Book of Common Prayer
97 Oh, how I love them. I think about them all day long. 98 They make me wiser than my enemies because they are my constant guide. 99 Yes, wiser than my teachers, for I am ever thinking of your rules. 100 They make me even wiser than the aged.
101 I have refused to walk the paths of evil, for I will remain obedient to your Word. 102-103 No, I haven’t turned away from what you taught me; your words are sweeter than honey. 104 And since only your rules can give me wisdom and understanding, no wonder I hate every false teaching.
105 Your words are a flashlight to light the path ahead of me and keep me from stumbling. 106 I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again and again: I will obey these wonderful laws of yours.
107 I am close to death at the hands of my enemies; oh, give me back my life again, just as you promised me. 108 Accept my grateful thanks and teach me your desires. 109 My life hangs in the balance, but I will not give up obedience to your laws. 110 The wicked have set their traps for me along your path, but I will not turn aside. 111 Your laws are my joyous treasure forever. 112 I am determined to obey you until I die.
113 I hate those who are undecided whether or not to obey you; but my choice is clear—I love your law. 114 You are my refuge and my shield, and your promises are my only source of hope. 115 Begone, you evil-minded men! Don’t try to stop me from obeying God’s commands. 116 Lord, you promised to let me live! Never let it be said that God failed me. 117 Hold me safe above the heads of all my enemies; then I can continue to obey your laws.
118 But you have rejected all who reject your laws. They are only fooling themselves. 119 The wicked are the scum you skim off and throw away; no wonder I love to obey your laws! 120 I tremble in fear of you; I fear your punishments.
81 The Lord makes us strong! Sing praises! Sing to Israel’s God!
2 Sing, accompanied by drums; pluck the sweet lyre and harp. 3 Sound the trumpet! Come to the joyous celebrations at full moon, new moon, and all the other holidays. 4 For God has given us these times of joy; they are scheduled in the laws of Israel. 5 He gave them as reminders of his war against Egypt where we were slaves on foreign soil.
I heard an unknown voice that said, 6 “Now I will relieve your shoulder of its burden; I will free your hands from their heavy tasks.” 7 He said, “You cried to me in trouble, and I saved you; I answered from Mount Sinai[a] where the thunder hides. I tested your faith at Meribah, when you complained there was no water. 8 Listen to me, O my people, while I give you stern warnings. O Israel, if you will only listen! 9 You must never worship any other god, nor ever have an idol in your home.[b] 10 For it was I, Jehovah your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. Only test me![c] Open your mouth wide and see if I won’t fill it. You will receive every blessing you can use!
11 “But no, my people won’t listen. Israel doesn’t want me around. 12 So I am letting them go their blind and stubborn way, living according to their own desires.
13 “But oh, that my people would listen to me! Oh, that Israel would follow me, walking in my paths! 14 How quickly then I would subdue her enemies! How soon my hands would be upon her foes! 15 Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him; their desolation would last forever. 16 But he would feed you with the choicest foods. He would satisfy you with honey for the taking.”[d]
82 God stands up to open heaven’s court. He pronounces judgment on the judges.[e] 2 How long will you judges refuse to listen to the evidence? How long will you shower special favors on the wicked? 3 Give fair judgment to the poor man, the afflicted, the fatherless, the destitute. 4 Rescue the poor and helpless from the grasp of evil men. 5 But you are so foolish and so ignorant! Because you are in darkness, all the foundations of society[f] are shaken to the core. 6 I have called you all “gods” and “sons of the Most High.” 7 But in death you are mere men. You will fall as any prince—for all must die.
8 Stand up, O God, and judge the earth. For all of it belongs to you. All nations are in your hands.
19-20 It was just after midnight and the change of guards when Gideon and the hundred men with him crept to the outer edge of the camp of Midian.
Suddenly they blew their trumpets and broke their clay jars so that their torches blazed into the night. Then the other two hundred of his men did the same, blowing the trumpets in their right hands, and holding the flaming torches in their left hands, all shouting, “For the Lord and for Gideon!”[a]
21 Then they just stood and watched as the whole vast enemy army began rushing around in a panic, shouting and running away. 22 For in the confusion the Lord caused the enemy troops to begin fighting and killing each other from one end of the camp to the other, and they fled into the night to places as far away as Beth-shittah near Zererah, and to the border of Abel-meholah near Tabbath.
23 Then Gideon sent for the troops of Naphtali, Asher, and Manasseh and told them to come and chase and destroy the fleeing army of Midian. 24 Gideon also sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim summoning troops who seized the fords of the Jordan River at Beth-barah, thus preventing the Midianites from escaping by going across. 25 Oreb and Zeeb, the two generals of Midian, were captured. Oreb was killed at the rock now known by his name, and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb, as it is now called; and the Israelis took the heads of Oreb and Zeeb across the Jordan to Gideon.
8 But the tribal leaders of Ephraim were violently angry with Gideon.
“Why didn’t you send for us when you first went out to fight the Midianites?” they demanded.
2-3 But Gideon replied, “God let you capture Oreb and Zeeb, the generals of the army of Midian! What have I done in comparison with that? Your actions at the end of the battle were more important than ours at the beginning!”[b] So they calmed down.
4 Gideon now crossed the Jordan River with his three hundred men. They were very tired, but still chasing the enemy. 5 He asked the men of Succoth for food. “We are weary from chasing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian,” he said.
6 But the leaders of Succoth replied, “You haven’t caught them yet![c] If we feed you and you fail, they’ll return and destroy us.”
7 Then Gideon warned them, “When the Lord has delivered them to us, I will return and tear your flesh with the thorns and briars of the wilderness.”
8 Then he went up to Penuel and asked for food there, but got the same answer. 9 And he said to them also, “When this is all over, I will return and break down this tower.”
10 By this time King Zebah and King Zalmunna with a remnant of fifteen thousand troops were in Karkor. That was all that was left of the allied armies of the east; for one hundred twenty thousand had already been killed. 11 Then Gideon circled around by the caravan route east of Nobah and Jogbehah, striking at the Midianite army in surprise raids. 12 The two kings fled, but Gideon chased and captured them, routing their entire force.
12 Peter saw his opportunity and addressed the crowd. “Men of Israel,” he said, “what is so surprising about this? And why look at us as though we by our own power and godliness had made this man walk? 13 For it is the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and of all our ancestors who has brought glory to his servant Jesus by doing this. I refer to the Jesus whom you rejected before Pilate, despite Pilate’s determination to release him. 14 You didn’t want him freed—this holy, righteous one. Instead you demanded the release of a murderer. 15 And you killed the Author of Life; but God brought him back to life again. And John and I are witnesses of this fact, for after you killed him we saw him alive!
16 “Jesus’ name has healed this man—and you know how lame he was before. Faith in Jesus’ name—faith given us from God—has caused this perfect healing.
17 “Dear brothers, I realize that what you did to Jesus was done in ignorance; and the same can be said of your leaders. 18 But God was fulfilling the prophecies that the Messiah must suffer all these things. 19 Now change your mind and attitude to God and turn to him so he can cleanse away your sins and send you wonderful times of refreshment from the presence of the Lord 20 and send Jesus your Messiah back to you again. 21-22 For he must remain in heaven until the final recovery of all things from sin, as prophesied from ancient times. Moses, for instance, said long ago, ‘The Lord God will raise up a Prophet among you, who will resemble me![a] Listen carefully to everything he tells you. 23 Anyone who will not listen to him shall be utterly destroyed.’[b]
24 “Samuel and every prophet since have all spoken about what is going on today. 25 You are the children of those prophets; and you are included in God’s promise to your ancestors to bless the entire world through the Jewish race—that is the promise God gave to Abraham. 26 And as soon as God had brought his servant to life again, he sent him first of all to you men of Israel, to bless you by turning you back from your sins.”
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! There is the Lamb of God who takes away the world’s sin! 30 He is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘Soon a man far greater than I am is coming, who existed long before me!’ 31 I didn’t know he was the one, but I am here baptizing with water in order to point him out to the nation of Israel.”
32 Then John told about seeing the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descending from heaven and resting upon Jesus.
33 “I didn’t know he was the one,” John said again, “but at the time God sent me to baptize he told me, ‘When you see the Holy Spirit descending and resting upon someone—he is the one you are looking for. He is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I saw it happen to this man, and I therefore testify that he is the Son of God.”
35 The following day as John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 Jesus walked by. John looked at him intently and then declared, “See! There is the Lamb of God!”
37 Then John’s two disciples turned and followed Jesus.
38 Jesus looked around and saw them following. “What do you want?” he asked them.
“Sir,” they replied, “where do you live?”
39 “Come and see,” he said. So they went with him to the place where he was staying and were with him from about four o’clock that afternoon until the evening. 40 (One of these men was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother.)
41 Andrew then went to find his brother Peter and told him, “We have found the Messiah!” 42 And he brought Peter to meet Jesus.
Jesus looked intently at Peter for a moment and then said, “You are Simon, John’s son—but you shall be called Peter, the rock!”
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.