Book of Common Prayer
Thanksgiving for God’s Deliverance
105 Give thanks to the Lord,
call on his name,
and make his deeds known among the people.
2 Sing to him! Praise him!
Declare all his awesome deeds!
3 Exult in his holy name;
let all[a] those who seek the Lord rejoice!
4 Seek the Lord and his strength;
seek his face continually.
5 Remember his awesome deeds that he has done,
his wonders and the judgments he declared.
6 You descendants of Abraham, his servant,
You children of Jacob, his chosen ones.
7 He is the Lord our God;
his judgments extend to the entire earth.
8 He remembers his eternal covenant—
every promise he made[b] for a thousand generations,
9 like the covenant he made[c] with Abraham,
and his promise to Isaac.
10 He presented it to Jacob as a decree,
to Israel as an everlasting covenant.
11 He said: “I will give Canaan to you
as the allotted portion that is your inheritance.”
12 When the Hebrews[d] were few in number—so very few—
and were sojourners in it,
13 they wandered from nation to nation,
from one kingdom to another.[e]
14 He did not allow anyone to oppress them,
or any kings to reprove them.
15 “Don’t touch my anointed
or hurt my prophets!”
16 He declared a famine on the land;
destroying the entire food supply.[f]
17 He sent a man before them—
Joseph, who had been sold as a slave.
18 They bound his feet with fetters
and placed an iron collar on his neck,[g]
19 until the time his prediction came true,
as the word of the Lord refined him.
20 He sent a king who released him,
a ruler of people who set him free.
21 He made him the master over his household,
the manager of all his possessions—
22 to discipline his rulers at will
and make his elders wise.
23 Then Israel came to Egypt;
indeed, Jacob lived in the land of Ham.[h]
24 He caused his people to multiply greatly;
and be more numerous than their enemies.
25 He caused them[i] to hate his people
and to deceive his servants.
26 He sent his servant Moses, along with Aaron,
whom he had chosen.
27 They performed his signs among them,
his wonders in the land of Ham.[j]
28 He sent darkness, and it became dark.
Did they not rebel against[k] his words?
29 He turned their water into blood,
so that the fish died.
30 Their land swarmed with frogs
even to the chambers of their kings.
31 He spoke,
and a swarm of insects invaded their land.[l]
32 He sent hail instead of rain,
and lightning throughout their land.
33 It destroyed their vines and their figs,
breaking trees throughout their country.[m]
34 Then he commanded the locust to come—
grasshoppers without number.
35 They consumed every green plant in their land,
and devoured the fruit of their soil.
36 He struck down every firstborn in their land,
the first fruits of all their progeny.
37 Then he brought Israel[n] out with silver and gold,
and no one among his tribes stumbled.
38 The Egyptians rejoiced when they left,
because fear of Israel[o] descended on them.
39 He spread out a cloud for a cover,
and fire for light at night.
40 Israel[p] asked, and quail came;
food from heaven satisfied them.
41 He opened a rock, and water gushed out
flowing like a river in the desert.
42 Indeed, he remembered his sacred promise
to his servant Abraham.
43 He led his people out with gladness,
his chosen ones with shouts of joy.
44 He gave to them the land of nations;
they inherited the labor of other[q] people
45 so they might keep his statutes
and observe his laws.
Hallelujah!
3 Then Jacob sent messengers ahead of him into the land of Seir (that is, into the territory of Edom) to meet his brother Esau. 4 He instructed them, “This is what you are to say to my master Esau: ‘Your servant Jacob told me to tell you, “I’ve journeyed to stay with Laban and I’ve remained there until now. 5 I now have cattle, donkeys, flocks, and male and female servants. I’m sending this message to you, sir,[a] so that you’ll show favor to me.”’”
6 Later, the messengers returned to Jacob and reported, “We went to your brother Esau. He’s now coming to meet you—and he has 400 men with him!”
7 Feeling mounting terror and distress, Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups, doing the same with the flocks, the cattle, and the camels. 8 Jacob was thinking, “If Esau comes to one group and attacks it, then the remaining group may escape.”
9 Then Jacob prayed,[b] “O God of my father Abraham, O God of my father Isaac, O Lord, you who told me, ‘Return to your country and to your relatives and I’ll cause things to go well for you.’ 10 I’m unworthy of all your gracious love, your faithfulness, and everything that you’ve done for your servant. When I first crossed over this river, I had only my staff. But now I’ve become two groups. 11 Deliver me from my brother Esau’s control, because I’m terrified of him, and I’m afraid that he’s coming to attack me, the mothers, and their children. 12 Now, you promised me that ‘I’m certainly going to cause things to go well with you, and I’m going to make your offspring[c] as numerous as the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.’”
13 Jacob spent the night there. Out of everything that he had brought with him, he chose a gift for his brother Esau— 14 200 female goats, 20 male goats, 200 ewes, 20 rams, 15 30 milking camels with their young, 40 cows with ten bulls, and 20 female donkeys with ten male donkeys. 16 He entrusted them into the care of his servants, one herd at a time.[d] Then he told his servants, “Go in front of me, making sure there’s plenty of space between herds.”
17 To the first group he said, “When you meet my brother Esau, if he asks, ‘To whom do you belong? Where are you going? And to whom do these herds[e] belong?’ 18 then you are to reply, ‘We’re from[f] your servant Jacob. The herds[g] are a gift. He’s sending them to my master, Esau. Look! There he is, coming along behind us.’”
19 He issued similar instructions to the second and third group, as well as to all the others who drove the herds that followed: “This is how you are to speak to Esau when you find him. 20 You are to tell him, ‘Look! Your servant Jacob is coming along behind us.’”
Jacob was thinking, “I’ll pacify him with the presents that are being sent ahead of me. Then, when I meet him,[h] perhaps he’ll accept me.”[i] 21 So the presents went[j] ahead of him, while he spent that night in the camp.
Live in the Messiah
18 Little children, it is the last hour. Just as you heard that an antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have appeared. This is how we know it is the last hour. 19 They left us, but they were not part of us, for if they had been part of us, they would have stayed with us. Their leaving made it clear that none of them was really part of us.
20 You have an anointing from the Holy One and know all things.[a] 21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because lies don’t come from truth. 22 Who is a liar but the person who denies that Jesus is the Messiah?[b] The person who denies the Father and the Son is an antichrist. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father. The person who acknowledges the Son also has the Father.
24 What you have heard from the beginning must abide in you. If what you have heard from the beginning abides in you, you will also abide in the Son and in the Father. 25 The message that the Son[c] himself declared to us is eternal life. 26 I have written[d] to you about those who are trying to deceive you. 27 The anointing you received from God[e] abides in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you this.[f] Instead, because God’s[g] anointing teaches you about everything and is true and not a lie, abide in him, as he taught you to do.[h]
Abide in Him
28 Even now, little children, abide in him. Then, when he appears, we will have confidence and will not turn away from him in shame when he comes. 29 Since you know that he is righteous, you also know that everyone who practices righteousness has been fathered by God.[i]
19 Once again there was a division among the Jews[a] because of what Jesus had been saying. 20 Many of them were saying, “He has a demon and is insane. Why bother listening to him?”
21 Others were saying, “These are not the words of a man who is demon-possessed. A demon cannot open the eyes of the blind, can it?”
Jesus is Rejected by the Jews
22 Now[b] Hanukkah[c] was taking place in Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was walking around in the Temple inside the open porch of Solomon. 24 So the Jewish leaders[d] surrounded him and quizzed him, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you’re the Messiah,[e] tell us so plainly.”
25 Jesus answered them, “I have told you, but you don’t believe it. The actions that I do in my Father’s name testify on my behalf, 26 but you don’t believe, because you don’t belong to my sheep.[f] 27 My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, they’ll never be lost, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 What my Father has given me[g] is more important than anything,[h] and no one can snatch it from the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”
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