Book of Common Prayer
The Eternal Faithfulness of the Lord(A)
105 Oh, (B)give thanks to the Lord!
Call upon His name;
(C)Make known His deeds among the peoples!
2 Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him;
(D)Talk of all His wondrous works!
3 Glory in His holy name;
Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the Lord!
4 Seek the Lord and His strength;
(E)Seek His face evermore!
5 (F)Remember His marvelous works which He has done,
His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth,
6 O seed of Abraham His servant,
You children of Jacob, His chosen ones!
7 He is the Lord our God;
(G)His judgments are in all the earth.
8 He (H)remembers His covenant forever,
The word which He commanded, for a thousand generations,
9 (I)The covenant which He made with Abraham,
And His oath to Isaac,
10 And confirmed it to Jacob for a statute,
To Israel as an everlasting covenant,
11 Saying, (J)“To you I will give the land of Canaan
As the allotment of your inheritance,”
12 (K)When they were few in number,
Indeed very few, (L)and strangers in it.
13 When they went from one nation to another,
From one kingdom to another people,
14 (M)He permitted no one to do them wrong;
Yes, (N)He rebuked kings for their sakes,
15 Saying, “Do not touch My anointed ones,
And do My prophets no harm.”
16 Moreover (O)He called for a famine in the land;
He destroyed all the (P)provision of bread.
17 (Q)He sent a man before them—
Joseph—who (R)was sold as a slave.
18 (S)They hurt his feet with fetters,
[a]He was laid in irons.
19 Until the time that his word came to pass,
(T)The word of the Lord tested him.
20 (U)The king sent and released him,
The ruler of the people let him go free.
21 (V)He made him lord of his house,
And ruler of all his possessions,
22 To [b]bind his princes at his pleasure,
And teach his elders wisdom.
23 (W)Israel also came into Egypt,
And Jacob dwelt (X)in the land of Ham.
24 (Y)He increased His people greatly,
And made them stronger than their enemies.
25 (Z)He turned their heart to hate His people,
To deal craftily with His servants.
26 (AA)He sent Moses His servant,
And Aaron whom He had chosen.
27 They (AB)performed His signs among them,
And wonders in the land of Ham.
28 He sent darkness, and made it dark;
And they did not rebel against His word.
29 (AC)He turned their waters into blood,
And killed their fish.
30 (AD)Their land abounded with frogs,
Even in the chambers of their kings.
31 (AE)He spoke, and there came swarms of flies,
And lice in all their territory.
32 (AF)He gave them hail for rain,
And flaming fire in their land.
33 (AG)He struck their vines also, and their fig trees,
And splintered the trees of their territory.
34 (AH)He spoke, and locusts came,
Young locusts without number,
35 And ate up all the vegetation in their land,
And devoured the fruit of their ground.
36 (AI)He also [c]destroyed all the firstborn in their land,
(AJ)The first of all their strength.
37 (AK)He also brought them out with silver and gold,
And there was none feeble among His tribes.
38 (AL)Egypt was glad when they departed,
For the fear of them had fallen upon them.
39 (AM)He spread a cloud for a covering,
And fire to give light in the night.
40 (AN)The people asked, and He brought quail,
And (AO)satisfied them with the bread of heaven.
41 (AP)He opened the rock, and water gushed out;
It ran in the dry places like a river.
42 For He remembered (AQ)His holy promise,
And Abraham His servant.
43 He brought out His people with joy,
His chosen ones with [d]gladness.
44 (AR)He gave them the lands of the [e]Gentiles,
And they inherited the labor of the nations,
45 (AS)That they might observe His statutes
And keep His laws.
[f]Praise the Lord!
3 Then Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother (A)in the land of Seir, (B)the [a]country of Edom. 4 And he commanded them, saying, (C)“Speak thus to my lord Esau, ‘Thus your servant Jacob says: “I have dwelt with Laban and stayed there until now. 5 (D)I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, and male and female servants; and I have sent to tell my lord, that (E)I may find favor in your sight.” ’ ”
6 Then the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and (F)he also is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.” 7 So Jacob was greatly afraid and (G)distressed; and he divided the people that were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two companies. 8 And he said, “If Esau comes to the one company and [b]attacks it, then the other company which is left will escape.”
9 (H)Then Jacob said, (I)“O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the Lord (J)who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your family, and I will deal well with you’: 10 I am not worthy of the least of all the (K)mercies and of all the truth which You have shown Your servant; for I crossed over this Jordan with (L)my staff, and now I have become two companies. 11 (M)Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and [c]attack me and (N)the mother with the children. 12 For (O)You said, ‘I will surely treat you well, and make your descendants as the (P)sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’ ”
13 So he lodged there that same night, and took what [d]came to his hand as (Q)a present for Esau his brother: 14 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 15 thirty milk camels with their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten foals. 16 Then he delivered them to the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass over before me, and put some distance between successive droves.” 17 And he commanded the first one, saying, “When Esau my brother meets you and asks you, saying, ‘To whom do you belong, and where are you going? Whose are these in front of you?’ 18 then you shall say, ‘They are your servant Jacob’s. It is a present sent to my lord Esau; and behold, he also is behind us.’ ” 19 So he commanded the second, the third, and all who followed the droves, saying, “In this manner you shall speak to Esau when you find him; 20 and also say, ‘Behold, your servant Jacob is behind us.’ ” For he said, “I will (R)appease him with the present that goes before me, and afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will accept me.” 21 So the present went on over before him, but he himself lodged that night in the camp.
Deceptions of the Last Hour
18 (A)Little children, (B)it is the last hour; and as you have heard that (C)the[a] Antichrist is coming, (D)even now many antichrists have come, by which we know (E)that it is the last hour. 19 (F)They went out from us, but they were not of us; for (G)if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out (H)that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.
20 But (I)you have an anointing (J)from the Holy One, and (K)you[b] know all things. 21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth.
22 (L)Who is a liar but he who denies that (M)Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. 23 (N)Whoever denies the Son does not have the (O)Father either; (P)he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
Let Truth Abide in You
24 Therefore let that abide in you (Q)which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, (R)you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. 25 (S)And this is the promise that He has promised us—eternal life.
26 These things I have written to you concerning those who try to [c]deceive you. 27 But the (T)anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and (U)you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing (V)teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you [d]will abide in Him.
The Children of God
28 And now, little children, abide in Him, that [e]when He appears, we may have (W)confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. 29 (X)If you know that He is righteous, you know that (Y)everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.
19 Therefore (A)there was a division again among the Jews because of these sayings. 20 And many of them said, (B)“He has a demon and is [a]mad. Why do you listen to Him?”
21 Others said, “These are not the words of one who has a demon. (C)Can a demon (D)open the eyes of the blind?”
The Shepherd Knows His Sheep
22 Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. 23 And Jesus walked in the temple, (E)in Solomon’s porch. 24 Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, “How long do You keep us in [b]doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.”
25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. (F)The works that I do in My Father’s name, they (G)bear witness of Me. 26 But (H)you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, [c]as I said to you. 27 (I)My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29 (J)My Father, (K)who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. 30 (L)I and My Father are one.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.