Book of Common Prayer
33 He (A)turns rivers into a [a]wilderness,
And springs of water into a thirsty ground;
34 And a (B)fruitful land into a (C)salt waste,
Because of the wickedness of those who dwell in it.
35 He (D)turns a [b]wilderness into a pool of water,
And a dry land into springs of water;
36 And He has the hungry live there,
So that they may establish [c](E)an inhabited city,
37 And sow fields and (F)plant vineyards,
And [d]gather a fruitful harvest.
38 He also blesses them and they (G)multiply greatly,
And He (H)does not let their cattle decrease.
39 When they (I)become few and (J)lowly
Because of oppression, misery, and sorrow,
40 He (K)pours contempt upon noblemen
And (L)makes them wander (M)in a pathless wasteland.
41 But He (N)sets the needy [e]securely on high, away from affliction,
And (O)makes his families like a flock.
42 The (P)upright see it and are glad;
But all (Q)injustice shuts its mouth.
43 Who is (R)wise? He is to pay attention to these things,
And consider the (S)mercy of the Lord.
God Praised and Pleas to Give Victory.
A Song, a Psalm of David.
108 (T)My heart is steadfast, God;
I will sing, I will sing praises also with my [f]soul.
2 Awake, harp and lyre;
I will awaken the dawn!
3 I will give thanks to You, Lord, among the peoples,
And I will sing praises to You among the nations.
4 For Your (U)mercy is great (V)above the heavens,
And Your truth reaches to the skies.
5 (W)Be exalted above the heavens, God,
And may Your glory be above all the earth.
6 (X)So that Your beloved may be rescued,
Save with Your right hand, and answer me!
7 God has spoken in His [g]holiness:
“I will triumph, I will divide up Shechem,
And measure out the Valley of Succoth.
8 Gilead is Mine, Manasseh is Mine;
Ephraim also is the [h]helmet of My head;
(Y)Judah is My [i]scepter.
9 Moab is My washbowl;
I will throw My sandal over Edom;
I will shout aloud over Philistia.”
10 (Z)Who will bring me into the fortified city?
Who [j]will lead me to Edom?
11 God, have You Yourself not (AA)rejected us?
And will You not go forth with our armies, God?
12 Give us help against the enemy,
For (AB)deliverance [k]by man is worthless.
13 [l]Through God we will do valiantly,
And (AC)it is He who will trample down our enemies.
Praise to the Creator and Protector.
33 (A)Sing for joy in the Lord, you righteous ones;
Praise is (B)becoming to the upright.
2 Give thanks to the Lord with the (C)lyre;
Sing praises to Him with a (D)harp of ten strings.
3 Sing to Him a (E)new song;
Play skillfully with (F)a shout of joy.
4 For the word of the Lord (G)is right,
And all His work is done (H)in faithfulness.
5 He (I)loves righteousness and justice;
The (J)earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
6 By the (K)word of the Lord the heavens were made,
And (L)by the breath of His mouth (M)all their [a]lights.
7 He gathers the (N)waters of the sea together [b]as a heap;
He puts the depths in storehouses.
8 Let (O)all the earth fear the Lord;
Let all the inhabitants of the world (P)stand in awe of Him.
9 For (Q)He spoke, and it was done;
He commanded, and it [c]stood firm.
10 The Lord (R)nullifies the plan of nations;
He frustrates the plans of peoples.
11 The (S)plan of the Lord stands forever,
The (T)plans of His heart from generation to generation.
12 Blessed is the (U)nation whose God is the Lord,
The people He has (V)chosen for His own inheritance.
13 The Lord (W)looks from heaven;
He (X)sees all the sons of mankind;
14 From (Y)His dwelling place He looks out
On all the inhabitants of the earth,
15 He who (Z)fashions [d]the hearts of them all,
He who (AA)understands all their works.
16 (AB)The king is not saved by a mighty army;
A warrior is not rescued by great strength.
17 A (AC)horse is a false hope for victory;
Nor does it rescue anyone by its great strength.
18 Behold, (AD)the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,
On those who (AE)wait for His faithfulness,
19 To (AF)rescue their soul from death
And to keep them alive (AG)in famine.
20 Our soul (AH)waits for the Lord;
He is our (AI)help and our shield.
21 For our (AJ)heart rejoices in Him,
Because we trust in His holy name.
22 Let Your favor, Lord, be upon us,
Just as we have waited for You.
Samson’s Weakness
16 Now Samson went to (A)Gaza and saw a prostitute there, and had relations with her. 2 When it was reported to the Gazites, saying, “Samson has come here,” they (B)surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the gate of the city. And they kept silent all night, saying, “Let’s wait until the morning light, then we will kill him.” 3 Now Samson lay asleep until midnight, and at midnight he got up and took hold of the doors of the city gate and the two doorposts, and pulled them up along with the bars; then he put them on his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of the mountain which is opposite Hebron.
4 After this it came about that he was in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah. 5 So the (C)governors of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “(D)Entice him, and see where his great strength lies and [a]how we can overpower him so that we may bind him to humble him. Then we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver.” 6 So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength lies, and [b]how you can be bound to humble you.” 7 And Samson said to her, “If they bind me with seven fresh [c]animal tendons that have not been dried, then I will become weak and be like any other man.” 8 Then the governors of the Philistines brought up to her seven fresh [d]animal tendons that had not been dried, and she bound him with them. 9 Now she had men prepared for an ambush in an inner room. And she said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he tore the tendons to pieces just like a thread of flax is torn apart when it [e]comes too close to fire. So his strength was not discovered.
10 Then Delilah said to Samson, “Behold, you have toyed with me and told me lies; now please tell me [f]how you may be bound.” 11 Then he said to her, “If they bind me tightly with new ropes [g]which have not been used, then I will become weak and be like any other man.” 12 So Delilah took new ropes and bound him with them and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” For the men in the ambush were waiting in the inner room. But he tore [h]the ropes from his arms like thread.
13 Then Delilah said to Samson, “Up to now you have toyed with me and told me lies; tell me [i]how you may be bound.” And he said to her, “If you weave the seven locks of my [j]hair with the [k]web [l][and fasten it with the pin, then I will be weak like any other man.” 14 So while he slept, Delilah wove the seven locks of his [m]hair with the web]. And she fastened it with the pin and said to him, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” But he awoke from his sleep and pulled out the pin of the loom and the web.
30 “After forty years had passed, (A)an angel appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning thorn bush. 31 When Moses saw it, he was astonished at the sight; and as he approached to look more closely, the voice of the Lord came: 32 ‘(B)I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob.’ Moses shook with fear and did not dare to look closely. 33 (C)But the Lord said to him, ‘[a](D)Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground. 34 (E)I have certainly seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to rescue them; and (F)now come, I will send you to Egypt.’
35 “This Moses whom they (G)disowned, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’ is the one whom God [b]sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer with the [c]help of the angel who appeared to him in the thorn bush. 36 (H)This man led them out, performing (I)wonders and [d]signs in the land of Egypt and in the Red Sea, and in the (J)wilderness for forty years. 37 This is the Moses who said to the sons of Israel, ‘(K)God will raise up for you a prophet [e]like me from your countrymen.’ 38 This is the one who was in (L)the [f]assembly in the wilderness together with (M)the angel who spoke to him at length on Mount Sinai, and who was with our fathers; and he received (N)living (O)words to pass on to you. 39 Our fathers were unwilling to be obedient to him; on the contrary they (P)rejected him and turned back to Egypt in their hearts, 40 (Q)saying to Aaron, ‘Make us [g]a god who will go before us; for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt—we do not know what happened to him.’ 41 [h]At that time (R)they made a [i]calf and brought a sacrifice to the idol, and were rejoicing in (S)the works of their hands. 42 But God (T)turned away and gave them over to [j]serve the heavenly [k]lights; as it is written in the book of the prophets: ‘(U)You did not offer Me victims and sacrifices (V)for forty years in the wilderness, did you, house of Israel? 43 (W)You also took along the tabernacle of Moloch and the star of your god [l]Rompha, the images which you made to worship. I also will deport you beyond Babylon.’
The Healing at Bethesda
5 After these things there was (A)a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
2 Now in Jerusalem, by (B)the Sheep Gate, there is a pool which (C)in [a]Hebrew is called [b]Bethesda, having five [c]porticoes. 3 In these porticoes lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, limping, or [d]paralyzed.[e] 5 Now a man was there who had been [f]ill for thirty-eight years. 6 Jesus, upon seeing this man lying there and knowing that he had already been in that condition for a long time, *said to him, “Do you want to get well?” 7 The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” 8 Jesus *said to him, “(D)Get up, pick up your pallet and walk.” 9 Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet and began to walk.
(E)Now it was a Sabbath on that day. 10 So (F)the Jews were saying to the man who was cured, “It is a Sabbath, and (G)it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet.” 11 But he answered them, “He who made me well was the one who said to me, ‘Pick up your pallet and walk.’” 12 They asked him, “Who is the Man who said to you, ‘Pick it up and walk’?” 13 But the man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away while there was a crowd in that place. 14 Afterward, Jesus *found him in the temple and said to him, “Behold, you have become well; do not (H)sin anymore, (I)so that nothing worse happens to you.” 15 The man went away, and informed (J)the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. 16 For this reason (K)the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because He was doing these things on a Sabbath. 17 But He answered them, “My Father [g]is working until now, and I Myself am working.”
Jesus’ Equality with God
18 For this reason therefore (L)the Jews (M)were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, (N)making Himself equal with God.
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