Book of Common Prayer

Thanksgiving for the Lord’s Saving Goodness.

The Lord Extolled for His Goodness.

A Psalm of Praise, of David.

Hezekiah’s Illness and Recovery

20 ^(A)In those days Hezekiah became ^[a]mortally ill. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘^(B)Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.’” ² Then he turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying, ³ “^(C)Remember now, O Lord, I beseech You, ^(D)how I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart and have done what is good in Your sight.” And ^(E)Hezekiah wept ^[b]bitterly. ⁴ Before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, ⁵ “Return and say to ^(F)Hezekiah the leader of My people, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of your father David, “^(G)I have heard your prayer, ^(H)I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord. ⁶ I will add fifteen years to your ^[c]life, and I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and ^(I)I will defend this city for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.”’” ⁷ Then Isaiah said, “Take a cake of figs.” And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.

⁸ Now Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the Lord the third day?” ⁹ Isaiah said, “^(J)This shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that He has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten steps or go back ten steps?” ¹⁰ So Hezekiah ^[d]answered, “It is easy for the shadow to decline ten steps; no, but let the shadow turn backward ten steps.” ¹¹ Isaiah the prophet cried to the Lord, and ^(K)He brought the shadow on the ^[e]stairway back ten steps by which it had gone down on the ^[f]stairway of Ahaz.

Hezekiah Shows Babylon His Treasures

^12 (L)At that time ^[g]Berodach-baladan a son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick. ¹³ Hezekiah listened to them, and showed them ^(M)all his treasure house, the silver and the gold and the spices and the precious oil and the house of his armor and all that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his house nor in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them. ¹⁴ Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, “What did these men say, and from where have they come to you?” And Hezekiah said, “They have come from a far country, from Babylon.” ¹⁵ He said, “What have they seen in your house?” So Hezekiah ^[h]answered, “They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasuries 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 ^(N)all that is in your house, and all that your fathers have laid up in store to this day will be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,’ says the Lord. ¹⁸ ‘Some ^(O)of your sons who shall issue from you, whom you will beget, will be taken away; and they will become ^(P)officials in the palace of the king of Babylon.’” ¹⁹ Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord which you have spoken is ^(Q)good.” For he ^[i]thought, “Is it not so, if there will be peace and truth in my days?”

^20 (R)Now the rest of the acts of Hezekiah and all his might, and how he ^(S)made the pool and the conduit and brought water into the city, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? ^21 (T)So Hezekiah slept with his fathers, and Manasseh his son became king in his place.

Peter’s Arrest and Deliverance

12 Now about that time ^[a]Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church in order to mistreat them. ² And he ^(A)had James the brother of John ^(B)put to death with a sword. ³ When he saw that it ^(C)pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. Now ^[b]it was during ^(D)the days of Unleavened Bread. ⁴ When he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him to four ^[c](E)squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after ^(F)the Passover to bring him out before the people. ⁵ So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.

⁶ On ^[d]the very night when Herod was about to bring him forward, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, ^(G)bound with two chains, and guards in front of the door were watching over the prison. ⁷ And behold, ^(H)an angel of the Lord suddenly ^(I)appeared and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter’s side and woke him up, saying, “Get up quickly.” And ^(J)his chains fell off his hands. ⁸ And the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and ^[e]put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he *said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.” ⁹ And he went out and continued to follow, and he did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing ^(K)a vision. ¹⁰ When they had passed the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which ^(L)opened for them by itself; and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel departed from him. ¹¹ When Peter ^(M)came ^[f]to himself, he said, “Now I know for sure that ^(N)the Lord has sent forth His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all ^[g]that the Jewish people were expecting.” ¹² And when he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of ^(O)John who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together and ^(P)were praying. ¹³ When he knocked at the door of the gate, ^(Q)a servant-girl named Rhoda came to answer. ¹⁴ When she recognized Peter’s voice, ^(R)because of her joy she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter was standing in front of the gate. ¹⁵ They said to her, “You are out of your mind!” But she kept insisting that it was so. They kept saying, “It is ^(S)his angel.” ¹⁶ But Peter continued knocking; and when they had opened the door, they saw him and were amazed. ¹⁷ But ^(T)motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had led him out of the prison. And he said, “Report these things to ^[h](U)James and ^(V)the brethren.” Then he left and went to another place.

¹¹ Soon afterwards He went to a city called Nain; and His disciples were going along with Him, ^[a]accompanied by a large crowd. ¹² Now as He approached the gate of the city, ^[b]a dead man was being carried out, the ^[c]only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a sizeable crowd from the city was with her. ¹³ When ^(A)the Lord saw her, He felt compassion for her, and said to her, “^[d]Do not weep.” ¹⁴ And He came up and touched the coffin; and the bearers came to a halt. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise!” ¹⁵ The ^[e]dead man sat up and began to speak. And Jesus gave him back to his mother. ^16 (B)Fear gripped them all, and they began ^(C)glorifying God, saying, “A great ^(D)prophet has arisen among us!” and, “God has ^[f]visited His people!” ^17 (E)This report concerning Him went out all over Judea and in all the surrounding district.