Book of Common Prayer
Jehovah’s wonderful works in behalf of Israel.
105 Oh give thanks unto Jehovah, call upon his name;
Make known among the peoples his doings.
2 Sing unto him, sing praises unto him;
[a]Talk ye of all his marvellous works.
3 Glory ye in his holy name:
Let the heart of them rejoice that seek Jehovah.
4 Seek ye Jehovah and his strength;
Seek his face evermore.
5 Remember his marvellous works that he hath done,
His wonders, and the judgments of his mouth,
6 O ye seed of Abraham his servant,
Ye children of Jacob, his chosen ones.
7 He is Jehovah our God:
His judgments are in all the earth.
8 He hath remembered his covenant for ever,
The word which he commanded to a thousand generations,
9 The covenant which he made with Abraham,
And his oath unto Isaac,
10 And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a statute,
To Israel for an everlasting covenant,
11 Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan,
The [b]lot of your inheritance;
12 When they were but a few men in number,
Yea, very few, and sojourners in it.
13 And they went about from nation to nation,
From one kingdom to another people.
14 He suffered no man to do them wrong;
Yea, he reproved kings for their sakes,
15 Saying, Touch not mine anointed ones,
And do my prophets no harm.
16 And he called for a famine upon the land;
He brake the whole staff of bread.
17 He sent a man before them;
Joseph was sold for a servant:
18 His feet they hurt with fetters:
[c]He was laid in chains of iron,
19 Until the time that his word came to pass,
The word of Jehovah tried him.
20 The king sent and loosed him;
Even the ruler of peoples, and let him go free.
21 He made him lord of his house,
And ruler of all his substance;
22 To bind his princes at his pleasure,
And teach his elders wisdom.
23 Israel also came into Egypt;
And Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.
24 And he increased his people greatly,
And made them stronger than their adversaries.
25 He turned their heart to hate his people,
To deal subtly with his servants.
26 He sent Moses his servant,
And Aaron whom he had chosen.
27 They set among them [d]his signs,
And wonders in the land of Ham.
28 He sent darkness, and made it dark;
And they rebelled not against his words.
29 He turned their waters into blood,
And slew their fish.
30 Their land swarmed with frogs
In the chambers of their kings.
31 He spake, and there came swarms of flies,
And lice in all their borders.
32 He gave them hail for rain,
And flaming fire in their land.
33 He smote their vines also and their fig-trees,
And brake the trees of their borders.
34 He spake, and the locust came,
And the grasshopper, and that without number,
35 And did eat up every herb in their land,
And did eat up the fruit of their ground.
36 He smote also all the first-born in their land,
The [e]chief of all their strength.
37 And he brought them forth with silver and gold;
And there was [f]not one feeble person among his tribes.
38 Egypt was glad when they departed;
For the fear of them had fallen upon them.
39 He spread a cloud for a covering,
And fire to give light in the night.
40 They asked, and he brought quails,
And satisfied them with the bread of heaven.
41 He opened the rock, and waters gushed out;
They ran in the dry places like a river.
42 For he remembered his holy word,
And Abraham his servant.
43 And he brought forth his people with joy,
And his chosen with singing.
44 And he gave them the lands of the nations;
And they took the labor of the peoples in possession:
45 That they might keep his statutes,
And observe his laws.
[g]Praise ye Jehovah.
8 And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel. 2 Now the name of his first-born was Joel; and the name of his second, Abijah: they were judges in Beer-sheba. 3 And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted justice.
4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah; 5 and they said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. 6 But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto Jehovah. 7 And Jehovah said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee; for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not be king over them. 8 According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, in that they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee. 9 Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit thou shalt protest solemnly unto them, and shalt show them the manner of the king that shall reign over them.
10 And Samuel told all the words of Jehovah unto the people that asked of him a king. 11 And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: he will take your sons, and appoint them unto him, [a]for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and they shall run before his chariots; 12 and he will appoint them unto him for captains of thousands, and captains of fifties; and he will set some to plow his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and the instruments of his chariots. 13 And he will take your daughters to be perfumers, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. 14 And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. 15 And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his [b]officers, and to his servants. 16 And he will take your men-servants, and your maid-servants, and your goodliest [c]young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. 17 He will take the tenth of your flocks: and ye shall be his servants. 18 And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king whom ye shall have chosen you; and Jehovah will not answer you in that day.
19 But the people refused to hearken unto the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay: but we will have a king over us, 20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles. 21 And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of Jehovah. 22 And Jehovah said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go ye every man unto his city.
15 And all that sat in the council, fastening their eyes on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.
7 And the high priest said, Are these things so? 2 And he said,
Brethren and fathers, hearken: The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, 3 and said unto him, Get thee out of thy land, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall show thee. 4 Then came he out of the land of the Chaldaeans, and dwelt in Haran: and from thence, when his father was dead, God removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell: 5 and he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on: and he promised that he would give it to him in possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child. 6 And God spake on this wise, that his seed should sojourn in a strange land, and that they should bring them into bondage, and treat them ill, four hundred years. 7 And the nation to which they shall be in bondage will I judge, said God: and after that shall they come forth, and serve me in this place. 8 And he gave him the covenant of circumcision: and so Abraham begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac begat Jacob, and Jacob the twelve patriarchs. 9 And the patriarchs, moved with jealousy against Joseph, sold him into Egypt: and God was with him, 10 and delivered him out of all his afflictions, and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house. 11 Now there came a famine over all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction: and our fathers found no sustenance. 12 But when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent forth our fathers the first time. 13 And at the second time Joseph was made known to his brethren; and Joseph’s race became manifest unto Pharaoh. 14 And Joseph sent, and called to him Jacob his father, and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls. 15 And Jacob went down into Egypt; and he died, himself and our fathers; 16 and they were carried over unto Shechem, and laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a price in silver of the sons of [a]Hamor in Shechem.
24 And there arose also a contention among them, which of them was accounted to be [a]greatest. 25 And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles have lordship over them; and they that have authority over them are called Benefactors. 26 But ye shall not be so: but he that is the greater among you, let him become as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve. 27 For which is greater, he that [b]sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? is not he that [c]sitteth at meat? but I am in the midst of you as he that serveth. 28 But ye are they that have continued with me in my temptations; 29 and [d]I appoint unto you a kingdom, even as my Father appointed unto me, 30 that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom; and ye shall sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
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