Book of Common Prayer
33 He turned[a] streams into a desert,
springs of water into arid land,
34 and a fruitful land into a barren place,[b]
because of the sin of its inhabitants.
35 As for his people,[c] he turned[d] a desert into a pool of water,
and a dry land into springs of water.
36 He allowed the hungry to settle there,
and they established a city in which to live.
37 They cultivated[e] fields,
and planted vineyards,
which yielded a harvest of fruit.[f]
38 He blessed[g] them so that they became very numerous.
He would not allow their cattle to decrease in number.[h]
39 As for their enemies,[i] they decreased in number and were beaten down,
because of painful distress[j] and suffering.
40 He would pour[k] contempt upon princes,
and he made them wander in a wasteland with no road.
41 Yet he protected[l] the needy from oppression,
and cared for his families like a flock of sheep.
42 When the godly see this, they rejoice,
and every sinner[m] shuts his mouth.
43 Whoever is wise, let him take note of these things.
Let them consider the Lord’s acts of loyal love.
Psalm 108[n]
A song, a psalm of David.
108 I am determined,[o] O God.
I will sing and praise you with my whole heart.[p]
2 Awake, O stringed instrument and harp.
I will wake up at dawn.[q]
3 I will give you thanks before the nations, O Lord.
I will sing praises to you before foreigners.[r]
4 For your loyal love extends beyond the sky,[s]
and your faithfulness reaches the clouds.
5 Rise up[t] above the sky, O God.
May your splendor cover the whole earth.[u]
6 Deliver by your power[v] and answer me,
so that the ones you love may be safe.[w]
7 God has spoken in his sanctuary:[x]
“I will triumph! I will parcel out Shechem;
the Valley of Sukkoth I will measure off.[y]
8 Gilead belongs to me,
as does Manasseh.[z]
Ephraim is my helmet,[aa]
Judah my royal scepter.[ab]
9 Moab is my washbasin.[ac]
I will make Edom serve me.[ad]
I will shout in triumph over Philistia.”
10 Who will lead me into the fortified city?
Who will bring me to Edom?[ae]
11 Have you not rejected us, O God?
O God, you do not go into battle with our armies.
12 Give us help against the enemy,
for any help men might offer is futile.[af]
13 By God’s power we will conquer;[ag]
he will trample down[ah] our enemies.
Psalm 33[a]
33 You godly ones, shout for joy because of the Lord!
It is appropriate for the morally upright to offer him praise.
2 Give thanks to the Lord with the harp.
Sing to him to the accompaniment of a ten-stringed instrument.
3 Sing to him a new song.[b]
Play skillfully as you shout out your praises to him.[c]
4 For the Lord’s decrees[d] are just,[e]
and everything he does is fair.[f]
5 He promotes[g] equity and justice;
the Lord’s faithfulness extends throughout the earth.[h]
6 By the Lord’s decree[i] the heavens were made,
and by the breath[j] of his mouth all the starry hosts.
7 He piles up the water of the sea;[k]
he puts the oceans[l] in storehouses.
8 Let the whole earth fear[m] the Lord.
Let all who live in the world stand in awe of him.
9 For he spoke, and it[n] came into existence.
He issued the decree,[o] and it stood firm.
10 The Lord frustrates[p] the decisions of the nations;
he nullifies the plans[q] of the peoples.
11 The Lord’s decisions stand forever;
his plans abide throughout the ages.[r]
12 How blessed[s] is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people whom he has chosen to be his special possession.[t]
13 The Lord watches[u] from heaven;
he sees all people.[v]
14 From the place where he lives he looks carefully
at all the earth’s inhabitants.
15 He is the one who forms every human heart,[w]
and takes note of all their actions.
16 No king is delivered by his vast army;
a warrior is not saved by his great might.
17 A horse disappoints those who trust in it for victory;[x]
despite its great strength, it cannot deliver.
18 Look, the Lord takes notice of his loyal followers,[y]
those who wait for him to demonstrate his faithfulness[z]
19 by saving their lives from death[aa]
and sustaining them during times of famine.[ab]
20 We[ac] wait for the Lord;
he is our deliverer[ad] and shield.[ae]
21 For our hearts rejoice in him,
for we trust in his holy name.
22 May we experience your faithfulness, O Lord,[af]
for[ag] we wait for you.
Samson’s Downfall
16 Samson went to Gaza. There he saw a prostitute and slept with her.[a] 2 The Gazites were told,[b] “Samson has come here!” So they surrounded the town[c] and hid all night at the city gate, waiting for him to leave.[d] They relaxed[e] all night, thinking,[f] “He will not leave[g] until morning comes;[h] then we will kill him!” 3 Samson spent half the night with the prostitute; then he got up in the middle of the night and left.[i] He grabbed the doors of the city gate, as well as the two posts, and pulled them right off, bar and all.[j] He put them on his shoulders and carried them up to the top of a hill east of Hebron.[k]
4 After this Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah, who lived in the Sorek Valley. 5 The rulers of the Philistines went up to visit her and said to her, “Trick him! Find out what makes him so strong and how we can subdue him and humiliate[l] him. Each one of us will give you 1,100 silver pieces.”
6 So Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me what makes you so strong and how you can be subdued and humiliated.”[m] 7 Samson said to her, “If they tie me up with seven fresh[n] bowstrings[o] that have not been dried, I will become weak and be just like any other man.” 8 So the rulers of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she tied him up with them. 9 They hid[p] in the bedroom and then she said to him, “The Philistines are here,[q] Samson!” He snapped the bowstrings as easily as a thread of yarn snaps when it is put close to fire.[r] The secret of his strength was not discovered.[s]
10 Delilah said to Samson, “Look, you deceived[t] me and told me lies! Now tell me how you can be subdued.” 11 He said to her, “If they tie me tightly with brand new ropes that have never been used,[u] I will become weak and be just like any other man.” 12 So Delilah took new ropes and tied him with them and said to him, “The Philistines are here,[v] Samson!” (The Philistines were hiding in the bedroom.)[w] But he tore the ropes[x] from his arms as if they were a piece of thread.
13 Delilah said to Samson, “Up to now you have deceived me and told me lies. Tell me how you can be subdued.” He said to her, “If you weave the seven braids of my hair[y] into the fabric on the loom[z] and secure it with the pin, I will become weak and be like any other man.” 14 So she made him go to sleep, wove the seven braids of his hair into the fabric on the loom, fastened it with the pin, and said to him, “The Philistines are here,[aa] Samson!”[ab] He woke up[ac] and tore away the pin of the loom and the fabric.
30 “After[a] forty years had passed, an angel appeared to him in the desert[b] of Mount Sinai, in the flame of a burning bush.[c] 31 When Moses saw it, he was amazed at the sight, and when he approached to investigate, there came the voice of the Lord, 32 ‘I am the God of your forefathers,[d] the God of Abraham, Isaac,[e] and Jacob.’[f] Moses began to tremble and did not dare to look more closely.[g] 33 But the Lord said to him, ‘Take the sandals off your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.[h] 34 I have certainly seen the suffering[i] of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their groaning, and I have come down to rescue them.[j] Now[k] come, I will send you to Egypt.’[l] 35 This same[m] Moses they had rejected, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and judge?’[n] God sent as both ruler and deliverer[o] through the hand of the angel[p] who appeared to him in the bush. 36 This man led them out, performing wonders and miraculous signs[q] in the land of Egypt,[r] at[s] the Red Sea, and in the wilderness[t] for forty years. 37 This is the Moses who said to the Israelites,[u] ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers.’[v] 38 This is the man who was in the congregation[w] in the wilderness[x] with the angel who spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and with our ancestors,[y] and he[z] received living oracles[aa] to give to you.[ab] 39 Our[ac] ancestors[ad] were unwilling to obey[ae] him, but pushed him aside[af] and turned back to Egypt in their hearts, 40 saying to Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go in front of us, for this Moses, who led us out of the land of Egypt[ag] —we do not know what has happened to him!’[ah] 41 At[ai] that time[aj] they made an idol in the form of a calf,[ak] brought[al] a sacrifice to the idol, and began rejoicing[am] in the works of their hands.[an] 42 But God turned away from them and gave them over[ao] to worship the host[ap] of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: ‘It was not to me that you offered slain animals and sacrifices[aq] forty years in the wilderness, was it,[ar] house of Israel? 43 But you took along the tabernacle[as] of Moloch[at] and the star of the[au] god Rephan,[av] the images you made to worship, but I will deport[aw] you beyond Babylon.’[ax]
Healing a Paralytic at the Pool of Bethesda
5 After this[a] there was a Jewish feast,[b] and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now there is[c] in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate[d] a pool called Bethzatha[e] in Aramaic,[f] which has five covered walkways.[g] 3 A great number of sick, blind, lame, and paralyzed people were lying in these walkways.[h] 5 Now a man was there who had been disabled for thirty-eight years.[i] 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and when he realized[j] that the man[k] had been disabled a long time already, he said to him, “Do you want to become well?” 7 The sick man answered him, “Sir,[l] I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up. While I am trying to get into the water,[m] someone else[n] goes down there[o] before me.” 8 Jesus said to him, “Stand up! Pick up your mat[p] and walk.” 9 Immediately the man was healed,[q] and he picked up his mat[r] and started walking. (Now that day was a Sabbath.)[s]
10 So the Jewish leaders[t] said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and you are not permitted to carry your mat.”[u] 11 But he answered them, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat[v] and walk.’” 12 They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Pick up your mat[w] and walk’?”[x] 13 But the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped out, since there was a crowd in that place.
14 After this Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “Look, you have become well. Don’t sin any more,[y] lest anything worse happen to you.” 15 The man went away and informed the Jewish leaders[z] that Jesus was the one who had made him well.
Responding to Jewish Leaders
16 Now because Jesus was doing these things[aa] on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders[ab] began persecuting[ac] him. 17 So he[ad] told[ae] them, “My Father is working until now, and I too am working.”[af] 18 For this reason the Jewish leaders[ag] were trying even harder to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was also calling God his own Father, thus making himself equal with God.
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