Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 105
105 Give thanks to the Lord;
call upon his name;
make his deeds known to all people!
2 Sing to God;
sing praises to the Lord;
dwell on all his wondrous works!
3 Give praise to God’s holy name!
Let the hearts rejoice of all those seeking the Lord!
4 Pursue the Lord and his strength;
seek his face always!
5 Remember the wondrous works he has done,
all his marvelous works, and the justice he declared—
6 you who are the offspring of Abraham, his servant,
and the children of Jacob, his chosen ones.
7 The Lord—he is our God.
His justice is everywhere throughout the whole world.
8 God remembers his covenant forever,
the word he commanded to a thousand generations,
9 which he made with Abraham,
the solemn pledge he swore to Isaac.
10 God set it up as binding law for Jacob,
as an eternal covenant for Israel,
11 promising, “I hereby give you the land of Canaan
as your allotted inheritance.”
12 When they were few in number—
insignificant, just immigrants—
13 wandering from nation to nation,
from one kingdom to the next,
14 God didn’t let anyone oppress them.
God punished kings for their sake:
15 “Don’t touch my anointed ones;
don’t harm my prophets!”
16 When God called for a famine in the land,
destroying every source of food,
17 he sent a man ahead of them,
who was sold as a slave: it was Joseph.
18 Joseph’s feet hurt in his shackles;
his neck was in an iron collar,
19 until what he predicted actually happened,
until what the Lord had said proved him true.[a]
20 The king sent for Joseph and set him free;
the ruler of many people released him.
21 The king made Joseph master of his house and ruler over everything he owned,
22 to make sure his princes acted according to his will,
and to teach wisdom to his advisors.
23 That’s how Israel came to Egypt,
how Jacob became an immigrant in the land of Ham.
24 God made his people very fruitful,
more powerful than their enemies,
25 whose hearts God changed so they hated his people
and dealt shrewdly with his servants.
26 God sent Moses his servant
and the one he chose, Aaron.
27 They put God’s signs on Egypt,[b]
his marvelous works on the land of Ham.
28 God sent darkness, and it became dark,
but the Egyptians rejected his word.
29 God turned their waters into blood
and killed their fish.
30 God made their land swarm with frogs[c]—
even in the bedrooms of their king!
31 God spoke, and the insects came—
gnats throughout their whole country!
32 God turned their rain into hail
along with lightning flashes throughout their land.
33 God destroyed their vines and their fig trees;
shattered the trees of their countryside.
34 God spoke, and the locusts came—
countless grasshoppers came!
35 They devoured all the plants in their land;
they devoured the fruit of their soil.
36 God struck down all the oldest sons throughout their land;
struck down their very pride and joy.
37 Then God brought Israel out, filled with silver and gold;
not one of its tribes stumbled.
38 Egypt celebrated when they left,
because the dread of Israel had come upon them.
39 God spread out clouds as a covering;
gave lightning to provide light at night.
40 The people asked, and God brought quail;
God filled them full with food from heaven.
41 God opened the rock and out gushed water—
flowing like a river through the desert!
42 Because God remembered his holy promise
to Abraham his servant,
43 God brought his people out with rejoicing,
his chosen ones with songs of joy.
44 God gave them the lands of other nations;
they inherited the wealth of many peoples—
45 all so that they would keep his laws
and observe his instructions.
Praise the Lord!
Battle at Emmaus
4 Gorgias took five thousand infantry and one thousand select cavalry, and this division moved out secretly at night. 2 He wanted to come to the Jewish camp and attack without warning. Men from the elevated fortress served as his guides. 3 But Judas heard about it, and he and his warriors moved out to attack the king’s forces in Emmaus 4 while the division was absent from the camp. 5 So when Gorgias entered Judas’ camp during the night, there was no one there. He started looking for them in the hills, because he said, “These men are running away from us.”
6 At daybreak, Judas appeared in the plain with three thousand men. But they didn’t have armor and swords such as they would have liked. 7 They saw the Gentile camp, strongly fortified, surrounded by cavalry clearly trained in warfare. 8 Judas said to those who were with him: “Don’t fear their numbers or be afraid when they charge. 9 Remember how our ancestors were saved at the Red Sea,[a] when Pharaoh was pursuing them with his forces. 10 So let’s cry to heaven to see if the heavenly one will favor us and remember his covenant with our ancestors and crush this army in front of us today. 11 Then all the Gentiles will know that there is someone who redeems and saves Israel.”
12 The foreigners looked up and saw the Israelites coming against them. 13 They went out from their camp to engage them in battle. The men with Judas blew their trumpets, and the battle began. 14 The Gentiles were crushed and fled into the plain. 15 All those who were in the rear were killed by the sword. The Israelites pursued them to Gazara, to the plains of Idumea, and to Azotus and Jamnia. Three thousand Gentiles died. 16 Judas and his forces stopped pursuing them. 17 He said to everyone: “Don’t be greedy to plunder, for there is still a battle ahead of us. 18 Gorgias and his force are still near us in the hills. Stand now against our enemies and fight them. Then afterward boldly seize the spoils.”
19 Just as Judas said this, a detachment of Gentiles cautiously appeared, coming out of the hills. 20 They saw that their army had been put to flight and that the Jews were burning the camp, as evident from the smoke over the area. 21 When they saw the devastation and noticed Judas’ army in the plain ready for battle, they were terrified. 22 They ran away into the land of the Philistines. 23 So Judas went back to plunder the camp. His army took a great amount of gold and silver, cloth that was dyed blue and purple, and great riches. 24 As they returned, they sang hymns and songs of praise to heaven: “God is good, because his mercy endures forever.” 25 That day Israel had a great deliverance.
22 I didn’t see a temple in the city, because its temple is the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb. 23 The city doesn’t need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because God’s glory is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. 25 Its gates will never be shut by day, and there will be no night there. 26 They will bring the glory and honor of the nations into it. 27 Nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is vile and deceitful, but only those who are registered in the Lamb’s scroll of life.
22 Then the angel showed me the river of life-giving water,[a] shining like crystal, flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb 2 through the middle of the city’s main street. On each side of the river is the tree of life, which produces twelve crops of fruit, bearing its fruit each month. The tree’s leaves are for the healing of the nations. 3 There will no longer be any curse. The throne of God and the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 Night will be no more. They won’t need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will shine on them, and they will rule forever and always.
Greatest in the kingdom
18 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
2 Then he called a little child over to sit among the disciples, 3 and said, “I assure you that if you don’t turn your lives around and become like this little child, you will definitely not enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Those who humble themselves like this little child will be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.
Falling into sin
6 “As for whoever causes these little ones who believe in me to trip and fall into sin, it would be better for them to have a huge stone hung around their necks and be drowned in the bottom of the lake. 7 How terrible it is for the world because of the things that cause people to trip and fall into sin! Such things have to happen, but how terrible it is for the person who causes those things to happen! 8 If your hand or your foot causes you to fall into sin, chop it off and throw it away. It’s better to enter into life crippled or lame than to be thrown into the eternal fire with two hands or two feet. 9 If your eye causes you to fall into sin, tear it out and throw it away. It’s better to enter into life with one eye than to be cast into a burning hell with two eyes.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible