Book of Common Prayer
Israel’s Rebelliousness and the Lord’s Help.
106 [a]Praise [b]the Lord!
Oh (A)give thanks to the Lord, for He (B)is good;
For (C)His mercy is everlasting.
2 Who can speak of the (D)mighty deeds of the Lord,
Or can proclaim all His praise?
3 How blessed are those who maintain [c]justice,
[d]Who (E)practice righteousness at all times!
4 Remember me, Lord, in Your (F)favor [e]toward Your people.
Visit me with Your salvation,
5 So that I may see the (G)prosperity of Your chosen ones,
That I may (H)rejoice in the joy of Your nation,
That I may (I)boast with Your [f]inheritance.
6 (J)We have sinned [g](K)like our fathers,
We have gone astray, we have behaved wickedly.
7 Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Your [h]wonders;
They (L)did not remember [i]Your abundant kindnesses,
But (M)rebelled by the sea, at the [j]Red Sea.
8 Nevertheless He saved them (N)for the sake of His name,
So that He might (O)make His power known.
9 So He (P)rebuked the [k]Red Sea and it (Q)dried up,
And He (R)led them through the mighty waters, as through the wilderness.
10 So He (S)saved them from the [l]hand of one who hated them,
And (T)redeemed them from the [m]hand of the enemy.
11 (U)The waters covered their adversaries;
Not one of them was left.
12 Then they (V)believed His words;
They (W)sang His praise.
13 They quickly (X)forgot His works;
They (Y)did not wait for His plan,
14 But (Z)became lustfully greedy in the wilderness,
And (AA)put God to the test in the desert.
15 So He (AB)gave them their request,
But (AC)sent a [n]wasting disease among them.
16 When they became (AD)envious of Moses in the camp,
And of Aaron, the holy one of the Lord,
17 The (AE)earth opened and swallowed up Dathan,
And engulfed the [o]company of Abiram.
18 And a (AF)fire blazed up in their [p]company;
The flame consumed the wicked.
19 They (AG)made a calf in Horeb,
And worshiped a cast metal image.
20 So they (AH)exchanged their glory
For the image of an ox that eats grass.
21 They (AI)forgot God their Savior,
Who had done (AJ)great things in Egypt,
22 [q](AK)Wonders in the land of Ham,
And awesome things by the [r]Red Sea.
23 Therefore (AL)He said that He would destroy them,
If (AM)Moses, His chosen one, had not stood in the gap before Him,
To turn away His wrath from destroying them.
24 Then they (AN)rejected the (AO)pleasant land;
They (AP)did not believe His word,
25 But (AQ)grumbled in their tents;
They did not listen to the voice of the Lord.
26 Therefore He [s](AR)swore to them
That He would have them fall in the wilderness,
27 And that He would (AS)bring down their [t]descendants among the nations,
And (AT)scatter them in the lands.
28 They also (AU)followed [u]Baal-peor,
And ate (AV)sacrifices offered to the dead.
29 So they (AW)provoked Him to anger with their deeds,
And a plague broke out among them.
30 Then Phinehas (AX)stood up and [v]intervened,
And so the (AY)plague was brought to a halt.
31 And it was (AZ)credited to him as righteousness,
To all generations forever.
32 They also (BA)provoked Him to wrath at the waters of [w]Meribah,
So that it (BB)went badly for Moses on their account.
33 Because they (BC)were rebellious against [x]His Spirit,
He spoke rashly with his lips.
34 They (BD)did not destroy the peoples,
As (BE)the Lord had commanded them,
35 But (BF)they got involved with the nations
And learned their [y]practices,
36 And (BG)served their idols,
(BH)Which became a snare to them.
37 They even (BI)sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the (BJ)demons,
38 And shed (BK)innocent blood,
The blood of their (BL)sons and their daughters
Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan;
And the land was (BM)defiled with the blood.
39 So they became (BN)unclean in their [z]practices,
And [aa](BO)were unfaithful in their deeds.
40 Therefore the (BP)anger of the Lord was kindled against His people,
And He (BQ)loathed His [ab](BR)inheritance.
41 So (BS)He handed them over to the [ac]nations,
And those who hated them ruled over them.
42 Their enemies also (BT)oppressed them,
And they were subdued under their [ad]power.
43 Many times He would (BU)rescue them;
They, however, were rebellious in their (BV)plan,
And they (BW)sank down into their guilt.
Saul Publicly Chosen King
17 Now Samuel called the (A)people together to the Lord at Mizpah; 18 and he said to the sons of Israel, “(B)This is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘I brought Israel up from Egypt, and I rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the [a]power of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’ 19 But today you (C)have rejected your God, who saves you from all your catastrophes and your distresses; yet you have [b]said, ‘No, but put a king over us!’ Now then, (D)present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your [c]groups of thousands.”
20 So Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel forward; and the tribe of Benjamin was selected by lot. 21 Then he brought the tribe of Benjamin forward by its families, and the Matrite family was selected by lot. And Saul the son of Kish was selected by lot; but when they looked for him, he could not be found. 22 Therefore (E)they inquired further of the Lord: “Has the man come here yet?” And the Lord said, “Behold, he is hiding himself among the baggage.” 23 So they ran and took him from there, and when he stood among the people, (F)he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward. 24 Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him (G)whom the Lord has chosen? Surely there is no one like him among all the people.” So all the people shouted and said, “[d](H)Long live the king!”
25 Then Samuel told the people (I)the ordinances of the kingdom, and wrote them in the book, and (J)placed it before the Lord. And Samuel sent all the people away, each one to his house. 26 Saul also went (K)to his house in Gibeah; and the valiant men whose hearts God had touched went with him. 27 But certain [e](L)useless men said, “How can this one save us?” And they despised him and (M)did not bring him a gift. But [f]he kept silent about it.
44 “Our fathers had (A)the tabernacle of testimony in the wilderness, just as He who spoke to Moses directed him to make it (B)according to the pattern which he had seen. 45 Our fathers in turn received it, and they also (C)brought it in with Joshua upon dispossessing the [a]nations that God drove out from our fathers, until the time of David. 46 [b](D)David found favor in God’s sight, and (E)asked that he might [c]find a dwelling place for the [d]house of Jacob. 47 But it was (F)Solomon who built a house for Him. 48 However, (G)the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands; as the prophet says:
49 ‘(H)Heaven is My throne,
And the earth is the footstool of My feet;
What kind of house will you build for Me?’ says the Lord,
‘Or what place is there for My rest?
50 (I)Was it not My hand that made all these things?’
51 “You men who are (J)stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. 52 (K)Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of (L)the Righteous One, and (M)you have now become betrayers and murderers of Him; 53 you who received the Law as (N)ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it.”
Stephen Put to Death
54 Now when they heard this, they were (O)infuriated, and they began gnashing their teeth at him. 55 But he, being (P)full of the Holy Spirit, (Q)looked intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing (R)at the right hand of God; 56 and he said, “Behold, I see the (S)heavens opened and (T)the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 57 But they shouted with loud voices, and covered their ears and rushed at him with one [e]mind. 58 When they had (U)driven him out of the city, they began stoning him; and (V)the witnesses (W)laid aside their cloaks at the feet of (X)a young man named Saul. 59 They went on stoning Stephen as he (Y)called on the Lord and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” 60 Then he (Z)fell on his knees and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, (AA)do not hold this sin against them!” Having said this, he [f](AB)fell asleep.
Saul Persecutes the Church
8 (AC)Now Saul approved of putting [g]Stephen to death.
And on that day a great persecution [h]began against (AD)the church in Jerusalem, and they were all (AE)scattered throughout the regions of Judea and (AF)Samaria, except for the apostles.
52 And Jesus said to the chief priests and (A)officers of the temple and elders who had come against Him, “Have you come out with swords and clubs (B)as you would against a man inciting a revolt? 53 While I was with you daily in the temple, you did not lay hands on Me; but [a]this hour and the power of darkness are yours.”
Jesus’ Arrest
54 (C)Now they arrested Him and led Him away, and brought Him to the house of the high priest; but (D)Peter was following at a distance. 55 (E)After they kindled a fire in the middle of (F)the courtyard and sat down together, Peter was sitting among them. 56 And a slave woman, seeing him as he sat in the firelight, and staring at him, said, “This man was with Him as well.” 57 But he denied it, saying, “I do not know Him, woman!” 58 And a little later, (G)another person saw him and said, “You are one of them too!” But Peter said, “Man, I am not!” 59 And after about an hour had passed, some other man began to insist, saying, “Certainly this man also was with Him, (H)for he, too, is a Galilean.” 60 But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about!” And immediately, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. 61 And then (I)the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had told him, “(J)Before a rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times.” 62 And he went out and wept bitterly.
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