Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 105
God’s Faithfulness to Israel
1 O give thanks to the Lord; call on his name;
make known his deeds among the peoples.(A)
2 Sing to him, sing praises to him;
tell of all his wonderful works.(B)
3 Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.(C)
4 Seek the Lord and his strength;
seek his presence continually.(D)
5 Remember the wonderful works he has done,
his miracles and the judgments he has uttered,(E)
6 O offspring of his servant Abraham,[a]
children of Jacob, his chosen ones.
7 He is the Lord our God;
his judgments are in all the earth.(F)
8 He is mindful of his covenant forever,
of the word that he commanded for a thousand generations,
9 the covenant that he made with Abraham,
his sworn promise to Isaac,(G)
10 which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute,
to Israel as an everlasting covenant,(H)
11 saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan
as your portion for an inheritance.”(I)
12 When they were few in number,
of little account and strangers in it,(J)
13 wandering from nation to nation,
from one kingdom to another people,
14 he allowed no one to oppress them;
he rebuked kings on their account,(K)
15 saying, “Do not touch my anointed ones;
do my prophets no harm.”
16 When he summoned famine against the land
and cut off every supply of bread,[b](L)
17 he had sent a man ahead of them,
Joseph, who had been sold as a slave.(M)
18 His feet were hurt with fetters;
his neck was put in a collar of iron;(N)
19 until what he had said came to pass,
the word of the Lord kept testing him.(O)
20 The king sent and released him;
the ruler of the peoples set him free.(P)
21 He made him lord of his house
and ruler of all his possessions,(Q)
22 to instruct[c] his officials at his pleasure
and to teach his elders wisdom.
23 Then Israel came to Egypt;
Jacob lived as an alien in the land of Ham.(R)
24 And the Lord made his people very fruitful
and made them stronger than their foes,(S)
25 whose hearts he then turned to hate his people,
to deal craftily with his servants.(T)
26 He sent his servant Moses
and Aaron, whom he had chosen.(U)
27 They performed his signs among them
and miracles in the land of Ham.(V)
28 He sent darkness and made the land dark;
they rebelled[d] against his words.(W)
29 He turned their waters into blood
and caused their fish to die.(X)
30 Their land swarmed with frogs,
even in the chambers of their kings.(Y)
31 He spoke, and there came swarms of flies
and gnats throughout their country.(Z)
32 He gave them hail for rain
and lightning that flashed through their land.(AA)
33 He struck their vines and fig trees
and shattered the trees of their country.
34 He spoke, and the locusts came,
and young locusts without number;(AB)
35 they devoured all the vegetation in their land
and ate up the fruit of their ground.
36 He struck down all the firstborn in their land,
the first issue of all their strength.(AC)
37 Then he brought Israel[e] out with silver and gold,
and there was no one among their tribes who stumbled.(AD)
38 Egypt was glad when they departed,
for dread of them had fallen upon it.(AE)
39 He spread a cloud for a covering
and fire to give light by night.(AF)
40 They asked, and he brought quails
and gave them food from heaven in abundance.(AG)
41 He opened the rock, and water gushed out;
it flowed through the desert like a river.(AH)
42 For he remembered his holy promise
and Abraham, his servant.(AI)
The Battle at Emmaus
4 Now Gorgias took five thousand infantry and one thousand picked cavalry, and this division moved out by night 2 to fall upon the camp of the Jews and attack them suddenly. Men from the citadel were his guides.(A) 3 But Judas heard of it, and he and his warriors moved out to attack the king’s force in Emmaus 4 while the division was still absent from the camp. 5 When Gorgias entered the camp of Judas by night, he found no one there, so he looked 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 did not have armor and swords such as they desired.(B) 7 And they saw the camp of the nations, strong and fortified, with cavalry all around it, and these men were trained in war. 8 But Judas said to those who were with him, “Do not fear their numbers or be afraid when they charge.(C) 9 Remember how our ancestors were saved at the Red Sea, when Pharaoh with his forces pursued them.(D) 10 And now, let us cry to heaven to see whether he will favor us and remember his covenant with our ancestors and crush this army before us today.(E) 11 Then all the nations will know that there is one who redeems and saves Israel.”
12 When the foreigners looked up and saw them coming against them, 13 they went out from their camp to battle. Then the men with Judas blew their trumpets(F) 14 and engaged in battle. The nations were crushed and fled into the plain, 15 and all those in the rear fell by the sword. They pursued them to Gazara and to the plains of Idumea and to Azotus and Jamnia, and three thousand of them fell.(G) 16 Then Judas and his force turned back from pursuing them, 17 and he said to the people, “Do not be greedy for plunder, for there is a battle before us; 18 Gorgias and his force are near us in the hills. But stand now against our enemies and fight them and afterward seize the plunder boldly.”
19 Just as Judas was finishing this speech, a detachment appeared coming out of the hills. 20 They saw that their army[a] had been put to flight and that the Jews[b] were burning the camp, for the smoke that was seen showed what had happened. 21 When they perceived this, they were greatly frightened, and when they also saw the army of Judas drawn up in the plain for battle, 22 they all fled into the land of the Philistines.[c](H) 23 Then Judas returned to plunder the camp, and they seized a great amount of gold and silver, and cloth dyed blue and sea purple, and great riches.(I) 24 On their return they sang hymns and praises to heaven: “For he is good, for his mercy endures forever.”(J) 25 Thus Israel had a great deliverance that day.
22 I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb.(A) 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.(B) 25 Its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there.(C) 26 People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. 27 But nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.(D)
The River of Life
22 Then the angel[a] showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb(E) 2 through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life[b] with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month, and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.(F) 3 Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him;(G) 4 they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.(H) 5 And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.(I)
True Greatness
18 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 He called a child, whom he put among them, 3 and said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.(A) 4 Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.(B)
Temptations to Sin
6 “If any of you cause one of these little ones who believe in me to sin,[a] it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea.(C) 7 Woe to the world because of things that cause sin![b] Such things are bound to come, but woe to the one through whom they come!(D)
8 “If your hand or your foot causes you to sin,[c] cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life maimed or lame than to have two hands or two feet and to be thrown into the eternal fire.(E) 9 And if your eye causes you to sin,[d] tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into the hell[e] of fire.(F)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.