Book of Common Prayer
מ (Mem)
97 O how I love your law!
All day long I meditate on it.
98 Your commandments[a] make me wiser than my enemies,
for I am always aware of them.
99 I have more insight than all my teachers,
for I meditate on your rules.
100 I am more discerning than those older than I,
for I observe your precepts.
101 I stay away[b] from every evil path,
so that I might keep your instructions.[c]
102 I do not turn aside from your regulations,
for you teach me.
103 Your words are sweeter
in my mouth than honey![d]
104 Your precepts give me discernment.
Therefore I hate all deceitful actions.[e]
נ (Nun)
105 Your word[f] is a lamp to walk by,
and a light to illumine my path.[g]
106 I have vowed and solemnly sworn
to keep your just regulations.
107 I am suffering terribly.
O Lord, revive me with your word.[h]
108 O Lord, please accept the freewill offerings of my praise.[i]
Teach me your regulations.
109 My life is in continual danger,[j]
but I do not forget your law.
110 The wicked lay a trap for me,
but I do not wander from your precepts.
111 I claim your rules as my permanent possession,
for they give me joy.[k]
112 I am determined to obey[l] your statutes
at all times, to the very end.
ס (Samek)
113 I hate people with divided loyalties,[m]
but I love your law.
114 You are my hiding place and my shield.
I find hope in your word.
115 Turn away from me, you evil men,
so that I can observe[n] the commands of my God.[o]
116 Sustain me as you promised,[p] so that I will live.[q]
Do not disappoint me.[r]
117 Support me, so that I will be delivered.
Then I will focus[s] on your statutes continually.
118 You despise[t] all who stray from your statutes,
for such people are deceptive and unreliable.[u]
119 You remove all the wicked of the earth like slag.[v]
Therefore I love your rules.[w]
120 My body[x] trembles[y] because I fear you;[z]
I am afraid of your judgments.
Psalm 81[a]
For the music director, according to the gittith style;[b] by Asaph.
81 Shout for joy to God, our source of strength!
Shout out to the God of Jacob!
2 Sing[c] a song and play the tambourine,
the pleasant-sounding harp, and the ten-stringed instrument.
3 Sound the ram’s horn on the day of the new moon,[d]
and on the day of the full moon when our festival begins.[e]
4 For observing the festival is a requirement for Israel;[f]
it is an ordinance given by the God of Jacob.
5 He decreed it as a regulation in Joseph,
when he attacked the land of Egypt.[g]
I heard a voice I did not recognize.[h]
6 It said:[i] “I removed the burden from his shoulder;
his hands were released from holding the basket.[j]
7 In your distress you called out and I rescued you.
I answered you from a dark thundercloud.[k]
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.[l] (Selah)
8 I said,[m] ‘Listen, my people!
I will warn[n] you.
O Israel, if only you would obey me![o]
9 There must be[p] no other[q] god among you.
You must not worship a foreign god.
10 I am the Lord, your God,
the one who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.’
11 But my people did not obey me;[r]
Israel did not submit to me.[s]
12 I gave them over to their stubborn desires;[t]
they did what seemed right to them.[u]
13 If only my people would obey me![v]
If only Israel would keep my commands![w]
14 Then I would quickly subdue their enemies,
and attack[x] their adversaries.”
15 (May those who hate the Lord[y] cower in fear[z] before him.
May they be permanently humiliated.)[aa]
16 “I would feed Israel the best wheat,[ab]
and would satisfy your appetite[ac] with honey from the rocky cliffs.”[ad]
Psalm 82[ae]
A psalm of Asaph.
82 God stands in[af] the assembly of El;[ag]
in the midst of the gods[ah] he renders judgment.[ai]
2 He says,[aj] “How long will you make unjust legal decisions
and show favoritism to the wicked?[ak] (Selah)
3 Defend the cause of the poor and the fatherless.[al]
Vindicate the oppressed and suffering.
4 Rescue the poor and needy.
Deliver them from the power[am] of the wicked.
5 They[an] neither know nor understand.
They stumble around[ao] in the dark,
while all the foundations of the earth crumble.[ap]
6 I thought,[aq] ‘You are gods;
all of you are sons of the Most High.’[ar]
7 Yet you will die like mortals;[as]
you will fall like all the other rulers.”[at]
8 Rise up, O God, and execute judgment on the earth!
For you own[au] all the nations.
12 But the sons of Eli were wicked men.[a] They did not acknowledge the Lord’s authority.[b] 13 This was the priests’ routine with the people. Whenever anyone was making a sacrifice,[c] the priest’s attendant would come with a three-pronged fork[d] in his hand, just as the meat was boiling. 14 He would jab it into the basin, kettle, cauldron, or pot. Everything that the fork would bring up the priest would take for himself. This is how they used to treat all the Israelites[e] who came there[f] to Shiloh.
15 Also, before they burned the fat the priest’s attendant would come and say to the person who was making the sacrifice, “Give some meat for the priest to roast! He[g] won’t accept boiled meat from you, but only raw.”[h] 16 If[i] the individual said to him, “They should certainly burn[j] the fat away first, then take for yourself[k] whatever you wish,”[l] then he would say, “No![m] Give it now! If not, I’ll take it by force!”[n] 17 The sin of these young men[o] was very great in the Lord’s sight, for they[p] treated the Lord’s offering with contempt.
18 Now[q] Samuel was ministering with the favor of the Lord.[r] The boy[s] was dressed in a linen ephod. 19 His mother used to make him a small robe and bring it to him from time to time when she would go up with her husband to make the annual sacrifice. 20 Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife saying, “May the Lord establish[t] descendants[u] for you from this woman in place of the one that she dedicated[v] to the Lord.” Then they[w] would go to their[x] home. 21 And indeed the Lord attended to[y] Hannah. She got pregnant and gave birth to[z] three sons and two daughters. But the boy[aa] Samuel grew up before the Lord.[ab]
22 Eli was very old. And he would hear about everything that his sons used to do to all the people of Israel[ac] and[ad] how they used to go to bed with[ae] the women who were stationed at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 23 So he said to them, “Why do you do these things, these evil things that I hear about from all these people?[af] 24 No, my sons! For the report that I hear circulating[ag] among the Lord’s people is not good. 25 If a man sins against a man, one may appeal to God on his behalf.[ah] But if a man sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him?” But Eli’s sons[ai] would not listen to their father.[aj] Indeed[ak] the Lord had decided[al] to kill them. 26 However, the boy[am] Samuel was growing up and finding favor both with the Lord and with people.[an]
The Holy Spirit and the Day of Pentecost
2 Now[a] when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly[b] a sound[c] like a violent wind blowing[d] came from heaven[e] and filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And tongues spreading out like a fire[f] appeared to them and came to rest on each one of them. 4 All[g] of them were filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak in other languages[h] as the Spirit enabled them.[i]
5 Now there were devout Jews[j] from every nation under heaven residing in Jerusalem.[k] 6 When this sound[l] occurred, a crowd gathered and was in confusion,[m] because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 7 Completely baffled, they said,[n] “Aren’t[o] all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that each one of us hears them[p] in our own native language?[q] 9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and the province of Asia,[r] 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene,[s] and visitors from Rome, 11 both Jews and proselytes,[t] Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own languages about the great deeds God has done!”[u] 12 All were astounded and greatly confused, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others jeered at the speakers,[v] saying, “They are drunk on new wine!”[w]
Peter’s Address on the Day of Pentecost
14 But Peter stood up[x] with the eleven, raised his voice, and addressed them: “You men of Judea[y] and all you who live in Jerusalem, know this[z] and listen carefully to what I say. 15 In spite of what you think, these men are not drunk,[aa] for it is only nine o’clock in the morning.[ab] 16 But this is what was spoken about through the prophet Joel:[ac]
17 ‘And in the last days[ad] it will be,’ God says,
‘that I will pour out my Spirit on all people,[ae]
and your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
and your young men will see visions,
and your old men will dream dreams.
18 Even on my servants,[af] both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.[ag]
19 And I will perform wonders in the sky[ah] above
and miraculous signs[ai] on the earth below,
blood and fire and clouds of smoke.
20 The sun will be changed to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the great and glorious[aj] day of the Lord comes.
21 And then[ak] everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’[al]
Marriage and the Resurrection
27 Now some Sadducees[a] (who contend that there is no resurrection)[b] came to him. 28 They asked him,[c] “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies leaving a wife but no children, that man[d] must marry[e] the widow and father children[f] for his brother.[g] 29 Now there were seven brothers. The first one married a woman[h] and died without children. 30 The second[i] 31 and then the third married her, and in this same way all seven died, leaving no children. 32 Finally the woman died too. 33 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be?[j] For all seven had married her.”[k]
34 So[l] Jesus said to them, “The people of this age[m] marry and are given in marriage. 35 But those who are regarded as worthy to share in[n] that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage.[o] 36 In fact, they can no longer die, because they are equal to angels[p] and are sons of God, since they are[q] sons[r] of the resurrection. 37 But even Moses revealed that the dead are raised[s] in the passage about the bush,[t] where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.[u] 38 Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living,[v] for all live before him.”[w] 39 Then[x] some of the experts in the law[y] answered, “Teacher, you have spoken well!”[z] 40 For they did not dare any longer to ask[aa] him anything.
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