Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 105[a]
105 Give thanks to the Lord.
Call on his name.
Make known his accomplishments among the nations.
2 Sing to him.
Make music to him.
Tell about all his miraculous deeds.
3 Boast about his holy name.
Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
4 Seek the Lord and the strength he gives.
Seek his presence continually.
5 Recall the miraculous deeds he performed,
his mighty acts and the judgments he decreed,[b]
6 O children[c] of Abraham,[d] God’s[e] servant,
you descendants[f] of Jacob, God’s[g] chosen ones.
7 He is the Lord our God;
he carries out judgment throughout the earth.[h]
8 He always remembers his covenantal decree,
the promise he made[i] to a thousand generations—
9 the promise[j] he made to Abraham,
the promise he made by oath to Isaac.
10 He gave it to Jacob as a decree,
to Israel as a lasting promise,[k]
11 saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan
as the portion of your inheritance.”
12 When they were few in number,
just a very few, and resident foreigners within it,
13 they wandered from nation to nation,
and from one kingdom to another.[l]
14 He let no one oppress them;
he disciplined kings for their sake,
15 saying,[m] “Don’t touch my chosen ones.[n]
Don’t harm my prophets.”
16 He called down a famine upon the earth;
he cut off all the food supply.[o]
17 He sent a man ahead of them[p]—
Joseph was sold as a servant.
18 The shackles hurt his feet;[q]
his neck was placed in an iron collar,[r]
19 until the time when his prediction[s] came true.
The Lord’s word[t] proved him right.[u]
20 The king authorized his release;[v]
the ruler of nations set him free.
21 He put him in charge of his palace,[w]
and made him manager of all his property,
22 giving him authority to imprison his officials[x]
and to teach his advisers.[y]
23 Israel moved to[z] Egypt;
Jacob lived for a time[aa] in the land of Ham.
24 The Lord[ab] made his people very fruitful,
and made them[ac] more numerous than their[ad] enemies.
25 He caused the Egyptians[ae] to hate his people,
and to mistreat[af] his servants.
26 He sent his servant Moses,
and Aaron, whom he had chosen.
27 They executed his miraculous signs among them,[ag]
and his amazing deeds in the land of Ham.
28 He made it dark;[ah]
Moses and Aaron did not disobey his orders.[ai]
29 He turned the Egyptians’ water into blood,
and killed their fish.
30 Their land was overrun by frogs,
which even got into the rooms of their kings.
31 He ordered flies to come;[aj]
gnats invaded their whole territory.
32 He sent hail along with the rain;[ak]
there was lightning in their land.[al]
33 He destroyed their vines and fig trees,
and broke the trees throughout their territory.
34 He ordered locusts to come,[am]
innumerable grasshoppers.
35 They ate all the vegetation in their land,
and devoured the crops of their fields.[an]
36 He struck down all the firstborn in their land,
the firstfruits of their reproductive power.[ao]
37 He brought his people[ap] out enriched[aq] with silver and gold;
none of his tribes stumbled.
38 Egypt was happy when they left,
for they were afraid of them.[ar]
39 He spread out a cloud for a cover,[as]
and provided a fire to light up the night.
40 They asked for food,[at] and he sent quail;
he satisfied them with food from the sky.[au]
41 He opened up a rock and water flowed out;
a river ran through dry regions.
42 Yes,[av] he remembered the sacred promise[aw]
he made to Abraham his servant.
43 When he led his people out, they rejoiced;
his chosen ones shouted with joy.[ax]
44 He handed the territory of nations over to them,
and they took possession of what other peoples had produced,[ay]
45 so that they might keep his commands
and obey[az] his laws.
Praise the Lord.
Israel Seeks a King
8 In his old age Samuel appointed his sons as judges over Israel. 2 The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second son was Abijah. They were judges in Beer Sheba. 3 But his sons did not follow[a] his ways. Instead, they made money dishonestly, accepted bribes, and perverted justice.[b]
4 So all the elders of Israel gathered together and approached Samuel at Ramah. 5 They said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons don’t follow your ways. So now appoint over us a king to lead[c] us, just like all the other nations have.”
6 But this request displeased Samuel, for[d] they said, “Give us a king to lead us.” So Samuel prayed to the Lord. 7 The Lord said to Samuel, “Do everything the people request of you.[e] For it is not you that they have rejected, but it is me that they have rejected as their king. 8 Just as they have done[f] from the day that I brought them up from Egypt until this very day, they have rejected me and have served other gods. This is what they are also doing to you. 9 So now do as they say.[g] But you must warn[h] them and make them aware of the policies of the king who will rule over them.”[i]
10 So Samuel spoke all the Lord’s words to the people who were asking him for a king. 11 He said, “Here are the policies of the king who will rule over you: He will conscript your sons and put them in his chariot forces and in his cavalry; they will run in front of his chariot. 12 He will appoint for himself leaders of thousands and leaders of fifties,[j] as well as those who plow his ground, reap his harvest, and make his weapons of war and his chariot equipment. 13 He will take your daughters to be ointment makers, cooks, and bakers. 14 He will take your best fields, vineyards, and olive groves, and give them to his own servants. 15 He will demand a tenth of your seed and of the produce of your vineyards and give it to his administrators[k] and his servants. 16 He will take your male and female servants, as well as your best cattle and your donkeys, and assign them for his own use. 17 He will demand a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will be his servants. 18 In that day you will cry out because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord won’t answer you in that day.”[l]
19 But the people refused to heed Samuel’s warning.[m] Instead they said, “No! There will be a king over us! 20 We will be like all the other nations. Our king will judge us and lead us[n] and fight our battles.”
21 So Samuel listened to everything the people said and then reported it to the Lord.[o] 22 The Lord said to Samuel, “Do as they say[p] and install a king over them.” Then Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Each of you go back to his own city.”
15 All[a] who were sitting in the council[b] looked intently at Stephen[c] and saw his face was like the face of an angel.[d]
Stephen’s Defense Before the Council
7 Then the high priest said, “Are these things true?”[e] 2 So he replied,[f] “Brothers and fathers, listen to me. The God of glory appeared to our forefather[g] Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he settled in Haran, 3 and said to him, ‘Go out from your country and from your relatives, and come to the land I will show you.’[h] 4 Then he went out from the country of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After his father died, God[i] made him move[j] to this country where you now live. 5 He[k] did not give any of it to him for an inheritance,[l] not even a foot of ground,[m] yet God[n] promised to give it to him as his possession, and to his descendants after him,[o] even though Abraham[p] as yet had no child. 6 But God spoke as follows: ‘Your[q] descendants will be foreigners[r] in a foreign country, whose citizens will enslave them and mistreat them for 400 years.[s] 7 But I will punish[t] the nation they serve as slaves,’ said God, ‘and after these things they will come out of there[u] and worship[v] me in this place.’[w] 8 Then God[x] gave Abraham[y] the covenant[z] of circumcision, and so he became the father of Isaac and circumcised him when he was eight days old,[aa] and Isaac became the father of[ab] Jacob, and Jacob of the twelve patriarchs.[ac] 9 The[ad] patriarchs, because they were jealous of Joseph, sold[ae] him into Egypt. But[af] God was with him, 10 and rescued him from all his troubles, and granted him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made[ag] him ruler over Egypt and over all his household. 11 Then a famine occurred throughout[ah] Egypt and Canaan, causing[ai] great suffering, and our[aj] ancestors[ak] could not find food. 12 So when Jacob heard that there was grain[al] in Egypt, he sent our ancestors[am] there[an] the first time. 13 On their second visit Joseph made himself known to his brothers again, and Joseph’s family[ao] became known to Pharaoh. 14 So Joseph sent a message[ap] and invited[aq] his father Jacob and all his relatives to come, seventy-five people[ar] in all. 15 So Jacob went down to Egypt and died there,[as] along with our ancestors,[at] 16 and their bones[au] were later moved to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a certain sum of money[av] from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.
24 A dispute also started[a] among them over which of them was to be regarded as the greatest.[b] 25 So[c] Jesus[d] said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in authority over them are called ‘benefactors.’[e] 26 Not so with you;[f] instead the one who is greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader[g] like the one who serves.[h] 27 For who is greater, the one who is seated at the table,[i] or the one who serves? Is it not[j] the one who is seated at the table? But I am among you as one[k] who serves.
28 “You are the ones who have remained[l] with me in my trials. 29 Thus[m] I grant[n] to you a kingdom,[o] just as my Father granted to me, 30 that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and you will sit[p] on thrones judging[q] the twelve tribes of Israel.
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