And when the day of Pentecost drew near they were all together in one place. Suddenly there was from heaven a sound like the rushing of a strong wind and it filled the whole house where they were sitting and it appeared to them (dividing as tongues) like fire and rested on each one of them and they all were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit gave them the ability to speak.
O Lord Jesus Christ, stay beside me to defend me, within me to guide me, before me to lead me, and above me to bless me, that with you and in you, I may live, and move and have my being, for ever and ever. Amen.
Let his house become a wilderness And let there be no one who lives in it1 and Let another take his place2
Therefore it is necessary for one of the men who having been together with us in all the times in which the Lord Jesus came and went among us beginning with the baptism of John until the day in which he was taken up from us must become with us a witness of his resurrection.’
And they proposed two : Joseph called Bar-Sabbas, who was called Justus and Matthias.
And they prayed: ‘You Lord, all-knowing of hearts show clearly which one you have chosen from these two to take the place of this ministry (which is) apostleship from which Judas turned away to go to his own place.’
And they cast lots for them and the lot fell on Matthias and he was included with the eleven apostles.
And in those days Peter stood up in the middle of the sisters-and-brothers and said – ( the crowd numbered together about one hundred and twenty) – ‘Folk, sisters-and-brothers, it was necessary to fulfil the Scripture which the Holy Spirit foretold through the mouth of David about Judas who became the guide of those who arrested Jesus, that he was one of us and he received a share in this ministry…’
(Indeed this man bought for himself a place with the money of this wickedness and (falling) headfirst he burst open in the middle and all his intestines gushed out.
And it became known to all who lived in Jerusalem so that the place was called in their own language ‘Hakeldama’, that is ‘the Bloody Place.’)
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace: Where there is hatred, let me sow love; Where there is injury, pardon; Where there is discord, union; Where there is doubt, faith; Where there is despair, hope; Where there is darkness, light; Where there is sadness, joy, For your mercy and for your truth’s sake. Amen
And when they went in (to Jerusalem), they went up into the upstairs room where they were staying: Peter, and John and Jacob (James) and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, Jacob (James) (son of) Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas (the son of) Jacob (James). All of these were persistently devoting themselves together to prayer, with women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.
O Lord Jesus Christ, stay beside me to defend me, within me to guide me, before me to lead me, and above me to bless me, that with you and in you, I may live, and move and have my being, for ever and ever. Amen.
And after he (Jesus) said these things as they were looking, he was lifted up and a cloud took him up, before their eyes. And as they were staring into heaven/the sky as he was going look – two men stood by them in white clothing. And they said: ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking to heaven/the sky? This one, Jesus, who has been taken up from you into the heaven/the sky will come in the very same way as you have seen him go into the heaven/the sky.’
Then they returned to Jerusalem from a mountain which is called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath’s journey.
Eternal God and Father, you create us by your power, and redeem us by your love, guide and strengthen us by your Spirit, that we may give ourselves in love and service to one another and to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
While eating with them, he commanded them not to leave Jerusalem but to wait ‘for the promise of the Father, which you heard about from me – that John baptised with water, but you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’
So those who met together were asking him, saying: ‘Lord, is this time when you will restore the Kingdom to Israel?’ He said to them: ‘It is not for you to know the times and seasons that the Father has laid down with his own authority, but you will receive power from the Holy Spirit coming upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth’
O Lord, in whom is our hope, remove far from us, we pray thee, empty hopes and presumptuous confidence. Make our hearts so right with thy most holy and loving heart, that hoping in thee we may do good; until that day when faith and hope shall be abolished by sight and possession, and love shall be all in all.
I wrote the previous account, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up having commanded the apostles whom he had chosen through the Holy Spirit, to whom also he presented himself, living, after his suffering, with many proofs, during forty days appearing to them and speaking about matters concerning the Kingdom of God.
Keep us, O Lord, while we tarry on this earth, in a serious seeking after thee, and in an affectionate walking with thee, every day of our lives; that when thou comest, we may be found not hiding our talent, nor yet asleep with our lamp unfurnished, but waiting and longing for our Lord, our glorious King, for ever and ever.
The leader’s. On the Gittite. A composition. David’s.
1 Yahweh our lord, how powerful is your name in all the earth, You who put your grandeur above the heavens . 2 At the mouth of babies and sucklings, You founded a barricade to deal with your adversaries, to still the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I see the heavens, the things that your fingers made, moon and stars that you established, 4 What are weak-people that you are mindful of them, ‘human beings’ that you attend to them? 5 But you made them fall short of God by a little, and you crown them with honour and magnificence. 6 You let them rule over the things that your hands made; you put everything under their feet – 7 Sheep and cattle, all of them, and the animals of the wild, too, 8 The birds of the heavens, the fish of the sea, what passes over the paths in the seas.
9 Yahweh our lord, how powerful is your name in all the earth!
Lord God,, you feed us with the living bread from heaven; you renew our faith, increase our hope, and strengthen our love.
Teach us to hunger for Christ who is the true and living bread, and to live by every word that comes from your mouth, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Lament. David’s, which he sang for Yahweh concerning the Kushite [Sudanese] words. The Binyaminite.
1 Yahweh my God, in you I take shelter – deliver me from all the people who are pursuing me, rescue me, 2 So that one doesn’t tear me apart like a lion, ripping me to pieces when there’s no one to rescue.
3 Yahweh my God, if I did this, if there’s meanness in the palms of my hands, 4 If I have dealt something bad to my friend, but released my adversary without reason, 5 May the enemy pursue me and overtake me, may he trample my life to the ground, may he lay my honour in the dirt. (Rise)
6 Rise up, Yahweh, in your anger; lift yourself up at the great outburst of my adversaries. Awake, my God, you must order the exercise of authority; 7 the assembly of the nations should come round you. Take your seat over it on high; 8 Yahweh must rule the peoples. Exercise authority for me, Yahweh, in accordance with my faithfulness and with my integrity, which are over me. 9 The bad ways of faithless people must please come to an end, and you must establish the faithful person. The faithful God is one who tests minds and inner being.
10 God is my shield on high, one who delivers people who are upright in mind. 11God exercises authority for the faithful person; God is indignant each day. 12 If someone doesn’t turn back, he whets his sword; he’s directed his bow and fixed it. 13 He’s fixed deadly weapons for himself, he makes his arrows into flames. 14 There, someone twists with trouble, he’s pregnant with oppression, he gives birth to falsehood. 15 He’s dug a cistern and made it deep, but he’s fallen into the hole he makes. 16 His act of oppression comes back on to his own head, his violence comes down on his own skull.
17 I will confess Yahweh in accordance with his faithfulness and make music to the name of Yahweh, the One on High.
Eternal Light, shine into our hearts; Eternal Goodness, deliver us from evil; Eternal Power, be our support; Eternal Wisdom, scatter the darkness of our ignorance: That we may seek your face with all our heart and mind and soul and strength. Amen. Alcuin
1 Yahweh, don’t reprove me in your anger, don’t discipline me with your wrath.
2 Be gracious to me, Yahweh, because I’m faint; heal me, Yahweh, because my bones shake in fearfulness.
3 My entire being s hakes in great fearfulness, and you, Yahweh – how long?
4 Turn back, Yahweh, pull me out, deliver me for the sake of your commitment!
5 Because there’s no commemoration of you in death; in She’ol who confesses you?
6 I’m weary of my groaning, I make my bed swim every night, I melt my mattress with my tears.
7 My eye has wasted away through provocation, grown old because of all my adversaries.
8 Depart from me, all you who devise trouble, because Yahweh has heard the sound of my crying.
9 Yahweh has heard my prayer for grace; Yahweh receives my plea.
10 All my enemies will be shamed and be very fearful; they will turn back and be shamed instantly.
God, give me grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, Courage to change the things which should be changed, and the Wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.
Living one day at a time, Enjoying one moment at a time, Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace, Taking, as Jesus did, This sinful world as it is, Not as I would have it, Trusting that You will make all things right, If I surrender to Your will, So that I may be reasonably happy in this life, And supremely happy with You forever in the next.
