Book of Common Prayer
God’s Love for Israel
105 Give thanks to the Lord and ·pray to him [L call on his name].
·Tell [L Make known among] the nations what he has done.
2 Sing to him; ·sing praises [make a psalm] to him.
Tell about all his ·miracles [wonderful acts].
3 ·Be glad that you are his [L Exult/Glory in his holy name];
let ·those [L the heart of those] who seek the Lord ·be happy [rejoice].
4 ·Depend on [Seek] the Lord and his strength;
always ·go to him for help [L seek his face].
5 Remember the ·miracles [wonderful acts] he has done;
remember his ·wonders [signs] and ·his decisions [L the judgments of his mouth].
6 You are ·descendants [L seed] of his servant Abraham [Gen. 12:1–3],
the children of Jacob, his chosen people.
7 He is the Lord our God.
His ·laws [justice; judgments] are for all the world.
8 He will ·keep [L remember] his ·agreement [covenant; treaty] forever;
·he will keep his promises always [L the word which he commanded, for a thousand generations].
9 He will keep the ·agreement [covenant; treaty] he ·made [L cut] with Abraham [Gen. 12:1–3; 17:23]
and the ·promise [oath] he made to Isaac [Gen. 26:3–5].
10 He made it a ·law [statute; ordinance; requirement] for the people of Jacob;
he made it an ·agreement [covenant; agreement] with Israel to last forever.
11 The Lord said, “I will give you the land of Canaan [Gen. 15:18],
·and it will belong to you [L as a portion of your inheritance].”
12 Then ·God’s people [L they] were few in number.
They were ·strangers [sojourners; wanderers; resident aliens] in the land.
13 They went from one nation to another,
from one kingdom to another.
14 But the Lord did not let anyone ·hurt [exploit; oppress] them;
he warned kings ·not to harm them [L concerning them].
15 He said, “Don’t touch my ·chosen [anointed] people,
and don’t harm my prophets.”
16 ·God [He] ·ordered [proclaimed] a ·time of hunger [famine] in the land,
and he ·destroyed all the food [L broke every staff of bread; Gen. 41:54].
17 Then he sent a man ahead of them—
Joseph, who was sold as a slave [Gen. 37; 45:5; 50:20].
18 They ·put chains around his feet [L afflicted his feet with chain]
and an iron ·ring [collar] around his neck.
19 ·Then the time he had spoken of came,
and the Lord’s words proved that Joseph was right [or Until the time he had spoken of came, the words of the Lord kept testing him].
20 The king [C of Egypt] sent for Joseph and ·freed [released] him;
the ruler of the people set him free [Gen. 41:14, 40].
21 He made him the ·master [lord] of his house;
Joseph was in charge of his riches [Acts 7:10].
22 He could ·order [bind] the princes as he wished.
He taught the older men to be wise.
23 Then Israel [C another name for Jacob, Joseph’s father] came to Egypt;
Jacob lived in the land of Ham [C Egypt; Gen. 46:1–7].
24 The Lord made his people ·grow in number [fruitful; Ex. 1:7],
and he ·made them stronger than [strengthened them against] their ·enemies [foes].
25 He ·caused the Egyptians [L turned their hearts] to hate his people
and to ·make plans [L act deceptively] against his servants [Ex. 1:8].
26 Then he sent his servant Moses,
and Aaron, whom he had chosen [Ex. 3:1—4:17].
27 They did many signs among the Egyptians
and worked ·wonders [miracles; C the plagues; Ex. 7–12] in the land of Ham [C Egypt; Gen. 46:1–7].
28 The Lord sent darkness and made the land dark,
but the Egyptians ·turned against what he said [rebelled against his word; Ex. 10:21–29].
29 He changed their water into blood
and made their fish die [Ex. 7:14–25].
30 Then their country ·was filled [swarmed] with frogs,
even in the bedrooms of their ·rulers [L kings; Ex. 8:1–17].
31 The Lord spoke and flies came [Ex. 8:20–32],
and gnats were everywhere in the country [Ex. 8:16–19].
32 He made hail fall like rain
and sent lightning through their land.
33 He struck down their grapevines and fig trees,
and he ·destroyed [shattered] every tree in the country [Ex. 9:13–35].
34 He spoke and ·grasshoppers [locusts] came;
the ·locusts [young locusts] ·were too many to count [L without number].
35 They ate all the ·plants [vegetation] in the land
and ·everything the earth produced [L the fruit of the ground; Ex. 10:1–20].
36 ·The Lord [L He] also ·killed [L struck] all the firstborn sons in the land,
the oldest son of each family [L the first of their virility; Ex. 11:1—12:30].
37 Then he brought them out with silver and gold [Ex. 12:35–36].
·Not one of his people stumbled [L There was no stumbling among the tribe].
38 The Egyptians ·were glad [rejoiced] when they left,
because ·the Egyptians were afraid of them [L dread of them fell on them; C because of the plagues].
39 ·The Lord covered them with a cloud [L He spread out a cloud as a covering]
and ·lit up the night with fire [L a fire to illuminate the night; Ex. 13:21–22].
40 When they asked, he brought them quail
and filled them with bread from heaven [Ex. 16].
41 God ·split [L opened] the rock, and water flowed out;
it ran like a river through the ·desert [wasteland; Ex. 17:1–7].
42 He remembered his holy ·promise [word]
to his servant Abraham [Gen. 12:1–3].
43 So God brought his people out with joy,
his chosen ones with singing.
44 He gave them lands of other nations,
so they received ·what others had worked for [L the labors of peoples].
45 This was so they would ·keep [observe; guard] his ·orders [statutes; ordinances; requirements]
and ·obey [protect] his ·teachings [instructions; laws].
Praise the Lord!
The Vision of the Lampstand
4 Then the ·angel [messenger] who was talking with me returned and woke me up as if I had been asleep. 2 He asked me, “What do you see?”
I said, “I see a solid gold ·lampstand [menorah] with a bowl at the top. And there are seven lamps and also seven ·places [pipes; spouts] for wicks. 3 There are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on the left.”
4 I asked the ·angel [messenger] who talked with me, “·Sir [My lord], what are these?”
5 ·The angel [L He] said, “Don’t you know what they are?”
“No, sir,” I said.
6 Then he told me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘·You will not succeed by your own strength or by your own power [T Not by might, nor by power], but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts].
7 “Who are you, ·big [mighty; great] mountain? ·In front of [Compared with] Zerubbabel you will become ·flat land [a level plain], and he will bring out the ·topmost stone [capstone], ·shouting [or amid shouting], ‘·It’s beautiful! It’s beautiful [or Blessings, Blessings upon it; L Grace, Grace to it]!’”
8 Then the ·Lord spoke his word [L word of the Lord came] to me again, saying, 9 “[L The hands of] Zerubbabel has laid the foundation of this ·Temple [L house; Ezra 3:7–13], and he will complete it [Ezra 6:13–18]. Then you will know that the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts] has sent me to you.
10 “·The people should not think that small beginnings are unimportant [L For who despises the day of small things?]. ·They [or These seven eyes] will ·be happy [rejoice] when they see Zerubbabel with ·tools [or his plumb line; or the chosen capstone], building the Temple.
“(These are the seven eyes of the Lord, which look back and forth across the earth.)”
11 Then I asked the ·angel [messenger], “What are the two olive ·trees [or branches] on the right and left of the lampstand?”
12 ·I also [or Again I] asked him, “What are the two olive branches beside the two gold pipes, from which the olive oil ·flows to the lamps [pours out]?”
13 He answered, “Don’t you know what they are?”
“No, ·sir [my lord],” I said.
14 So he said, “They are symbols of the two ·who have been appointed to serve [anointed ones who stand by] the Lord of all the earth.”
The Way You Should Live
17 ·In the Lord’s name [or By the Lord’s authority; L In the Lord], I ·tell you [L speak and testify to] this. Do not continue ·living [walking] like ·those who do not believe [the pagans; L the Gentiles], whose thoughts are ·worth nothing [futile]. 18 They ·do not understand [L are darkened in their minds/understanding] and they are ·separated [excluded; alienated] from the life ·God gives [or God has; L of God] because of their ignorance ·and because of [or caused by] ·their stubbornness [or their closed minds; L the stubbornness of their heart/mind]. 19 They have lost ·all feeling of shame [or any sense of right and wrong; L all feeling/sensitivity], and they ·use their lives for doing evil [abandon themselves to indecency/depravity]. They ·continually want to do [or greedily pursue] all kinds of ·evil [impurity]. 20 But ·what you learned in Christ was not like this [or that is not how you learned about Christ; L you did not learn Christ that way]. 21 ·I know that [L …if indeed] you heard ·about him [or him], and you ·are in him, so you were taught the truth that is in Jesus [or were taught by him, because the truth is in Jesus]. 22 You were taught to ·leave [put off; lay aside] your old ·self [L person]—to stop living the evil way you lived before. That old self ·becomes worse [is decaying/being corrupted], because ·people are fooled by the evil things they want to do [L of the deceitfulness of their desires]. 23 But you were taught to be made new in ·your hearts [the spirit/attitude of your minds], 24 to ·become [put on; clothe yourself with] the new ·self [L person; or Man; C become like Christ]. That new person is created ·to be like God [or in God’s image; L according to God]—truly good and holy [or in the righteousness and holiness that comes from truth].
25 So you must stop telling lies. ·Tell each other the truth [L Let each one of you speak truthfully to his neighbor; Zech. 8:16], because we ·all belong to each other in the same body [L are members of one another]. 26 ·When you are angry, [or Be angry, and] do not sin [Ps. 4:4; C there is a time for righteous anger, but it must not result in sin], and ·be sure to stop being angry before the end of the day [L don’t let the sun set on your anger]. 27 Do not give the devil a ·way to defeat you [foothold; opportunity]. 28 Those who are stealing must stop stealing and start working. They should ·earn an honest living for themselves [do something good/useful with their hands]. Then they will have something to share with those who ·are poor [L have need].
29 Don’t ·say anything that will hurt others [L let any rotten/unhealthy word come from your mouth], but only say what is ·helpful [good] to ·make others stronger [build others up] ·and meet [L according to] their needs. Then what you say will ·do good [give grace; be a gift] to those who listen to you. 30 And do not ·make the Holy Spirit sad [grieve/bring sorrow to the Holy Spirit]. ·The Spirit is God’s proof that you belong to him and he will make you free when the final day comes […by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption]. 31 Do not be bitter or angry or ·mad [raging]. Never shout angrily or ·say things to hurt [slander; insult] others. ·Never do anything [Get rid of all kinds of] evil. 32 Be kind and ·loving [compassionate; tenderhearted] to each other, and forgive each other just as God forgave you in Christ.
Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man(A)
9 Jesus got into a boat and went back across the ·lake [sea] to his own town. 2 [L And look/T behold] Some people brought to Jesus a man who was paralyzed and lying on a ·mat [cot; bed]. When Jesus saw ·the faith of these people [L their faith], he said to the paralyzed man, “·Be encouraged [Have courage; Take heart], ·young man [son; child]. Your sins are forgiven.”
3 Some of the ·teachers of the law [scribes] said to themselves, “·This man speaks as if he were God. That is blasphemy [L This man blasphemes]!”
4 ·Knowing [Perceiving] their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why are you thinking evil ·thoughts [L in your hearts]? 5 [L For] Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to tell him, ‘Stand up and walk’? 6 But ·I will prove to you [L so that you may know] that the Son of Man [C a title for the Messiah; Dan. 7:13–14] has authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “Stand up, ·take [pick up] your ·mat [cot; bed], and go home.” 7 And the man stood up and went home. 8 When the ·people [crowds] saw this, they were ·amazed [filled with awe; afraid] and ·praised [glorified] God for giving ·power like this [such authority] to ·human beings [mankind; C the language echoes the Son of Man title just used by Jesus (v. 6), which the crowds misunderstand to mean simply “a human being”].
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