Book of Common Prayer
Thanksgiving for God’s Deliverance
105 Give thanks to the Lord,
call on his name,
and make his deeds known among the people.
2 Sing to him! Praise him!
Declare all his awesome deeds!
3 Exult in his holy name;
let all[a] those who seek the Lord rejoice!
4 Seek the Lord and his strength;
seek his face continually.
5 Remember his awesome deeds that he has done,
his wonders and the judgments he declared.
6 You descendants of Abraham, his servant,
You children of Jacob, his chosen ones.
7 He is the Lord our God;
his judgments extend to the entire earth.
8 He remembers his eternal covenant—
every promise he made[b] for a thousand generations,
9 like the covenant he made[c] with Abraham,
and his promise to Isaac.
10 He presented it to Jacob as a decree,
to Israel as an everlasting covenant.
11 He said: “I will give Canaan to you
as the allotted portion that is your inheritance.”
12 When the Hebrews[d] were few in number—so very few—
and were sojourners in it,
13 they wandered from nation to nation,
from one kingdom to another.[e]
14 He did not allow anyone to oppress them,
or any kings to reprove them.
15 “Don’t touch my anointed
or hurt my prophets!”
16 He declared a famine on the land;
destroying the entire food supply.[f]
17 He sent a man before them—
Joseph, who had been sold as a slave.
18 They bound his feet with fetters
and placed an iron collar on his neck,[g]
19 until the time his prediction came true,
as the word of the Lord refined him.
20 He sent a king who released him,
a ruler of people who set him free.
21 He made him the master over his household,
the manager of all his possessions—
22 to discipline his rulers at will
and make his elders wise.
23 Then Israel came to Egypt;
indeed, Jacob lived in the land of Ham.[h]
24 He caused his people to multiply greatly;
and be more numerous than their enemies.
25 He caused them[i] to hate his people
and to deceive his servants.
26 He sent his servant Moses, along with Aaron,
whom he had chosen.
27 They performed his signs among them,
his wonders in the land of Ham.[j]
28 He sent darkness, and it became dark.
Did they not rebel against[k] his words?
29 He turned their water into blood,
so that the fish died.
30 Their land swarmed with frogs
even to the chambers of their kings.
31 He spoke,
and a swarm of insects invaded their land.[l]
32 He sent hail instead of rain,
and lightning throughout their land.
33 It destroyed their vines and their figs,
breaking trees throughout their country.[m]
34 Then he commanded the locust to come—
grasshoppers without number.
35 They consumed every green plant in their land,
and devoured the fruit of their soil.
36 He struck down every firstborn in their land,
the first fruits of all their progeny.
37 Then he brought Israel[n] out with silver and gold,
and no one among his tribes stumbled.
38 The Egyptians rejoiced when they left,
because fear of Israel[o] descended on them.
39 He spread out a cloud for a cover,
and fire for light at night.
40 Israel[p] asked, and quail came;
food from heaven satisfied them.
41 He opened a rock, and water gushed out
flowing like a river in the desert.
42 Indeed, he remembered his sacred promise
to his servant Abraham.
43 He led his people out with gladness,
his chosen ones with shouts of joy.
44 He gave to them the land of nations;
they inherited the labor of other[q] people
45 so they might keep his statutes
and observe his laws.
Hallelujah!
The Outdated Proverb
18 This message came to me from the Lord: 2 “Why do you cite this proverb when you talk about Israel’s land: ‘The fathers eat sour grapes but it’s their children’s teeth that have become numb.’ 3 As long as I live,” declares the Lord, “you won’t use this proverb about Israel anymore. 4 Look! Every living soul belongs to me—the father’s as well as the son’s.[a] So pay attention! The person who keeps on sinning is going to die.”
The Person who Sins will Die
19 “Yet you keep asking, ‘Why wouldn’t the son bear the punishment of his father’s sin?’ Because the son has done what was lawful and right, and has kept all my statutes and obeyed them, he’s certainly going to live. 20 The soul who sins dies. The son won’t bear the punishment of his father’s sin and the father won’t bear the punishment of his son’s sin. The righteous deeds of that righteous person will be attributed to him, while the wicked deeds of the wicked person will be charged against him. 21 But if the wicked person turns from all his sins, which he did and keeps my statutes, then he’ll live. He won’t die. 22 None of the transgressions that he had committed will be held[a] against him. Because of the righteous deeds that he had done, he’ll live.
23 “I don’t take delight in the death of the wicked, do I?” asks the Lord God. “Shouldn’t I rather delight[b] when he turns from his wicked ways and lives? 24 But when the righteous person abandons his righteous deeds and commits evil, detestable practices, as wicked people do, he won’t live, will he? None of the righteous acts that he had done will be remembered. He’ll die in his treacherous unfaithfulness and sins that he had committed.”
Accusing God of Unrighteousness
25 “Yet you keep saying, ‘The Lord isn’t being consistent with his standards.’ Pay attention, you house of Israel: Is my behavior really inconsistent with my standards? Isn’t it your behavior that isn’t just?
26 “When a righteous person turns from his righteous deeds and does evil, he’ll die because of that evil. He’ll die because of his unrighteous acts that he committed. 27 When a wicked person quits[c] his wicked behavior[d] and does what’s just and right, he’ll be enabled to live.[e] 28 Because he reconsidered his transgression and turned away from everything that he had been doing, he’ll certainly live and not die. 29 Yet Israel’s house keeps saying, ‘The Lord isn’t being consistent with his standards.’ Is it my behavior that’s inconsistent with my standards?[f] Is it not your behavior that’s inconsistent with my standards?”[g]
A Command to Repent
30 “Therefore, Israel, I’m going to judge you according to the behavior of each and every one of you,” declares the Lord God. “So repent and turn from all your sins so that sin won’t keep on being a stumbling block for you. 31 Stop your transgressing—the deeds by which you’ve rebelled—and then make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, you house of Israel? 32 I don’t take pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,” declares the Lord. “So repent, so you may live!”
18 Indeed, because it was weak and ineffective, the former commandment has been annulled, 19 since the Law made nothing perfect, and a better hope is presented, by which we approach God.
20 Now none of this happened without an oath. Others became priests without any oath, 21 but Jesus[a] became a priest[b] with an oath when God[c] told him,
22 In this way, Jesus has become the guarantor of a better covenant.
23 There have been many priests, since each one of them had to stop serving in office when he died. 24 But because Jesus[f] lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. 25 Therefore, because he always lives to intercede for them, he is able to save completely[g] those who come to God through him.
26 We need such a high priest—one who is holy, innocent, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. 27 He has no need to offer sacrifices every day like high priests do, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he sacrificed himself. 28 For the Law appoints as high priests men who are weak, but the promised oath, which came after the Law, results in a Son who is eternally perfect.
The Good Samaritan
25 Just then an expert in the Law stood up to test Jesus.[a] He asked, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 Jesus[b] answered him, “What is written in the Law? What do you read there?”
27 He answered, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind.[c] And you must love[d] your neighbor as yourself.”[e]
28 Jesus[f] told him, “You have answered correctly. ‘Do this, and you will live.’”[g]
29 But the man wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 After careful consideration, Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho when he fell into the hands of bandits. They stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 By chance, a priest was traveling along that road. When he saw the man,[h] he went by on the other side. 32 Similarly, a descendant of Levi came to that place. When he saw the man,[i] he also went by on the other side. 33 But as he was traveling along, a Samaritan came across the man.[j] When the Samaritan[k] saw him, he was moved with compassion. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The next day, he took out two denarii[l] and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take good care of him. If you spend more than that, I’ll repay you when I come back.’
36 “Of these three men, who do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the bandits?”
37 He said, “The one who showed mercy to him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do what he did.”
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