Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 105
God’s Faithfulness to His People
1 Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name;
proclaim his deeds among the peoples.(A)
2 Sing to him, sing praise to him;
tell about all his wondrous works!(B)
3 Boast in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.(C)
4 Seek the Lord and his strength;
seek his face always.(D)
5 Remember the wondrous works he has done,
his wonders, and the judgments he has pronounced,[a](E)
6 you offspring of Abraham his servant,
Jacob’s descendants—his chosen ones.(F)
7 He is the Lord our God;
his judgments govern the whole earth.(G)
8 He remembers his covenant forever,
the promise he ordained
for a thousand generations(H)—
9 the covenant he made with Abraham,
swore[b] to Isaac,(I)
10 and confirmed to Jacob as a decree
and to Israel as a permanent covenant:(J)
11 “I will give the land of Canaan to you
as your inherited portion.”(K)
12 When they were few in number,
very few indeed,
and resident aliens in Canaan,(L)
13 wandering from nation to nation
and from one kingdom to another,(M)
14 he allowed no one to oppress them;
he rebuked kings on their behalf:(N)
15 “Do not touch my anointed ones,(O)
or harm my prophets.”(P)
16 He called down famine against the land
and destroyed the entire food supply.(Q)
17 He had sent a man ahead of them—
Joseph, who was sold as a slave.(R)
18 They hurt his feet with shackles;
his neck was put in an iron collar.(S)
19 Until the time his prediction came true,
the word of the Lord tested him.(T)
20 The king sent for him and released him;
the ruler of peoples set him free.(U)
21 He made him master of his household,
ruler over all his possessions(V)—
22 binding[c] his officials at will
and instructing his elders.(W)
23 Then Israel went to Egypt;
Jacob lived as an alien in the land of Ham.[d](X)
24 The Lord[e] made his people very fruitful;
he made them more numerous than their foes,(Y)
25 whose hearts he turned to hate his people
and to deal deceptively with his servants.(Z)
26 He sent Moses his servant,
and Aaron, whom he had chosen.(AA)
27 They performed his miraculous signs among them
and wonders in the land of Ham.(AB)
28 He sent darkness, and it became dark—
for did they not defy his commands?(AC)
29 He turned their water into blood
and caused their fish to die.(AD)
30 Their land was overrun with frogs,
even in their royal chambers.(AE)
31 He spoke, and insects came(AF)—
gnats throughout their country.(AG)
32 He gave them hail for rain,
and lightning throughout their land.(AH)
33 He struck their vines and fig trees
and shattered the trees of their territory.(AI)
34 He spoke, and locusts came—
young locusts without number.
35 They devoured all the vegetation in their land
and consumed the produce of their land.(AJ)
36 He struck all the firstborn in their land,
all their first progeny.(AK)
37 Then he brought Israel out with silver and gold,
and no one among his tribes stumbled.(AL)
38 Egypt was glad when they left,
for the dread of Israel[f] had fallen on them.(AM)
39 He spread a cloud as a covering
and gave a fire to light up the night.(AN)
40 They asked, and he brought quail
and satisfied them with bread from heaven.(AO)
41 He opened a rock, and water gushed out;
it flowed like a stream in the desert.(AP)
42 For he remembered his holy promise
to Abraham his servant.(AQ)
43 He brought his people out with rejoicing,
his chosen ones with shouts of joy.(AR)
44 He gave them the lands of the nations,
and they inherited
what other peoples had worked for.(AS)
45 All this happened
so that they might keep his statutes
and obey his instructions.(AT)
Hallelujah!
Absalom’s Revolt
15 After this, Absalom got himself a chariot, horses, and fifty men to run before him.(A) 2 He would get up early and stand beside the road leading to the city gate.(B) Whenever anyone had a grievance to bring before the king for settlement, Absalom called out to him and asked, “What city are you from?” If he replied, “Your servant is from one of the tribes of Israel,” 3 Absalom said to him, “Look, your claims are good and right, but the king does not have anyone to listen to you.” 4 He added, “If only someone would appoint me judge in the land. Then anyone who had a grievance or dispute could come to me, and I would make sure he received justice.” 5 When a person approached to pay homage to him, Absalom reached out his hand, took hold of him, and kissed him.(C) 6 Absalom did this to all the Israelites who came to the king for a settlement. So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
7 When four[a] years had passed, Absalom said to the king, “Please let me go to Hebron to fulfill a vow I made to the Lord. 8 For your servant made a vow when I lived in Geshur of Aram,(D) saying, ‘If the Lord really brings me back to Jerusalem, I will worship the Lord in Hebron.’”[b](E)
9 “Go in peace,” the king said to him.(F) So he went to Hebron.
10 Then Absalom sent agents throughout the tribes of Israel with this message: “When you hear the sound of the ram’s horn,(G) you are to say, ‘Absalom has become king in Hebron!’” (H)
11 Two hundred men from Jerusalem went with Absalom. They had been invited and were going innocently, for they did not know the whole situation. 12 While he was offering the sacrifices, Absalom sent for David’s adviser Ahithophel the Gilonite,(I) from his city of Giloh. So the conspiracy grew strong, and the people supporting Absalom continued to increase.
13 Then an informer came to David and reported, “The hearts of the men of Israel are with Absalom.”
14 David said to all the servants with him in Jerusalem, “Get up. We have to flee, or we will not escape from Absalom!(J) Leave quickly, or he will overtake us quickly, heap disaster on us, and strike the city with the edge of the sword.”
15 The king’s servants said to the king, “Whatever my lord the king decides, we are your servants.” 16 Then the king set out, and his entire household followed him. But he left behind ten concubines to take care of the palace. 17 So the king set out, and all the people followed him. They stopped at the last house 18 while all his servants marched past him. Then all the Cherethites, the Pelethites, and the people of Gath—six hundred men who came with him from there(K)—marched past the king.
27 When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd, and seized him,(A) 28 shouting, “Fellow Israelites, help! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people, our law, and this place. What’s more, he also brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.”(B) 29 For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple.(C)
30 The whole city was stirred up, and the people rushed together. They seized Paul, dragged him out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut.(D)
31 As they were trying to kill him, word went up to the commander of the regiment that all Jerusalem was in chaos. 32 Taking along soldiers and centurions, he immediately ran down to them. Seeing the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. 33 Then the commander approached, took him into custody, and ordered him to be bound with two chains.(E) He asked who he was and what he had done. 34 Some in the crowd were shouting one thing and some another. Since he was not able to get reliable information because of the uproar, he ordered him to be taken into the barracks.(F) 35 When Paul got to the steps, he had to be carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the crowd, 36 for the mass of people followed, yelling, “Get rid of him!” (G)
The Third Prediction of His Death
32 They(A) were on the road, going up to Jerusalem,(B) and Jesus was walking ahead of them. The disciples were astonished, but those who followed him were afraid.(C) Taking the Twelve aside again, he began to tell them the things that would happen to him.(D) 33 “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man(E) will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes,(F) and they will condemn him to death. Then they will hand him over to the Gentiles,(G) 34 and they will mock him, spit on him, flog[a] him, and kill him, and he will rise(H) after three days.”(I)
Suffering and Service
35 James(J) and John,(K) the sons of Zebedee,(L) approached him and said, “Teacher,(M) we want you to do whatever we ask you.”
36 “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked them.
37 They answered him, “Allow us to sit at your right and at your left in your glory.”(N)
38 Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you’re asking.(O) Are you able to drink the cup(P) I drink or to be baptized with the baptism(Q) I am baptized with?”(R)
39 “We are able,” they told him.
Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink, and you will be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with.(S) 40 But to sit at my right or left is not mine to give; instead, it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”
41 When the ten disciples heard this, they began to be indignant with James and John.(T) 42 Jesus called them over and said to them, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over(U) them, and those in high positions act as tyrants over them. 43 But it is not so among you.(V) On the contrary, whoever wants to become great among you will be your servant,(W) 44 and whoever wants to be first among you will be a slave to all.(X) 45 For even the Son of Man(Y) did not come to be served, but to serve,(Z) and to give his life(AA) as a ransom(AB) for many.”[b](AC)
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