Book of Common Prayer
Joy in Forgiveness of Israel’s Sins
106 Praise[a] the Lord!
(A)Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.
2 Who can [b]utter the mighty acts of the Lord?
Who can declare all His praise?
3 Blessed are those who keep justice,
And [c]he who (B)does righteousness at (C)all times!
4 (D)Remember me, O Lord, with the favor You have toward Your people.
Oh, visit me with Your salvation,
5 That I may see the benefit of Your chosen ones,
That I may rejoice in the gladness of Your nation,
That I may glory with [d]Your inheritance.
6 (E)We have sinned with our fathers,
We have committed iniquity,
We have done wickedly.
7 Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Your wonders;
They did not remember the multitude of Your mercies,
(F)But rebelled by the sea—the Red Sea.
8 Nevertheless He saved them for His name’s sake,
(G)That He might make His mighty power known.
9 (H)He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it dried up;
So (I)He led them through the depths,
As through the wilderness.
10 He (J)saved them from the hand of him who hated them,
And redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.
11 (K)The waters covered their enemies;
There was not one of them left.
12 (L)Then they believed His words;
They sang His praise.
13 (M)They soon forgot His works;
They did not wait for His counsel,
14 (N)But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness,
And tested God in the desert.
15 (O)And He gave them their request,
But (P)sent leanness into their soul.
16 When (Q)they envied Moses in the camp,
And Aaron the saint of the Lord,
17 (R)The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan,
And covered the faction of Abiram.
18 (S)A fire was kindled in their company;
The flame burned up the wicked.
19 (T)They made a calf in Horeb,
And worshiped the molded image.
20 Thus (U)they changed their glory
Into the image of an ox that eats grass.
21 They forgot God their Savior,
Who had done great things in Egypt,
22 Wondrous works in the land of Ham,
Awesome things by the Red Sea.
23 (V)Therefore He said that He would destroy them,
Had not Moses His chosen one (W)stood before Him in the breach,
To turn away His wrath, lest He destroy them.
24 Then they despised (X)the pleasant land;
They (Y)did not believe His word,
25 (Z)But complained in their tents,
And did not heed the voice of the Lord.
26 (AA)Therefore He raised His hand in an oath against them,
(AB)To [e]overthrow them in the wilderness,
27 (AC)To [f]overthrow their descendants among the [g]nations,
And to scatter them in the lands.
28 (AD)They joined themselves also to Baal of Peor,
And ate sacrifices [h]made to the dead.
29 Thus they provoked Him to anger with their deeds,
And the plague broke out among them.
30 (AE)Then Phinehas stood up and intervened,
And the plague was stopped.
31 And that was accounted to him (AF)for righteousness
To all generations forevermore.
32 (AG)They angered Him also at the waters of [i]strife,
(AH)So that it went ill with Moses on account of them;
33 (AI)Because they rebelled against His Spirit,
So that he spoke rashly with his lips.
34 (AJ)They did not destroy the peoples,
(AK)Concerning whom the Lord had commanded them,
35 (AL)But they mingled with the Gentiles
And learned their works;
36 (AM)They served their idols,
(AN)Which became a snare to them.
37 (AO)They even sacrificed their sons
And their daughters to (AP)demons,
38 And shed innocent blood,
The blood of their sons and daughters,
Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan;
And (AQ)the land was polluted with blood.
39 Thus they [j]were (AR)defiled by their own works,
And (AS)played[k] the harlot by their own deeds.
40 Therefore (AT)the wrath of the Lord was kindled against His people,
So that He abhorred (AU)His own inheritance.
41 And (AV)He gave them into the hand of the Gentiles,
And those who hated them ruled over them.
42 Their enemies also oppressed them,
And they were brought into subjection under their hand.
43 (AW)Many times He delivered them;
But they rebelled in their counsel,
And were brought low for their iniquity.
44 Nevertheless He regarded their affliction,
When (AX)He heard their cry;
45 (AY)And for their sake He remembered His covenant,
And (AZ)relented (BA)according to the multitude of His mercies.
46 (BB)He also made them to be pitied
By all those who carried them away captive.
47 (BC)Save us, O Lord our God,
And gather us from among the Gentiles,
To give thanks to Your holy name,
To triumph in Your praise.
48 (BD)Blessed be the Lord God of Israel
From everlasting to everlasting!
And let all the people say, “Amen!”
[l]Praise the Lord!
Saul Proclaimed King
17 Then Samuel called the people together (A)to the Lord (B)at Mizpah, 18 and said to the children of Israel, (C)“Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all kingdoms and from those who oppressed you.’ 19 (D)But you have today rejected your God, who Himself saved you from all your adversities and your tribulations; and you have said to Him, ‘No, set a king over us!’ Now therefore, present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your [a]clans.”
20 And when Samuel had (E)caused all the tribes of Israel to come near, the tribe of Benjamin was chosen. 21 When he had caused the tribe of Benjamin to come near by their families, the family of Matri was chosen. And Saul the son of Kish was chosen. But when they sought him, he could not be found. 22 Therefore they (F)inquired of the Lord further, “Has the man come here yet?”
And the Lord answered, “There he is, hidden among the equipment.”
23 So they ran and brought him from there; and when he stood among the people, (G)he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward. 24 And Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him (H)whom the Lord has chosen, that there is no one like him among all the people?”
So all the people shouted and said, (I)“Long[b] live the king!”
25 Then Samuel explained to the people (J)the behavior of royalty, and wrote it in a book and laid it up before the Lord. And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house. 26 And Saul also went home (K)to Gibeah; and valiant men went with him, whose hearts God had touched. 27 (L)But some (M)rebels said, “How can this man save us?” So they despised him, (N)and brought him no presents. But he [c]held his peace.
God’s True Tabernacle
44 “Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as He appointed, instructing Moses (A)to make it according to the pattern that he had seen, 45 (B)which our fathers, having received it in turn, also brought with Joshua into the land possessed by the Gentiles, (C)whom God drove out before the face of our fathers until the (D)days of David, 46 (E)who found favor before God and (F)asked to find a dwelling for the God of Jacob. 47 (G)But Solomon built Him a house.
48 “However, (H)the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands, as the prophet says:
49 ‘Heaven(I) is My throne,
And earth is My footstool.
What house will you build for Me? says the Lord,
Or what is the place of My rest?
50 Has My hand not (J)made all these things?’
Israel Resists the Holy Spirit
51 “You (K)stiff-necked[a] and (L)uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. 52 (M)Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of (N)the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, 53 (O)who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.”
Stephen the Martyr
54 (P)When they heard these things they were [b]cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. 55 But he, (Q)being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the (R)glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, 56 and said, “Look! (S)I see the heavens opened and the (T)Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”
57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; 58 and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And (U)the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, (V)receive my spirit.” 60 Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, (W)“Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Saul Persecutes the Church
8 Now Saul was consenting to his death.
At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and (X)they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.
52 (A)Then Jesus said to the chief priests, captains of the temple, and the elders who had come to Him, “Have you come out, as against a (B)robber, with swords and clubs? 53 When I was with you daily in the (C)temple, you did not try to seize Me. But this is your (D)hour, and the power of darkness.”
Peter Denies Jesus, and Weeps Bitterly(E)
54 (F)Having arrested Him, they led Him and brought Him into the high priest’s house. (G)But Peter followed at a distance. 55 (H)Now when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them. 56 And a certain servant girl, seeing him as he sat by the fire, looked intently at him and said, “This man was also with Him.”
57 But he denied [a]Him, saying, “Woman, I do not know Him.”
58 (I)And after a little while another saw him and said, “You also are of them.”
But Peter said, “Man, I am not!”
59 (J)Then after about an hour had passed, another confidently affirmed, saying, “Surely this fellow also was with Him, for he is a (K)Galilean.”
60 But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are saying!”
Immediately, while he was still speaking, [b]the rooster crowed. 61 And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then (L)Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said to him, (M)“Before the rooster [c]crows, you will deny Me three times.” 62 So Peter went out and wept bitterly.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.