Book of Common Prayer

Psalm 93

Psalm 96

Psalm 34^[a]

Of David, when he pretended to be crazy before Abimelech, who banished him so that he left.

The community responds

10 While Ezra was praying and confessing, weeping and bowing down before God’s house, a very large crowd of men, women, and children of Israel gathered around him. The people also wept in distress. ² Then Shecaniah, Jehiel’s son, from the family of Elam, spoke up and said to Ezra, “We’ve been unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women from the neighboring peoples.^[a] But even now, there is hope for Israel in spite of this. ³ Let’s now make a covenant with our God to send away all these wives and their children, according to the advice of my master and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God. Let it be done according to the Instruction. ⁴ Get up, for it is your duty to deal with this matter; we will support you. Be strong and act.” ⁵ So Ezra got up and made the leading priests, the Levites, and all Israel take a solemn pledge that they would do as had been said. So they took a solemn pledge.

The assembly decides

⁶ Then Ezra got up from the area in front of God’s house and went to the room of Jehohanan, Eliashib’s son, where he spent^[b] the night. He didn’t eat food or drink water, for he was mourning because of the unfaithfulness of the exiles.

⁷ An order was then circulated throughout Judah and Jerusalem that all the returned exiles should gather in Jerusalem. ⁸ All those who failed to appear within three days, as mandated by the officials and elders, would have all their property taken away. They would be separated from the congregation of the exiles. ⁹ So within three days, all the people of Judah and Benjamin gathered in Jerusalem. It was the twentieth day of the ninth month.^[c] All of the people sat in the area in front of God’s house, trembling because of this order and because of the heavy rain.

¹⁰ Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have been unfaithful by marrying foreign women and adding to Israel’s guilt. ¹¹ But now, make a confession to the Lord God of your ancestors and do his will. Separate yourselves from the neighboring peoples^[d] and from the foreign wives.”

¹² The whole assembly shouted in reply, “Yes. We must do as you have said. ¹³ But there are many people, and it’s the rainy season; we can’t continue to stand outside. Nor can this task be completed in a day or two because many of us have sinned in this matter. ¹⁴ Let our leaders represent the entire assembly. Let all in our towns who have taken foreign wives come at appointed times, along with the elders and judges of every town, until God’s great anger at us on account of this matter be averted.” ¹⁵ Only Jonathan, Asahel’s son, and Jahzeiah, Tikvah’s son, opposed this; Meshullam and Shabbethai the Levites supported them.

Resolving the issue

¹⁶ Then the returned exiles did so. Ezra the priest chose^[e] certain men, heads of families, each representing their family houses. Each of them was designated by name. On the first day of the tenth month^[f] they sat down to examine the matter. ¹⁷ By the first day of the first month,^[g] they had come to the end of all the men who had married foreign women.

¹⁰ The governor nodded at Paul, giving him permission to speak.

He responded, “I know that you have been judge over this nation for many years, so I gladly offer my own defense. ¹¹ You can verify that I went up to worship in Jerusalem no more than twelve days ago. ¹² They didn’t find me arguing with anyone in the temple or stirring up a crowd, whether in the synagogue or anywhere else in the city. ¹³ Nor can they prove to you the allegations they are now bringing against me. ¹⁴ I do admit this to you, that I am a follower of the Way, which they call a faction. Accordingly, I worship the God of our ancestors and believe everything set out in the Law and written in the Prophets. ¹⁵ The hope I have in God I also share with my accusers, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous. ¹⁶ On account of this, I have committed myself to maintaining a clear conscience before God and with all people. ¹⁷ After an absence of several years, I came to Jerusalem to bring gifts for the poor of my nation and to offer sacrifices. ¹⁸ When they found me in the temple, I was ritually pure. There was no crowd and no disturbance. ¹⁹ But there were some Jews from the province of Asia. They should be here making their accusations, if indeed they have something against me. ²⁰ In their absence, have these people who are here declare what crime they found when I stood before the Jerusalem Council. ²¹ Perhaps it concerns this one statement that I blurted out when I was with them: ‘I am on trial before you today because of the resurrection of the dead.’”

¹² Then Jesus said to the person who had invited him, “When you host a lunch or dinner, don’t invite your friends, your brothers and sisters, your relatives, or rich neighbors. If you do, they will invite you in return and that will be your reward. ¹³ Instead, when you give a banquet, invite the poor, crippled, lame, and blind. ¹⁴ And you will be blessed because they can’t repay you. Instead, you will be repaid when the just are resurrected.”

¹⁵ When one of the dinner guests heard Jesus’ remarks, he said to Jesus, “Happy are those who will feast in God’s kingdom.”

¹⁶ Jesus replied, “A certain man hosted a large dinner and invited many people. ¹⁷ When it was time for the dinner to begin, he sent his servant to tell the invited guests, ‘Come! The dinner is now ready.’ ¹⁸ One by one, they all began to make excuses. The first one told him, ‘I bought a farm and must go and see it. Please excuse me.’ ¹⁹  Another said, ‘I bought five teams of oxen, and I’m going to check on them. Please excuse me.’ ²⁰ Another said, ‘I just got married, so I can’t come.’ ²¹  When he returned, the servant reported these excuses to his master. The master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go quickly to the city’s streets, the busy ones and the side streets, and bring the poor, crippled, blind, and lame.’ ²² The servant said, ‘Master, your instructions have been followed and there is still room.’ ²³ The master said to the servant, ‘Go to the highways and back alleys and urge people to come in so that my house will be filled. ²⁴ I tell you, not one of those who were invited will taste my dinner.’”