Book of Common Prayer
Israel’s Rebelliousness and the Lord’s Help.
106 [a]Praise [b]the Lord!
Oh (A)give thanks to the Lord, for He (B)is good;
For (C)His mercy is everlasting.
2 Who can speak of the (D)mighty deeds of the Lord,
Or can proclaim all His praise?
3 How blessed are those who maintain [c]justice,
[d]Who (E)practice righteousness at all times!
4 Remember me, Lord, in Your (F)favor [e]toward Your people.
Visit me with Your salvation,
5 So that I may see the (G)prosperity of Your chosen ones,
That I may (H)rejoice in the joy of Your nation,
That I may (I)boast with Your [f]inheritance.
6 (J)We have sinned [g](K)like our fathers,
We have gone astray, 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,
So that He might (O)make His power known.
9 So He (P)rebuked the [k]Red Sea and it (Q)dried up,
And He (R)led them through the mighty waters, as through the wilderness.
10 So He (S)saved them from the [l]hand of 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 plan,
14 But (Z)became lustfully greedy in the wilderness,
And (AA)put God to the test in the desert.
15 So He (AB)gave them their request,
But (AC)sent a [n]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 [o]company of Abiram.
18 And a (AF)fire blazed up in their [p]company;
The flame consumed the wicked.
19 They (AG)made a calf in Horeb,
And worshiped a cast metal image.
20 So 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 [q](AK)Wonders in the land of Ham,
And awesome things by the [r]Red Sea.
23 Therefore (AL)He said that He would destroy them,
If (AM)Moses, His chosen one, had not stood in the gap before Him,
To turn away His wrath from destroying them.
24 Then they (AN)rejected the (AO)pleasant land;
They (AP)did not believe His word,
25 But (AQ)grumbled in their tents;
They did not listen to the voice of the Lord.
26 Therefore He [s](AR)swore to them
That He would have them fall in the wilderness,
27 And that He would (AS)bring down their [t]descendants among the nations,
And (AT)scatter them in the lands.
28 They also (AU)followed [u]Baal-peor,
And ate (AV)sacrifices offered to the dead.
29 So they (AW)provoked Him to anger with their deeds,
And a plague broke out among them.
30 Then Phinehas (AX)stood up and [v]intervened,
And so the (AY)plague was brought to a halt.
31 And it was (AZ)credited to him as righteousness,
To all generations forever.
32 They also (BA)provoked Him to wrath at the waters of [w]Meribah,
So that it (BB)went badly for Moses on their account.
33 Because they (BC)were rebellious against [x]His Spirit,
He spoke rashly with his lips.
34 They (BD)did not destroy the peoples,
As (BE)the Lord had commanded them,
35 But (BF)they got involved with the nations
And learned their [y]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)defiled with the blood.
39 So they became (BN)unclean in their [z]practices,
And [aa](BO)were unfaithful in their deeds.
40 Therefore the (BP)anger of the Lord was kindled against His people,
And He (BQ)loathed His [ab](BR)inheritance.
41 So (BS)He handed them over to the [ac]nations,
And those who hated them ruled over them.
42 Their enemies also (BT)oppressed them,
And they were subdued under their [ad]power.
43 Many times He would (BU)rescue them;
They, however, were rebellious in their (BV)plan,
And they (BW)sank down into their guilt.
Manasseh Succeeds Hezekiah
21 (A)Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned for fifty-five years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hephzibah. 2 (B)He did evil in the sight of the Lord, (C)in accordance with the abominations of the nations whom the Lord [a]dispossessed before the sons of Israel. 3 For (D)he rebuilt the high places which his father Hezekiah had destroyed; and (E)he erected altars for Baal and made an [b]Asherah, just as Ahab king of Israel had done, and he (F)worshiped all the heavenly [c]lights and served them. 4 And (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 He built altars for (I)all the heavenly [d]lights in (J)the two courtyards of the house of the Lord. 6 And (K)he made his son pass through the fire, (L)interpreted signs, practiced divination, and used mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger. 7 Then (M)he put the carved image of Asherah that he had made in the house of which the Lord had 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 take care to act in accordance with everything that I have commanded them, and with all the Law that My servant Moses commanded them.” 9 But they did not listen, and Manasseh (P)encouraged them to do evil, more than the nations whom the Lord eliminated from the presence of the sons of Israel.
The King’s Idolatries Rebuked
10 Now the Lord spoke through His servants the prophets, saying, 11 “(Q)Since Manasseh king of Judah has committed these abominations, (R)having done more evil than all that the Amorites did who were before him, and (S)has also misled Judah into sin (T)with his idols, 12 therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘Behold, I am bringing such a disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that whoever hears about it, (U)both of his ears will ring. 13 (V)I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab, and I will wipe Jerusalem clean just as one wipes a bowl, wiping it and turning it upside down. 14 And I will abandon the remnant of My inheritance and hand them over to their enemies, and they will become as plunder and spoils 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)Furthermore, Manasseh shed very much innocent blood until he had filled Jerusalem [e]from one end to another, besides his sin (X)into which he misled Judah, 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 [f]committed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah? 18 (Z)And Manasseh [g]lay down with his fathers and was buried in the garden of his own house, (AA)in the garden of Uzza, and his son Amon became king in his place.
14 Therefore, my (A)beloved, flee from (B)idolatry. 15 I speak as to wise people; you then, judge what I say. 16 Is the (C)cup of blessing which we bless not a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is the (D)bread which we break not a sharing in the body of Christ? 17 Since there is one loaf, we (E)who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one loaf. 18 Look at [a]the people of (F)Israel; are those who (G)eat the sacrifices not partners in the altar? 19 What do I mean then? That food sacrificed to idols is anything, or (H)that an idol is [b]anything? 20 No, but I say that things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they (I)sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to become partners with 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 permitted, but not all things are of benefit. All things are permitted, but not all things [c](O)build people up. 24 No one is to (P)seek his own advantage, but rather that of his [d]neighbor. 25 (Q)Eat anything that is sold in the meat market without asking questions, for the sake of conscience; 26 (R)for the earth is the Lord’s, and [e]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 the sake of conscience. 28 But (U)if anyone says to you, “This is meat sacrificed to idols,” do not eat it, for the sake of that one who informed you and for the sake of conscience; 29 Now by “conscience” I do not mean your own, but the other person’s; for (V)why is my freedom judged by another’s conscience? 30 If I partake with thankfulness, (W)why am I slandered about that for which I (X)give thanks?
31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or (Y)whatever you do, do all things for the glory of God. 32 (Z)Do not offend Jews or Greeks, or (AA)the church of God; 33 just as I also (AB)please everyone in all things, (AC)not seeking my own benefit but the benefit 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 Sends Demons into Pigs
28 (A)And when He came to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two (B)demon-possessed men confronted 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 You have with us, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before [b]the time?” 30 Now there was a herd of many pigs feeding at a distance from them. 31 And the demons begged Him, saying, “If You are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of pigs.” 32 And He said to them, “Go!” And they came out and went into the pigs; and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and [c]drowned in the waters. 33 And the herdsmen ran away, and went to the city and reported everything, [d]including what had happened to the (D)demon-possessed men. 34 And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, (E)they pleaded with Him to leave their region.
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