Book of Common Prayer
A Promise to Rule Well
A psalm of David.
101 I will sing of your love and fairness;
Lord, I will sing praises to you.
2 I will be careful to live an innocent life.
When will you come to me?
I will live an innocent life in my house.
3 I will not look at anything wicked.
I hate those who turn against you;
they will not be found near me.
4 Let those who want to do wrong stay away from me;
I will have nothing to do with evil.
5 If anyone secretly says things against his neighbor,
I will stop him.
I will not allow people
to be proud and look down on others.
6 I will look for trustworthy people
so I can live with them in the land.
Only those who live innocent lives
will be my servants.
7 No one who is dishonest will live in my house;
no liars will stay around me.
8 Every morning I will destroy the wicked in the land.
I will rid the Lord’s city of people who do evil.
A Prayer Against an Enemy
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
109 God, I praise you.
Do not be silent.
2 Wicked people and liars have spoken against me;
they have told lies about me.
3 They have said hateful things about me
and attack me for no reason.
4 They attacked me, even though I loved them
and prayed for them.
5 I was good to them, but they repay me with evil.
I loved them, but they hate me in return.
6 They say about me, “Have an evil person work against him,
and let an accuser stand against him.
7 When he is judged, let him be found guilty,
and let even his prayers show his guilt.
8 Let his life be cut short,
and let another man replace him as leader.
9 Let his children become orphans
and his wife a widow.
10 Make his children wander around, begging for food.
Let them be forced out of the ruins in which they live.
11 Let the people to whom he owes money take everything he owns,
and let strangers steal everything he has worked for.
12 Let no one show him love
or have mercy on his orphaned children.
13 Let all his descendants die
and be forgotten by those who live after him.
14 Lord, remember how wicked his ancestors were,
and don’t let the sins of his mother be wiped out.
15 Lord, always remember their sins.
Then make people forget about them completely.
16 “He did not remember to be loving.
He hurt the poor, the needy, and those who were sad
until they were nearly dead.
17 He loved to put curses on others,
so let those same curses fall on him.
He did not like to bless others,
so do not let good things happen to him.
18 He cursed others as often as he wore clothes.
Cursing others filled his body and his life,
like drinking water and using olive oil.
19 So let curses cover him like clothes
and wrap around him like a belt.”
20 May the Lord do these things to those who accuse me,
to those who speak evil against me.
21 But you, Lord God,
be kind to me so others will know you are good.
Because your love is good, save me.
22 I am poor and helpless
and very sad.
23 I am dying like an evening shadow;
I am shaken off like a locust.
24 My knees are weak from fasting,
and I have grown thin.
25 My enemies insult me;
they look at me and shake their heads.
26 Lord my God, help me;
because you are loving, save me.
27 Then they will know that your power has done this;
they will know that you have done it, Lord.
28 They may curse me, but you bless me.
They may attack me, but they will be disgraced.
Then I, your servant, will be glad.
29 Let those who accuse me be disgraced
and covered with shame like a coat.
30 I will thank the Lord very much;
I will praise him in front of many people.
121 I have done what is fair and right.
Don’t leave me to those who wrong me.
122 Promise that you will help me, your servant.
Don’t let proud people wrong me.
123 My eyes are tired from looking for your salvation
and for your good promise.
124 Show your love to me, your servant,
and teach me your demands.
125 I am your servant. Give me wisdom
so I can understand your rules.
126 Lord, it is time for you to do something,
because people have disobeyed your teachings.
127 I love your commands
more than the purest gold.
128 I respect all your orders,
so I hate lying ways.
129 Your rules are wonderful.
That is why I keep them.
130 Learning your words gives wisdom
and understanding for the foolish.
131 I am nearly out of breath.
I really want to learn your commands.
132 Look at me and have mercy on me
as you do for those who love you.
133 Guide my steps as you promised;
don’t let any sin control me.
134 Save me from harmful people
so I can obey your orders.
135 Show your kindness to me, your servant.
Teach me your demands.
136 Tears stream from my eyes,
because people do not obey your teachings.
137 Lord, you do what is right,
and your laws are fair.
138 The rules you commanded are right
and completely trustworthy.
139 I am so upset I am worn out,
because my enemies have forgotten your words.
140 Your promises are proven,
so I, your servant, love them.
141 I am unimportant and hated,
but I have not forgotten your orders.
142 Your goodness continues forever,
and your teachings are true.
143 I have had troubles and misery,
but I love your commands.
144 Your rules are always good.
Help me understand so I can live.
15 Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “We would like you to stay awhile so we can cook a young goat for you.”
16 The angel of the Lord answered, “Even if I stay awhile, I would not eat your food. But if you want to prepare something, offer a burnt offering to the Lord.” (Manoah did not understand that the man was really the angel of the Lord.)
17 Then Manoah asked the angel of the Lord, “What is your name? Then we will honor you when what you have said really happens.”
18 The angel of the Lord said, “Why do you ask my name? It is too amazing for you to understand.” 19 So Manoah sacrificed a young goat on a rock and offered some grain as a gift to the Lord. Then an amazing thing happened as Manoah and his wife watched. 20 The flames went up to the sky from the altar. As the fire burned, the angel of the Lord went up to heaven in the flame. When Manoah and his wife saw that, they bowed facedown on the ground. 21 The angel of the Lord did not appear to them again. Then Manoah understood that the man was really the angel of the Lord. 22 Manoah said, “We have seen God, so we will surely die.”
23 But his wife said to him, “If the Lord wanted to kill us, he would not have accepted our burnt offering or grain offering. He would not have shown us all these things or told us all this.”
24 So the woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson. He grew, and the Lord blessed him.
Seven Leaders Are Chosen
6 The number of followers was growing. But during this same time, the Greek-speaking followers had an argument with the other followers. The Greek-speaking widows were not getting their share of the food that was given out every day. 2 The twelve apostles called the whole group of followers together and said, “It is not right for us to stop our work of teaching God’s word in order to serve tables. 3 So, brothers and sisters, choose seven of your own men who are good, full of the Spirit and full of wisdom. We will put them in charge of this work. 4 Then we can continue to pray and to teach the word of God.”
5 The whole group liked the idea, so they chose these seven men: Stephen (a man with great faith and full of the Holy Spirit), Philip,[a] Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas (a man from Antioch who had become a follower of the Jewish religion). 6 Then they put these men before the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands[b] on them.
7 The word of God was continuing to spread. The group of followers in Jerusalem increased, and a great number of the Jewish priests believed and obeyed.
Stephen Is Accused
8 Stephen was richly blessed by God who gave him the power to do great miracles and signs among the people. 9 But some people were against him. They belonged to the synagogue of Free Men[c] (as it was called), which included people from Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia, and Asia. They all came and argued with Stephen.
10 But the Spirit was helping him to speak with wisdom, and his words were so strong that they could not argue with him. 11 So they secretly urged some men to say, “We heard Stephen speak against Moses and against God.”
12 This upset the people, the elders, and the teachers of the law. They came and grabbed Stephen and brought him to a meeting of the leaders. 13 They brought in some people to tell lies about Stephen, saying, “This man is always speaking against this holy place and the law of Moses. 14 We heard him say that Jesus from Nazareth will destroy this place and that Jesus will change the customs Moses gave us.” 15 All the people in the meeting were watching Stephen closely and saw that his face looked like the face of an angel.
Jesus and a Samaritan Woman
4 The Pharisees heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more followers than John, 2 although Jesus himself did not baptize people, but his followers did. 3 Jesus knew that the Pharisees had heard about him, so he left Judea and went back to Galilee. 4 But on the way he had to go through the country of Samaria.
5 In Samaria Jesus came to the town called Sychar, which is near the field Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there. Jesus was tired from his long trip, so he sat down beside the well. It was about twelve o’clock noon. 7 When a Samaritan woman came to the well to get some water, Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.” 8 (This happened while Jesus’ followers were in town buying some food.)
9 The woman said, “I am surprised that you ask me for a drink, since you are a Jewish man and I am a Samaritan woman.” (Jewish people are not friends with Samaritans.[a])
10 Jesus said, “If you only knew the free gift of God and who it is that is asking you for water, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”
11 The woman said, “Sir, where will you get this living water? The well is very deep, and you have nothing to get water with. 12 Are you greater than Jacob, our father, who gave us this well and drank from it himself along with his sons and flocks?”
13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give will never be thirsty. The water I give will become a spring of water gushing up inside that person, giving eternal life.”
15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so I will never be thirsty again and will not have to come back here to get more water.”
16 Jesus told her, “Go get your husband and come back here.”
17 The woman answered, “I have no husband.”
Jesus said to her, “You are right to say you have no husband. 18 Really you have had five husbands, and the man you live with now is not your husband. You told the truth.”
19 The woman said, “Sir, I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that Jerusalem is the place where people must worship.”
21 Jesus said, “Believe me, woman. The time is coming when neither in Jerusalem nor on this mountain will you actually worship the Father. 22 You Samaritans worship something you don’t understand. We understand what we worship, because salvation comes from the Jews. 23 The time is coming when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, and that time is here already. You see, the Father too is actively seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
25 The woman said, “I know that the Messiah is coming.” (Messiah is the One called Christ.) “When the Messiah comes, he will explain everything to us.”
26 Then Jesus said, “I am he—I, the one talking to you.”
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.