Book of Common Prayer

Thanksgiving to God

A Davidic Psalm^[a]

Praising God for His Works

Hezekiah’s Sickness and Recovery^(A)

20 During this time, Hezekiah became sick with a fatal illness, so Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, approached him and told him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Put your household in order, because you are dying. You will not survive.’”

² So Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord. ³ “Remember me, Lord,” he said, “how I have walked in your presence with integrity, with an undivided heart, and I have accomplished what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept deeply.

⁴ Before Isaiah had left the middle court, this message from the Lord came to him. ⁵ “Return to Hezekiah,” he said, “and tell the Commander-in-Chief^[a] of my people: ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your ancestor David, says: “I’ve heard your prayer and I’ve observed your tears. Look! I’m healing you. Three days from now, you’ll go visit the Lord’s Temple. ⁶ Furthermore, I’ll add fifteen years to your life. I’ll deliver you and this city from domination by^[b] the king of Assyria, and I’ll defend this city for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.”’”

⁷ Isaiah said, “Take a fig cake.” So some attendants^[c] took it, laid it on Hezekiah’s^[d] boil, and he recovered.

⁸ Now Hezekiah had asked Isaiah, “What is to be the sign that the Lord is healing me and that I’ll be going up to the Lord’s Temple three days from now?”

⁹ So Isaiah replied, “This will be your sign from the Lord that the Lord will do what he has promised. Shall the shadow go forward ten steps or go back ten steps?”

¹⁰ Hezekiah answered, “It’s an easy thing for a shadow to lengthen ten steps. So let the shadow go backward ten steps.”

¹¹ So Isaiah cried out to the Lord, who brought the shadow back ten steps after it had gone down the stairway of Ahaz.

Hezekiah Shows His Treasure to the Babylonian Envoys

¹² Some time later, Berodach-baladan,^[e] the son of King Baladan of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, because he had heard that Hezekiah had been ill. ¹³ Hezekiah listened to the entourage^[f] and showed them his entire treasury, including the silver, gold, and spices, the precious oil, his armory, and everything that was inventoried in his treasuries. There was nothing in his household or in his holdings that Hezekiah did not show them.

¹⁴ Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and asked him, “What did these men have to say, and where did they come from?”

Hezekiah replied, “They came from a country far away—from Babylon.”

¹⁵ He asked, “What did they see in your household?”

Hezekiah answered, “They have seen everything. In my household there is nothing in my treasuries that I haven’t shown them.”

¹⁶ Then Isaiah replied to Hezekiah, “Listen to this message from the Lord: ¹⁷ ‘Watch out! The days are coming when everything that’s in your house—everything that your ancestors have saved up right to this day—will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left,’ declares the Lord. ¹⁸ ‘Some of your descendants—your very own seed, whom you will father—will be carried away to become officials^[g] in the palace of the king of Babylon.’”

¹⁹ At this, Hezekiah replied to Isaiah, “What you’ve spoken from the Lord is good,” because he had been thinking, “Why not, as long as there’s peace and security^[h] in my lifetime…?”

²⁰ Now the rest of Hezekiah’s actions, as well as his glorious deeds, including how he constructed the pool and the conduit to bring water into the city, are recorded in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, are they not? ²¹ Hezekiah died, as did^[i] his ancestors, and his son Manasseh became king in his place.

An Angel Frees Peter from Prison

12 About that time, Herod arrested some people who belonged to the church and mistreated them. ² He even had James, the brother of John, killed with a sword. ³ When he saw how this was agreeable to the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter, too. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread. ⁴ When he arrested Peter, Herod^[a] put him in prison and turned him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, planning to bring him out to the people after Passover season.^{[b] 5} So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer to God for him was being offered by the assembly.^[c]

⁶ That very night, before Herod was going to bring him out, Peter, bound with two chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, and guards in front of the door were watching the prisoners. ⁷ Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on his side, woke him up, and said, “Get up quickly!” His chains fell from his wrists. ⁸ Then the angel told him, “Tuck in your shirt and put on your sandals!” He did this. Then the angel^[d] told him, “Put on your coat and follow me!” ⁹ So Peter^[e] went out and began to follow him, not realizing that what was being done by the angel was real; he thought he was seeing a vision. ¹⁰ They passed the first guard, then the second, and came to the iron gate that led into the city. It opened by itself for them, and they went outside and proceeded one block when the angel suddenly left him.

¹¹ Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I’m sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from^[f] Herod and from everything the Jewish people were expecting!”

¹² When Peter^[g] realized what had happened, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was also called Mark, where a large number of people had gathered and were praying. ¹³ When he knocked at the outer gate, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer it. ¹⁴ On recognizing Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed that she didn’t open the gate but ran back inside and announced that Peter was standing at the gate. ¹⁵ The other people^[h] told her, “You’re out of your mind!” But she kept insisting that it was so. Then they said, “It’s his angel.”

¹⁶ Meanwhile, Peter kept on knocking and knocking. When they opened the gate, they saw him and were amazed. ¹⁷ He motioned to them with his hand to be quiet, and then he told them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. He added, “Tell this to James and the brothers.” Then he left and went somewhere else.

Jesus Raises a Widow’s Son

¹¹ Soon afterwards, Jesus^[a] went to a city called Nain. His disciples and a large crowd were going along with him. ¹² As he approached the entrance to the city, a man who had died was being carried out. He was his mother’s only living^[b] son, and she was a widow. A large crowd from the city was with her.

¹³ When the Lord saw her, he felt compassion for her. He told her, “You can stop crying.” ¹⁴ Then he went up and touched the bier, and the men who were carrying it stopped. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” ¹⁵ The man who had been dead sat up and began to speak, and Jesus^[c] gave him back to his mother.

¹⁶ Fear gripped everyone, and they began to praise God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said, and “God has helped his people.” ¹⁷ This news about Jesus^[d] spread throughout Judea and all the surrounding countryside.