Book of Common Prayer
105 Give ye thanks to Jehovah -- call ye in His name, Make known among the peoples His acts.
2 Sing ye to Him -- sing praise to Him, Meditate ye on all His wonders.
3 Boast yourselves in His Holy Name, The heart of those seeking Jehovah rejoiceth.
4 Seek ye Jehovah and His strength, Seek ye His face continually.
5 Remember His wonders that He did, His signs and the judgments of His mouth.
6 O seed of Abraham, His servant, O sons of Jacob, His chosen ones.
7 He [is] Jehovah our God, In all the earth [are] His judgments.
8 He hath remembered to the age His covenant, The word He commanded to a thousand generations,
9 That He hath made with Abraham, And His oath to Isaac,
10 And doth establish it to Jacob for a statute, To Israel -- a covenant age-during,
11 Saying, `To thee I give the land of Canaan, The portion of your inheritance,'
12 In their being few in number, But a few, and sojourners in it.
13 And they go up and down, from nation unto nation, From a kingdom unto another people.
14 He hath not suffered any to oppress them And He reproveth for their sakes kings.
15 `Strike not against Mine anointed, And to My prophets do not evil.'
16 And He calleth a famine on the land, The whole staff of bread He hath broken.
17 He hath sent before them a man, For a servant hath Joseph been sold.
18 They have afflicted with fetters his feet, Iron hath entered his soul,
19 Till the time of the coming of His word The saying of Jehovah hath tried him.
20 The king hath sent, and looseth him, The ruler of the peoples, and draweth him out.
21 He hath made him lord of his house, And ruler over all his possessions.
22 To bind his chiefs at his pleasure, And his elders he maketh wise.
23 And Israel cometh in to Egypt, And Jacob hath sojourned in the land of Ham.
24 And He maketh His people very fruitful, And maketh it mightier than its adversaries.
25 He turned their heart to hate His people, To conspire against His servants.
26 He hath sent Moses His servant, Aaron whom He had fixed on.
27 They have set among them the matters of His signs, And wonders in the land of Ham.
28 He hath sent darkness, and it is dark, And they have not provoked His word.
29 He hath turned their waters to blood, And putteth to death their fish.
30 Teemed hath their land [with] frogs, In the inner chambers of their kings.
31 He hath said, and the beetle cometh, Lice into all their border.
32 He hath made their showers hail, A flaming fire [is] in their land.
33 And He smiteth their vine and their fig, And shivereth the trees of their border.
34 He hath said, and the locust cometh, And the cankerworm -- innumerable,
35 And it consumeth every herb in their land, And it consumeth the fruit of their ground.
36 And He smiteth every first-born in their land, The first-fruit of all their strength,
37 And bringeth them out with silver and gold, And there is not in its tribes a feeble one.
38 Rejoiced hath Egypt in their going forth, For their fear had fallen upon them.
39 He hath spread a cloud for a covering, And fire to enlighten the night.
40 They have asked, and He bringeth quails, And [with] bread of heaven satisfieth them.
41 He hath opened a rock, and waters issue, They have gone on in dry places -- a river.
42 For He hath remembered His holy word, With Abraham His servant,
43 And He bringeth forth His people with joy, With singing His chosen ones.
44 And He giveth to them the lands of nations, And the labour of peoples they possess,
45 That they may observe His statutes, And His laws may keep. Praise ye Jehovah!
8 And it cometh to pass, when Samuel [is] aged, that he maketh his sons judges over Israel.
2 And the name of his first-born son is Joel, and the name of his second Abiah, judges in Beer-Sheba:
3 and his sons have not walked in his ways, and turn aside after the dishonest gain, and take a bribe, and turn aside judgment.
4 And all the elders of Israel gather themselves together, and come in unto Samuel to Ramath,
5 and say unto him, `Lo, thou hast become aged, and thy sons have not walked in thy ways; now, appoint to us a king, to judge us, like all the nations.'
6 And the thing is evil in the eyes of Samuel, when they have said, `Give to us a king to judge us;' and Samuel prayeth unto Jehovah.
7 And Jehovah saith unto Samuel, `Hearken to the voice of the people, to all that they say unto thee, for thee they have not rejected, but Me they have rejected, from reigning over them.
8 According to all the works that they have done from the day of My bringing them up out of Egypt, even unto this day, when they forsake Me, and serve other gods -- so they are doing also to thee.
9 And now, hearken to their voice; only, surely thou dost certainly protest to them, and hast declared to them the custom of the king who doth reign over them.'
10 And Samuel speaketh all the words of Jehovah unto the people who are asking from him a king,
11 and saith, `This is the custom of the king who doth reign over you: Your sons he doth take, and hath appointed for himself among his chariots, and among his horsemen, and they have run before his chariots;
12 also to appoint for himself heads of thousands, and heads of fifties; also to plow his plowing, and to reap his reaping; and to make instruments of his war, and instruments of his charioteer.
13 `And your daughters he doth take for perfumers, and for cooks, and for bakers;
14 and your fields, and your vineyards, and your olive-yards -- the best -- he doth take, and hath given to his servants.
15 And your seed and your vineyards he doth tithe, and hath given to his eunuchs, and to his servants.
16 And your men-servants, and your maid-servants, and your young men -- the best, and your asses, he doth take, and hath prepared for his own work;
17 your flock he doth tithe, and ye are to him for servants.
18 And ye have cried out in that day because of the king whom ye have chosen for yourselves, and Jehovah doth not answer you in that day.'
19 And the people refuse to hearken to the voice of Samuel, and say, `Nay, but a king is over us,
20 and we have been, even we, like all the nations; and our king hath judged us, and gone out before us, and fought our battles.'
21 And Samuel heareth all the words of the people, and speaketh them in the ears of Jehovah;
22 and Jehovah saith unto Samuel, `Hearken to their voice, and thou hast caused to reign over them a king.' And Samuel saith unto the men of Israel, `Go ye each to his city.'
15 and gazing at him, all those sitting in the sanhedrim saw his face as it were the face of a messenger.
7 And the chief priest said, `Are then these things so?'
2 and he said, `Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken: The God of the glory did appear to our father Abraham, being in Mesopotamia, before his dwelling in Haran,
3 and He said to him, Go forth out of thy land, and out of thy kindred, and come to a land that I shall shew thee.
4 `Then having come forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, he dwelt in Haran, and from thence, after the death of his father, He did remove him to this land wherein ye now dwell,
5 and He gave him no inheritance in it, not even a footstep, and did promise to give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him -- he having no child.
6 `And God spake thus, That his seed shall be sojourning in a strange land, and they shall cause it to serve, and shall do it evil four hundred years,
7 and the nation whom they shall serve I will judge, said God; and after these things they shall come forth and shall do Me service in this place.
8 `And He gave to him a covenant of circumcision, and so he begat Isaac, and did circumcise him on the eighth day, and Isaac [begat] Jacob, and Jacob -- the twelve patriarchs;
9 and the patriarchs, having been moved with jealousy, sold Joseph to Egypt, and God was with him,
10 and did deliver him out of all his tribulations, and gave him favour and wisdom before Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he did set him -- governor over Egypt and all his house.
11 `And there came a dearth upon all the land of Egypt and Canaan, and great tribulation, and our fathers were not finding sustenance,
12 and Jacob having heard that there was corn in Egypt, sent forth our fathers a first time;
13 and at the second time was Joseph made known to his brethren, and Joseph's kindred became manifest to Pharaoh,
14 and Joseph having sent, did call for his father Jacob, and all his kindred -- with seventy and five souls --
15 and Jacob went down to Egypt, and died, himself and our fathers,
16 and they were carried over into Sychem, and were laid in the tomb that Abraham bought for a price in money from the sons of Emmor, of Sychem.
24 And there happened also a strife among them -- who of them is accounted to be greater.
25 And he said to them, `The kings of the nations do exercise lordship over them, and those exercising authority upon them are called benefactors;
26 but ye [are] not so, but he who is greater among you -- let him be as the younger; and he who is leading, as he who is ministering;
27 for who is greater? he who is reclining (at meat), or he who is ministering? is it not he who is reclining (at meat)? and I -- I am in your midst as he who is ministering.
28 `And ye -- ye are those who have remained with me in my temptations,
29 and I appoint to you, as my Father did appoint to me, a kingdom,
30 that ye may eat and may drink at my table, in my kingdom, and may sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.'