Book of Common Prayer
The Lord’s Wonderful Works in Behalf of Israel.
105 (A)Give thanks to the Lord, (B)call upon His name;
(C)Make His deeds known among the peoples.
2 Sing to Him, (D)sing praises to Him;
[a](E)Tell of all His [b]wonders.
3 Boast in His holy name;
May the (F)heart of those who seek the Lord be joyful.
4 Seek the Lord and (G)His strength;
(H)Seek His face continually.
5 Remember His [c](I)wonders which He has done,
His marvels and the (J)judgments [d]spoken by His mouth,
6 You [e]descendants of (K)Abraham, His servant,
You sons of (L)Jacob, His (M)chosen ones!
7 He is the Lord our God;
His (N)judgments are in all the earth.
8 He has (O)remembered His covenant forever,
The word which He commanded to a (P)thousand generations,
9 The (Q)covenant which He made with Abraham,
And His (R)oath to Isaac.
10 Then He (S)confirmed it to Jacob as a statute,
To Israel as an everlasting covenant,
11 Saying, “(T)To you I will give the land of Canaan
As the [f](U)portion of your inheritance,”
12 When they were only a (V)few people in number,
Very few, and (W)strangers in it.
13 And they wandered from nation to nation,
From one kingdom to another people,
14 He (X)allowed no one to oppress them,
And He [g](Y)rebuked kings for their sakes, saying,
15 “(Z)Do not touch My anointed ones,
And do not harm My prophets.”
16 And He (AA)called for a famine upon the land;
He (AB)broke the whole staff of bread.
17 He (AC)sent a man before them,
Joseph, who was (AD)sold as a slave.
18 They forced his (AE)feet into shackles,
[h]He was put in irons;
19 Until the time that his (AF)word came to pass,
The word of the Lord (AG)refined him.
20 The (AH)king sent and released him,
The ruler of peoples, and set him free.
21 He (AI)made him lord of his house,
And ruler over all his possessions,
22 To [i]imprison his high officials [j](AJ)at will,
That he might teach his elders wisdom.
23 (AK)Israel also came into Egypt;
So Jacob (AL)lived in the land of Ham.
24 And He (AM)made His people very fruitful,
And made them stronger than their enemies.
25 He (AN)turned their heart to hate His people,
To (AO)deal cunningly with His servants.
26 He (AP)sent His servant Moses,
And (AQ)Aaron, whom He had chosen.
27 They [k](AR)performed His wondrous acts among them,
And miracles in the land of Ham.
28 He (AS)sent darkness and made it dark;
And they did not (AT)rebel against His words.
29 He (AU)turned their waters into blood,
And caused their fish to die.
30 Their land swarmed with (AV)frogs
Even in the (AW)chambers of their kings.
31 He spoke, and a (AX)swarm of flies
And (AY)gnats invaded all their territory.
32 He [l]gave them (AZ)hail for rain,
And flaming fire in their land.
33 He also (BA)struck their vines and their fig trees,
And smashed the trees of their territory.
34 He spoke, and (BB)locusts came,
And creeping locusts, beyond number,
35 And they ate all the vegetation in their land,
And ate the fruit of their ground.
36 He also (BC)fatally struck all the firstborn in their land,
The (BD)first fruits of all their vigor.
37 Then He brought [m]the Israelites out with (BE)silver and gold,
And among His tribes there was not one who stumbled.
38 Egypt was (BF)glad when they departed,
For the (BG)dread of them had fallen upon [n]the Egyptians.
39 He spread out a (BH)cloud as a [o]covering,
And (BI)fire to illumine by night.
40 [p]They (BJ)asked, and He brought (BK)quail,
And satisfied them with the [q](BL)bread of heaven.
41 He opened the [r]rock and (BM)water flowed out;
[s]It ran in the dry places like a river.
42 For He (BN)remembered His holy word
With His servant Abraham;
43 And He led out His people with joy,
His chosen ones with a joyful (BO)shout.
44 He also (BP)gave them the lands of the [t]nations,
So that they (BQ)might take possession of the fruit of the peoples’ labor,
45 And that they might (BR)keep His statutes
And comply with His laws;
[u]Praise [v]the Lord!
3 Then Jacob (A)sent messengers ahead of himself to his brother Esau in the land of (B)Seir, the [a]country of (C)Edom. 4 He commanded them, saying, “This is what you shall say to my lord Esau: ‘Your servant Jacob says the following: “I have resided with Laban, and (D)stayed until now; 5 and (E)I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, and male and female servants; and I have sent messengers to tell my lord, (F)so that I may find favor in your sight.”’”
6 And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and furthermore (G)he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.” 7 Then Jacob was (H)greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people who were with him, and the flocks, the herds, and the camels, into two companies; 8 for he said, “If Esau comes to the one company and [b]attacks it, then the company which is left will escape.”
9 Then Jacob said, “(I)God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, Lord, who said to me, ‘(J)Return to your country and to your relatives, and I will [c]make you prosper,’ 10 [d]I am unworthy (K)of all the [e]favor and of all the [f]faithfulness, which You have shown to Your servant; for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two companies. 11 (L)Save me, please, (M)from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, that he will come and [g]attack me and the (N)mothers with the children. 12 For You said, ‘(O)I will assuredly [h]make you prosper and (P)make your [i]descendants as the sand of the sea, which is too great to be counted.’”
13 So he spent the night there. Then he [j]selected from what [k]he had with him a (Q)gift for his brother Esau: 14 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 15 thirty milking camels and their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. 16 Then he placed them in the [l]care of his servants, every flock by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass on ahead of me, and put a space between flocks.” 17 And he commanded the [m]one in front, saying, “When my brother Esau meets you and asks you, saying, ‘To whom do you belong, and where are you going, and to whom do these animals in front of you belong?’ 18 then you shall say, ‘These belong to your servant Jacob; it is a gift sent to my lord Esau. And behold, he also is behind us.’” 19 Then he commanded also the second and the third, and all those who followed the flocks, saying, “In this way you shall speak to Esau when you find him; 20 and you shall say, ‘Behold, your servant Jacob also is behind us.’” For he said, “I will appease him with the gift that goes ahead of me. Then afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will accept me.” 21 So the gift passed on ahead of him, while he himself spent that night in the camp.
18 Children, (A)it is the last hour; and just as you heard that (B)antichrist is coming, (C)even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour. 19 (D)They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, (E)so that [a]it would be evident that they all are not of us. 20 [b]But you have an (F)anointing from (G)the Holy One, and (H)you all know. 21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but (I)because you do know it, and [c]because no lie is (J)of the truth. 22 Who is the liar except (K)the one who denies that Jesus is the [d]Christ? This is (L)the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. 23 (M)Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also. 24 As for you, see that what you heard (N)from the beginning remains in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, you also (O)will remain in the Son and in the Father.
The Promise Is Eternal Life
25 (P)This is the promise which He Himself [e]made to us: eternal life.
26 These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to (Q)deceive you. 27 And as for you, the (R)anointing which you received from Him remains in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing (S)teaches you about all things, and is (T)true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, [f]you remain in Him.
28 Now, (U)little children, remain in Him, so that when He (V)appears, we may have (W)confidence and (X)not [g]draw back from Him in shame [h]at His (Y)coming. 29 If you know that (Z)He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness also (AA)has been born of Him.
19 (A)Dissension occurred again among the Jews because of these words. 20 Many of them were saying, “He (B)has a demon and (C)is insane. Why do you listen to Him?” 21 Others were saying, “These are not the words of one who is (D)demon-possessed. (E)A demon cannot open the eyes of those who are blind, can it?”
Jesus Asserts His Deity
22 At that time the [a]Feast of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem; 23 it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple area, in the portico of (F)Solomon. 24 (G)The Jews then surrounded Him and began saying to Him, “How long [b]will You keep us in suspense? If You are the [c]Christ, tell us (H)plainly.” 25 Jesus answered them, “(I)I told you, and you do not believe; (J)the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me. 26 But you do not believe, because (K)you are not of My sheep. 27 My sheep (L)listen to My voice, and (M)I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give them (N)eternal life, and they will never perish; and (O)no one will snatch them out of My hand. 29 [d]My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 (P)I and the Father are [e]one.”
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