Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 83[a]
A song, a psalm of Asaph.
83 O God, do not be silent.
Do not ignore us.[b] Do not be inactive, O God.
2 For look, your enemies are making a commotion;
those who hate you are hostile.[c]
3 They carefully plot[d] against your people,
and make plans to harm[e] the ones you cherish.[f]
4 They say, “Come on, let’s annihilate them so they are no longer a nation.[g]
Then the name of Israel will be remembered no more.”
5 Yes,[h] they devise a unified strategy;[i]
they form an alliance[j] against you.
6 It includes[k] the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
Moab and the Hagrites,[l]
7 Gebal,[m] Ammon, and Amalek,
Philistia and the inhabitants of Tyre.
8 Even Assyria has allied with them,
lending its strength to the descendants of Lot.[n] (Selah)
9 Do to them as you did to Midian[o]—
as you did to Sisera and Jabin at the Kishon River.[p]
10 They were destroyed at Endor;[q]
their corpses were like manure[r] on the ground.
11 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb,[s]
and all their rulers like Zebah and Zalmunna,[t]
12 who said,[u] “Let’s take over[v] the pastures of God.”
13 O my God, make them like dead thistles,[w]
like dead weeds blown away by[x] the wind.
14 Like the fire that burns down the forest,
or the flames that consume the mountainsides,[y]
15 chase them with your gale winds,
and terrify[z] them with your windstorm.
16 Cover[aa] their faces with shame,
so they might seek[ab] you,[ac] O Lord.
17 May they be humiliated and continually terrified.[ad]
May they die in shame.[ae]
18 Then they will know[af] that you alone are the Lord,[ag]
the Most High[ah] over all the earth.
Psalm 145[a]
A psalm of praise; by David.
145 I will extol you, my God, O King.
I will praise your name continually.[b]
2 Every day I will praise you.
I will praise your name continually.[c]
3 The Lord is great and certainly worthy of praise.
No one can fathom his greatness.[d]
4 One generation will praise your deeds to another,
and tell about your mighty acts.[e]
5 I will focus on your honor and majestic splendor,
and your amazing deeds.[f]
6 They will proclaim[g] the power of your awesome acts.
I will declare your great deeds.
7 They will talk about the fame of your great kindness,[h]
and sing about your justice.[i]
8 The Lord is merciful and compassionate;
he is patient[j] and demonstrates great loyal love.[k]
9 The Lord is good to all,
and has compassion on all he has made.[l]
10 All your works will give thanks to you, Lord.
Your loyal followers will praise you.
11 They will proclaim the splendor of your kingdom;
they will tell about your power,
12 so that mankind[m] might acknowledge your mighty acts,
and the majestic splendor of your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an eternal kingdom,[n]
and your dominion endures through all generations.
14 [o] The Lord supports all who fall,
and lifts up all who are bent over.[p]
15 Everything looks to you in anticipation,[q]
and you provide them with food on a regular basis.[r]
16 You open your hand,
and fill every living thing with the food it desires.[s]
17 The Lord is just in all his actions,[t]
and exhibits love in all he does.[u]
18 The Lord is near all who cry out to him,
all who cry out to him sincerely.[v]
19 He satisfies the desire[w] of his loyal followers;[x]
he hears their cry for help and delivers them.
20 The Lord protects all those who love him,
but he destroys all the wicked.
21 My mouth will praise the Lord.[y]
Let all who live[z] praise his holy name forever.
Psalm 85[a]
For the music director, written by the Korahites, a psalm.
85 O Lord, you showed favor to your land;
you restored the well-being of Jacob.[b]
2 You pardoned[c] the wrongdoing of your people;
you forgave[d] all their sin. (Selah)
3 You withdrew all your fury;
you turned back from your raging anger.[e]
4 Restore us, O God our deliverer.
Do not be displeased with us.[f]
5 Will you stay mad at us forever?
Will you remain angry throughout future generations?[g]
6 Will you not revive us once more?
Then your people will rejoice in you.
7 O Lord, show us your loyal love.
Bestow on us your deliverance.
8 I will listen to what God the Lord says.[h]
For he will make[i] peace with his people, his faithful followers.[j]
Yet they must not[k] return to their foolish ways.
9 Certainly his loyal followers will soon experience his deliverance;[l]
then his splendor will again appear in our land.[m]
10 Loyal love and faithfulness meet;[n]
deliverance and peace greet each other with a kiss.[o]
11 Faithfulness grows from the ground,
and deliverance looks down from the sky.[p]
12 Yes, the Lord will bestow his good blessings,[q]
and our land will yield[r] its crops.
13 Deliverance goes[s] before him,
and prepares[t] a pathway for him.[u]
Psalm 86[v]
A prayer of David.
86 Listen,[w] O Lord. Answer me.
For I am oppressed and needy.
2 Protect me,[x] for I am loyal.
You are my God; deliver your servant who trusts in you.
3 Have mercy on me,[y] O Lord,
for I cry out to you all day long.
4 Make your servant[z] glad,
for to you, O Lord, I pray.[aa]
5 Certainly,[ab] O Lord, you are kind[ac] and forgiving,
and show great faithfulness to all who cry out to you.
6 O Lord, hear my prayer.
Pay attention to my plea for mercy.
7 In my time of trouble I cry out to you,
for you will answer me.
8 None can compare to you among the gods, O Lord.
Your exploits are incomparable.[ad]
9 All the nations, whom you created,
will come and worship you,[ae] O Lord.
They will honor your name.
10 For you are great and do amazing things.
You alone are God.
11 O Lord, teach me how you want me to live.[af]
Then I will obey your commands.[ag]
Make me wholeheartedly committed to you.[ah]
12 O Lord, my God, I will give you thanks with my whole heart.
I will honor your name continually.[ai]
13 For you will extend your great loyal love to me,[aj]
and will deliver my life[ak] from the depths of Sheol.[al]
14 O God, arrogant men attack me;[am]
a gang[an] of ruthless men, who do not respect you, seek my life.[ao]
15 But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and merciful God.
You are patient[ap] and demonstrate great loyal love and faithfulness.[aq]
16 Turn toward me and have mercy on me.
Give your servant your strength.
Deliver this son of your female servant.[ar]
17 Show me evidence of your favor.[as]
Then those who hate me will see it and be ashamed,[at]
for you, O Lord, will help me and comfort me.[au]
Gideon Rejects a Crown but Makes an Ephod
22 The men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us—you, your son, and your grandson. For you have delivered us from Midian’s power.”[a] 23 Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The Lord will rule over you.” 24 Gideon continued,[b] “I would like to make one request. Each of you give me an earring from the plunder you have taken.”[c] (The Midianites[d] had gold earrings because they were Ishmaelites.) 25 They said, “We are happy to give you earrings.”[e] So they[f] spread out a garment, and each one threw an earring from his plunder onto it. 26 The total weight of the gold earrings he requested came to 1,700 gold shekels.[g] This was in addition to the crescent-shaped ornaments, jewelry,[h] purple clothing worn by the Midianite kings, and the necklaces on the camels.[i] 27 Gideon used all this to make[j] an ephod,[k] which he put in his hometown of Ophrah. All the Israelites[l] prostituted themselves to it by worshiping it[m] there. It became a snare to Gideon and his family.
Gideon’s Story Ends
28 The Israelites humiliated Midian; the Midianites’ fighting spirit was broken.[n] The land had rest for forty years during Gideon’s time.[o] 29 Then Jerub Baal son of Joash went home and settled down.[p] 30 Gideon fathered seventy sons through his many wives.[q] 31 His concubine,[r] who lived in Shechem, also gave him a son, whom he named Abimelech.[s] 32 Gideon son of Joash died at a very[t] old age and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash located in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
Israel Returns to Baal Worship
33 After Gideon died, the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They made Baal Berith[u] their god. 34 The Israelites did not remain true[v] to the Lord their God, who had delivered them from all the enemies who lived around them. 35 They did not treat[w] the family of Jerub Baal (that is, Gideon) fairly in return for all the good he had done for Israel.
The Arrest and Trial of Peter and John
4 While Peter and John[a] were speaking to the people, the priests and the commander[b] of the temple guard[c] and the Sadducees[d] came up[e] to them, 2 angry[f] because they were teaching the people and announcing[g] in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. 3 So[h] they seized[i] them and put them in jail[j] until the next day (for it was already evening). 4 But many of those who had listened to[k] the message[l] believed, and the number of the men[m] came to about 5,000.
5 On the next day,[n] their rulers, elders, and experts in the law[o] came together[p] in Jerusalem. 6 Annas the high priest was there, and Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and others who were members of the high priest’s family.[q] 7 After[r] making Peter and John[s] stand in their midst, they began to inquire, “By what power or by what name[t] did you do this?” 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit,[u] replied,[v] “Rulers of the people and elders,[w] 9 if[x] we are being examined[y] today for a good deed[z] done to a sick man—by what means this man was healed[aa]— 10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ[ab] the Nazarene whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, this man stands before you healthy. 11 This Jesus[ac] is the stone that was rejected by you,[ad] the builders, that has become the cornerstone.[ae] 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among people[af] by which we must[ag] be saved.”
The Calling of More Disciples
43 On the next day Jesus[a] wanted to set out for Galilee.[b] He[c] found Philip and said[d] to him, “Follow me.” 44 (Now Philip was from Bethsaida,[e] the town of[f] Andrew and Peter.) 45 Philip found Nathanael[g] and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the law, and the prophets also[h] wrote about—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 Nathanael[i] replied,[j] “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”[k] Philip replied,[l] “Come and see.”
47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and exclaimed,[m] “Look, a true Israelite in whom there is no deceit!”[n] 48 Nathanael asked him, “How do you know me?” Jesus replied,[o] “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree,[p] I saw you.” 49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king[q] of Israel!”[r] 50 Jesus said to him,[s] “Because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.”[t] 51 He continued,[u] “I tell all of you the solemn truth[v]—you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”[w]
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.