Book of Common Prayer

God’s Work with Israel

105 O give thanks to the Lord. Call on His name. Make His works known among the people. ² Sing to Him. Sing praises to Him. Tell of all His great works. ³ Honor His holy name. Let the heart of those who look to the Lord be glad. ⁴ Look for the Lord and His strength. Look for His face all the time. ⁵ Remember the great and powerful works that He has done. Keep in mind what He has decided and told us, ⁶ O children of His servant Abraham, O sons of Jacob, His chosen ones! ⁷ He is the Lord our God. What He has decided is in all the earth.

⁸ He has remembered His agreement forever, the promise He made to last through a thousand families-to-come, ⁹ the agreement that He made with Abraham, and His promise to Isaac. ¹⁰ He gave it to Jacob as a Law, to Israel as an agreement that will last forever. ¹¹ He said, “I will give the land of Canaan to you as your share,” ¹² when they were only a few men in number and were strangers in it. ¹³ They went from nation to nation, from the people under one king to the people under another. ¹⁴ He did not allow anyone to hold power over them. And He spoke sharp words to kings because of them. ¹⁵ He said, “Do not touch My chosen ones. And do not hurt those who speak for Me.”

¹⁶ Then He called for a time of no food on the land. He cut off all their bread. ¹⁷ He sent a man, Joseph, before them who was sold as a servant. ¹⁸ They hurt his feet with chains. He was put in irons, ¹⁹ until what he had said would happen came to pass. The Word of the Lord tested him. ²⁰ The king sent and had him taken out of prison. The ruler of many people set him free. ²¹ He made him the lord of his house and ruler over all he had. ²² He could punish the rulers as he pleased. And he taught wisdom to the wise. ²³ Then Israel also came into Egypt. So Jacob stayed in the land of Ham. ²⁴ And He made the number of His people grow until they were stronger than those who held power over them.

²⁵ He turned their hearts to hate His people and to make plans against His servants. ²⁶ He sent Moses, His servant, and Aaron whom He had chosen. ²⁷ They did His great works for them to see, powerful works in the land of Ham. ²⁸ He sent darkness and made the land dark. They did not fight against what He told them to do. ²⁹ He changed their water into blood, so their fish died. ³⁰ Their land became covered with frogs, even in the rooms of their kings. ³¹ He spoke and there came many flies all over their land. ³² He gave them hail instead of rain, and lightning like fire in their land. ³³ He destroyed their vines and fig trees and the trees of their country. ³⁴ He spoke and the locusts came. There were too many to number. ³⁵ They ate up all the plants in their country. They ate all the fruit of their land. ³⁶ He killed all the first-born in their land, the first fruits of all their strength.

³⁷ Then He brought Israel out with silver and gold. And there was not one weak person among their families. ³⁸ Egypt was glad when they left. For they had become afraid of Israel. ³⁹ He spread a cloud for a covering, and fire to give light at night. ⁴⁰ They asked, and He brought them quails for meat. And He filled them with the bread of heaven. ⁴¹ He opened the rock and water flowed out. It flowed in the desert like a river. ⁴² For He remembered His holy Word with Abraham His servant. ⁴³ And He brought His people out with joy, His chosen ones with singing. ⁴⁴ He gave them the lands of the nations. They were given what others had worked for, ⁴⁵ so that they might do what He told them and keep His Law. Praise the Lord!

Samson’s Philistine Wife

14 Samson went down to Timnah. There he saw a woman, one of the daughters of the Philistines. ² He returned and told his father and mother, “I saw a woman in Timnah. She is one of the daughters of the Philistines. Now get her for me as a wife.” ³ But his father and mother said to him, “Is there no woman among the daughters of your family or among all our people? Must you take a wife from the Philistines who have not gone through the religious act of the Jews?” Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she looks good to me.” ⁴ His father and mother did not know that it was the Lord’s leading. For He was planning a way to go against the Philistines. At that time the Philistines were ruling over Israel.

⁵ Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother. They came as far as the grape-fields of Timnah. There a young lion came running toward him, making a loud noise. ⁶ The Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson with power. Samson tore the lion apart like one tears a young goat. He had nothing in his hand. But he did not tell his father or mother what he had done. ⁷ Then Samson went down and talked to the woman. She looked good to him. ⁸ When he returned later to take her, he turned to look at the dead lion. He saw that a lot of bees and some honey were inside the lion’s body. ⁹ So he took the honey out with his hands and went on his way, eating as he went. He came to his father and mother and gave some honey to them, and they ate it. But he did not tell them he had taken the honey out of the lion’s body.

¹⁰ Then his father went down to the woman. Samson made a special supper there. The young men used to do this. ¹¹ When the people saw him, they brought thirty friends to be with him. ¹² And Samson said to them, “Let me see if you can answer this question. If you can find the answer within the seven days of the special supper, I will give you thirty linen coats and thirty pieces of clothing. ¹³ But if you cannot answer me, you must give me thirty linen coats and thirty pieces of clothing.” And they said to him, “Ask your question. Let us hear it.” ¹⁴ So Samson said to them, “Out of the eater came something to eat. Out of the strong came something sweet. Now what does this mean?” But they could not answer the question in three days.

¹⁵ On the fourth day they said to Samson’s wife, “Make your husband tell us the answer. Or we will burn you and your father’s house with fire. Have you asked us to come here so you can make us poor? Is it not true?” ¹⁶ So Samson’s wife cried in front of Samson, saying, “You only hate me. You do not love me. You have asked my people a question. And you have not told me the answer.” Samson said to her, “See, I have not told the answer to my father or mother. Should I tell it to you?” ¹⁷ But she cried in front of him for seven days while their special supper lasted. On the seventh day Samson told her the answer because she begged him so much. Then she told the answer to her people. ¹⁸ So the men of the city said to Samson before the sun went down on the seventh day, “What is more sweet than honey? What is stronger than a lion?” Samson said to them, “If you had not plowed with my young cow, you would not have found the answer.” ¹⁹ Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon him with power. Samson went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty men of the town. He took their clothing and gave it to the men who answered his question. He was very angry and returned to his father’s house.

¹⁵ The men sitting in the religious leaders’ court were looking at Stephen. They all saw that his face looked like the face of an angel.

Stephen Speaks about the God of Abraham

7 The head religious leader asked Stephen, “Are these things true?” ² Stephen said, “My brothers and fathers, listen to me. The great God showed Himself to our early father Abraham while he lived in the country of Mesopotamia. This was before he moved to the country of Haran. ³ God said to him, ‘Leave your family and this land where you were born. Go to a land that I will show you.’ ⁴ He went from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. After his father died, he came to this country where you now live. ⁵ God did not give him any land to own, not even enough to put his feet on. But He promised that the land would be his and his children’s after him. At that time he had no children. ⁶ This is what God said, ‘Your children’s children will be living in a strange land. They will live there 400 years. They will be made to work without pay and will suffer many hard things. ⁷ I will say to that nation that it is guilty for holding them and making them work without pay. After that they will go free. They will leave that country and worship Me in this place.’

⁸ “He made a promise with Abraham. It was kept by a religious act of becoming a Jew. Abraham had a son, Isaac. On the eighth day Abraham took Isaac and had this religious act done to him. Isaac was the father of Jacob. Jacob was the father of our twelve early fathers.

⁹ “The sons of Jacob sold Joseph to people from the country of Egypt because they were jealous of him. But God was with Joseph. ¹⁰ He helped him in all his troubles. He gave him wisdom and favor with Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. This king made Joseph leader over Egypt and over all the king’s house.

¹¹ “The time came when there was no food to eat in all the land of Egypt and Canaan. The people suffered much. Our early fathers were not able to get food. ¹² Then Jacob heard there was food in Egypt. He sent our early fathers there the first time.

¹³ “The second time they went to the country of Egypt, Joseph made himself known to his brothers. The family of Joseph became known to Pharaoh. ¹⁴ Joseph asked his father Jacob and all his family to come. There were seventy-five people in the family. ¹⁵ Jacob moved down to Egypt and died there. Our early fathers died there also. ¹⁶ They were brought back to the city of Shechem where they were buried. Abraham paid money for the grave from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.

²⁷ Right then the followers came back and were surprised and wondered about finding Him talking with a woman. But no one said, “What do You want?” or, “Why are You talking with her?”

²⁸ The woman left her water jar and went into the town. She said to the men, ²⁹ “Come and see a Man Who told me everything I ever did! Can this be the Christ?” ³⁰ They went out of town and came to Him.

Jesus Tells Them of a New Kind of Food

³¹ During this time His followers were saying to Him, “Teacher, eat something.” ³² He said, “I have food to eat that you do not know of.” ³³ The followers said to each other, “Has someone taken food to Him?” ³⁴ Jesus said, “My food is to do what God wants Me to do and to finish His work. ³⁵ Do you not say, ‘It is four months yet until the time to gather grain’? Listen! I say to you, open your eyes and look at the fields. They are white now and waiting for the grain to be gathered in. ³⁶ The one who gathers gets his pay. He gathers fruit that lasts forever. The one who plants and the one who gathers will have joy together. ³⁷ These words are true, ‘One man plants and another man gathers.’ ³⁸ I sent you to gather where you have not planted. Others have planted and you have come along to gather in their fruit.”

The People of Samaria Believe in Jesus

³⁹ Many people in that town of Samaria believed in Jesus because of what the woman said about Him. She said, “He told me everything I ever did.” ⁴⁰ So the people of Samaria came to Him. They asked Him to stay with them. Jesus stayed there two days. ⁴¹ Many more people believed because of what He said. ⁴² They said to the woman, “Now we believe! It is no longer because of what you said about Jesus but we have heard Him ourselves. We know, for sure, that He is the Christ, the One Who saves men of this world from the punishment of their sins.”