Book of Common Prayer
Israel’s Rebelliousness and the Lord’s Deliverances.
106 [a]Praise [b]the Lord!
Oh (A)give thanks to the Lord, for He (B)is good;
For (C)His lovingkindness is everlasting.
2 Who can speak of the (D)mighty deeds of the Lord,
Or can show forth all His praise?
3 How blessed are those who keep [c]justice,
[d]Who (E)practice righteousness at all times!
4 Remember me, O Lord, in Your (F)favor [e]toward Your people;
Visit me with Your salvation,
5 That I may see the (G)prosperity of Your chosen ones,
That I may (H)rejoice in the gladness of Your nation,
That I may (I)glory with Your [f]inheritance.
6 (J)We have sinned [g](K)like our fathers,
We have committed iniquity, we have behaved wickedly.
7 Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Your [h]wonders;
They (L)did not remember [i]Your abundant kindnesses,
But (M)rebelled by the sea, at the [j]Red Sea.
8 Nevertheless He saved them (N)for the sake of His name,
That He might (O)make His power known.
9 Thus He (P)rebuked the [k]Red Sea and it (Q)dried up,
And He (R)led them through the deeps, as through the wilderness.
10 So He (S)saved them from the [l]hand of the one who hated them,
And (T)redeemed them from the [m]hand of the enemy.
11 (U)The waters covered their adversaries;
Not one of them was left.
12 Then they (V)believed His words;
They (W)sang His praise.
13 They quickly (X)forgot His works;
They (Y)did not wait for His counsel,
14 But (Z)craved intensely in the wilderness,
And [n](AA)tempted God in the desert.
15 So He (AB)gave them their request,
But (AC)sent a [o]wasting disease among them.
16 When they became (AD)envious of Moses in the camp,
And of Aaron, the holy one of the Lord,
17 The (AE)earth opened and swallowed up Dathan,
And engulfed the [p]company of Abiram.
18 And a (AF)fire blazed up in their [q]company;
The flame consumed the wicked.
19 They (AG)made a calf in Horeb
And worshiped a molten image.
20 Thus they (AH)exchanged their glory
For the image of an ox that eats grass.
21 They (AI)forgot God their Savior,
Who had done (AJ)great things in Egypt,
22 [r](AK)Wonders in the land of Ham
And awesome things by the [s]Red Sea.
23 Therefore (AL)He said that He would destroy them,
Had not (AM)Moses His chosen one stood in the breach before Him,
To turn away His wrath from destroying them.
24 Then they (AN)despised the (AO)pleasant land;
They (AP)did not believe in His word,
25 But (AQ)grumbled in their tents;
They did not listen to the voice of the Lord.
26 Therefore He [t](AR)swore to them
That He would cast them down in the wilderness,
27 And that He would (AS)cast their seed among the nations
And (AT)scatter them in the lands.
28 They (AU)joined themselves also to [u]Baal-peor,
And ate (AV)sacrifices offered to the dead.
29 Thus they (AW)provoked Him to anger with their deeds,
And the plague broke out among them.
30 Then Phinehas (AX)stood up and interposed,
And so the (AY)plague was stayed.
31 And it was (AZ)reckoned to him for righteousness,
To all generations forever.
32 They also (BA)provoked Him to wrath at the waters of [v]Meribah,
So that it (BB)went hard with Moses on their account;
33 Because they (BC)were rebellious against [w]His Spirit,
He spoke rashly with his lips.
34 They (BD)did not destroy the peoples,
As (BE)the Lord commanded them,
35 But (BF)they mingled with the nations
And learned their [x]practices,
36 And (BG)served their idols,
(BH)Which became a snare to them.
37 They even (BI)sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the (BJ)demons,
38 And shed (BK)innocent blood,
The blood of their (BL)sons and their daughters,
Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan;
And the land was (BM)polluted with the blood.
39 Thus they became (BN)unclean in their [y]practices,
And (BO)played the harlot in their deeds.
40 Therefore the (BP)anger of the Lord was kindled against His people
And He (BQ)abhorred His [z](BR)inheritance.
41 Then (BS)He gave them into the hand of the [aa]nations,
And those who hated them ruled over them.
42 Their enemies also (BT)oppressed them,
And they were subdued under their [ab]power.
43 Many times He would (BU)deliver them;
They, however, were rebellious in their (BV)counsel,
And so (BW)sank down in their iniquity.
Manasseh Succeeds Hezekiah
21 (A)Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hephzibah. 2 (B)He did evil in the sight of the Lord, (C)according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord dispossessed before the sons of Israel. 3 For (D)he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and (E)he erected altars for Baal and made an [a]Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel had done, and (F)worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. 4 (G)He built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “(H)In Jerusalem I will put My name.” 5 For he built altars for (I)all the host of heaven in (J)the two courts of the house of the Lord. 6 (K)He made his son pass through the fire, (L)practiced witchcraft and used divination, and dealt with mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord provoking Him to anger. 7 Then (M)he set the carved image of Asherah that he had made, in the house of which the Lord said to David and to his son Solomon, “(N)In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever. 8 And I (O)will not make the feet of Israel wander anymore from the land which I gave their fathers, if only they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that My servant Moses commanded them.” 9 But they did not listen, and Manasseh (P)seduced them to do evil more than the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the sons of Israel.
The King’s Idolatries Rebuked
10 Now the Lord spoke through His servants the prophets, saying, 11 “(Q)Because Manasseh king of Judah has done these abominations, (R)having done wickedly more than all the Amorites did who were before him, and (S)has also made Judah sin (T)with his idols; 12 therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am bringing such calamity on Jerusalem and Judah, that whoever hears of it, (U)both his ears will tingle. 13 (V)I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. 14 I will abandon the remnant of My inheritance and deliver them into the hand of their enemies, and they will become as plunder and spoil to all their enemies; 15 because they have done evil in My sight, and have been provoking Me to anger since the day their fathers came from Egypt, even to this day.’”
16 (W)Moreover, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; besides his sin (X)with which he made Judah sin, in doing evil in the sight of the Lord. 17 (Y)Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh and all that he did and his sin which he [b]committed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 18 (Z)And Manasseh slept with his fathers and was buried in the garden of his own house, (AA)in the garden of Uzza, and Amon his son became king in his place.
14 Therefore, my (A)beloved, flee from (B)idolatry. 15 I speak as to wise men; you judge what I say. 16 Is not the (C)cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the [a](D)bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ? 17 Since there is one [b]bread, we (E)who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one [c]bread. 18 Look at [d]the nation (F)Israel; are not those who (G)eat the sacrifices sharers in the altar? 19 What do I mean then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or (H)that an idol is anything? 20 No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they (I)sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons. 21 (J)You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and (K)the table of demons. 22 Or do we (L)provoke the Lord to jealousy? We are not (M)stronger than He, are we?
23 (N)All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things (O)edify. 24 Let no one (P)seek his own good, but that of his [e]neighbor. 25 (Q)Eat anything that is sold in the meat market without asking questions for conscience’ sake; 26 (R)for the earth is the Lord’s, and [f]all it contains. 27 If (S)one of the unbelievers invites you and you want to go, (T)eat anything that is set before you without asking questions for conscience’ sake. 28 But (U)if anyone says to you, “This is meat sacrificed to idols,” do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for conscience’ sake; 29 I mean not your own conscience, but the other man’s; for (V)why is my freedom judged by another’s conscience? 30 If I partake with thankfulness, (W)why am I slandered concerning that for which I (X)give thanks?
31 Whether, then, you eat or drink or (Y)whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 32 (Z)Give no offense either to Jews or to Greeks or to (AA)the church of God; 33 just as I also (AB)please all men in all things, (AC)not seeking my own profit but the profit of the many, (AD)so that they may be saved.
Christian Order
11 (AE)Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.
Jesus Casts Out Demons
28 (A)When He came to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two men who were (B)demon-possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way. 29 And they cried out, saying, “[a](C)What business do we have with each other, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before [b]the time?” 30 Now there was a herd of many swine feeding at a distance from them. 31 The demons began to entreat Him, saying, “If You are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of swine.” 32 And He said to them, “Go!” And they came out and went into the swine, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the waters. 33 The herdsmen ran away, and went to the city and reported everything, [c]including what had happened to the (D)demoniacs. 34 And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, (E)they implored Him to leave their region.
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