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Psalm 145

The Greatness and the Goodness of God

Praise. Of David.
¹ I will extol you, my God and King,
   and bless your name for ever and ever.
² Every day I will bless you,
   and praise your name for ever and ever.
³ Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
   his greatness is unsearchable.

⁴ One generation shall laud your works to another,
   and shall declare your mighty acts.
⁵ On the glorious splendour of your majesty,
   and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
⁶ The might of your awesome deeds shall be proclaimed,
   and I will declare your greatness.
⁷ They shall celebrate the fame of your abundant goodness,
   and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

⁸ The Lord is gracious and merciful,
   slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
⁹ The Lord is good to all,
   and his compassion is over all that he has made.

¹⁰ All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord,
   and all your faithful shall bless you.
¹¹ They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom,
   and tell of your power,
¹² to make known to all people your^* mighty deeds,
   and the glorious splendour of your^* kingdom.
¹³ Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
   and your dominion endures throughout all generations.

The Lord is faithful in all his words,
   and gracious in all his deeds.^*
14 The Lord upholds all who are falling,
   and raises up all who are bowed down.
¹⁵ The eyes of all look to you,
   and you give them their food in due season.
¹⁶ You open your hand,
   satisfying the desire of every living thing.
¹⁷ The Lord is just in all his ways,
   and kind in all his doings.
¹⁸ The Lord is near to all who call on him,
   to all who call on him in truth.
¹⁹ He fulfils the desire of all who fear him;
   he also hears their cry, and saves them.
²⁰ The Lord watches over all who love him,
   but all the wicked he will destroy.

²¹ My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,
   and all flesh will bless his holy name for ever and ever.

Gideon’s Idolatry

22 Then the Israelites said to Gideon, ‘Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also; for you have delivered us out of the hand of Midian.’ ²³Gideon said to them, ‘I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you.’ ²⁴Then Gideon said to them, ‘Let me make a request of you; each of you give me an ear-ring he has taken as booty.’ (For the enemy^* had golden ear-rings, because they were Ishmaelites.) ²⁵‘We will willingly give them,’ they answered. So they spread a garment, and each threw into it an ear-ring he had taken as booty. ²⁶The weight of the golden ear-rings that he requested was one thousand seven hundred shekels of gold (apart from the crescents and the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian, and the collars that were on the necks of their camels). ²⁷Gideon made an ephod of it and put it in his town, in Ophrah; and all Israel prostituted themselves to it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his family. ²⁸So Midian was subdued before the Israelites, and they lifted up their heads no more. So the land had rest for forty years in the days of Gideon.

Death of Gideon

29 Jerubbaal son of Joash went to live in his own house. ³⁰Now Gideon had seventy sons, his own offspring, for he had many wives. ³¹His concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he named him Abimelech. ³²Then Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age, and was buried in the tomb of his father Joash at Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

33 As soon as Gideon died, the Israelites relapsed and prostituted themselves with the Baals, making Baal-berith their god. ³⁴The Israelites did not remember the Lord their God, who had rescued them from the hand of all their enemies on every side; ³⁵and they did not exhibit loyalty to the house of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in return for all the good that he had done to Israel.

Peter and John before the Council

4While Peter and John^* were speaking to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came to them, ²much annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming that in Jesus there is the resurrection of the dead. ³So they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. ⁴But many of those who heard the word believed; and they numbered about five thousand.

5 The next day their rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem, ⁶with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John,^* and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. ⁷When they had made the prisoners^* stand in their midst, they inquired, ‘By what power or by what name did you do this?’ ⁸Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, ‘Rulers of the people and elders, ⁹if we are questioned today because of a good deed done to someone who was sick and are asked how this man has been healed, ¹⁰let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,^* whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead. ¹¹This Jesus^* is
“the stone that was rejected by you, the builders;
   it has become the cornerstone.”^*
12There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.’

Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael

43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, ‘Follow me.’ ⁴⁴Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.’ ⁴⁶Nathanael said to him, ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’ Philip said to him, ‘Come and see.’ ⁴⁷When Jesus saw Nathanael coming towards him, he said of him, ‘Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!’ ⁴⁸Nathanael asked him, ‘Where did you come to know me?’ Jesus answered, ‘I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.’ ⁴⁹Nathanael replied, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!’ ⁵⁰Jesus answered, ‘Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.’ ⁵¹And he said to him, ‘Very truly, I tell you,^* you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.’