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.
14 And Samson went down to Timnah, and saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines. 2 And he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife. 3 Then his father and his mother said unto him, Is there never a woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou goest to take a wife of the uncircumcised Philistines? And Samson said unto his father, Get her for me; for she pleaseth me well. 4 But his father and his mother knew not that it was of Jehovah; for he sought an occasion against the Philistines. Now at that time the Philistines had rule over Israel.
5 Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnah, and came to the vineyards of Timnah: and, behold, a young lion roared against him. 6 And the Spirit of Jehovah came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid; and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done. 7 And he went down, and talked with the woman, and she pleased Samson well. 8 And after a while he returned to take her; and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey. 9 And he took it into his hands, and went on, eating as he went; and he came to his father and mother, and gave unto them, and they did eat: but he told them not that he had taken the honey out of the body of the lion.
10 And his father went down unto the woman: and Samson made there a feast; for so used the young men to do. 11 And it came to pass, when they saw him, that they brought thirty companions to be with him. 12 And Samson said unto them, Let me now put forth a riddle unto you: if ye can declare it unto me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty changes of raiment; 13 but if ye cannot declare it unto me, then shall ye give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of raiment. And they said unto him, Put forth thy riddle, that we may hear it. 14 And he said unto them,
Out of the eater came forth food,
And out of the strong came forth sweetness.
And they could not in three days declare the riddle.
15 And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said unto Samson’s wife, Entice thy husband, that he may declare unto us the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father’s house with fire: have ye called us to [a]impoverish us? is it not so? 16 And Samson’s wife wept before him, and said, Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not: thou hast put forth a riddle unto the children of my people, and hast not told it me. And he said unto her, Behold, I have not told it my father nor my mother, and shall I tell thee? 17 And she wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted: and it came to pass on the seventh day, that he told her, because she pressed him sore; and she told the riddle to the children of her people. 18 And the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? And he said unto them,
If ye had not plowed with my heifer,
Ye had not found out my riddle.
19 And the Spirit of Jehovah came mightily upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon, and smote thirty men of them, and took their [b]spoil, and gave the changes of raiment unto them that declared the riddle. And his anger was kindled, and he went up to his father’s house.
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.
27 And upon this came his disciples; and they marvelled that he was speaking with a woman; yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why speakest thou with her? 28 So the woman left her waterpot, and went away into the city, and saith to the people, 29 Come, see a man, who told me all things that ever I did: can this be the Christ? 30 They went out of the city, and were coming to him. 31 In the mean while the disciples prayed him, saying, Rabbi, eat. 32 But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not. 33 The disciples therefore said one to another, Hath any man brought him aught to eat? 34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to accomplish his work. 35 Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh the harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, that they are [a]white already unto harvest. 36 He that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal; that he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. 37 For herein is the saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth. 38 I sent you to reap that whereon ye have not labored: others have labored, and ye are entered into their labor.
39 And from that city many of the Samaritans believed on him because of the word of the woman, who testified, He told me all things that ever I did. 40 So when the Samaritans came unto him, they besought him to abide with them: and he abode there two days. 41 And many more believed because of his word; 42 and they said to the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy speaking: for we have heard for ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Saviour of the world.
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