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.
Balak Sends for Balaam
22 (A)Then the sons of Israel journeyed, and camped in the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan opposite Jericho.
2 Now (B)Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. 3 (C)So Moab was in great fear because of the people, for they were numerous; and Moab was in dread of the sons of Israel. 4 Moab said to the elders of (D)Midian, “Now this [a]horde will lick up all that is around us, as the ox licks up the grass of the field.” And Balak the son of Zippor was king of Moab at that time. 5 So he sent messengers to (E)Balaam the son of Beor, at (F)Pethor, which is near the [b]River, in the land of the sons of his people, to call him, saying, “Behold, a people came out of Egypt; behold, they cover the surface of the land, and they are living opposite me. 6 (G)Now, therefore, please come, (H)curse this people for me since they are too [c]mighty for me; perhaps I may be able to [d]defeat them and drive them out of the land. For I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed.”
7 So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the fees for (I)divination in their hand; and they came to Balaam and [e]repeated Balak’s words to him. 8 He said to them, “Spend the night here, and I will bring word back to you as the Lord may speak to me.” And the leaders of Moab stayed with Balaam. 9 Then (J)God came to Balaam and said, “Who are these men with you?” 10 Balaam said to God, “Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, has sent word to me, 11 ‘Behold, there is a people who came out of Egypt and they cover the surface of the land; now come, curse them for me; perhaps I may be able to fight against them and drive them out.’” 12 God said to Balaam, “Do not go with them; (K)you shall not curse the people, for they (L)are blessed.” 13 So Balaam arose in the morning and said to Balak’s leaders, “Go back to your land, for the Lord has refused to let me go with you.” 14 The leaders of Moab arose and went to Balak and said, “Balaam refused to come with us.”
15 Then Balak again sent leaders, more numerous and more distinguished than [f]the former. 16 They came to Balaam and said to him, “Thus says Balak the son of Zippor, ‘Let nothing, I beg you, hinder you from coming to me; 17 for I will indeed honor you richly, and I will do whatever you say to me. (M)Please come then, curse this people for me.’” 18 Balaam replied to the servants of Balak, “(N)Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything, either small or great, contrary to the [g]command of the Lord my God. 19 Now please, you also stay here tonight, and I will find out what else the Lord will speak to me.” 20 God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise up and go with them; but (O)only the word which I speak to you shall you do.”
21 (P)So Balaam arose in the morning, and saddled his donkey and went with the leaders of Moab.
12 Therefore do not let sin (A)reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, 13 and do not go on (B)presenting [a]the members of your body to sin as [b]instruments of unrighteousness; but (C)present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as [c]instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For (D)sin shall not (E)be master over you, for (F)you are not under law but (G)under grace.
15 What then? (H)Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? (I)May it never be! 16 Do you not (J)know that when you present yourselves to someone as (K)slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of (L)sin [d]resulting in death, or of obedience [e]resulting in righteousness? 17 But (M)thanks be to God that [f]though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that (N)form of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and having been (O)freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. 19 (P)I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just (Q)as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, [g]resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, [h]resulting in sanctification.
20 For (R)when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 Therefore what [i](S)benefit were you then [j]deriving [k]from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is (T)death. 22 But now having been (U)freed from sin and (V)enslaved to God, you [l]derive your [m](W)benefit, [n]resulting in sanctification, and (X)the outcome, eternal life. 23 For the wages of (Y)sin is death, but the free gift of God is (Z)eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Cleansing the Temple
12 (A)And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the (B)money changers and the seats of those who were selling (C)doves. 13 And He *said to them, “It is written, ‘(D)My house shall be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a (E)robbers’ [a]den.”
14 And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and (F)He healed them. 15 But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done, and the children who were shouting in the temple, “Hosanna to the (G)Son of David,” they became indignant 16 and said to Him, “Do You hear what these children are saying?” And Jesus *said to them, “Yes; have you never read, ‘(H)Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies You have prepared praise for Yourself’?” 17 And He left them and went out of the city to (I)Bethany, and spent the night there.
The Barren Fig Tree
18 (J)Now in the morning, when He was returning to the city, He became hungry. 19 Seeing a lone (K)fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves only; and He *said to it, “No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you.” And at once the fig tree withered.
20 Seeing this, the disciples were amazed and asked, “How did the fig tree wither all at once?” 21 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Truly I say to you, (L)if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will happen. 22 And (M)all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.