Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 106[a]
106 Praise the Lord.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
and his loyal love endures.[b]
2 Who can adequately recount the Lord’s mighty acts,
or relate all his praiseworthy deeds?[c]
3 How blessed are those who promote justice,
and do what is right all the time.
4 Remember me, O Lord, when you show favor to your people.
Pay attention to me, when you deliver,
5 so I may see the prosperity[d] of your chosen ones,
rejoice along with your nation,[e]
and boast along with the people who belong to you.[f]
6 We have sinned like[g] our ancestors;[h]
we have done wrong, we have done evil.
7 Our ancestors in Egypt failed to appreciate your miraculous deeds.
They failed to remember your many acts of loyal love,
and they rebelled at the sea, by the Red Sea.[i]
8 Yet he delivered them for the sake of his reputation,[j]
that he might reveal his power.
9 He shouted at[k] the Red Sea and it dried up;
he led them through the deep water as if it were a desert.
10 He delivered them from the power[l] of the one who hated them,
and rescued[m] them from the power[n] of the enemy.
11 The water covered their enemies;
not even one of them survived.[o]
12 They believed his promises;[p]
they sang praises to him.
13 They quickly forgot what he had done;[q]
they did not wait for his instructions.[r]
14 In the wilderness they had an insatiable craving[s] for meat;[t]
they challenged God[u] in the wastelands.
15 He granted their request,
then struck them with a disease.[v]
16 In the camp they resented[w] Moses,
and Aaron, the Lord’s holy priest.[x]
17 The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan;
it engulfed[y] the group led by Abiram.[z]
18 Fire burned their group;
the flames scorched the wicked.[aa]
19 They made an image of a calf at Horeb,
and worshiped a metal idol.
20 They traded their majestic God[ab]
for the image of an ox that eats grass.
21 They rejected[ac] the God who delivered them,
the one who performed great deeds in Egypt,
22 amazing feats in the land of Ham,
mighty acts[ad] by the Red Sea.
23 He threatened[ae] to destroy them,
but[af] Moses, his chosen one, interceded with him[ag]
and turned back his destructive anger.[ah]
24 They rejected the fruitful land;[ai]
they did not believe his promise.[aj]
25 They grumbled in their tents;[ak]
they did not obey[al] the Lord.
26 So he made a solemn vow[am]
that he would make them die[an] in the wilderness,
27 make their descendants[ao] die[ap] among the nations,
and scatter them among foreign lands.[aq]
28 They worshiped[ar] Baal of Peor,
and ate sacrifices offered to the dead.[as]
29 They made the Lord angry[at] by their actions,
and a plague broke out among them.
30 Phinehas took a stand and intervened,[au]
and the plague subsided.
31 This was credited to Phinehas as a righteous act
for all generations to come.[av]
32 They made him angry by the waters of Meribah,
and Moses suffered[aw] because of them,
33 for they aroused[ax] his temper,[ay]
and he spoke rashly.[az]
34 They did not destroy the nations,[ba]
as the Lord had commanded them to do.
35 They mixed in with the nations
and learned their ways.[bb]
36 They worshiped[bc] their idols,
which became a snare to them.[bd]
37 They sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons.[be]
38 They shed innocent blood—
the blood of their sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan.
The land was polluted by bloodshed.[bf]
39 They were defiled by their deeds,
and unfaithful in their actions.[bg]
40 So the Lord was angry with his people[bh]
and despised the people who belonged to him.[bi]
41 He handed them over to[bj] the nations,
and those who hated them ruled over them.
42 Their enemies oppressed them;
they were subject to their authority.[bk]
43 Many times he delivered[bl] them,
but they had a rebellious attitude,[bm]
and degraded themselves[bn] by their sin.
44 Yet he took notice of their distress,
when he heard their cry for help.
45 He remembered his covenant with them,
and relented[bo] because of his great loyal love.
46 He caused all their conquerors[bp]
to have pity on them.
47 Deliver us, O Lord, our God.
Gather us from among the nations.
Then we will give thanks[bq] to your holy name,
and boast about your praiseworthy deeds.[br]
48 The Lord God of Israel deserves praise,[bs]
in the future and forevermore.[bt]
Let all the people say, “We agree![bu] Praise the Lord!”[bv]
24 Meanwhile David had gone to Mahanaim, while Absalom and all the men of Israel had crossed the Jordan River. 25 Absalom had made Amasa general in command of the army in place of Joab. (Now Amasa was the son of an Israelite man named Jether, who had married[a] Abigail the daughter of Nahash and sister of Zeruiah, Joab’s mother.) 26 The army of Israel[b] and Absalom camped in the land of Gilead.
27 When David came to Mahanaim, Shobi the son of Nahash from Rabbah of the Ammonites, Makir the son of Ammiel from Lo Debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim 28 brought bedding, basins, and pottery utensils. They also brought food for David and all who were with him, including wheat, barley, flour, roasted grain, beans, lentils,[c] 29 honey, curds, flocks, and cheese.[d] For they said, “The people are no doubt hungry, tired, and thirsty there in the desert.”[e]
The Death of Absalom
18 David assembled the army that was with him. He appointed leaders of thousands and leaders of hundreds. 2 David then sent out the army—a third under the leadership of Joab, a third under the leadership of Joab’s brother Abishai son of Zeruiah, and a third under the leadership of Ittai the Gittite. The king said to the troops, “I too will indeed march out with you.”
3 But the soldiers replied,[f] “You should not do this![g] For if we should have to make a rapid retreat, they won’t be concerned about us.[h] Even if half of us should die, they won’t be concerned. But you[i] are like 10,000 of us! So it is better if you remain in the city for support.” 4 Then the king said to them, “I will do whatever seems best to you.”
So the king stayed beside the city gate, while all the army marched out by hundreds and by thousands. 5 The king gave this order to Joab, Abishai, and Ittai: “For my sake deal gently with the young man Absalom.” Now the entire army was listening when the king gave all the leaders this order concerning Absalom.
6 Then the army marched out to the field to fight against Israel. The battle took place in the forest of Ephraim. 7 The army of Israel was defeated there by David’s men.[j] The slaughter there was great that day—20,000 soldiers were killed. 8 The battle there was spread out over the whole area, and the forest consumed more soldiers than the sword devoured that day.
Paul Before the Sanhedrin
30 The next day, because the commanding officer[a] wanted to know the true reason[b] Paul[c] was being accused by the Jews, he released him and ordered the chief priests and the whole council[d] to assemble. He then brought[e] Paul down and had him stand before them.
23 Paul looked directly[f] at the council[g] and said, “Brothers, I have lived my life with a clear conscience[h] before God to this day.” 2 At that[i] the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near[j] Paul[k] to strike[l] him on the mouth. 3 Then Paul said to him, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall![m] Do[n] you sit there judging me according to the law,[o] and in violation of the law[p] you order me to be struck?” 4 Those standing near him[q] said, “Do you dare insult[r] God’s high priest?” 5 Paul replied,[s] “I did not realize,[t] brothers, that he was the high priest, for it is written, ‘You must not speak evil about a ruler of your people.’”[u]
6 Then when Paul noticed[v] that part of them were Sadducees[w] and the others Pharisees,[x] he shouted out in the council,[y] “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. I am on trial concerning the hope of the resurrection[z] of the dead!” 7 When he said this,[aa] an argument[ab] began[ac] between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. 8 (For the Sadducees say there is no resurrection, or angel, or spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.)[ad] 9 There was a great commotion,[ae] and some experts in the law[af] from the party of the Pharisees stood up[ag] and protested strongly,[ah] “We find nothing wrong[ai] with this man. What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?” 10 When the argument became[aj] so great the commanding officer[ak] feared that they would tear Paul to pieces,[al] he ordered the detachment[am] to go down, take him away from them by force,[an] and bring him into the barracks.[ao]
11 The following night the Lord[ap] stood near[aq] Paul[ar] and said, “Have courage,[as] for just as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.”[at]
Cursing of the Fig Tree
12 Now[a] the next day, as they went out from Bethany, he was hungry. 13 After noticing in the distance a fig tree with leaves, he went to see if he could find any fruit[b] on it. When he came to it he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 He said to it,[c] “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.[d]
Cleansing the Temple
15 Then[e] they came to Jerusalem. Jesus[f] entered the temple area[g] and began to drive out those who were selling and buying in the temple courts.[h] He turned over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves, 16 and he would not permit anyone to carry merchandise[i] through the temple courts.[j] 17 Then he began to teach[k] them and said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’?[l] But you have turned it into a den[m] of robbers!”[n] 18 The chief priests and the experts in the law[o] heard it and they considered how they could assassinate[p] him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed by his teaching. 19 When evening came, Jesus and his disciples[q] went out of the city.
The Withered Fig Tree
20 In the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. 21 Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered.” 22 Jesus said to them, “Have faith in God. 23 I tell you the truth,[r] if someone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. 24 For this reason I tell you, whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 Whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven will[s] also forgive you your sins.”[t]
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