Book of Common Prayer
106 Halleluyah!
Give thanks to Adonai; for he is good,
for his grace continues forever.
2 Who can express Adonai’s mighty doings
or proclaim in full his praise?
3 How happy are those who act justly,
who always do what is right!
4 Remember me, Adonai, when you show favor to your people,
keep me in mind when you save them;
5 so I can see how well things are going
with those whom you have chosen,
so that I can rejoice in your nation’s joy,
and glory in your heritage.
6 Together with our ancestors, we have sinned,
done wrong, acted wickedly.
7 Our ancestors in Egypt failed to grasp
the meaning of your wonders.
They didn’t keep in mind your great deeds of grace
but rebelled at the sea, at the Sea of Suf.
8 Yet he saved them for his own name’s sake,
to make known his mighty power.
9 He rebuked the Sea of Suf, and it dried up;
he led them through its depths as through a desert.
10 He saved them from hostile hands,
redeemed them from the power of the foe.
11 The water closed over their adversaries;
not one of them was left.
12 Then they believed his words,
and they sang his praise.
13 But soon they forgot his deeds
and wouldn’t wait for his counsel.
14 In the desert they gave way to insatiable greed;
in the wastelands they put God to the test.
15 He gave them what they wanted
but sent meagerness into their souls.
16 In the camp they were jealous of Moshe
and Aharon, Adonai’s holy one.
17 The earth opened up and swallowed Datan
and closed over Aviram’s allies.
18 A fire blazed out against that group,
the flames consumed the wicked.
19 In Horev they fashioned a calf,
they worshipped a cast metal image.
20 Thus they exchanged their Glory
for the image of an ox that eats grass!
21 They forgot God, who had saved them,
who had done great things in Egypt,
22 wonders in the land of Ham,
fearsome deeds by the Sea of Suf.
23 Therefore he said that he would destroy them,
[and he would have,] had not Moshe his chosen one
stood before him in the breach
to turn back his destroying fury.
24 Next, they rejected the beautiful land,
they didn’t trust his promise;
25 and they complained in their tents,
they didn’t obey Adonai.
26 Therefore, raising his hand, he swore to them
that he would strike them down in the desert
27 and strike down their descendants among the nations,
dispersing them in foreign lands.
28 Now they joined themselves to Ba‘al-P‘or
and ate meat sacrificed to dead things.
29 Thus they provoked him to anger with their deeds,
so that a plague broke out among them.
30 Then Pinchas stood up and executed judgment;
so the plague was checked.
31 That was credited to him as righteousness,
through all generations forever.
32 They angered him at the M’rivah Spring,
and Moshe suffered on their account;
33 for when they embittered his spirit,
[Moshe] spoke up without thinking.
34 They failed to destroy the peoples,
as Adonai had ordered them to do,
35 but mingled with the nations
and learned to follow their ways.
36 They went on to serve their idols,
which became a snare for them.
37 They even sacrificed their sons
and their daughters to demons.
38 Yes, they shed innocent blood,
the blood of their own sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to Kena‘an’s false gods,
polluting the land with blood.
39 Thus they were defiled by their deeds;
they prostituted themselves by their actions,
40 For this Adonai’s fury blazed up against his people,
and he detested his heritage.
41 He handed them over to the power of the nations,
and those who hated them ruled over them.
42 Their enemies oppressed them
and kept them in subjection to their power.
43 Many times [God] rescued them,
but they kept making plans to rebel.
Thus they were brought low
by their own wrongdoing.
44 Still he took pity on their distress
whenever he heard their cry.
45 For their sakes he kept in mind his covenant
and in his limitless grace relented,
46 causing them to be treated with compassion
by all who had taken them captive.
47 Save us, Adonai our God!
Gather us from among the nations,
so that we can thank your holy name
and glory in praising you.
48 Blessed be Adonai, the God of Isra’el,
from eternity past to eternity future.
Now let all the people say,
“Amen! Halleluyah!”
17 There was a man from the hills of Efrayim named Mikhay’hu. 2 He said to his mother, “You know the 1,100 pieces of silver that were taken from you — you pronounced a curse about it, and you told me about it? Well, the money is with me. I took it.” His mother said, “May Adonai bless my son,” 3 as he restored the 1,100 pieces of silver to his mother. Then his mother said, “I solemnly dedicate this money of mine to Adonai, in order for my son to make a carved image overlaid with silver. So now I’m giving it back to you.” 4 But he returned the money to his mother, and she took 200 pieces of silver and gave them to the metalworker, who made a carved image overlaid with silver which was put in Mikhay’hu’s house. 5 This man Mikhah owned a house of God; so he made a ritual vest and household gods and consecrated one of his sons, who became his cohen. 6 At that time there was no king in Isra’el; a man simply did whatever he thought was right.
7 There was a young man from Beit-Lechem in Y’hudah, from the family of Y’hudah, who was a Levi. He had been staying 8 in Beit-Lechem, but he left there to find another place to live and came to the hills of Efrayim, where eventually he made his way to the house of Mikhah. 9 Mikhah asked him, “Where are you coming from?” He answered, “I am a Levi from Beit-Lechem in Y’hudah, and I’m looking for a place to live.” 10 Mikhah replied, “Stay with me, and be a father and cohen for me; I will give you ten pieces of silver a year, in addition to your clothing and food.” So the Levi went in 11 and agreed to stay with the man; the young man became like one of his sons. 12 After Mikhah consecrated the Levi, the young man became his cohen and stayed there in Mikhah’s house. 13 Mikhah said, “Now I know that Adonai will treat me well, because I have a Levi for a cohen.
44 “Our fathers had the Tent of Witness in the wilderness. It had been made just as God, who spoke to Moshe, had ordered it made, according to the pattern Moshe had seen. 45 Later on, our fathers who had received it brought it in with Y’hoshua when they took the Land away from the nations that God drove out before them.
“So it was until the days of David. 46 He enjoyed God’s favor and asked if he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Ya‘akov 47 and Shlomo did build him a house. 48 But Ha‘Elyon does not live in places made by hand! As the prophet says,
49 ‘Heaven is my throne,’ says Adonai,
‘and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house could you build for me?
What kind of place could you devise for my rest?
50 Didn’t I myself make all these things?’[a]
51 “Stiffnecked people,[b] with uncircumcised hearts and ears![c] You continually oppose the Ruach HaKodesh![d] You do the same things your fathers did! 52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who told in advance about the coming of the Tzaddik, and now you have become his betrayers and murderers! — 53 you! — who receive the Torah as having been delivered by angels — but do not keep it!”
54 On hearing these things, they were cut to their hearts and ground their teeth at him. 55 But he, full of the Ruach HaKodesh, looked up to heaven and saw God’s Sh’khinah, with Yeshua standing at the right hand of God. 56 “Look!” he exclaimed, “I see heaven opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”[e]
57 At this, they began yelling at the top of their voices, so that they wouldn’t have to hear him; and with one accord, they rushed at him, 58 threw him outside the city and began stoning him. And the witnesses laid down their coats at the feet of a young man named Sha’ul.
59 As they were stoning him, Stephen called out to God, “Lord Yeshua! Receive my spirit!” 60 Then he kneeled down and shouted out, “Lord! Don’t hold this sin against them!” With that, he died;
8 and Sha’ul gave his approval to his murder.
Starting with that day, there arose intense persecution against the Messianic Community in Yerushalayim; all but the emissaries were scattered throughout the regions of Y’hudah and Shomron.
19 Therefore, Yeshua said this to them: “Yes, indeed! I tell you that the Son cannot do anything on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; whatever the Father does, the Son does too. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he does; and he will show him even greater things than these, so that you will be amazed. 21 Just as the Father raises the dead and makes them alive, so too the Son makes alive anyone he wants. 22 The Father does not judge anyone but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, 23 so that all may honor the Son as they honor the Father. Whoever fails to honor the Son is not honoring the Father who sent him. 24 Yes, indeed! I tell you that whoever hears what I am saying and trusts the One who sent me has eternal life — that is, he will not come up for judgment but has already crossed over from death to life! 25 Yes, indeed! I tell you that there is coming a time — in fact, it’s already here — when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who listen will come to life. 26 For just as the Father has life in himself, so he has given the Son life to have in himself. 27 Also he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. 28 Don’t be surprised at this; because the time is coming when all who are in the grave will hear his voice 29 and come out — those who have done good to a resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to a resurrection of judgment.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.