Book of Common Prayer

I Have Calmed and Quieted My Soul

A Song of ^(A)Ascents. Of David.

The Lord Has Chosen Zion

A Song of ^(H)Ascents.

When Brothers Dwell in Unity

A Song of ^(AQ)Ascents. Of David.

Come, Bless the Lord

A Song of ^(AZ)Ascents.

Your Name, O Lord, Endures Forever

⁵ And the Philistines mustered to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen and troops ^(A)like the sand on the seashore in multitude. They came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of ^(B)Beth-aven. ⁶ When the men of Israel saw that they were in trouble (for the people were hard pressed), the people hid themselves ^(C)in caves and in holes and in rocks and in tombs and in cisterns, ⁷ and some Hebrews crossed the fords of the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul was still at Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.

Saul's Unlawful Sacrifice

^8 (D)He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him. ⁹ So Saul said, “Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering. ¹⁰ As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came. And Saul went out to meet him and greet him. ¹¹ Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines had mustered at Michmash, ¹² I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the Lord.’ So I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering.” ¹³ And Samuel said to Saul, ^(E)“You have done foolishly. ^(F)You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. ¹⁴ But now ^(G)your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man ^(H)after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince^[a] over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.” ¹⁵ And Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal. The rest of the people went up after Saul to meet the army; they went up from Gilgal^[b] to ^(I)Gibeah of Benjamin.

And Saul numbered the people who were present with him, ^(J)about six hundred men. ¹⁶ And Saul and Jonathan his son and the people who were present with them stayed in ^(K)Geba of Benjamin, but the Philistines encamped in Michmash. ¹⁷ And ^(L)raiders came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies. One company turned toward Ophrah, to the land of Shual; ¹⁸ another company turned toward ^(M)Beth-horon; and another company turned toward the border that looks down on the Valley of ^(N)Zeboim toward the wilderness.

Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch

²⁶ Now ^(A)an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south^[a] to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place. ²⁷ And he rose and went. And there was an ^(B)Ethiopian, a ^(C)eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, ^(D)who was in charge of all her treasure. ^(E)He had come to Jerusalem to worship ²⁸ and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. ²⁹ And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” ³⁰ So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” ³¹ And he said, ^(F)“How can I, unless someone ^(G)guides me?” And ^(H)he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. ³² Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this:

³⁴ And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” ³⁵ Then Philip opened his mouth, and ^(K)beginning with this Scripture ^(L)he told him the good news about Jesus. ³⁶ And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! ^(M)What prevents me from being baptized?”^{[b] 38} And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. ³⁹ And when they came up out of the water, ^(N)the Spirit of the Lord ^(O)carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. ⁴⁰ But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

¹³ Pilate then called together the chief priests and ^(A)the rulers and the people, ¹⁴ and said to them, “You brought me this man ^(B)as one who was misleading the people. And ^(C)after examining him before you, behold, I ^(D)did not find this man guilty of any of your charges against him. ¹⁵ Neither did Herod, for ^(E)he sent him back to us. Look, nothing deserving death has been done by him. ^16 (F)I will therefore punish and release him.”^[a]

Pilate Delivers Jesus to Be Crucified

^18 (G)But they all cried out together, ^(H)“Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas”— ¹⁹ a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city and ^(I)for murder. ²⁰ Pilate addressed them once more, desiring to release Jesus, ²¹ but they kept shouting, “Crucify, crucify him!” ²² A third time he said to them, “Why? ^(J)What evil has he done? ^(K)I have found in him no guilt deserving death. ^(L)I will therefore punish and release him.” ²³ But they were urgent, demanding with loud cries that he should be crucified. And their voices prevailed. ²⁴ So Pilate decided that their demand should be granted. ²⁵ He released the man who had been thrown into prison ^(M)for insurrection and murder, for whom they asked, ^(N)but he delivered Jesus over to their will.