Book of Common Prayer
That the Generation to Come Might Know
A [a]Maskil of Asaph.
78 (A)Give ear, O my people, to my [b]instruction;
(B)Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 I will (C)open my mouth in a parable;
I will pour forth (D)dark sayings of old,
3 Which we have heard and known,
And (E)our fathers have recounted to us.
4 We will (F)not conceal them from their children,
But (G)recount to the generation to come the praises of Yahweh,
And His strength and His (H)wondrous deeds that He has done.
5 For He established a (I)testimony in Jacob
And set a (J)law in Israel,
Which He (K)commanded our fathers
That they should [c](L)teach them to their children,
6 (M)That the generation to come might know, even (N)the children yet to be born,
That they may arise and (O)recount them to their children,
7 That they should set their confidence in God
And (P)not forget the deeds of God,
But (Q)observe His commandments,
8 And (R)not be like their fathers,
A (S)stubborn and rebellious generation,
A generation that (T)did not [d]prepare its heart
And whose spirit was not (U)faithful to God.
9 The sons of Ephraim [e]were (V)archers equipped with bows,
Yet (W)they turned back in the day of battle.
10 They (X)did not keep the covenant of God
And refused to (Y)walk in His law;
11 So they (Z)forgot His acts
And His [f]wondrous deeds that He had shown them.
12 (AA)He did wonders before their fathers
In the land of Egypt, in the (AB)field of Zoan.
13 He (AC)split the sea and caused them to pass through,
And He made the waters stand (AD)up like a heap.
14 Then He led them with the cloud by (AE)day
And all the night with a (AF)light of fire.
15 He was (AG)splitting the rocks in the wilderness
And so gave them abundant drink like the ocean depths.
16 He (AH)brought forth streams also from the cliff face
And caused waters to run down like rivers.
17 Yet they still continued to sin against Him,
To (AI)rebel against the Most High in the desert.
18 And in their heart they (AJ)put God to the test
By asking for (AK)food according to their desire.
19 Then they spoke against God;
They said, “(AL)Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?
20 Behold, He (AM)struck the rock so that waters gushed out,
And streams were overflowing;
Can He give bread also?
Will He prepare [g](AN)meat for His people?”
21 Therefore Yahweh heard and [h]was (AO)full of wrath;
And a fire was kindled against Jacob
And anger also mounted against Israel,
22 Because they (AP)did not believe in God
And did not trust in His salvation.
23 Yet He commanded the skies above
And (AQ)opened the doors of heaven;
24 He (AR)rained down manna upon them to eat
And gave them (AS)grain from heaven.
25 Man ate the bread of [i]angels;
He sent them provision (AT)to satisfy.
26 He (AU)led forth the east wind in the heavens
And by His strength He guided the south wind.
27 Then He rained [j]meat upon them like the dust,
Even (AV)winged fowl like the sand of the seas,
28 He caused them to fall in the midst of His camp,
All around His dwelling places.
29 So they (AW)ate and were very satisfied,
And their desire He brought to them.
30 [k]Before they had satisfied their desire,
(AX)While their food was in their mouths,
31 The (AY)anger of God rose against them
And killed [l]some of their (AZ)stoutest ones,
And [m]subdued the choice men of Israel.
32 In spite of all this they (BA)still sinned
And (BB)did not believe in His wondrous deeds.
33 So He brought (BC)their days to an end in [n]futility
And their years in sudden terror.
34 When He killed them, then they (BD)sought Him,
And returned and sought (BE)earnestly for God;
35 And they remembered that God was their (BF)rock,
And the Most High God their (BG)Redeemer.
36 But they (BH)deceived Him with their mouth
And (BI)lied to Him with their tongue.
37 For their heart was not (BJ)prepared to remain with Him,
Nor were they faithful in His covenant.
38 But He, being (BK)compassionate, (BL)atoned for their iniquity and did not destroy them;
And He abounded in (BM)turning back His anger
And did not arouse all His wrath.
39 Thus (BN)He remembered that they were but (BO)flesh,
A [o](BP)wind that goes and does not return.
40 How often they (BQ)rebelled against Him in the wilderness
And (BR)grieved Him in the (BS)wasteland!
41 Again and again they [p](BT)tested God,
And pained the (BU)Holy One of Israel.
42 They (BV)did not remember (BW)His [q]power,
The day when He (BX)redeemed them from the adversary,
43 When He performed His (BY)signs in Egypt
And His (BZ)miracles in the field of Zoan,
44 And (CA)turned their rivers to blood,
And their streams, they could not drink.
45 He sent among them swarms of (CB)flies which devoured them,
And (CC)frogs which destroyed them.
46 He gave also their crops to the (CD)grasshopper
And the fruit of their labor to the (CE)locust.
47 He killed their vines with (CF)hailstones
And their sycamore trees with frost.
48 He gave over their (CG)cattle also to the hailstones
And their herds to bolts of lightning.
49 He (CH)sent upon them His burning anger,
Fury and indignation and [r]distress,
[s]A band of destroying angels.
50 He leveled a path for His anger;
He did not hold back their soul from death,
But (CI)gave over their life to the plague,
51 So He (CJ)struck all the firstborn in Egypt,
The (CK)first of their vigor in the tents of (CL)Ham.
52 But He (CM)led forth His own people like sheep
And guided them in the wilderness (CN)like a flock;
53 He led them (CO)safely, so that they did not fear;
But (CP)the sea covered their enemies.
54 So (CQ)He brought them to His holy [t]land,
To this [u](CR)hill country (CS)which His right hand had acquired.
55 He also (CT)drove out the nations before them
And (CU)apportioned them for an inheritance by measurement,
And made the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents.
56 Yet they [v](CV)tested and (CW)rebelled against the Most High God
And did not keep His testimonies,
57 But turned back and (CX)acted treacherously like their fathers;
They (CY)turned aside like a treacherous bow.
58 For they (CZ)provoked Him with their (DA)high places
And (DB)aroused His jealousy with their (DC)graven images.
59 God heard and [w]was filled with (DD)wrath
And greatly (DE)rejected Israel;
60 So that He (DF)abandoned the (DG)dwelling place at Shiloh,
The tent [x]which He caused to dwell among men,
61 And gave up His (DH)strength to captivity
And His beauty (DI)into the hand of the adversary.
62 He also (DJ)gave over His people to the sword,
And [y]was filled with wrath at His inheritance.
63 (DK)Fire devoured [z]His choice men,
And [aa]His (DL)virgins had no wedding songs.
64 [ab]His (DM)priests fell by the sword,
And [ac]His (DN)widows could not weep.
65 Then the Lord (DO)awoke as if from sleep,
As if He were a (DP)warrior [ad]overcome by wine.
66 He (DQ)struck His adversaries backward;
He put on them an everlasting reproach.
67 He also (DR)rejected the tent of Joseph,
And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,
68 But chose the tribe of Judah,
Mount (DS)Zion which He loved.
69 And He (DT)built His sanctuary like the heights,
Like the earth which He has founded forever.
70 He also (DU)chose David His servant
And took him from the sheepfolds;
71 From (DV)following the [ae](DW)nursing ewes He brought him
To (DX)shepherd Jacob His people,
And Israel (DY)His inheritance.
72 So he shepherded them according to the (DZ)integrity of his heart,
And led them with his skillful hands.
Gideon’s 300 Men
7 Then (A)Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and camped beside [a]the spring of Harod; and the camp of Midian was on the north side of [b]them by the hill of (B)Moreh in the valley.
2 And Yahweh said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give Midian into their hands, (C)lest Israel honor themselves, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ 3 So now, [c]come, call out in the hearing of the people, saying, ‘(D)Whoever is afraid and trembling, let him return and depart from Mount Gilead.’” So 22,000 people returned, but 10,000 remained.
4 (E)Then Yahweh said to Gideon, “The people are still too many; bring them down to the water, and I will test them for you there. And it will be that he of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go with you; but everyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.” 5 So he brought the people down to the water. And Yahweh said to Gideon, “Everyone who laps the water with his tongue as a dog laps, you shall set him aside by himself, and so also everyone who kneels to drink.” 6 Now the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was 300 men; but all the rest of the people kneeled to drink water. 7 And Yahweh said to Gideon, “I will save you (F)with the 300 men who lapped and will give the Midianites into your hands; so let all the other people go, each man to his place.” 8 So [d]the 300 men took the people’s provisions and their trumpets into their hands. And [e]Gideon sent all the other men of Israel, each to his tent, but retained the 300 men; and the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.
9 Now it happened the same night that Yahweh said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, (G)for I have given it into your hands. 10 But if you are afraid to go down, then both you and Purah your young man, go down to the camp, 11 and you will hear what they say; and (H)afterward your hands will be strengthened, that you may go down against the camp.” So he went with Purah his young man down to the [f]outskirts of the armed men that were in the camp. 12 Now the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the sons of the east were lying in the valley (I)as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, (J)as numerous as the sand on the seashore. 13 Then Gideon came, and behold, a man was recounting a dream to his friend. And he said, “Behold, I [g]had a dream; [h]a loaf of barley bread was tumbling into the camp of Midian, and it came to the tent and struck it so that it fell and turned it [i]upside down so that the tent lay flat.” 14 And his friend answered and said, “This is nothing less than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has given Midian and all the camp (K)into his hand.”
15 Now it happened that when Gideon heard the account of the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship. Then he returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Arise, for Yahweh has given the camp of Midian into your hands.” 16 And he divided the 300 men into three [j]companies, and he put trumpets and empty pitchers into the hands of all of them, with torches inside the pitchers. 17 Then he said to them, “Look at me and do likewise. And behold, I will come to the outskirts of the camp, and it will be that just as I do so you do likewise. 18 And I and all who are with me will blow the trumpet. Then you also shall blow the trumpets all around the camp and say, ‘For Yahweh and for Gideon.’”
The Lame Beggar Healed
3 Now (A)Peter and John were going up to the temple at the [a]ninth hour, (B)the hour of prayer. 2 And (C)a man who had been lame from his mother’s womb was being carried, whom they (D)used to set down daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, (E)in order to beg [b]alms of those who were entering the temple. 3 When he saw (F)Peter and John about to go into the temple, he began asking to receive alms. 4 But when Peter, along with John, (G)fixed his gaze on him, he said, “Look at us!” 5 And he began to give them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. 6 But Peter said, “I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: (H)In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene—walk!” 7 And seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately his feet and his ankles were strengthened. 8 (I)And leaping up, he stood upright and began to walk; and he entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. 9 And (J)all the people saw him walking and praising God; 10 and they were recognizing him, that he was the one who used to (K)sit at the Beautiful Gate of the temple to beg alms, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.
Peter’s Sermon in Solomon’s Portico
11 And while he was clinging to (L)Peter and John, all the people ran together to them at the [c](M)portico called Solomon’s, full of wonder.
A Voice in the Wilderness
19 And this is (A)the witness of John, when (B)the [a]Jews sent to him priests and Levites (C)from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 And he confessed and did not deny, but confessed, “(D)I am not the [b]Christ.” 21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you (E)Elijah?” And he *said, “I am not.” “Are you (F)the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 22 Therefore, they said to him, “Who are you, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?” 23 He said, “I am (G)a voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the [c]Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”
24 Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. 25 And they asked him, and said to him, “Why then are you baptizing, if you are not the [d]Christ, nor Elijah, nor (H)the Prophet?” 26 John answered them, saying, “(I)I baptize with water, but among you stands One whom you do not know. 27 This One is (J)He who comes after me, of whom I am not worthy to untie the (K)strap of His sandal.” 28 These things took place in Bethany (L)beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
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