: “Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, [n]know this, and pay attention to my words. 15 For these people are not drunk, as you assume, (T)since it is only the [o]third hour of the day; 16 but this is what has been spoken through the prophet Joel:
17 ‘(U)And it shall be in the last days,’ God says,
‘That I will pour out My Spirit on all [p]mankind;
And your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
And your young men will see visions,
And your old men will [q]have dreams;
18 And even on My male and female [r]servants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days,
And they will prophesy.
19 And I will [s]display wonders in the sky above
And signs on the earth below,
Blood, fire, and [t]vapor of smoke.
20 The sun will be turned into darkness
And the moon into blood,
Before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes.
21 And it shall be that (V)everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
Is There a Resurrection?
27 (A)Now some of the (B)Sadducees (who maintain that there is no resurrection) came to Him, 28 and they questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that (C)if [a]a man’s brother dies, [b]leaving a wife, and he is childless, that his brother is to [c]marry the wife and raise up children [d]for his brother. 29 So then, there were seven brothers; and the first took a wife and died childless; 30 and the second 31 and the third [e]married her; and in the same way [f]all seven [g]died, leaving no children. 32 Finally the woman also died. 33 Therefore, in the resurrection, [h]which one’s wife does the woman become? For [i]all seven [j]married her.”
34 Jesus said to them, “The sons of (D)this age marry and the women are given in marriage, 35 but those who are considered worthy to attain to (E)that age and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; 36 for they cannot even die anymore, for they are like angels, and are (F)sons of God, being [k]sons of the resurrection. 37 But as for the fact that the dead are raised, even Moses revealed this in (G)the passage about the burning bush, where he calls the Lord (H)the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. 38 (I)Now He is not the God of the dead, but of the living; for (J)all live to Him.” 39 Some of the scribes answered and said, “Teacher, You have spoken well.” 40 For (K)they did not have the courage to question Him any longer about anything.
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