Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 106(A)
1 Praise the Lord!
Oh, give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good,
for His mercy endures forever.
2 Who can recount the mighty acts of the Lord
or declare all His praise?
3 Blessed are those who keep justice
and who do righteousness at all times.
4 Remember me, O Lord, when You give favor to Your people;
visit me with Your deliverance,
5 that I may see the goodness over Your chosen ones,
that I may rejoice in the gladness of Your nation,
that I may glory with Your inheritance.
6 We have sinned with our fathers;
we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedly.
7 Our fathers did not consider
Your wonders in Egypt;
they did not remember the greatness of Your mercy,
but rebelled against Him at the sea, by the Red Sea.
8 Nevertheless He saved them for His name’s sake,
that He might make His mighty power known.
9 He rebuked the Red Sea, and it was dried up,
so He led them through the depths as through the wilderness.
10 He saved them from the hand of him who hated them
and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.
11 The waters covered their enemies;
there was not one of them left.
12 Then they believed His words;
they sang His praise.
13 But they soon forgot His works;
they did not wait for His counsel,
14 but they lusted exceedingly in the wilderness
and tested God in the desert.
15 He gave them their request,
but He sent a wasting disease on them.
16 They envied in the camp Moses
and Aaron, the holy priest of the Lord.
17 The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan
and engulfed those led by Abiram.
18 A fire broke out among their company;
the flame burned up the wicked.
19 They made a calf at Horeb,
and worshipped the molded image.
20 Thus they changed the glory of God
for the image of an ox that eats grass.
21 They forgot God, their Deliverer,
who had done great things in Egypt,
22 wondrous works in the land of Ham,
and marvelous deeds by the Red Sea.
23 Therefore He said that He would destroy them,
had not Moses, His chosen one,
stood before Him to intercede,
to turn away His wrath from destroying them.
24 Then they despised the pleasant land;
they did not believe His promise,
25 but they grumbled in their tents,
and did not listen to the voice of the Lord.
26 Therefore He lifted up His hand against them
and swore to overthrow them in the wilderness,
27 and to overthrow their offspring among the nations,
and to scatter them in the lands.
28 They joined themselves to Baal of Peor
and ate the sacrifices given for the dead.
29 Thus they provoked Him to anger with their acts,
and a plague broke out upon them.
30 Then Phinehas stood up and interceded,
and so the plague ceased.
31 That was counted unto him for righteousness
unto all generations forever.
32 They angered Him also at the waters of Meribah,
so that Moses suffered because of them,
33 because they provoked his temper,
so that he spoke impulsively with his lips.
34 They did not destroy the nations
as the Lord commanded them,
35 but they mixed among the nations
and learned their deeds;
36 they served their idols,
which were a snare to them.
37 Yes, they sacrificed their sons
and their daughters to demons,
38 and poured out innocent blood,
even the blood of their sons and of their daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,
and the land was polluted with blood.
39 Thus were they defiled by their acts
and acted like whores with these actions.
40 Therefore the wrath of the Lord was kindled against His people,
and He abhorred His own inheritance.
41 He gave them into the hand of the nations,
and those who hated them ruled over them.
42 Their enemies also oppressed them,
and Israel was brought into subjection under their powerful hand.
43 Many times He delivered them,
but they were rebellious against Him with their counsel,
and were afflicted for their iniquity.
44 Nevertheless, He regarded their affliction,
when He heard their cry:
45 and He remembered on their behalf His covenant
and relented according to the greatness of His mercies.
46 He made them pitied
among all those who held them captive.
47 Save us, O Lord our God,
and gather us from among the nations,
to give thanks unto Your holy name
and to boast in Your praise.
48 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting,
and let all the people say, “Amen!”
Praise the Lord!
Manasseh, King of Judah(A)
21 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hephzibah. 2 He did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the abominations of the nations whom the Lord dispossessed before the children of Israel. 3 He went back and rebuilt the high places that Hezekiah his father had destroyed. He erected altars for Baal, made an Asherah pole as Ahab king of Israel had done, and worshipped all the host of heaven and served them. 4 He built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “In Jerusalem I will put My name.” 5 He built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. 6 He made his son pass through the fire, was conjuring and seeking omens, and dealt with mediums and soothsayers. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger.
7 He put a carved image of Asherah that he had made in the house of which the Lord said to David and to Solomon his son, “In this house and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all tribes of Israel, I will put My name forever. 8 I will not make the feet of Israel to wander homeless from the land that I gave to their fathers, if only they will be careful 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. Manasseh led them to do more evil than the nations whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel.
10 The Lord spoke by His servants the prophets, saying, 11 “Because Manasseh king of Judah has done these abominations, things more evil than all that the Amorites did, and has also caused Judah to sin with his idols, 12 therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel: I am bringing evil on Jerusalem and Judah, such evil that the ears of whoever hears about it will tingle. 13 I will stretch over Jerusalem the measuring line of Samaria and the level of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe out Jerusalem as one wipes out a bowl, wiping it and turning it upside down. 14 I will disregard the remnant of My inheritance and give them into the hand of their enemies. They shall become plunder and spoil for all their enemies, 15 because they have done evil in My sight and have provoked Me to anger, since the day their fathers came out of Egypt, even to this day.”
16 Moreover, Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to the other; besides his sin he caused Judah to sin by doing evil in the sight of the Lord.
17 Now the rest of the deeds of Manasseh, all that he did, and his sin that he committed, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? 18 Manasseh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his house, in the garden of Uzza. Amon his son reigned in his place.
14 So, my beloved, flee from idolatry. 15 I speak as to wise men. Judge for yourselves what I say. 16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? 17 For we, being many, are one bread and one body, for we are all partakers of that one bread.
18 Consider Israel after the flesh: Are not those who eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar? 19 What am I saying then, that the idol is anything or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is anything? 20 But I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, and not to God. I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons. 22 Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?
Do All to the Glory of God
23 “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but not all things edify. 24 Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well-being.
25 Eat whatever is sold in the meat market, asking no question for the sake of conscience, 26 for “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.”[a]
27 If any of those who do not believe invite you to a feast, and you desire to go, eat whatever is set before you, asking no question for the sake of conscience. 28 But if anyone says to you, “This was offered in sacrifice to idols,” do not eat it for the sake of him that mentioned it and for the sake of conscience, for “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.”[b] 29 Conscience, I say, not your own, but that of the other. For why is my liberty judged by another man’s conscience? 30 If I partake with thankfulness, why am I slandered concerning that for which I give thanks?
31 Therefore, whether you eat, or drink, or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God. 32 Give no offense, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God, 33 just as I try to please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.
11 Follow me as I follow Christ.
The Healing of the Gergesene Demoniacs(A)
28 When He came to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two men possessed with demons, coming out of the tombs, extremely fierce, so that no one might pass by that way. 29 Suddenly they cried out, saying, “What have we to do with You, Jesus, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?”
30 Now a good way off from them was a herd of many swine feeding. 31 So the demons begged Him, saying, “If You cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of swine.”
32 He said to them, “Go!” And when they came out, they went into the herd of swine. And suddenly the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters. 33 Those who kept them fled, and went their ways into the city, and told everything, including what had happened to those possessed by the demons. 34 The whole city came out to meet Jesus. And when they saw Him, they begged Him to depart out of their region.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.