Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 106(A)
2 Who can proclaim the mighty acts(E) of the Lord
or fully declare his praise?
3 Blessed are those who act justly,(F)
who always do what is right.(G)
4 Remember me,(H) Lord, when you show favor(I) to your people,
come to my aid(J) when you save them,
5 that I may enjoy the prosperity(K) of your chosen ones,(L)
that I may share in the joy(M) of your nation
and join your inheritance(N) in giving praise.
6 We have sinned,(O) even as our ancestors(P) did;
we have done wrong and acted wickedly.(Q)
7 When our ancestors were in Egypt,
they gave no thought(R) to your miracles;
they did not remember(S) your many kindnesses,
and they rebelled by the sea,(T) the Red Sea.[b]
8 Yet he saved them(U) for his name’s sake,(V)
to make his mighty power(W) known.
9 He rebuked(X) the Red Sea, and it dried up;(Y)
he led them through(Z) the depths as through a desert.
10 He saved them(AA) from the hand of the foe;(AB)
from the hand of the enemy he redeemed them.(AC)
11 The waters covered(AD) their adversaries;
not one of them survived.
12 Then they believed his promises
and sang his praise.(AE)
13 But they soon forgot(AF) what he had done
and did not wait for his plan to unfold.(AG)
14 In the desert(AH) they gave in to their craving;
in the wilderness(AI) they put God to the test.(AJ)
15 So he gave them(AK) what they asked for,
but sent a wasting disease(AL) among them.
16 In the camp they grew envious(AM) of Moses
and of Aaron, who was consecrated to the Lord.
17 The earth opened(AN) up and swallowed Dathan;(AO)
it buried the company of Abiram.(AP)
18 Fire blazed(AQ) among their followers;
a flame consumed the wicked.
19 At Horeb they made a calf(AR)
and worshiped an idol cast from metal.
20 They exchanged their glorious God(AS)
for an image of a bull, which eats grass.
21 They forgot the God(AT) who saved them,
who had done great things(AU) in Egypt,
22 miracles in the land of Ham(AV)
and awesome deeds(AW) by the Red Sea.
23 So he said he would destroy(AX) them—
had not Moses, his chosen one,
stood in the breach(AY) before him
to keep his wrath from destroying them.
24 Then they despised(AZ) the pleasant land;(BA)
they did not believe(BB) his promise.
25 They grumbled(BC) in their tents
and did not obey the Lord.
26 So he swore(BD) to them with uplifted hand
that he would make them fall in the wilderness,(BE)
27 make their descendants fall among the nations
and scatter(BF) them throughout the lands.
28 They yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor(BG)
and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods;
29 they aroused the Lord’s anger(BH) by their wicked deeds,(BI)
and a plague(BJ) broke out among them.
30 But Phinehas(BK) stood up and intervened,
and the plague was checked.(BL)
31 This was credited to him(BM) as righteousness
for endless generations(BN) to come.
32 By the waters of Meribah(BO) they angered the Lord,
and trouble came to Moses because of them;
33 for they rebelled(BP) against the Spirit(BQ) of God,
and rash words came from Moses’ lips.[c](BR)
34 They did not destroy(BS) the peoples
as the Lord had commanded(BT) them,
35 but they mingled(BU) with the nations
and adopted their customs.
36 They worshiped their idols,(BV)
which became a snare(BW) to them.
37 They sacrificed their sons(BX)
and their daughters to false gods.(BY)
38 They shed innocent blood,
the blood of their sons(BZ) and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,
and the land was desecrated by their blood.
39 They defiled themselves(CA) by what they did;
by their deeds they prostituted(CB) themselves.
40 Therefore the Lord was angry(CC) with his people
and abhorred his inheritance.(CD)
41 He gave them into the hands(CE) of the nations,
and their foes ruled over them.
42 Their enemies oppressed(CF) them
and subjected them to their power.
43 Many times he delivered them,(CG)
but they were bent on rebellion(CH)
and they wasted away in their sin.
44 Yet he took note of their distress
when he heard their cry;(CI)
45 for their sake he remembered his covenant(CJ)
and out of his great love(CK) he relented.(CL)
46 He caused all who held them captive
to show them mercy.(CM)
47 Save us,(CN) Lord our God,
and gather us(CO) from the nations,
that we may give thanks(CP) to your holy name(CQ)
and glory in your praise.
48 Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.
Let all the people say, “Amen!”(CR)
Praise the Lord.
Renewal of Ezekiel’s Call as Watchman
33 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, speak to your people and say to them: ‘When I bring the sword(A) against a land, and the people of the land choose one of their men and make him their watchman,(B) 3 and he sees the sword coming against the land and blows the trumpet(C) to warn the people, 4 then if anyone hears the trumpet but does not heed the warning(D) and the sword comes and takes their life, their blood will be on their own head.(E) 5 Since they heard the sound of the trumpet but did not heed the warning, their blood will be on their own head.(F) If they had heeded the warning, they would have saved themselves.(G) 6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes someone’s life, that person’s life will be taken because of their sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood.’(H)
7 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman(I) for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me.(J) 8 When I say to the wicked, ‘You wicked person, you will surely die,(K)’ and you do not speak out to dissuade them from their ways, that wicked person will die for[a] their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood.(L) 9 But if you do warn the wicked person to turn from their ways and they do not do so,(M) they will die for their sin, though you yourself will be saved.(N)
10 “Son of man, say to the Israelites, ‘This is what you are saying: “Our offenses and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away(O) because of[b] them. How then can we live?(P)”’ 11 Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live.(Q) Turn!(R) Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?’(S)
The Incarnation of the Word of Life
1 That which was from the beginning,(A) which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes,(B) which we have looked at and our hands have touched(C)—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared;(D) we have seen it and testify to it,(E) and we proclaim to you the eternal life,(F) which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard,(G) so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.(H) 4 We write this(I) to make our[a] joy complete.(J)
Light and Darkness, Sin and Forgiveness
5 This is the message we have heard(K) from him and declare to you: God is light;(L) in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness,(M) we lie and do not live out the truth.(N) 7 But if we walk in the light,(O) as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all[b] sin.(P)
8 If we claim to be without sin,(Q) we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.(R) 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins(S) and purify us from all unrighteousness.(T) 10 If we claim we have not sinned,(U) we make him out to be a liar(V) and his word is not in us.(W)
Jesus Heals the Blind and the Mute
27 As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!”(A)
28 When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”
“Yes, Lord,” they replied.(B)
29 Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you”;(C) 30 and their sight was restored. Jesus warned them sternly, “See that no one knows about this.”(D) 31 But they went out and spread the news about him all over that region.(E)
32 While they were going out, a man who was demon-possessed(F) and could not talk(G) was brought to Jesus. 33 And when the demon was driven out, the man who had been mute spoke. The crowd was amazed and said, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.”(H)
34 But the Pharisees said, “It is by the prince of demons that he drives out demons.”(I)
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