Book of Common Prayer
Remember His Wondrous Deeds
105 Oh (A)give thanks to Yahweh, (B)call upon His name;
(C)Make known His acts among the peoples.
2 Sing to Him, (D)sing praises to Him;
(E)Muse on all His wondrous deeds.
3 Boast in His holy name;
Let the (F)heart of those who seek Yahweh be glad.
4 Inquire of Yahweh and (G)His strength;
(H)Seek His face continually.
5 Remember His (I)wondrous deeds which He has done,
His miracles and the (J)judgments [a]uttered by His mouth,
6 O seed of (K)Abraham, His servant,
O sons of (L)Jacob, His (M)chosen ones!
7 He is Yahweh our God;
His (N)judgments are in all the earth.
8 He has (O)remembered His covenant forever,
The word which He commanded for a (P)thousand generations,
9 (Q)Which He cut with Abraham,
And His (R)oath to Isaac.
10 Then He (S)confirmed it to Jacob for a statute,
To Israel as an everlasting covenant,
11 Saying, “(T)To you I will give the land of Canaan
As the [b](U)portion of your inheritance,”
12 When they were only a (V)few men in number,
Of little account, and (W)sojourners in it.
13 And they wandered about from nation to nation,
From one kingdom to another people.
14 He (X)permitted no man to oppress them,
And He (Y)reproved kings for their sakes:
15 “(Z)Do not touch My anointed ones,
And to My prophets do no evil.”
16 And He (AA)called for a famine upon the land;
He (AB)broke the whole staff of bread.
17 He (AC)sent a man before them,
Joseph, who was (AD)sold as a slave.
18 They afflicted his (AE)feet with fetters,
[c]He himself was laid in irons;
19 Until the time that his (AF)word came to pass,
The word of Yahweh (AG)refined him.
20 The (AH)king sent and released him,
The ruler of peoples sent and set him free.
21 He (AI)set him up as lord of his house
And ruler over all his possessions,
22 To [d]imprison his princes [e](AJ)at will,
And that he might teach his elders wisdom.
23 (AK)Then Israel came to Egypt;
And Jacob (AL)sojourned in the land of Ham.
24 And He (AM)caused His people to be very fruitful,
And He caused them to be stronger than their adversaries.
25 He (AN)turned their heart to hate His people,
To (AO)deal craftily with His slaves.
26 He (AP)sent Moses His servant,
And (AQ)Aaron, whom He had chosen.
27 They (AR)set forth the words of His signs among them,
And miracles in the land of Ham.
28 He (AS)sent darkness and made it dark;
And they did not (AT)rebel against His words.
29 He (AU)turned their waters into blood
And caused their fish to die.
30 Their land swarmed with (AV)frogs
Even in the (AW)chambers of their kings.
31 He spoke, and there came a (AX)swarm of flies
And (AY)gnats in all their territory.
32 He [f]gave them (AZ)hail for rain,
And flaming fire in their land.
33 He also (BA)struck down their vines and their fig trees,
And He shattered the trees of their territory.
34 He spoke, and (BB)locusts came,
And creeping locusts, without number,
35 And [g]they ate up all vegetation in their land,
And [h]they ate up the fruit of their ground.
36 He also (BC)struck down all the firstborn in their land,
The (BD)first of all their vigor.
37 Then He brought them out with (BE)silver and gold,
And there was none among His tribes who stumbled.
38 Egypt was (BF)glad when they went out,
For the (BG)dread of them had fallen upon them.
39 He spread a (BH)cloud for a [i]covering,
And (BI)fire to give light by night.
40 [j]They (BJ)asked, and He brought (BK)quail,
And He satisfied them with the [k](BL)bread of heaven.
41 He opened the [l]rock and (BM)water flowed out;
[m]It ran in the dry places like a river.
42 For He (BN)remembered His holy word
With Abraham His servant;
43 And He brought His people out with joy,
His chosen ones with a shout of (BO)joy.
44 He (BP)gave them also the lands of the [n]nations,
That they (BQ)might take possession of the fruit of the peoples’ labor,
45 So that they might (BR)keep His statutes
And observe His laws,
[o]Praise Yah!
Israel Tells Samuel to Appoint a King
8 And it happened when Samuel was old that (A)he appointed his sons judges over Israel. 2 The name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judging in (B)Beersheba. 3 But his sons did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after greedy gain and (C)took bribes and caused justice to turn aside.
4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at (D)Ramah; 5 and they said to him, “Behold, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now (E)appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations.” 6 But the thing was (F)evil in the sight of Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And (G)Samuel prayed to Yahweh. 7 Then Yahweh said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for (H)they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them. 8 Like all the deeds which they have done since the day that I brought them up from Egypt even to this day—in that they have forsaken Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you also. 9 So now, listen to their voice; (I)however, you shall solemnly [a]testify to them and tell them of (J)the [b]custom of the king who will reign over them.”
The People Refuse Samuel’s Words
10 So Samuel spoke all the words of Yahweh to (K)the people who had asked of him a king. 11 And he said, “(L)This will be the [c]custom of the king who will reign over you: (M)he will take your sons and appoint them for himself in his chariots and among his horsemen, and (N)they will run before his chariots. 12 (O)And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and of fifties, and some to [d]do his plowing and to reap his harvest and to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13 He will also take your daughters for perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 (P)He will take the best of your fields and your vineyards and your olive groves and give them to his [e]servants. 15 He will take a tenth of your seed and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. 16 He will also take your male slaves and your female slaves and your best young men and your donkeys and [f]use them for his work. 17 He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. 18 Then (Q)you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but (R)Yahweh will not answer you in that day.”
19 Nevertheless, the people (S)refused to listen to the voice of Samuel, and they said, “No, but there shall be a king over us, 20 (T)that we also may be like all the nations, that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.” 21 So Samuel heard all the words of the people, and (U)he repeated them in the hearing of Yahweh. 22 Then Yahweh said to Samuel, “(V)Listen to their voice and [g]appoint them a king.” So Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.”
15 And fixing their gaze on him, all who were sitting in the (A)Sanhedrin saw his face like the face of an angel.
Stephen’s Defense
7 And the high priest said, “Are these things so?”
2 And he said, “Hear me, (B)brothers and fathers! (C)The God of glory (D)appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in [a]Haran, 3 and said to him, ‘(E)Leave your country and your relatives, and come into the land that I will show you.’ 4 (F)Then he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in [b]Haran. (G)From there, after his father died, God had him move to this country in which you are now living. 5 But He gave him no inheritance in it, not even a foot of ground, and (H)He promised that He would give it to him as a possession, and to his seed after him, even when he had no child. 6 But (I)God spoke in this way, that his seed would be sojourners in a foreign land, and that they would [c]be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years. 7 ‘And I Myself will judge the nation to which they will be enslaved,’ said God, ‘and (J)after that they will come out and [d]serve Me in this place.’ 8 And He (K)gave him [e]the covenant of circumcision; and so (L)Abraham was the father of Isaac, and circumcised him on the eighth day; and (M)Isaac was the father of Jacob, and (N)Jacob of the twelve (O)patriarchs.
9 “And the patriarchs, (P)becoming jealous of Joseph, sold him into Egypt. Yet God was with him, 10 and rescued him from all his afflictions, and (Q)granted him favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he appointed him governor over Egypt and all his household.
11 “Now (R)a famine came over all Egypt and Canaan, and great affliction with it, and our fathers [f]could find no food. 12 But (S)when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers there the first time. 13 And on the second visit (T)Joseph [g]made himself known to his brothers, and (U)Joseph’s family was disclosed to Pharaoh. 14 Then (V)Joseph sent word and invited Jacob his father and all his relatives to come to him, (W)seventy-five [h](X)persons in all. 15 And (Y)Jacob went down to Egypt and there he and our fathers died. 16 And from there they were removed to [i](Z)Shechem and placed in the tomb which Abraham had purchased for a sum of money from the sons of [j]Hamor in [k]Shechem.
Who Is Greatest?
24 And there arose also (A)a dispute among them as to which one of them was regarded to be greatest. 25 (B)And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who have authority over them are called ‘Benefactors.’ 26 But not so with you; (C)rather the one who is the greatest among you must become like (D)the youngest, and the leader like the servant. 27 For (E)who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines? But (F)I am among you as the one who serves.
28 “Now you are those who have stood by Me in My (G)trials, 29 and I grant you a (H)kingdom, just as My Father granted one to Me, 30 that you may (I)eat and drink at My table in My (J)kingdom, and (K)you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
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