Book of Common Prayer
The Lord Is Good to His People
106 Praise the Lord! O give thanks to the Lord for He is good. His loving-kindness lasts forever. 2 Who can put into words the great works of the Lord? Who can make known all His praise? 3 Happy are those who are faithful in being fair and who always do what is right and good!
4 O Lord, remember me when You show favor to Your people. Visit me also when You save them. 5 So I may share in the well-being of Your chosen ones. So I may share in the joy of Your nation, and be proud of Your people.
6 We have sinned like our fathers. We have done wrong. We have been sinful in our actions. 7 Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Your powerful works. They did not remember how many times You showed Your loving-kindness. But they turned against You by the sea, the Red Sea. 8 Yet He saved them because of the honor of His name, and to make His great power known. 9 So He spoke sharp words to the Red Sea and it dried up. And He led them through the sea as through a desert. 10 He saved them from the hand of those who hated them. He set them free from the hand of those who went against them. 11 And the waters covered those who hated them. Not one of them was left. 12 Then they believed His promises. They sang His praise.
13 But they soon forgot His works. They did not wait to hear what He wanted them to do. 14 They wanted many things in the desert, and they tempted God there. 15 So He gave them what they wanted, but He allowed their souls to become weak because of it.
16 They were jealous of Moses in the place where they set up their tents. And they were jealous of Aaron, the holy one of the Lord. 17 So the earth opened up and swallowed Dathan. It closed over the group of Abiram. 18 And a fire came among their followers. It burned up the sinful people.
19 They made a calf at Horeb and worshiped a god of gold. 20 They traded their shining-greatness for something that looked like a bull that eats grass. 21 They forgot the God Who saved them, Who had done great things in Egypt, 22 powerful works in the land of Ham, and works that brought fear by the Red Sea. 23 So He said that He would destroy them. But Moses, His chosen one, stood in the way to keep His anger from destroying them. 24 Then they hated the good land. They did not believe in His Word. 25 But they complained in their tents. They did not listen to the voice of the Lord. 26 So He swore to them that He would let them die in the desert. 27 And He would spread out their children among the nations and divide them over all the earth.
28 They joined themselves to Baal of Peor and ate gifts given to the dead. 29 They made the Lord angry by their actions and a sickness broke out among them. 30 Then Phinehas stood up and came between them, and the sickness was stopped. 31 And this made him right with God to all people forever.
32 They also made the Lord angry at the waters of Meribah. And trouble came to Moses because of them. 33 He spoke from his lips without thinking because they went against the Spirit of God.
34 They did not destroy the people as the Lord told them to do. 35 But they mixed with the nations and learned their ways. 36 They served their gods, which became a trap to them. 37 They even gave their sons and daughters as gifts on an altar to the demons. 38 They poured out the blood of those who were not guilty, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they gave on an altar to the gods of Canaan. And the land was poisoned with blood. 39 They made themselves unclean by what they did. They were not true to God in what they did.
40 So the Lord was angry with His people. He hated His people. 41 So He handed them over to the nations. And those who hated them ruled over them. 42 Those who hated them held a strong power over them. And they were made to obey them. 43 God set them free many times. But they always turned against Him and went deeper into sin.
44 But He looked upon their trouble when He heard their cry. 45 He remembered His agreement because of them, and took pity on them by the greatness of His loving-kindness. 46 Those who held them also saw how God took pity on them.
47 O Lord our God, save us! Gather us from among the nations. And we will give thanks to Your holy name and find honor in Your praise. 48 Honor and thanks be to the Lord, the God of Israel, forever and ever. Let all the people say, “Let it be so!” Praise the Lord!
Israel Will Be Brought Home
10 Ask the Lord for rain in the spring time. It is the Lord Who makes the storm clouds. He gives rain to men, and gives vegetables in the field to every one. 2 The false gods say what is not true. Those who use their secret ways tell lies about the false dreams they have seen. Their comfort means nothing. So the people go from place to place like sheep and are troubled because they have no shepherd. 3 “My anger burns against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders. For the Lord of All has visited His flock, the people of Judah, and will make them like His proud horse in battle. 4 From them will come the cornerstone. From them will come the tent nail. From them will come the bow of battle. And from them will come every ruler. 5 Together they will be like powerful men, crushing under foot those who hate them into the mud of the streets. They will fight and win the battle against the horsemen because the Lord is with them. 6 I will give strength to the family of Judah. I will save the family of Joseph, and I will bring them back, because I have loving-pity on them. They will be as if I had not turned away from them. For I am the Lord their God, and I will answer them. 7 Ephraim will be like a powerful man. Their hearts will be glad as with wine. And their children will see it and be glad. Their hearts will have joy in the Lord. 8 I will call them together, for I have saved them and set them free. And they will be as many as they were before. 9 Even when I send them everywhere among the nations, they will remember Me in far countries. They and their children will live and return. 10 I will bring them back from the land of Egypt and gather them from Assyria. I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon until there is no more room for them. 11 When they pass through the sea of trouble, I will hold back the waves in the sea. The whole Nile River will dry up. The pride of Assyria will be brought down, and Egypt will lose its power. 12 I will make My people Israel strong in the Lord, and they will walk in His name,” says the Lord.
Help Other Christians
6 Christian brothers, if a person is found doing some sin, you who are stronger Christians should lead that one back into the right way. Do not be proud as you do it. Watch yourself, because you may be tempted also. 2 Help each other in troubles and problems. This is the kind of law Christ asks us to obey. 3 If anyone thinks he is important when he is nothing, he is fooling himself. 4 Everyone should look at himself and see how he does his own work. Then he can be happy in what he has done. He should not compare himself with his neighbor. 5 Everyone must do his own work.
6 He who is taught God’s Word should share the good things he has with his teacher. 7 Do not be fooled. You cannot fool God. A man will get back whatever he plants! 8 If a man does things to please his sinful old self, his soul will be lost. If a man does things to please the Holy Spirit, he will have life that lasts forever. 9 Do not let yourselves get tired of doing good. If we do not give up, we will get what is coming to us at the right time. 10 Because of this, we should do good to everyone. For sure, we should do good to those who belong to Christ.
Jesus Gives Thanks for Little Children (A)
15 People took their little children to Jesus so He could put His hand on them. When His followers saw it, they spoke sharp words to the people. 16 Jesus called the followers to Him and said, “Let the little children come to Me. Do not try to stop them. The holy nation of God is made up of ones like these. 17 For sure, I tell you, whoever does not receive the holy nation of God as a child will not go into the holy nation.”
Jesus Teaches about Keeping the Law (B)
18 A leader of the people asked Jesus, “Good Teacher, what must I do to have life that lasts forever?” 19 Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? There is only One Who is good. That is God. 20 You know the Laws. You must not do any sex sins. You must not kill another person. You must not steal. You must not tell a lie about someone else. Respect your father and your mother.” 21 The leader said, “I have obeyed all these Laws since I was a boy.”
22 When Jesus heard this, He said to the leader of the people, “There is still one thing you need to do. Sell everything you have. Give the money to poor people. Then you will have riches in heaven. Come and follow Me.” 23 When the leader heard this, he was very sad because he had many riches. 24 When Jesus saw that he was very sad, He said, “It is hard for those with riches to go into the holy nation of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to go into the holy nation of God.”
26 Those who heard this, said, “Then who can be saved from the punishment of sin?” 27 Jesus said, “God can do things men cannot do.” 28 Then Peter said, “See, we have left everything and have followed You.” 29 Jesus said to them, “For sure, I tell you, anyone who has left his house or parents or brothers or wife or children because of the holy nation of God 30 will receive much more now. In the time to come he will have life that lasts forever.”
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