I WILL magnify thee, O God, my King; * and I will praise thy Name for ever and ever.
Every day will I give thanks unto thee; * and praise thy Name for ever and ever.
Great is the LORD, and marvellous worthy to be praised; * there is no end of his greatness.
One generation shall praise thy works unto another, * and declare thy power.
As for me, I will be talking of thy worship, * thy glory, thy praise, and wondrous works;
So that men shall speak of the might of thy marvellous acts; * and I will also tell of thy greatness.
The memorial of thine abundant kindness shall be showed; * and men shall sing of thy righteousness.
The LORD is gracious and merciful; * long-suffering, and of great goodness.
The LORD is loving unto every man; * and his mercy is over all his works.
All thy works praise thee, O LORD; * and thy saints give thanks unto thee.
They show the glory of thy kingdom, * and talk of thy power;
That thy power, thy glory, and mightiness of thy kingdom, * might be known unto men.
Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, * and thy dominion endureth throughout all ages.
The LORD upholdeth all such as fall, * and lifteth up all those that are down.
The eyes of all wait upon thee, O Lord; * and thou givest them their meat in due season.
Thou openest thine hand, * and fillest all things living with plenteousness.
The LORD is righteous in all his ways, * and holy in all his works.
The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him; * yea, all such as call upon him faithfully.
He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him; * he also will hear their cry, and will help them.
The LORD preserveth all them that love him; * but scattereth abroad all the ungodly.
My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD; * and let all flesh give thanks unto his holy Name for ever and ever.

Now when it was told the king's servants, and the host that was at Jerusalem, in the city of David, that certain men, who had broken the king's commandment, were gone down into the secret places in the wilderness, They pursued after them a great number, and having overtaken them, they camped against them, and made war against them on the sabbath day. And they said unto them, Let that which ye have done hitherto suffice; come forth, and do according to the commandment of the king, and ye shall live. But they said, We will not come forth, neither will we do the king's commandment, to profane the sabbath day. So then they gave them the battle with all speed. Howbeit they answered them not, neither cast they a stone at them, nor stopped the places where they lay hid; But said, Let us die all in our innocency: heaven and earth will testify for us, that ye put us to death wrongfully. So they rose up against them in battle on the sabbath, and they slew them, with their wives and children and their cattle, to the number of a thousand people. Now when Mattathias and his friends understood hereof, they mourned for them right sore. And one of them said to another, If we all do as our brethren have done, and fight not for our lives and laws against the heathen, they will now quickly root us out of the earth. At that time therefore they decreed, saying, Whosoever shall come to make battle with us on the sabbath day, we will fight against him; neither will we die all, as our brethren that were murdered in the secret places. Then came there unto him a company of Assideans who were mighty men of Israel, even all such as were voluntarily devoted unto the law. Also all they that fled for persecution joined themselves unto them, and were a stay unto them.

Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews: And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures, Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ. And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few. But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people. And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also; Whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus. And they troubled the people and the rulers of the city, when they heard these things. And when they had taken security of Jason, and of the other, they let them go. And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few. But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was preached of Paul at Berea, they came thither also, and stirred up the people. And then immediately the brethren sent away Paul to go as it were to the sea: but Silas and Timotheus abode there still. And they that conducted Paul brought him unto Athens: and receiving a commandment unto Silas and Timotheus for to come to him with all speed, they departed.

O GOD, the protector of all that trust in thee, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy; Increase and multiply upon us thy mercy, that, thou being our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we finally lose not the things eternal. Grant this, O heavenly Father, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Copyright © 2000-2023, CommonPrayer.org See our home page for further information

Privacy Policy

For information about this web page, please contact the Webmaster at: