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!
The Appointed Feasts
23 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: Concerning the feasts of the Lord that you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My appointed feasts.
The Sabbath
3 For six days work shall be done, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of complete rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work. It is the Sabbath of the Lord in all your dwellings.
The Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread(A)
4 These are the appointed feasts of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall proclaim in their appointed times. 5 On the fourteenth day of the first month at evening is the Lord’s Passover. 6 On the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord. For seven days you must eat unleavened bread. 7 On the first day you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work. 8 But you shall offer a food offering made by fire to the Lord for seven days. On the seventh day is a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work.
Offering the First Fruits
9 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 10 Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: When you have come into the land that I am giving to you and reap its harvest, then you shall bring a sheaf bundle of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. 11 And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord so that you may be accepted. On the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. 12 You shall offer that day when you wave the sheaf a year-old male lamb without blemish for a burnt offering to the Lord. 13 The grain offering shall be two-tenths of an ephah[a] of wheat flour mixed with oil, a food offering made by fire to the Lord for a pleasing aroma; its drink offering shall be of wine, a fourth of a hin.[b] 14 You shall eat neither bread nor grain, parched or fresh, until the same day that you have brought an offering to your God. It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
The Feast of Weeks(B)
15 You shall count seven full weeks from the next day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf bundle of the wave offering. 16 You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord. 17 You shall bring out of your habitations two wave loaves of two-tenths of an ephah. They shall be of wheat flour, baked with leaven. They are the first fruits to the Lord. 18 You shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, one bull, and two rams. They shall be for a burnt offering to the Lord, with their grain offering and their drink offerings, that is, a food offering made by fire, of a pleasing aroma to the Lord. 19 Then you shall sacrifice one male goat for a sin offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings. 20 The priest shall wave them with the bread of the first fruits for a wave offering before the Lord with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the Lord for the priest. 21 You shall make a proclamation on the same day and shall hold a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work. It shall be a perpetual statute in all your dwellings throughout your generations.
22 When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field up to the edge, nor shall you gather any gleaning of your harvest. You shall leave them to the poor and to the foreigner: I am the Lord your God.
The Man of Lawlessness
2 Now, brothers, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and concerning our gathering together unto Him, we ask you 2 not to let your mind be quickly shaken or be troubled, neither in spirit nor by word, nor by letter coming as though from us, as if the day of Christ is already here. 3 Do not let anyone deceive you in any way. For that Day will not come unless a falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or is worshipped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself as God.
5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you, I told you these things? 6 Now you know what restrains him that he might be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already working. Only He who is now restraining him will do so until He is taken out of the way. 8 Then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth, and destroy with the brightness of His presence, 9 even him, whose coming is in accordance with the working of Satan with all power and signs and false wonders, 10 and with all deception of unrighteousness among those who perish, because they did not receive the love for the truth that they might be saved. 11 Therefore God will send them a strong delusion, that they should believe the lie: 12 that they all might be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
Chosen for Salvation
13 But we are bound to always give thanks to God for you, beloved brothers of the Lord, because God has from the beginning called you to salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief of the truth. 14 To this He called you by our gospel, to obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
15 Therefore, brothers, stand firm and hold the traditions which you have been taught, whether by word or by our letter.
16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God our Father, who has loved us and has given us eternal consolation and good hope through grace, 17 comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work.
Judging Others(A)
7 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged. And with the measure you use, it will be measured again for you.
3 “And why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank that is in your own eye? 4 Or how will you say to your brother, ‘Let me pull the speck out of your eye,’ when a log is in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite! First take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
6 “Do not give what is holy to the dogs, nor throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet and turn around and attack you.
Ask, Seek, Knock(B)
7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks, it will be opened.
9 “What man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a snake? 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! 12 Therefore, everything you would like men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.