Book of Common Prayer

The Happy Home

A song for going up to worship.

A Prayer Against the Enemies

A song for going up to worship.

A Prayer for Mercy

A song for going up to worship.

Aaron’s Walking Stick Becomes a Snake

⁸ The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ⁹ “The king will ask you to do a miracle. When he does, Moses, you tell Aaron to throw his walking stick down in front of the king. It will become a snake.”

¹⁰ So Moses and Aaron went to the king as the Lord had commanded. Aaron threw his walking stick down in front of the king and his officers. And it became a snake.

¹¹ So the king called in his wise men and his magicians. With their tricks the Egyptian magicians were able to do the same thing. ¹² They threw their walking sticks on the ground, and their sticks became snakes. But then Aaron’s stick swallowed theirs. ¹³ But the king was stubborn. He refused to listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said.

The Water Becomes Blood

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “The king is being stubborn. He refuses to let the people go. ¹⁵ In the morning the king will go out to the Nile River. Go meet him by the edge of the river. Take with you the walking stick that became a snake. ¹⁶ Tell him this: The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you. He said, ‘Let my people go worship me in the desert.’ Until now you have not listened. ¹⁷ This is what the Lord says: ‘This is how you will know that I am the Lord. I will strike the water of the Nile River with this stick in my hand. And the water will change into blood. ¹⁸ Then the fish in the Nile will die, and the river will begin to stink. And the Egyptians will not be able to drink the water from the Nile.’”

¹⁹ The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron to stretch the walking stick in his hand over the rivers, canals, ponds and pools in Egypt. The water will become blood everywhere in Egypt. There even will be blood in the wooden buckets and stone jars.”

²⁰ So Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded. Aaron raised his walking stick and struck the water in the Nile River. He did this in front of the king and his officers. So all the water in the Nile changed into blood. ²¹ The fish in the Nile died, and the river began to stink. So the Egyptians could not drink water from it. Blood was everywhere in the land of Egypt.

²² Using their tricks, their magicians of Egypt did the same thing. So the king was stubborn and refused to listen to Moses and Aaron. This happened just as the Lord had said. ²³ The king turned and went into his palace. He ignored what Moses and Aaron had done. ²⁴ The Egyptians could not drink the water from the Nile. So all of them dug along the bank of the river. They were looking for water to drink.

Victory Through Christ

¹⁴ But thanks be to God, who always leads us in victory through Christ. God uses us to spread his knowledge everywhere like a sweet-smelling perfume. ¹⁵ Our offering to God is this: We are the sweet smell of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are being lost. ¹⁶ To those who are lost, we are the smell of death that brings death. But to those who are being saved, we are the smell of life that brings life. So who is able to do this work? ¹⁷ We do not sell the word of God for a profit as many other people do. But in Christ we speak the truth before God. We speak as men sent from God.

Servants of the New Agreement

3 Are we starting to brag about ourselves again? Do we need letters of introduction to you or from you, like some other people? ² You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts. It is known and read by everyone. ³ You show that you are a letter from Christ that he sent through us. This letter is not written with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is not written on stone tablets.^[a] It is written on human hearts.

⁴ We can say this, because through Christ we feel sure before God. ⁵ I do not mean that we are able to say that we can do this work ourselves. It is God who makes us able to do all that we do. ⁶ God made us able to be servants of a new agreement from himself to his people. This new agreement is not a written law. It is of the Spirit. The written law brings death, but the Spirit gives life.

Jesus Teaches About Divorce

10 Then Jesus left that place. He went into the area of Judea and across the Jordan River. Again, crowds came to him. And Jesus taught them as he always did.

² Some Pharisees came to Jesus and tried to trick him. They asked, “Is it right for a man to divorce his wife?”

³ Jesus answered, “What did Moses command you to do?”

⁴ They said, “Moses allowed a man to write out divorce papers and send her away.”^[a]

⁵ Jesus said, “Moses wrote that command for you because you refused to accept God’s teaching. ⁶ But when God made the world, ‘he made them male and female.’^{[b] 7} ‘So a man will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife.^{[c] 8} And the two people will become one body.’^[d] So the people are not two, but one. ⁹ God has joined the two people together. So no one should separate them.”

¹⁰ Later, the followers and Jesus were in the house. They asked Jesus again about the question of divorce. ¹¹ He answered, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman is guilty of adultery against her. ¹² And the woman who divorces her husband and marries another man is also guilty of adultery.”

Jesus Accepts Children

¹³ Some people brought their small children to Jesus so he could touch them. But his followers told the people to stop bringing their children to him. ¹⁴ When Jesus saw this, he was displeased. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me. Don’t stop them. The kingdom of God belongs to people who are like these little children. ¹⁵ I tell you the truth. You must accept the kingdom of God as a little child accepts things, or you will never enter it.” ¹⁶ Then Jesus took the children in his arms. He put his hands on them and blessed them.