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.
Confusion of the Enemy
19 So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle night watch, when they had just posted the watch; and they blew the trumpets and smashed the pitchers that were in their hands. 20 When the three [a]units blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers, they held the torches in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands for blowing, and shouted, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” 21 And each stood in his place around the camp; and (A)all the [b]army ran, crying out as they fled. 22 And when they blew the three hundred trumpets, the (B)Lord set the sword of one against another even throughout the entire [c]army; and the [d]army 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, Asher, and all Manasseh, and they pursued Midian.
24 Then Gideon sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down [e]against Midian and (E)take control of the waters ahead of them, as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan.” So all the men of Ephraim were summoned, and they took control of the waters as far as Beth-barah and the Jordan. 25 And they captured the two leaders 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, while they pursued Midian; and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon (G)from across the Jordan.
Zebah and Zalmunna Routed
8 Then the men of Ephraim said to [f]Gideon, “(H)What is this thing that you have done to us, not calling upon us when you went to fight against Midian?” And they quarreled with him vehemently. 2 But he said to them, “What have I done now in comparison with you? Is the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim not better than the vintage of Abiezer? 3 God has handed over to you the leaders of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; and what was I able to do in comparison with you?” Then their [g]anger toward him subsided when he said [h]that.
4 Then Gideon and the three hundred men who were with him came (I)to the Jordan and crossed over, exhausted yet still pursuing. 5 And he said to the men of (J)Succoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the people who are [i]following me, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian.” 6 But the leaders of Succoth said, “[j](K)Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?” 7 So Gideon said, “For this answer, (L)when the Lord has handed over to me Zebah and Zalmunna, I will [k]thrash your [l]bodies with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers.” 8 Then he went up from there to [m](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 said also to the men of [n]Penuel, “When I return safely, (N)I will tear down this tower.”
10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their [o]armies with them, about fifteen thousand men, all who were left of the entire [p]army of the [q]people of the east; (O)for the fallen were 120,000 [r]swordsmen. 11 Gideon went up by the way of those who lived in tents to the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and he [s]attacked the camp when the camp was unsuspecting. 12 When Zebah and Zalmunna fled, he pursued them and captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and routed the entire [t]army.
12 But when Peter saw this, he replied to the people, “Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this, or why are you staring at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made him walk? 13 (A)The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, (B)the God of our fathers, has glorified His [a](C)Servant Jesus, the one whom (D)you handed over and disowned in the presence of (E)Pilate, when he had (F)decided to release Him. 14 But you disowned (G)the Holy and Righteous One, and (H)asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 but put to death the [b](I)Prince of life, whom (J)God raised from the dead, [c]a fact to which we are (K)witnesses. 16 And on the basis of faith (L)in His name, it is [d]the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know; and the faith which comes 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 also did. 18 But the things which (O)God previously announced by the mouths of all the prophets, (P)that His [e]Christ would suffer, He has fulfilled in this way. 19 Therefore (Q)repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that (R)times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; 20 and that He may send Jesus, the [f]Christ appointed for you, 21 (S)whom heaven must receive until the [g]period of (T)restoration of all things, about which (U)God spoke by the mouths of His holy prophets from ancient times. 22 Moses said, ‘(V)The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your countrymen; to Him you shall listen regarding everything He says to you. 23 (W)And it shall be that every (X)soul that does not listen to 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, have also announced these days. 25 It is you who are (AA)the sons of the prophets and of the (AB)covenant which God ordained with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘(AC)And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ 26 God (AD)raised up His [h]Servant for you (AE)first, and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.”
29 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 in behalf of whom I said, ‘(C)After me is coming a Man who has proved to be [a]my superior, (D)because He existed before me.’ 31 And I did not recognize [b]Him, but so that He would be revealed to Israel, I came baptizing [c]in water.” 32 And John (E)testified, saying, “(F)I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. 33 And I did not recognize [d]Him, but He who sent me to baptize [e]in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, (G)this is the One who baptizes [f]in the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I myself have seen, and have testified that this is (H)the [g]Son of God.”
Jesus’ Public Ministry; First Converts
35 Again (I)the next day John was standing [h]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 they followed Jesus. 38 And Jesus turned and saw them following, and *said to them, “What are you seeking?” 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 [i]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 [j]Christ). 42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of [k](N)John; you shall be called (O)Cephas” (which is translated [l](P)Peter).
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