Book of Common Prayer
Jehovah’s power and dominion.
97 Jehovah reigneth; let the earth rejoice;
Let the multitude of isles be glad.
2 Clouds and darkness are round about him:
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
3 A fire goeth before him,
And burneth up his adversaries round about.
4 His lightnings lightened the world:
The earth saw, and trembled.
5 The mountains melted like wax at the presence of Jehovah,
At the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.
6 The heavens declare his righteousness,
And all the peoples have seen his glory.
7 Let all them be put to shame that serve graven images,
That boast themselves of idols:
Worship him, all ye gods.
8 Zion heard and was glad,
And the daughters of Judah rejoiced,
Because of thy judgments, O Jehovah.
9 For thou, Jehovah, art most high above all the earth:
Thou art exalted far above all gods.
10 O ye that love Jehovah, hate evil:
He preserveth the souls of his saints;
He delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.
11 Light is sown for the righteous,
And gladness for the upright in heart.
12 Be glad in Jehovah, ye righteous;
And give thanks to his holy memorial name.
Praise to Jehovah for his fidelity to Israel.
99 Jehovah reigneth; let the peoples tremble:
He [a]sitteth above the cherubim; let the earth be moved.
2 Jehovah is great in Zion;
And he is high above all the peoples.
3 Let them praise thy great and terrible name:
Holy is he.
4 The king’s strength also loveth justice;
Thou dost establish equity;
Thou executest justice and righteousness in Jacob.
5 Exalt ye Jehovah our God,
And worship at his footstool:
Holy is he.
6 Moses and Aaron among his priests,
And Samuel among them that call upon his name;
They called upon Jehovah, and he answered them.
7 He spake unto them in the pillar of cloud:
They kept his testimonies,
And the statute that he gave them.
8 Thou answeredst them, O Jehovah our God:
Thou wast a God that forgavest them,
Though thou tookest vengeance of their doings.
9 Exalt ye Jehovah our God,
And worship at his holy hill;
For Jehovah our God is holy.
All men exhorted to praise God.
A Psalm [b]of thanksgiving.
100 Make a joyful noise unto Jehovah, [c]all ye lands.
2 Serve Jehovah with gladness:
Come before his presence with singing.
3 Know ye that Jehovah, he is God:
It is he that hath made us, [d]and we are his;
We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter into his gates with [e]thanksgiving,
And into his courts with praise:
Give thanks unto him, and bless his name.
5 For Jehovah is good; his lovingkindness endureth for ever,
And his faithfulness unto all generations.
Jehovah implored to avenge his people.
94 O Jehovah, thou God to whom vengeance belongeth,
Thou God to whom vengeance belongeth, shine forth.
2 Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth:
Render to the proud their desert.
3 Jehovah, how long shall the wicked,
How long shall the wicked triumph?
4 They prate, they speak arrogantly:
All the workers of iniquity boast themselves.
5 They break in pieces thy people, O Jehovah,
And afflict thy heritage.
6 They slay the widow and the sojourner,
And murder the fatherless.
7 And they say, [a]Jehovah will not see,
Neither will the God of Jacob consider.
8 Consider, ye brutish among the people;
And ye fools, when will ye be wise?
9 He that planted the ear, shall he not hear?
He that formed the eye, shall he not see?
10 He that [b]chastiseth the nations, shall not he correct,
Even he that teacheth man knowledge?
11 Jehovah knoweth the thoughts of man,
[c]That they are [d]vanity.
12 Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O [e]Jehovah,
And teachest out of thy law;
13 That thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity,
Until the pit be digged for the wicked.
14 For Jehovah will not cast off his people,
Neither will he forsake his inheritance.
15 For judgment shall return unto righteousness;
And all the upright in heart shall follow it.
16 Who will rise up for me against the evil-doers?
Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?
17 Unless Jehovah had been my help,
My soul had soon dwelt in silence.
18 When I said, My foot slippeth;
Thy lovingkindness, O Jehovah, held me up.
19 In the multitude of my [f]thoughts within me Thy comforts delight my soul.
20 Shall the [g]throne of wickedness have fellowship with thee,
Which frameth mischief by statute?
21 They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous,
And condemn the innocent blood.
22 But Jehovah hath been my high tower,
And my God the rock of my refuge.
23 And he hath brought upon them their own iniquity,
And will cut them off in their own wickedness;
Jehovah our God will cut them off.
Praise to Jehovah, and warning against unbelief.
95 Oh come, let us sing unto Jehovah;
Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving;
Let us make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.
3 For Jehovah is a great God,
And a great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the deep places of the earth;
The [h]heights of the mountains are his also.
5 The sea is his, and he made it;
And his hands formed the dry land.
6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
Let us kneel before Jehovah our Maker:
7 For he is our God,
And we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.
To-day, [i]oh that ye would hear his voice!
8 Harden not your heart, as at [j]Meribah,
As in the day of [k]Massah in the wilderness;
9 When your fathers tempted me,
Proved me, and saw my work.
10 Forty years long was I grieved with that generation,
And said, It is a people that do err in their heart,
And they have not known my ways:
11 Wherefore I sware in my wrath,
That they should not enter into my rest.
6 And the ark of Jehovah was in the [a]country of the Philistines seven months. 2 And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, What shall we do with the ark of Jehovah? show us wherewith we shall send it to its place. 3 And they said, If ye send away the ark of the God of Israel, send it not empty; but by all means return him a trespass-offering: then ye shall be healed, and it shall be known to you why his hand is not removed from you. 4 Then said they, What shall be the trespass-offering which we shall return to him? And they said, Five golden tumors, and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines; for one plague was on [b]you all, and on your lords. 5 Wherefore ye shall make images of your tumors, and images of your mice that mar the land; and ye shall give glory unto the God of Israel: peradventure he will lighten his hand from off you, and from off your gods, and from off your land. 6 Wherefore then do ye harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When he had [c]wrought wonderfully among them, did they not let [d]the people go, and they departed? 7 Now therefore take and prepare you a new cart, and two milch kine, on which there hath come no yoke; and tie the kine to the cart, and bring their calves home from them; 8 and take the ark of Jehovah, and lay it upon the cart; and put the jewels of gold, which ye return him for a trespass-offering, in a coffer by the side thereof; and send it away, that it may go. 9 And see; if it goeth up by the way of its own border to Beth-shemesh, then he hath done us this great evil: but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that smote us; it was a chance that happened to us.
10 And the men did so, and took two milch kine, and tied them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home; 11 and they put the ark of Jehovah upon the cart, and the coffer with the mice of gold and the images of their tumors. 12 And the kine took the straight way by the way to Beth-shemesh; they went along [e]the highway, lowing as they went, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left; and the lords of the Philistines went after them unto the border of Beth-shemesh. 13 And they of Beth-shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley; and they lifted up their eyes, and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it. 14 And the cart came into the field of Joshua the Beth-shemite, and stood there, where there was a great [f]stone: and they clave the wood of the cart, and offered up the kine for a burnt-offering unto Jehovah. 15 And the Levites took down the ark of Jehovah, and the coffer that was with it, wherein the jewels of gold were, and put them on the great stone: and the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt-offerings and sacrificed sacrifices the same day unto Jehovah. 16 And when the five lords of the Philistines had seen it, they returned to Ekron the same day.
27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest asked them, 28 saying, We strictly charged you not to teach in this name: and behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us. 29 But Peter and the apostles answered and said, We must obey God rather than men. 30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew, hanging him on a tree. 31 Him did God exalt [a]with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance to Israel, and remission of sins. 32 And we are witnesses [b]of these [c]things; [d]and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God hath given to them that obey him.
33 But they, when they heard this, were cut to the heart, and were minded to slay them. 34 But there stood up one in the council, a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had in honor of all the people, and commanded to put the men forth a little while. 35 And he said unto them, Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves as touching these men, what ye are about to do. 36 For before these days rose up Theudas, giving himself out to be somebody; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves: who was slain; and all, as many as obeyed him, were dispersed, and came to nought. 37 After this man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the enrolment, and drew away some of the people after him: he also perished; and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered abroad. 38 And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will be overthrown: 39 but if it is of God, ye will not be able to overthrow them; lest haply ye be found even to be fighting against God. 40 And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles unto them, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41 They therefore departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the Name. 42 And every day, in the temple and at home, they ceased not to teach and to [e]preach Jesus as the Christ.
37 And every day he was teaching in the temple; and every night he went out, and lodged in the mount that is called Olivet. 38 And all the people came early in the morning to him in the temple, to hear him.
22 Now the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh, which is called the Passover. 2 And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might put him to death; for they feared the people.
3 And Satan entered into Judas who was called Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve. 4 And he went away, and communed with the chief priests and captains, how he might [a]deliver him unto them. 5 And they were glad, and covenanted to give him money. 6 And he consented, and sought opportunity to [b]deliver him unto them [c]in the absence of the multitude.
7 And the day of unleavened bread came, on which the passover must be sacrificed. 8 And he sent Peter and John, saying, Go and make ready for us the passover, that we may eat. 9 And they said unto him, Where wilt thou that we make ready? 10 And he said unto them, Behold, when ye are entered into the city, there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water; follow him into the house whereinto he goeth. 11 And ye shall say unto the master of the house, The Teacher saith unto thee, Where is the guest-chamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples? 12 And he will show you a large upper room furnished: there make ready. 13 And they went, and found as he had said unto them: and they made ready the passover.
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