Book of Common Prayer

Praise to God for His Everlasting Mercy

A Song of God’s Majesty and Love

^(A)A Praise of David.

Hezekiah’s Life Extended^(A)

20 In ^(B)those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die, and not live.’ ”

² Then he turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the Lord, saying, ^3 (C)“Remember now, O Lord, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what was good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

⁴ And it happened, before Isaiah had gone out into the middle court, that the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ⁵ “Return and tell Hezekiah ^(D)the leader of My people, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: ^(E)“I have heard your prayer, I have seen ^(F)your tears; surely I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord. ⁶ And I will add to your days fifteen years. I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and ^(G)I will defend this city for My own sake, and for the sake of My servant David.” ’ ”

⁷ Then ^(H)Isaiah said, “Take a lump of figs.” So they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.

⁸ And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, ^(I)“What is the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the Lord the third day?”

⁹ Then Isaiah said, ^(J)“This is the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing which He has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees or go backward ten degrees?”

¹⁰ And Hezekiah answered, “It is an easy thing for the shadow to go down ten ^[a]degrees; no, but let the shadow go backward ten degrees.”

¹¹ So Isaiah the prophet cried out to the Lord, and ^(K)He brought the shadow ten ^[b]degrees backward, by which it had gone down on the sundial of Ahaz.

The Babylonian Envoys^(L)

^12 (M)At that time ^[c]Berodach-Baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick. ¹³ And ^(N)Hezekiah was attentive to them, and showed them all the house of his treasures—the silver and gold, the spices and precious ointment, and ^[d]all ^[e]his armory—all that was found among his treasures. There was nothing in his house or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.

¹⁴ Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah, and said to him, “What did these men say, and from where did they come to you?”

So Hezekiah said, “They came from a far country, from Babylon.”

¹⁵ And he said, “What have they seen in your house?”

So Hezekiah answered, ^(O)“They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them.”

¹⁶ Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord: ¹⁷ ‘Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and what your fathers have accumulated until this day, ^(P)shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,’ says the Lord. ¹⁸ ‘And ^(Q)they shall take away some of your sons who will ^[f]descend from you, whom you will beget; ^(R)and they shall be ^(S)eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’ ”

¹⁹ So Hezekiah said to Isaiah, ^(T)“The word of the Lord which you have spoken is good!” For he said, “Will there not be peace and truth at least in my days?”

Death of Hezekiah^(U)

^20 (V)Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah—all his might, and how he ^(W)made a ^(X)pool and a ^[g]tunnel and ^(Y)brought water into the city—are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? ²¹ So ^(Z)Hezekiah ^[h]rested with his fathers. Then Manasseh his son reigned in his place.

Herod’s Violence to the Church

12 Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church. ² Then he killed James ^(A)the brother of John with the sword. ³ And because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to seize Peter also. Now it was during ^(B)the Days of Unleavened Bread. ⁴ So ^(C)when he had arrested him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four ^[a]squads of soldiers to keep him, intending to bring him before the people after Passover.

Peter Freed from Prison

⁵ Peter was therefore kept in prison, but ^[b]constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. ⁶ And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were ^[c]keeping the prison. ⁷ Now behold, ^(D)an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, “Arise quickly!” And his chains fell off his hands. ⁸ Then the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and tie on your sandals”; and so he did. And he said to him, “Put on your garment and follow me.” ⁹ So he went out and followed him, and ^(E)did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought ^(F)he was seeing a vision. ¹⁰ When they were past the first and the second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, ^(G)which opened to them of its own accord; and they went out and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.

¹¹ And when Peter had come to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that ^(H)the Lord has sent His angel, and ^(I)has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people.”

¹² So, when he had considered this, ^(J)he came to the house of Mary, the mother of ^(K)John whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together ^(L)praying. ¹³ And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a girl named Rhoda came to answer. ¹⁴ When she recognized Peter’s voice, because of her gladness she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter stood before the gate. ¹⁵ But they said to her, “You are beside yourself!” Yet she kept insisting that it was so. So they said, ^(M)“It is his angel.”

¹⁶ Now Peter continued knocking; and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. ¹⁷ But ^(N)motioning to them with his hand to keep silent, he declared to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, “Go, tell these things to James and to the brethren.” And he departed and went to another place.

Jesus Raises the Son of the Widow of Nain

¹¹ Now it happened, the day after, that He went into a city called Nain; and many of His disciples went with Him, and a large crowd. ¹² And when He came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her. ¹³ When the Lord saw her, He had ^(A)compassion on her and said to her, ^(B)“Do not weep.” ¹⁴ Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, ^(C)arise.” ¹⁵ So he who was dead ^(D)sat up and began to speak. And He ^(E)presented him to his mother.

^16 (F)Then fear ^[a]came upon all, and they ^(G)glorified God, saying, ^(H)“A great prophet has risen up among us”; and, ^(I)“God has visited His people.” ¹⁷ And this report about Him went throughout all Judea and all the surrounding region.