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!
The Day of Worship
23 Yahweh spoke to Moses, 2 “Tell the Israelites: These are the appointed festivals with Yahweh, which you must announce as holy assemblies. 3 You may work for six days. But the seventh day is a day of worship, a day when you don’t work, a holy assembly. Don’t do any work. It is Yahweh’s day of worship wherever you live.
4 “The following are Yahweh’s appointed festivals with holy assemblies, which you must announce at their appointed times.
The Spring Festivals
5 “The fourteenth day of the first month, in the evening, is Yahweh’s Passover. 6 The fifteenth day of this same month is Yahweh’s Festival of Unleavened Bread. For seven days you must eat unleavened bread. 7 On the first day there will be a holy assembly. Don’t do any regular work. 8 Bring Yahweh a sacrifice by fire for seven days. On the seventh day there will be a holy assembly. Don’t do any regular work.”
9 Yahweh spoke to Moses, 10 “Tell the Israelites: When you come to the land I am going to give you and you harvest grain, bring the priest a bundle of the first grain you harvest. 11 He will present it to Yahweh so that you will be accepted. He will present it on the day after Passover. 12 On the day you present the bundle, you must sacrifice a one-year-old male lamb that has no defects as a burnt offering to Yahweh. 13 Bring a grain offering of four quarts of flour mixed with olive oil with it. This will be a sacrifice by fire made to Yahweh, a soothing aroma. Use one quart of wine for the wine offering. 14 Don’t eat bread, roasted grain, or fresh grain until this same day, when you bring the offering to your Elohim. It is a permanent law for generations to come wherever you live.
15 “Count seven full weeks from the day after Passover (the day you bring the bundle of grain as an offering presented to the Lord) 16 until the day after the seventh week. This is a total of fifty days. Then bring a new grain offering to Yahweh. 17 Bring two loaves of bread from your homes to present to the Lord. Bake them with four quarts of flour. They are the first harvested grain for Yahweh. 18 With the bread bring seven one-year-old lambs that have no defects, one bull, and two rams. They will be a burnt offering to Yahweh. With these offerings also bring grain and wine offerings. They will be a sacrifice by fire, a soothing aroma to Yahweh. 19 Also sacrifice one male goat as an offering for sin and two one-year-old lambs as a fellowship offering. 20 The priest must present them along with the bread of the first harvested grain as an offering to Yahweh. All this, along with the two lambs, will be holy and will belong to Yahweh’s priests. 21 Make an announcement that there will be a holy assembly on that same day. Don’t do any regular work. It is a permanent law for generations to come wherever you live.
22 “When you harvest the grain in your land, don’t harvest the grain in the corners of your fields or gather what is left after you’re finished. Leave it for poor people and foreigners. I am Yahweh your Elohim.”
Don’t Be Deceived about the Day of the Lord
2 Brothers and sisters, we have this request to make of you about our Lord Yeshua Christ’s coming and our gathering to meet him. 2 Don’t get upset right away or alarmed when someone claims that we said through some spirit, conversation, or letter that the day of the Lord has already come. 3 Don’t let anyone deceive you about this in any way. That day cannot come unless a revolt takes place first, and the man of sin, the man of destruction, is revealed. 4 He opposes every so-called god or anything that is worshiped and places himself above them, sitting in God’s temple and claiming to be God.
5 Don’t you remember that I told you about these things when I was still with you? 6 You know what it is that now holds him back, so that he will be revealed when his time comes. 7 The mystery of this sin is already at work. But it cannot work effectively until the person now holding it back gets out of the way. 8 Then the man of sin will be revealed and the Lord Yeshua will destroy him by what he says. When the Lord Yeshua comes, his appearance will put an end to this man.
9 The man of sin will come with the power of Satan. He will use every kind of power, including miraculous and wonderful signs. But they will be lies. 10 He will use everything that God disapproves of to deceive those who are dying, those who refused to love the truth that would save them. 11 That’s why God will send them a powerful delusion so that they will believe a lie. 12 Then everyone who did not believe the truth, but was delighted with what God disapproves of, will be condemned.
Paul Encourages the Thessalonians
13 We always have to thank God for you, brothers and sisters. You are loved by the Lord and we thank God that in the beginning he chose you to be saved through a life of spiritual devotion and faith in the truth. 14 With this in mind he called you by the Good News which we told you so that you would obtain the glory of our Lord Yeshua Christ.
15 Then, brothers and sisters, firmly hold on to the traditions we taught you either when we spoke to you or in our letter.
16 God our Father loved us and by his kindness[a] gave us everlasting encouragement and good hope. Together with our Lord Yeshua Christ, 17 may he encourage and strengthen you to do and say everything that is good.
The Sermon on a Mountain Continues: Stop Judging(A)
7 “Stop judging so that you will not be judged. 2 Otherwise, you will be judged by the same standard you use to judge others. The standards you use for others will be applied to you. 3 So why do you see the piece of sawdust in another believer’s eye and not notice the wooden beam in your own eye? 4 How can you say to another believer, ‘Let me take the piece of sawdust out of your eye,’ when you have a beam in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye. Then you will see clearly to remove the piece of sawdust from another believer’s eye.
Don’t Throw Pearls to Pigs
6 “Don’t give what is holy to dogs or throw your pearls to pigs. Otherwise, they will trample them and then tear you to pieces.
The Power of Prayer(B)
7 “Ask, and you will receive. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened for you. 8 Everyone who asks will receive. The one who searches will find, and for the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
9 “If your child asks you for bread, would any of you give him a stone? 10 Or if your child asks for a fish, would you give him a snake? 11 Even though you’re evil, you know how to give good gifts to your children. So how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him?
The Golden Rule(C)
12 “Always do for other people everything you want them to do for you. That is the meaning of Moses’ Teachings and the Prophets.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.