Book of Common Prayer
Mem
97 Oh 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 [a]mine forever.
99 I have more insight than all my teachers,
For Your testimonies are my (D)meditation.
100 I perceive (E)more than the aged,
Because I have (F)observed Your precepts.
101 I have (G)restrained my feet from every evil way,
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 is Your [b]word to my [c]taste!
Sweeter than honey to my mouth!
104 From Your precepts I (J)get perception;
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 have confirmed,
To keep Your righteous judgments.
107 I am exceedingly (N)afflicted;
O Yahweh, [d](O)revive me according to Your word.
108 Oh be pleased with the (P)freewill offerings of my mouth, O Yahweh,
And (Q)teach me Your judgments.
109 My (R)soul is continually [e]in my hand,
Yet I do not (S)forget Your law.
110 The wicked have (T)laid a snare 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 do Your statutes
Forever, (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 [f](AD)wait for Your word.
115 (AE)Depart from me, evildoers,
That I may (AF)observe the commandments of my God.
116 (AG)Sustain me according to Your [g]word, that I may live;
And (AH)do not put me to shame because of my hope.
117 Uphold me that I may be (AI)saved,
That I may (AJ)have regard for Your statutes continually.
118 You have [h]rejected all those (AK)who stray from Your statutes,
For their deceitfulness is a lie.
119 You [i]remove all the wicked of the earth like (AL)dross;
Therefore I (AM)love Your testimonies.
120 My flesh [j](AN)quakes for dread of You,
And I am (AO)afraid of Your judgments.
Oh That My People Would Listen to Me
For the choir director. According to the Gittith. Of Asaph.
81 (A)Sing for joy to God our (B)strength;
Make a loud (C)shout to the (D)God of Jacob.
2 Lift up a song of praise, 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,
(J)A judgment of the God of Jacob.
5 He established it for a testimony in Joseph
When he (K)went forth over the land of Egypt.
I heard a (L)language that I did not know:
6 “I [a](M)relieved his shoulder of the burden,
His hands were freed from the [b]basket.
7 You (N)called in distress and I rescued you;
I (O)answered you in the hiding place of thunder;
I tested you at the (P)waters of Meribah. [c]Selah.
8 (Q)Hear, O My people, and I will testify against you;
O Israel, if you (R)would listen to Me!
9 Let there be no (S)strange god among you;
And you shall not worship a foreign god.
10 (T)I am Yahweh your God,
Who brought you up from the land of Egypt;
(U)Open your mouth wide and I will (V)fill it.
11 “But My people (W)did not listen to My voice,
And Israel was not willing to obey Me.
12 So I (X)released [d]them over to the stubbornness of their heart,
That they would walk in their own devices.
13 Oh that My people (Y)would listen to Me,
That Israel would (Z)walk in My ways!
14 I would quickly (AA)subdue their enemies
And I would (AB)turn My hand against their adversaries.
15 (AC)Those who hate Yahweh would (AD)cower before Him,
And their time of punishment would be forever.
16 [e]But I would feed you with the [f](AE)finest of the wheat,
And with (AF)honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”
God Stands in Judgment
A Psalm of Asaph.
82 God takes His (AG)stand in the congregation of [g]God;
He (AH)judges in the midst of [h](AI)gods.
2 How long will you (AJ)judge unrighteously
And (AK)show partiality to the wicked? [i]Selah.
3 (AL)Give justice to the poor and the orphan;
Justify the afflicted and destitute.
4 (AM)Protect the poor and needy;
Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.
5 They (AN)do not know and do not understand;
They (AO)walk about in darkness;
All the (AP)foundations of the earth are shaken.
6 [j]I (AQ)said, “You are gods,
And all of you are (AR)sons of the Most High.
7 Nevertheless (AS)you will die like men
And you will fall like any (AT)one of the princes.”
8 (AU)Arise, O God, (AV)judge the earth!
For it is You who (AW)will inherit all the nations.
Gideon Kills the Princes of Midian
19 So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just set up the watch; and they blew the trumpets and smashed the pitchers that were in their hands. 20 Then the three [a]companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers, and they held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands for blowing and called out, “A sword for Yahweh and for Gideon!” 21 And each stood in his place around the camp. Then (A)all of the camp ran, and they made a loud shout and fled. 22 So they blew 300 trumpets. And (B)Yahweh set the sword of one against another even throughout the whole camp. And the camp fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the edge of (C)Abel-meholah, by Tabbath. 23 And the men of Israel were summoned from (D)Naphtali and Asher and all Manasseh, and they pursued Midian.
24 Now Gideon had sent messengers throughout all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down to meet Midian and (E)capture the waters before them, as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan.” So all the men of Ephraim were summoned, and they captured the waters as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan. 25 Then they captured the two princes of Midian, (F)Oreb and Zeeb, and they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and they killed Zeeb at the wine press of Zeeb. Then they pursued Midian and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon (G)from across the Jordan.
Gideon Pursues Zebah and Zalmunna
8 Then the men of Ephraim said to him, “(H)What is this thing you have done to us, not calling us when you went to fight against Midian?” And they strongly contended with him. 2 But he said to them, “What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer? 3 God has given the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb, into your hands; and what was I able to do in comparison with you?” Then their [b]anger toward him subsided when he spoke this word.
4 Then Gideon and the 300 men who were with him came (I)to the Jordan and crossed over, weary yet pursuing. 5 And he said to the men of (J)Succoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the people who are following me, for they are weary, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.” 6 But the princes of Succoth said, “[c](K)Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hands, that we should give bread to your army?” 7 And Gideon said, “Thus, (L)when Yahweh has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, then I will [d]thrash your [e]bodies with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.” 8 So he went up from there to [f](M)Penuel and spoke similarly to them; and the men of Penuel answered him just as the men of Succoth had answered. 9 So he spoke also to the men of Penuel, saying, “When I return safely, (N)I will tear down this tower.”
10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their camps with them, about 15,000 men, all who were left of the entire camp of the sons of the east; (O)for the fallen were 120,000 men who drew the sword. 11 And Gideon went up by the way of those who dwelt in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah and struck the camp when the camp was [g]unsuspecting. 12 Then Zebah and Zalmunna fled. And he pursued them and captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and he threw the whole camp into utter fright.
12 But when Peter saw this, he replied to the people, “Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this, or why do you gaze at us, as if by our own power or piety we had made him walk? 13 (A)The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, (B)the God of our fathers, has glorified His (C)Servant Jesus, whom (D)you delivered and denied in the presence of (E)Pilate, when he had (F)decided to release Him. 14 But you denied (G)the Holy and Righteous One and (H)asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 but put to death the (I)Author of life, whom (J)God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are (K)witnesses. 16 And on the basis of faith (L)in His name, it is [a]the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know; and the faith which is through Him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all.
17 “And now, brothers, I know that you acted (M)in ignorance, just as your (N)rulers did also. 18 But the things which (O)God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, (P)that His [b]Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. 19 Therefore (Q)repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that [c](R)times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; 20 and that He may send Jesus, the [d]Christ appointed for you, 21 (S)whom heaven must receive until the [e]period of (T)restoration of all things about which (U)God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time. 22 Moses said, ‘(V)The [f]Lord God will raise up for you a prophet [g]like me from your brothers; to Him you shall listen to everything He says to you. 23 (W)And it will be that every (X)soul that does not heed that prophet (Y)shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ 24 And likewise, (Z)all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and his successors onward, also proclaimed these days. 25 It is you who are (AA)the sons of the prophets and of the (AB)covenant which God [h]made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘(AC)And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ 26 For you (AD)first, God (AE)raised up His [i]Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.”
29 On the next day, he *saw Jesus coming to him and *said, “Behold, (A)the Lamb of God who (B)takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is He of whom I said, ‘(C)After me comes a man who has been [a]ahead of me, (D)for He existed before me.’ 31 I did not know [b]Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing with water.” 32 And John (E)bore witness saying, “(F)I have beheld the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He abided on Him. 33 And I did not know [c]Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘The One upon whom you see the Spirit descending and abiding on Him, (G)this is the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I myself have seen, and have borne witness that this is (H)the Son of God.”
Behold, the Lamb of God
35 (I)On the next day, John again was standing [d]with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and *said, “Behold, (J)the Lamb of God!” 37 And the two disciples heard him speak and followed Jesus. 38 And when Jesus turned and noticed them following, He *said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “(K)Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?” 39 He *said to them, “Come, and you will see.” So they came and saw where He was staying; and they stayed with Him that day. It was about the [e]tenth hour. 40 (L)One of the two who heard John speak and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first *found his own brother Simon and *said to him, “We have found the (M)Messiah” (which translated means [f]Christ). 42 He brought him to Jesus. When Jesus looked at him, He said, “You are Simon the son of (N)John; you shall be called (O)Cephas” (which is translated [g](P)Peter).
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