Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 106
1 Hallelujah!
Give thanks to Yahweh because he is good,
because his mercy endures forever.
2 Who can speak about all the mighty things Yahweh has done?
Who can announce all the things for which he is worthy of praise?
3 Blessed are those who defend justice
and do what is right at all times.
4 Remember me, O Yahweh, when you show favor to your people.
Come to help me with your salvation
5 so that I may see the prosperity of your chosen ones,
find joy in our people’s happiness,
and brag with the people who belong to you.
6 We have sinned, and so did our ancestors.
We have done wrong.
We are guilty.
7 When our ancestors were in Egypt,
they gave no thought to your miracles.
They did not remember your numerous acts of mercy,
so they rebelled at the sea, the Red Sea.
8 He saved them because of his reputation
so that he could make his mighty power known.
9 He angrily commanded the Red Sea, and it dried up.
He led them through deep water as though it were a desert.
10 He rescued them from the power of the one who hated them.
He rescued them from the enemy.
11 Water covered their adversaries.
Not one Egyptian survived.
12 Then our ancestors believed what he said.
They sang his praise.
13 They quickly forgot what he did.
They did not wait for his advice.
14 They had an unreasonable desire for food in the wilderness.
In the desert they tested El.
15 He gave them what they asked for.
He also gave them a degenerative disease.
16 In the camp certain men became envious of Moses.
They also became envious of Aaron, Yahweh’s holy one.
17 The ground split open and swallowed Dathan.
It buried Abiram’s followers.
18 A fire broke out among their followers.
Flames burned up wicked people.
19 At Mount Horeb they made a statue of a calf.
They worshiped an idol made of metal.
20 They traded their glorious God[a]
for the statue of a bull that eats grass.
21 They forgot El, their savior,
the one who did spectacular things in Egypt,
22 miracles in the land of Ham,
and terrifying things at the Red Sea.
23 El said he was going to destroy them,
but Moses, his chosen one, stood in his way
to prevent him from exterminating them.
24 They refused to enter the pleasant land.
They did not believe what he said.
25 They complained in their tents.
They did not obey Yahweh.
26 Raising his hand, he swore
that he would kill them in the wilderness,
27 kill their descendants among the nations,
and scatter them throughout various lands.
28 They joined in worshiping the god Baal while they were at Peor,
and they ate what was sacrificed to the dead.
29 They infuriated Yahweh by what they did,
and a plague broke out among them.
30 Then Phinehas stood between Yahweh and the people,
and the plague was stopped.
31 Because of this, Phinehas was considered righteous forever,
throughout every generation.
32 They made Yahweh angry by the water at Meribah.
Things turned out badly for Moses because of what they did,
33 since they made him bitter so that he spoke recklessly.
34 They did not destroy the people as Yahweh had told them.
35 Instead, they intermarried with other nations.
They learned to do what other nations did,
36 and they worshiped their idols,
which became a trap for them.
37 They sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons.
38 They shed innocent blood,
the blood of their own sons and daughters
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan.
The land became polluted with blood.
39 They became filthy because of what they did.
They behaved like prostitutes.
40 Yahweh burned with anger against his own people.
He was disgusted with those who belonged to him.
41 He handed them over to other nations,
and those who hated them ruled them.
42 Their enemies oppressed them
and made them subject to their power.
43 He rescued them many times,
but they continued to plot rebellion against him
and to sink deeper because of their sin.
44 He saw that they were suffering
when he heard their cry for help.
45 He remembered his promise[b] to them.
In keeping with his rich mercy, he changed his plans.
46 He let them find compassion
from all those who held them captive.
47 Rescue us, O Yahweh our Elohim, and gather us from the nations
so that we may give thanks to your holy name
and make your praise our glory.
48 Thanks be to Yahweh Elohim of Israel
from everlasting to everlasting.
Let all the people say amen.
Hallelujah!
Ezekiel Is Called to Be a Watchman
33 Yahweh spoke his word to me. He said, 2 “Son of man, speak to your people. Tell them, ‘Suppose I bring war on this country, and the people of this country choose one of their men and make him their watchman. 3 If he sees the enemy coming to attack the country, he will blow his horn to warn the people. 4 If the people hear the horn and ignore the warning and the enemy comes and takes them, they will be responsible for their own deaths. 5 They heard the sound of the horn but ignored its warning. So they are responsible for their own deaths. If they had taken the warning, they would have saved themselves.
6 “‘But if the watchman sees the enemy coming and doesn’t blow his horn to warn the people and the enemy comes and kills someone, that watchman must die because of his sin. I will hold him responsible for their deaths.’
7 “Son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for the people of Israel. Listen to what I say, and warn them for me. 8 Suppose I say to a wicked person, ‘You wicked person, you will certainly die,’ and you say nothing to warn him to change his ways. That wicked person will die because of his sin, and I will hold you responsible for his death. 9 But if you warn a wicked person to turn from his ways and he doesn’t turn from them, then he will die because of his sin. However, you will save yourself.
10 “Son of man, say to the people of Israel, ‘You have said this, “Our wickedness and our sins weigh us down, and we are rotting away because of them. How can we live?” ’
11 “Tell them, ‘As I live, declares Adonay Yahweh, I don’t want wicked people to die. Rather, I want them to turn from their ways and live. Change the way you think and act! Turn from your wicked ways! Do you want to die, people of Israel?’
John’s Reason for Writing
1 The Word of life existed from the beginning. We have heard it. We have seen it. We observed and touched it. 2 This life was revealed to us. We have seen it, and we testify about it. We are reporting to you about this eternal life that was in the presence of the Father and was revealed to us. 3 This is the life we have seen and heard. We are reporting about it to you also so that you, too, can have a relationship with us. Our relationship is with the Father and with his Son Yeshua Christ. 4 We are writing this so that we can be completely filled with joy.
Through Jesus We Have a Relationship with God
5 This is the message we heard from Christ and are reporting to you: God is light, and there isn’t any darkness in him. 6 If we say, “We have a relationship with God” and yet live in the dark, we’re lying. We aren’t being truthful.
7 But if we live in the light in the same way that God is in the light, we have a relationship with each other. And the blood of his Son Yeshua cleanses us from every sin. 8 If we say, “We aren’t sinful” we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 God is faithful and reliable. If we confess our sins, he forgives them and cleanses us from everything we’ve done wrong. 10 If we say, “We have never sinned,” we turn God into a liar and his Word is not in us.
Jesus Heals Two Blind Men
27 When Yeshua left that place, two blind men followed him. They shouted, “Have mercy on us, Son of David.”
28 Yeshua went into a house, and the blind men followed him. He said to them, “Do you believe that I can do this?”
“Yes, Lord,” they answered.
29 He touched their eyes and said, “What you have believed will be done for you!” 30 Then they could see.
He warned them, “Don’t let anyone know about this!” 31 But they went out and spread the news about him throughout that region.
Jesus Forces a Demon out of a Man Who Couldn’t Talk
32 As they were leaving, some people brought a man to Yeshua. The man was unable to talk because he was possessed by a demon. 33 But as soon as the demon was forced out, the man began to speak.
The crowds were amazed and said, “We have never seen anything like this in Israel!”
34 But the Pharisees said, “He forces demons out of people with the help of the ruler of demons.”
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.