Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 106
1 Hallelujah!
Give thanks to Yahweh because he is good,
because his mercy endures forever.
2 Who can speak about all the mighty things Yahweh has done?
Who can announce all the things for which he is worthy of praise?
3 Blessed are those who defend justice
and do what is right at all times.
4 Remember me, O Yahweh, when you show favor to your people.
Come to help me with your salvation
5 so that I may see the prosperity of your chosen ones,
find joy in our people’s happiness,
and brag with the people who belong to you.
6 We have sinned, and so did our ancestors.
We have done wrong.
We are guilty.
7 When our ancestors were in Egypt,
they gave no thought to your miracles.
They did not remember your numerous acts of mercy,
so they rebelled at the sea, the Red Sea.
8 He saved them because of his reputation
so that he could make his mighty power known.
9 He angrily commanded the Red Sea, and it dried up.
He led them through deep water as though it were a desert.
10 He rescued them from the power of the one who hated them.
He rescued them from the enemy.
11 Water covered their adversaries.
Not one Egyptian survived.
12 Then our ancestors believed what he said.
They sang his praise.
13 They quickly forgot what he did.
They did not wait for his advice.
14 They had an unreasonable desire for food in the wilderness.
In the desert they tested El.
15 He gave them what they asked for.
He also gave them a degenerative disease.
16 In the camp certain men became envious of Moses.
They also became envious of Aaron, Yahweh’s holy one.
17 The ground split open and swallowed Dathan.
It buried Abiram’s followers.
18 A fire broke out among their followers.
Flames burned up wicked people.
19 At Mount Horeb they made a statue of a calf.
They worshiped an idol made of metal.
20 They traded their glorious God[a]
for the statue of a bull that eats grass.
21 They forgot El, their savior,
the one who did spectacular things in Egypt,
22 miracles in the land of Ham,
and terrifying things at the Red Sea.
23 El said he was going to destroy them,
but Moses, his chosen one, stood in his way
to prevent him from exterminating them.
24 They refused to enter the pleasant land.
They did not believe what he said.
25 They complained in their tents.
They did not obey Yahweh.
26 Raising his hand, he swore
that he would kill them in the wilderness,
27 kill their descendants among the nations,
and scatter them throughout various lands.
28 They joined in worshiping the god Baal while they were at Peor,
and they ate what was sacrificed to the dead.
29 They infuriated Yahweh by what they did,
and a plague broke out among them.
30 Then Phinehas stood between Yahweh and the people,
and the plague was stopped.
31 Because of this, Phinehas was considered righteous forever,
throughout every generation.
32 They made Yahweh angry by the water at Meribah.
Things turned out badly for Moses because of what they did,
33 since they made him bitter so that he spoke recklessly.
34 They did not destroy the people as Yahweh had told them.
35 Instead, they intermarried with other nations.
They learned to do what other nations did,
36 and they worshiped their idols,
which became a trap for them.
37 They sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons.
38 They shed innocent blood,
the blood of their own sons and daughters
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan.
The land became polluted with blood.
39 They became filthy because of what they did.
They behaved like prostitutes.
40 Yahweh burned with anger against his own people.
He was disgusted with those who belonged to him.
41 He handed them over to other nations,
and those who hated them ruled them.
42 Their enemies oppressed them
and made them subject to their power.
43 He rescued them many times,
but they continued to plot rebellion against him
and to sink deeper because of their sin.
44 He saw that they were suffering
when he heard their cry for help.
45 He remembered his promise[b] to them.
In keeping with his rich mercy, he changed his plans.
46 He let them find compassion
from all those who held them captive.
47 Rescue us, O Yahweh our Elohim, and gather us from the nations
so that we may give thanks to your holy name
and make your praise our glory.
48 Thanks be to Yahweh Elohim of Israel
from everlasting to everlasting.
Let all the people say amen.
Hallelujah!
Micah’s Idolatry
17 There was a man named Micah from the mountain region of Ephraim. 2 He told his mother, “You were upset about the 1,100 pieces of silver that were taken from you. I even heard you put a curse on them. Here’s the silver. I took it!”
His mother said, “Yahweh bless you, my son!”
3 So Micah gave the 1,100 pieces of silver back to his mother. Then his mother said, “I dedicate this silver to Yahweh for my son’s benefit. I want to make a carved idol and a metal idol. So now I’m giving the silver back to you.”
4 When Micah returned the silver to his mother, she took 200 pieces of the silver and gave it to a silversmith. He made a carved idol and a metal idol. Both were placed in Micah’s home. 5 Micah owned a house of Elohim. He also made an ephod[a] and household idols. He ordained one of his sons to be his priest. 6 In those days Israel didn’t have a king. Everyone did whatever he considered right.
7 There was a young man from Bethlehem in Judah. (Bethlehem belongs to the family of Judah.) He was a Levite but was living in Bethlehem. 8 This man left Bethlehem in Judah to live wherever he could find a place. He came to Micah’s house in the mountains of Ephraim to carry on his work.
9 Micah asked him, “Where do you come from?”
The man told him, “I’m a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah. I’m going to live wherever I can find a place.”
10 Micah told him, “Stay with me! Be a father and a priest to me. I’ll give you ten pieces of silver a year, a set of clothes, and your room and board.”
The Levite accepted the offer 11 and agreed to live with Micah. The young man became like one of Micah’s sons. 12 Micah ordained the Levite. So the young man became his priest and a part of his family.
13 Then Micah said, “Now I know that Yahweh will be good to me. I have a Levite for my priest.”
44 “In the desert our ancestors had the tent of God’s promise. Moses built this tent exactly as God had told him. He used the model he had seen. 45 After our ancestors received the tent, they brought it into this land. They did this with Joshua’s help when they took possession of the land from the nations that God forced out of our ancestors’ way. This tent remained here until the time of David, 46 who won God’s favor. David asked that he might provide a permanent place for the family of Jacob.[a] 47 But Solomon was the one who built a house for God.
48 “However, the Most High doesn’t live in a house built by humans, as the prophet says:
49 ‘The Lord says,
“Heaven is my throne.
The earth is my footstool.
What kind of house are you going to build for me?
Where will I rest?
50 Didn’t I make all these things?” ’
51 “How stubborn can you be? How can you be so heartless and disobedient? You’re just like your ancestors. They always opposed the Holy Spirit, and so do you! 52 Was there ever a prophet your ancestors didn’t persecute? They killed those who predicted that a man with God’s approval would come. You have now become the people who betrayed and murdered that man. 53 You are the people who received Moses’ Teachings, which were put into effect by angels. But you haven’t obeyed those teachings.”
Stephen Is Executed
54 As council members listened to Stephen, they became noticeably furious. 55 But Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit. He looked into heaven, saw God’s glory, and Yeshua in the position of authority that God gives. 56 So Stephen said, “Look, I see heaven opened and the Son of Man in the position of authority that God has given him!”
57 But the council members shouted and refused to listen. Then they rushed at Stephen with one purpose in mind, 58 and after they had thrown him out of the city, they began to stone him to death. The witnesses left their coats with a young man named Saul.
59 While council members were executing Stephen, he called out, “Lord Yeshua, welcome my spirit.” 60 Then he knelt down and shouted, “Lord, don’t hold this sin against them.” After he had said this, he died.
8 Saul approved of putting Stephen to death.
On that day widespread persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem. Most believers, except the apostles, were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.
19 Yeshua said to the Jews, “I can guarantee this truth: The Son cannot do anything on his own. He can do only what he sees the Father doing. Indeed, the Son does exactly what the Father does. 20 The Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing. The Father will show him even greater things to do than these things so that you will be amazed. 21 In the same way that the Father brings back the dead and gives them life, the Son gives life to anyone he chooses.
22 “The Father doesn’t judge anyone. He has entrusted judgment entirely to the Son 23 so that everyone will honor the Son as they honor the Father. Whoever doesn’t honor the Son doesn’t honor the Father who sent him. 24 I can guarantee this truth: Those who listen to what I say and believe in the one who sent me will have eternal life. They won’t be judged because they have already passed from death to life.
25 “I can guarantee this truth: A time is coming (and is now here) when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who respond to it will live. 26 The Father is the source of life, and he has enabled the Son to be the source of life too.
27 “He has also given the Son authority to pass judgment because he is the Son of Man.[a] 28 Don’t be surprised at what I’ve just said. A time is coming when all the dead will hear his voice, 29 and they will come out of their tombs. Those who have done good will come back to life and live. But those who have done evil will come back to life and will be judged.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.