Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 106
1 Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!) O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever!(A)
2 Who can put into words and tell the mighty deeds of the Lord? Or who can show forth all the praise [that is due Him]?
3 Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are those who observe justice [treating others fairly] and who do right and are in right standing with God at all times.
4 [Earnestly] remember me, O Lord, when You favor Your people! O visit me also when You deliver them, and grant me Your salvation!—
5 That I may see and share the welfare of Your chosen ones, that I may rejoice in the gladness of Your nation, that I may glory with Your heritage.
6 We have sinned, as did also our fathers; we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly.(B)
7 Our fathers in Egypt understood not nor appreciated Your miracles; they did not [earnestly] remember the multitude of Your mercies nor imprint Your loving-kindness [on their hearts], but they were rebellious and provoked the Lord at the sea, even at the Red Sea.(C)
8 Nevertheless He saved them for His name’s sake [to prove the righteousness of the divine character], that He might make His mighty power known.
9 He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it dried up; so He led them through the depths as through a pastureland.(D)
10 And He saved them from the hand of him that hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the [Egyptian] enemy.(E)
11 And the waters covered their adversaries; not one of them was left.(F)
12 Then [Israel] believed His words [trusting in, relying on them]; they sang His praise.
13 But they hastily forgot His works; they did not [earnestly] wait for His plans [to develop] regarding them,
14 But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness and tempted and tried to restrain God [with their insistent desires] in the desert.(G)
15 And He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their souls and [thinned their numbers by] disease and death.(H)
16 They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron [the high priest], the holy one of the Lord.(I)
17 Therefore the earth opened and swallowed up Dathan and closed over the company of Abiram.(J)
18 And a fire broke out in their company; the flame burned up the wicked.(K)
19 They made a calf in Horeb and worshiped a molten image.(L)
20 Thus they exchanged Him Who was their Glory for the image of an ox that eats grass [they traded their Honor for the image of a calf]!
21 They forgot God their Savior, Who had done such great things in Egypt,
22 Wonders and miracles in the land of Ham, dreadful and awesome things at the Red Sea.
23 Therefore He said He would destroy them. [And He would have done so] had not Moses, His chosen one, stepped into the breach before Him to turn away His threatening wrath.(M)
24 Then they spurned and despised the pleasant and desirable land [Canaan]; they believed not His word [neither trusting in, relying on, nor holding to it];
25 But they murmured in their tents and hearkened not to the voice of the Lord.
26 Therefore He lifted up His hand [as if taking an oath] against them, that He would cause them to fall in the wilderness,
27 Cast out their descendants among the nations, and scatter them in the lands [of the earth].
28 They joined themselves also to the [idol] Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices [offered] to the lifeless [gods].
29 Thus they provoked the Lord to anger with their practices, and a plague broke out among them.
30 Then stood up Phinehas [the priest] and executed judgment, and so the plague was stayed.(N)
31 And that was credited to him for righteousness (right doing and right standing with God) to all generations forever.
32 They angered the Lord also at the waters of Meribah, so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes;(O)
33 For they provoked [Moses’] spirit, so that he spoke unadvisedly with his lips.
34 They did not destroy the [heathen] nations as the Lord commanded them,
35 But mingled themselves with the [idolatrous] nations and learned their ways and works
36 And served their idols, which were a snare to them.
37 Yes, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons(P)
38 And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; and the land was polluted with their blood.
39 Thus were they defiled by their own works, and they played the harlot and practiced idolatry with their own deeds [of idolatrous rites].
40 Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against His people, insomuch that He abhorred and rejected His own heritage.(Q)
41 And He gave them into the hands of the [heathen] nations, and they that hated them ruled over them.
42 Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under the hand of their foes.
43 Many times did [God] deliver them, but they were rebellious in their counsel and sank low through their iniquity.
44 Nevertheless He regarded their distress when He heard their cry;
45 And He [earnestly] remembered for their sake His covenant and relented their sentence of evil [comforting and easing Himself] according to the abundance of His mercy and loving-kindness [when they cried out to Him].
46 He also caused [Israel] to find sympathy among those who had carried them away captive.
47 Deliver us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to Your holy name and glory in praising You.
48 Blessed (affectionately and gratefully praised) be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! And let all the people say, Amen! Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)(R)
24 Then David came to Mahanaim. And Absalom passed over the Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him.
25 Absalom made Amasa captain of the army instead of Joab. Amasa was the son of an [Ishmaelite] named Ithra, who married Abigail daughter of Nahash, [half sister of David and] sister of Zeruiah, Joab’s mother.
26 So Israel and Absalom encamped in the land of Gilead.
27 When David came to Mahanaim, Shobi son of Nahash of Rabbah of the Ammonites, and Machir son of Ammiel of Lo-debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite of Rogelim
28 Brought beds, basins, earthen vessels, wheat, barley, meal, parched grain, beans, lentils, parched [pulse—seeds of peas and beans],
29 Honey, curds, sheep, and cheese of cows for David and the people with him to eat; for they said, The people are hungry, weary, and thirsty in the wilderness.
18 David numbered the men who were with him and set over them commanders of thousands and of hundreds.
2 David sent forth the army, a third under command of Joab, a third under Abishai son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, and a third under Ittai the Gittite. [He] told the men, I myself will go out with you also.
3 But the men said, You shall not go out. For if we flee, they will not care about us; if half of us die, they will not care about us. But you are worth 10,000 such as we are. So now it is better that you be able to help us from the city.
4 The king said to them, Whatever seems best to you I will do. So he stood beside the gate, and all the army came out by hundreds and by thousands.
5 The king commanded Joab, Abishai, and Ittai, saying, Deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom. And all the people heard when the king gave orders to all the commanders about Absalom.
6 So the army went out into the field against Israel, and the battle was fought in the forest of Ephraim.
7 [Absalom’s] men of Israel were defeated by the servants of David, and there was a great slaughter that day of 20,000 men.
8 For the battle spread over the face of all the country, and the forest devoured more men that day than did the sword.
30 But the next day, desiring to know the real cause for which the Jews accused him, he unbound him and ordered the chief priests and all the council (Sanhedrin) to assemble; and he brought Paul down and placed him before them.
23 Then Paul, gazing earnestly at the council (Sanhedrin), said, Brethren, I have lived before God, doing my duty with a perfectly good conscience until this very day [[a]as a citizen, a true and loyal Jew].
2 At this the high priest Ananias ordered those who stood near him to strike him on the mouth.
3 Then Paul said to him, God is about to strike you, you whitewashed wall! Do you sit as a judge to try me in accordance with the Law, and yet in defiance of the Law you order me to be struck?
4 Those who stood near exclaimed, Do you rail at and insult the high priest of God?
5 And Paul said, I was not conscious, brethren, that he was a high priest; for the Scripture says, You shall not speak ill of a ruler of your people.(A)
6 But Paul, when he perceived that one part of them were Sadducees and the other part Pharisees, cried out to the council (Sanhedrin), Brethren, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees; it is with regard to the hope and the resurrection of the dead that I am indicted and being judged.
7 So when he had said this, an angry dispute arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees; and the whole [crowded] assemblage was divided [into two factions].
8 For the Sadducees hold that there is no resurrection, nor angel nor spirit, but the Pharisees declare openly and speak out freely, acknowledging [their belief in] them both.
9 Then a great uproar ensued, and some of the scribes of the Pharisees’ party stood up and thoroughly fought the case, [contending fiercely] and declaring, We find nothing evil or wrong in this man. But if a spirit or an angel [really] spoke to him—? Let us not fight against God!
10 And when the strife became more and more tense and violent, the commandant, fearing that Paul would be torn in pieces by them, ordered the troops to go down and take him forcibly from among them and conduct him back into the barracks.
11 And [that same] following night the Lord stood beside Paul and said, Take courage, Paul, for as you have borne faithful witness concerning Me at Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome.
12 On the day following, when they had come away from Bethany, He was hungry.
13 And seeing in the distance a fig tree [covered] with leaves, He went to see if He could find any [fruit] on it [[a]for in the fig tree the fruit appears at the same time as the leaves]. But when He came up to it, He found nothing but leaves, for the fig season had not yet come.
14 And He said to it, No one ever again shall eat fruit from you. And His disciples were listening [to what He said].
15 And they came to Jerusalem. And He went into the temple [area, the [b]porches and courts] and began to drive out those who sold and bought in the temple area, and He overturned the [[c]four-footed] tables of the money changers and the seats of those who dealt in doves;
16 And He would not permit anyone to carry any household equipment through the temple enclosure [thus making the temple area a short-cut traffic lane].
17 And He taught and said to them, Is it not written, My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations? But you have turned it into a den of robbers.(A)
18 And the chief priests and the scribes heard [of this] and kept seeking some way to destroy Him, for they feared Him, because the entire multitude was struck with astonishment at His teaching.
19 And when evening came on, He and [d]His disciples, as accustomed, went out of the city.
20 In the morning, when they were passing along, they noticed that the fig tree was withered [completely] away to its roots.
21 And Peter remembered and said to Him, Master, look! The fig tree which You doomed has withered away!
22 And Jesus, replying, said to them, Have faith in God [constantly].
23 Truly I tell you, whoever says to this mountain, Be lifted up and thrown into the sea! and does not doubt at all in his heart but believes that what he says will take place, it will be done for him.
24 For this reason I am telling you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe (trust and be confident) that it is granted to you, and you will [get it].
25 And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him and [e]let it drop (leave it, let it go), in order that your Father Who is in heaven may also forgive you your [own] failings and shortcomings and let them drop.
26 [f]But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your failings and shortcomings.
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