Book of Common Prayer
מ Mem.
97 Oh how love I thy law!
It is my meditation all the day.
98 [a]Thy commandments make me wiser than mine enemies;
For they are ever with me.
99 I have more understanding than all my teachers;
For thy testimonies are my meditation.
100 I understand more than the aged,
Because I have kept thy precepts.
101 I have refrained my feet from every evil way,
That I might observe thy word.
102 I have not turned aside from thine ordinances;
For thou hast taught me.
103 How sweet are thy words unto my [b]taste!
Yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
104 Through thy precepts I get understanding:
Therefore I hate every false way.
נ Nun.
105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet,
And light unto my path.
106 I have sworn, and have confirmed it,
That I will observe thy righteous ordinances.
107 I am afflicted very much:
Quicken me, O Jehovah, according unto thy word.
108 Accept, I beseech thee, the freewill-offerings of my mouth, O Jehovah,
And teach me thine ordinances.
109 My soul is continually in my hand;
Yet do I not forget thy law.
110 The wicked have laid a snare for me;
Yet have I not gone astray from thy precepts.
111 Thy testimonies have I taken as a heritage for ever;
For they are the rejoicing of my heart.
112 I have inclined my heart to perform thy statutes
For ever, even unto the end.
ס Samekh.
113 I hate them that are of a double mind;
But thy law do I love.
114 Thou art my hiding-place and my shield:
I hope in thy word.
115 Depart from me, ye evil-doers,
That I may keep the commandments of my God.
116 Uphold me according unto thy word, that I may live;
And let me not be ashamed of my hope.
117 Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe,
And shall have respect unto thy statutes continually.
118 Thou hast set at nought all them that err from thy statutes;
For their deceit is [c]falsehood.
119 Thou [d]puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross:
Therefore I love thy testimonies.
120 My flesh trembleth for fear of thee;
And I am afraid of thy judgments.
God’s goodness and Israel’s waywardness.
For the Chief Musician; set to the Gittith. A Psalm of Asaph.
81 Sing aloud unto God our strength:
Make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.
2 Raise a song, and [a]bring hither the timbrel,
The pleasant harp with the psaltery.
3 Blow the trumpet at the new moon,
At the full moon, on our feast-day.
4 For it is a statute for Israel,
An ordinance of the God of Jacob.
5 He appointed it in Joseph for a testimony,
When he went out [b]over the land of Egypt,
Where I heard [c]a language that I knew not.
6 I removed his shoulder from the burden:
His hands were freed from the basket.
7 Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee;
I answered thee in the secret place of thunder;
I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. Selah
8 Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee:
O Israel, if thou wouldest hearken unto me!
9 There shall no strange god be in thee;
Neither shalt thou worship any foreign god.
10 I am Jehovah thy God,
Who brought thee up out of the land of Egypt:
Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.
11 But my people hearkened not to my voice;
And Israel would none of me.
12 So I let them go after the stubbornness of their heart,
That they might walk in their own counsels.
13 Oh that my people would hearken unto me,
That Israel would walk in my ways!
14 I would soon subdue their enemies,
And turn my hand against their adversaries.
15 The haters of Jehovah should [d]submit themselves unto him:
But their time should endure for ever.
16 He would feed them also with the [e]finest of the wheat;
And with honey out of the rock would I satisfy thee.
Unjust judgments rebuked.
A Psalm of Asaph.
82 God standeth in the congregation of God;
He judgeth among the gods.
2 How long will ye judge unjustly,
And respect the persons of the wicked? Selah
3 Judge the [f]poor and fatherless:
Do justice to the afflicted and destitute.
4 Rescue the [g]poor and needy:
Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.
5 They know not, neither do they understand;
They walk to and fro in darkness:
All the foundations of the earth are shaken.
6 I said, Ye are gods,
And all of you sons of the Most High.
7 Nevertheless ye shall die like men,
And fall like one of the princes.
8 Arise, O God, judge the earth;
For thou shalt inherit all the nations.
19 So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came unto the outermost part of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch, when they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and brake in pieces the pitchers that were in their hands. 20 And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the torches in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands wherewith to blow; and they cried, [a]The sword of Jehovah and of Gideon. 21 And they stood every man in his place round about the camp; and all the host ran; and they shouted, and [b]put them to flight. 22 And they blew the three hundred trumpets, and Jehovah set every man’s sword against his fellow, and against all the host; and the host fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the [c]border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath. 23 And the men of Israel were gathered together out of Naphtali, and out of Asher, and out of all Manasseh, and pursued after Midian.
24 And Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill-country of Ephraim, saying, Come down against Midian, and take before them the waters, as far as Beth-barah, [d]even the Jordan. So all the men of Ephraim were gathered together, and took the waters as far as Beth-barah, [e]even the Jordan. 25 And they took the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; and they slew Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they slew at the winepress of Zeeb, and pursued Midian: and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon beyond the Jordan.
8 And the men of Ephraim said unto him, Why hast thou served us thus, that thou calledst us not, when thou wentest to fight with Midian? And they did chide with him sharply. 2 And he said unto them, What have I now done in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer? 3 God hath delivered into your hand the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb: and what was I able to do in comparison with you? Then their [f]anger was abated toward him, when he had said that.
4 And Gideon came to the Jordan, [g]and passed over, he, and the three hundred men that were with him, faint, yet pursuing. 5 And he said unto the men of Succoth, Give, I pray you, loaves of bread unto the people that follow me; for they are faint, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian. 6 And the princes of Succoth said, Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in thy hand, that we should give bread unto thine army? 7 And Gideon said, Therefore when Jehovah hath delivered Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, then I will [h]tear your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers. 8 And he went up thence to Penuel, and spake unto them in like manner; and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered. 9 And he spake also unto the men of Penuel, saying, When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower.
10 Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor, and their hosts with them, about fifteen thousand men, all that were left of all the host of the children of the east; for there fell a hundred and twenty thousand men that drew sword. 11 And Gideon went up by the way of them that dwelt in tents on the east of Nobah and Jogbehah, and smote the host; for the host was secure. 12 And Zebah and Zalmunna fled; and he pursued after them; and he took the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and [i]discomfited all the host.
12 And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this [a]man? or why fasten ye your eyes on us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made him to walk? 13 The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his [b]Servant Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied before the face of Pilate, when he had determined to release him. 14 But ye denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted unto you, 15 and killed the [c]Prince of life; whom God raised from the dead; [d]whereof we are witnesses. 16 And [e]by faith in his name hath his name made this man strong, whom ye behold and know: yea, the faith which is through him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. 17 And now, brethren, I know that in ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers. 18 But the things which God foreshowed by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ should suffer, he thus fulfilled. 19 Repent ye therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that so there may come seasons of refreshing from the presence of the Lord; 20 and that he may send the Christ who hath been appointed for you, even Jesus: 21 whom the heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, whereof God spake by the mouth of his holy prophets that have been from of old. 22 Moses indeed said, [f]A prophet shall the Lord God raise up unto you from among your brethren, [g]like unto me; to him shall ye hearken in all things whatsoever he shall speak unto you. 23 [h]And it shall be, that every soul that shall not hearken to that prophet, shall be utterly destroyed from among the people. 24 Yea and all the prophets from Samuel and them that followed after, as many as have spoken, they also told of these days. 25 Ye are the sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God [i]made with your fathers, saying unto Abraham, [j]And in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 26 Unto you first God, having raised up his [k]Servant, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.
29 On the morrow he seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold, the Lamb of God, that [a]taketh away the sin of the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man who is become before me: for he was [b]before me. 31 And I knew him not; but that he should be made manifest to Israel, for this cause came I baptizing [c]in water. 32 And John bare witness, saying, I have beheld the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven; and it abode upon him. 33 And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize [d]in water, he said unto me, Upon whomsoever thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and abiding upon him, the same is he that baptizeth [e]in the Holy Spirit. 34 And I have seen, and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.
35 Again on the morrow John was standing, and two of his disciples; 36 and he looked upon Jesus as he walked, and saith, Behold, the Lamb of God! 37 And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. 38 And Jesus turned, and beheld them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? And they said unto him, Rabbi (which is to say, being interpreted, Teacher), where abidest thou? 39 He saith unto them, Come, and ye shall see. They came therefore and saw where he abode; and they abode with him that day: it was about the tenth hour. 40 One of the two that heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He findeth first his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messiah (which is, being interpreted, [f]Christ). 42 He brought him unto Jesus. Jesus looked upon him, and said, Thou art Simon the son of [g]John: thou shalt be called Cephas (which is by interpretation, [h]Peter).
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