Book of Common Prayer
A Song of Praise to the Sovereign Lord
2 (B)Clouds and darkness surround Him;
(C)Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.
3 (D)A fire goes before Him,
And burns up His enemies round about.
4 (E)His lightnings light the world;
The earth sees and trembles.
5 (F)The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the Lord,
At the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.
6 (G)The heavens declare His righteousness,
And all the peoples see His glory.
7 (H)Let all be put to shame who serve carved images,
Who boast of idols.
(I)Worship Him, all you gods.
8 Zion hears and is glad,
And the daughters of Judah rejoice
Because of Your judgments, O Lord.
9 For You, Lord, are (J)most high above all the earth;
(K)You are exalted far above all gods.
10 You who love the Lord, (L)hate evil!
(M)He preserves the souls of His saints;
(N)He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.
11 (O)Light is sown for the righteous,
And gladness for the upright in heart.
12 (P)Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous,
(Q)And give thanks [b]at the remembrance of [c]His holy name.
Praise to the Lord for His Holiness
99 The Lord reigns;
Let the peoples tremble!
(A)He dwells between the cherubim;
Let the earth be [a]moved!
2 The Lord is great in Zion,
And He is high above all the peoples.
3 Let them praise Your great and awesome name—
[b]He is holy.
4 The King’s strength also loves justice;
You have established equity;
You have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.
5 Exalt the Lord our God,
And worship at His footstool—
He is holy.
6 Moses and Aaron were among His priests,
And Samuel was among those who (B)called upon His name;
They called upon the Lord, and He answered them.
7 He spoke to them in the cloudy pillar;
They kept His testimonies and the [c]ordinance He gave them.
8 You answered them, O Lord our God;
You were to them God-Who-Forgives,
Though You took vengeance on their deeds.
9 Exalt the Lord our God,
And worship at His holy hill;
For the Lord our God is holy.
A Song of Praise for the Lord’s Faithfulness to His People
(C)A Psalm of Thanksgiving.
God the Refuge of the Righteous
94 O Lord God, (A)to whom vengeance belongs—
O God, to whom vengeance belongs, shine forth!
2 Rise up, O (B)Judge of the earth;
[a]Render punishment to the proud.
3 Lord, (C)how long will the wicked,
How long will the wicked triumph?
4 They (D)utter speech, and speak insolent things;
All the workers of iniquity boast in themselves.
5 They break in pieces Your people, O Lord,
And afflict Your heritage.
6 They slay the widow and the stranger,
And murder the fatherless.
7 (E)Yet they say, “The Lord does not see,
Nor does the God of Jacob [b]understand.”
8 Understand, you senseless among the people;
And you fools, when will you be wise?
9 (F)He who planted the ear, shall He not hear?
He who formed the eye, shall He not see?
10 He who [c]instructs the [d]nations, shall He not correct,
He who teaches man knowledge?
11 The Lord (G)knows the thoughts of man,
That they are futile.
12 Blessed is the man whom You (H)instruct, O Lord,
And teach out of Your law,
13 That You may give him [e]rest from the days of adversity,
Until the pit is dug for the wicked.
14 For the Lord will not [f]cast off His people,
Nor will He forsake His inheritance.
15 But judgment will return to righteousness,
And all the upright in heart will follow it.
16 Who will rise up for me against the evildoers?
Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?
17 Unless the Lord had been my help,
My soul would soon have settled in silence.
18 If I say, “My foot slips,”
Your mercy, O Lord, will hold me up.
19 In the multitude of my anxieties within me,
Your comforts delight my soul.
20 Shall (I)the throne of iniquity, which devises evil by law,
Have fellowship with You?
21 They gather together against the life of the righteous,
And condemn (J)innocent blood.
22 But the Lord has been my defense,
And my God the rock of my refuge.
23 He has brought on them their own iniquity,
And shall [g]cut them off in their own wickedness;
The Lord our God shall cut them off.
A Call to Worship and Obedience
95 Oh come, let us sing to the Lord!
Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving;
Let us shout joyfully to Him with (K)psalms.
3 For (L)the Lord is the great God,
And the great King above all gods.
4 [h]In His hand are the deep places of the earth;
The heights of the hills are His also.
5 (M)The sea is His, for He made it;
And His hands formed the dry land.
6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
Let (N)us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
7 For He is our God,
And (O)we are the people of His pasture,
And the sheep [i]of His hand.
(P)Today, if you will hear His voice:
8 “Do not harden your hearts, as in the [j]rebellion,
(Q)As in the day of [k]trial in the wilderness,
9 When (R)your fathers tested Me;
They tried Me, though they (S)saw My work.
10 For (T)forty years I was [l]grieved with that generation,
And said, ‘It is a people who go astray in their hearts,
And they do not know My ways.’
11 So (U)I swore in My wrath,
‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ”
The Birth of Samson(A)
13 Again the children of Israel (B)did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord delivered them (C)into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.
2 Now there was a certain man from (D)Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had no children. 3 And the (E)Angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Indeed now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. 4 Now therefore, please be careful (F)not to drink wine or similar drink, and not to eat anything unclean. 5 For behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. And no (G)razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be (H)a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall (I)begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.”
6 So the woman came and told her husband, saying, (J)“A Man of God came to me, and His (K)countenance[a] was like the countenance of the Angel of God, very awesome; but I (L)did not ask Him where He was from, and He did not tell me His name. 7 And He said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. Now drink no wine or similar drink, nor eat anything unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’ ”
8 Then Manoah prayed to the Lord, and said, “O my Lord, please let the Man of God whom You sent come to us again and teach us what we shall do for the child who will be born.”
9 And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the Angel of God came to the woman again as she was sitting in the field; but Manoah her husband was not with her. 10 Then the woman ran in haste and told her husband, and said to him, “Look, the Man who came to me the other day has just now appeared to me!”
11 So Manoah arose and followed his wife. When he came to the Man, he said to Him, “Are You the Man who spoke to this woman?”
And He said, “I am.”
12 Manoah said, “Now let Your words come to pass! What will be the boy’s rule of life, and his work?”
13 So the Angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “Of all that I said to the woman let her be careful. 14 She may not eat anything that comes from the vine, (M)nor may she drink wine or similar drink, nor eat anything unclean. All that I commanded her let her observe.”
15 Then Manoah said to the Angel of the Lord, “Please (N)let us detain You, and we will prepare a young goat for You.”
27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest asked them, 28 saying, (A)“Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, (B)and intend to bring this Man’s (C)blood on us!”
29 But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: (D)“We ought to obey God rather than men. 30 (E)The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by (F)hanging on a tree. 31 (G)Him God has exalted to His right hand to be (H)Prince and (I)Savior, (J)to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 32 And (K)we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit (L)whom God has given to those who obey Him.”
Gamaliel’s Advice
33 When they heard this, they were (M)furious[a] and plotted to kill them. 34 Then one in the council stood up, a Pharisee named (N)Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in respect by all the people, and commanded them to put the apostles outside for a little while. 35 And he said to them: “Men of Israel, [b]take heed to yourselves what you intend to do regarding these men. 36 For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody. A number of men, about four hundred, [c]joined him. He was slain, and all who obeyed him were scattered and came to nothing. 37 After this man, Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the census, and drew away many people after him. He also perished, and all who obeyed him were dispersed. 38 And now I say to you, keep away from these men and let them alone; for if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing; 39 (O)but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it—lest you even be found (P)to fight against God.”
40 And they agreed with him, and when they had (Q)called for the apostles (R)and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41 So they departed from the presence of the council, (S)rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for [d]His name. 42 And daily (T)in the temple, and in every house, (U)they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.
John the Baptist Exalts Christ
22 After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He remained with them (A)and baptized. 23 Now John also was baptizing in Aenon near (B)Salim, because there was much water there. (C)And they came and were baptized. 24 For (D)John had not yet been thrown into prison.
25 Then there arose a dispute between some of John’s disciples and the Jews about purification. 26 And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, (E)to whom you have testified—behold, He is baptizing, and all (F)are coming to Him!”
27 John answered and said, (G)“A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. 28 You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, (H)‘I am not the Christ,’ but, (I)‘I have been sent before Him.’ 29 (J)He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but (K)the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. 30 (L)He must increase, but I must decrease. 31 (M)He who comes from above (N)is above all; (O)he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. (P)He who comes from heaven is above all. 32 And (Q)what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony. 33 He who has received His testimony (R)has certified that God is true. 34 (S)For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit (T)by measure. 35 (U)The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand. 36 (V)He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the (W)wrath of God abides on him.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.