Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 105(A)
1 Oh, give thanks unto the Lord; call upon His name;
make known His deeds among the peoples.
2 Sing unto Him, sing praises unto Him;
proclaim all His wondrous works.
3 Glory in His holy name;
let the heart rejoice for those who seek the Lord.
4 Seek the Lord and His strength;
seek His presence continuously.
5 Remember His marvelous works that He has done;
His wonders and the judgments from His mouth,
6 O offspring of Abraham, His servant,
O children of Jacob, His chosen ones.
7 He is the Lord our God;
His judgments are in all the earth.
8 He remembers His covenant forever,
the word that He commanded, to a thousand generations,
9 that covenant He made with Abraham,
and His oath to Isaac,
10 and confirmed to Jacob as a decree,
and to Israel for an everlasting covenant,
11 saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan
as the portion of your inheritance.”
12 When they were but a few people in number,
indeed, very few, and strangers in it,
13 when they went from one nation to another,
from one kingdom to another people,
14 He did not permit anyone to do them wrong;
indeed, He reproved kings on their behalf,
15 saying, “Do not touch my anointed ones,
and do no harm to my prophets.”
16 Moreover He called for a famine upon the land;
He broke the whole supply of bread.
17 He sent a man before them,
Joseph, who was sold as a slave.
18 They hurt his feet with fetters;
his neck was put in an iron collar.
19 Until the time that his word came to pass,
the word of the Lord tested him.
20 The king sent and released him;
the ruler of the people let him go free.
21 He made Joseph lord of his house
and ruler of all his possessions,
22 to imprison his princes at Joseph’s pleasure
and to teach his elders wisdom.
23 Then Israel came into Egypt,
and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.
24 The Lord increased His people greatly
and made them stronger than their enemies.
25 He turned their hearts to hate His people,
to deal cleverly with His servants.
26 He sent Moses, His servant,
and Aaron whom He had chosen.
27 They showed His signs among them
and wonders in the land of Ham.
28 He sent darkness and made the land dark,
and Moses and Aaron did not rebel against His word.
29 He turned their waters into blood
and caused their fish to die.
30 Their land brought forth frogs in abundance,
even in the chambers of their kings.
31 He spoke, and there came swarms of flies
and gnats in all their country.
32 He gave them hail for rain
and flaming lightning in their land.
33 He struck their vines and their fig trees
and shattered the trees of their country.
34 He spoke, and the locusts came,
and caterpillars without number,
35 that devoured all the vegetation in their land,
and ate all the fruit of their ground.
36 He struck down all the firstborn in their land,
the first fruits of all their strength.
37 Then He brought them out with silver and gold,
and no one among their tribes faltered.
38 Egypt was glad when they left,
for the fear of Israel fell upon them.
39 He spread a cloud for a covering,
and fire to give light in the night.
40 The people asked, and He brought quail,
and satisfied them with abundant bread of heaven.
41 He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out;
they ran in the desert like a river.
42 For he recalled His holy promise
to Abraham His servant.
43 He brought forth His people with joy,
and His chosen ones with gladness,
44 and gave them the lands of the nations,
and they took possession of the fruitful labor of the people,
45 that they might observe His statutes
and keep His laws.
Praise the Lord!
The Soul Who Sins Will Die
18 The word of the Lord came to me again, saying: 2 What do you mean in using this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying:
“The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
and the children’s teeth are set on edge”?
3 As I live, says the Lord God, you shall not have occasion anymore to use this proverb in Israel. 4 All souls are Mine. The soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is Mine. The soul who sins shall die.
Repent and Live
19 Yet you say, “Why should the son not bear the punishment of the iniquity of the father?” When the son has done what is lawful and right, and has kept all My statutes, and has done them, he shall surely live. 20 The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the punishment of the iniquity of the father, nor shall the father bear the punishment of the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.
21 But if the wicked turns from all his sins that he has committed, and keeps all My statutes, and does that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live. He shall not die. 22 All his transgressions that he has committed, they shall not be remembered against him. Because of his righteousness that he has done, he shall live. 23 Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked, says the Lord God, but rather that he should turn from his ways and live?
24 But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All his righteousness that he has done shall not be remembered for his trespass that he has committed and in his sin that he has done. In them he shall die.
25 Yet you say, “The way of the Lord is not right.” Hear now, O house of Israel. Is not My way right? Are not your ways not right? 26 When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he dies in it. For his iniquity that he has done he shall die. 27 Again, when the wicked man turns away from his wickedness that he has committed and does that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul. 28 Because he considered and turned away from all his transgressions that he has committed, he shall surely live. He shall not die. 29 Yet the house of Israel says, “The way of the Lord is not right.” O house of Israel, are not My ways right? Are not your ways not right?
30 Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, says the Lord God. Repent, and turn away from all your transgressions so that iniquity shall not be your ruin. 31 Cast away from you all your transgressions whereby you have transgressed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why will you die, O house of Israel? 32 For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies, says the Lord God. Therefore, repent and live.
18 For there is then an annulling of the previous commandment due to its weakness and uselessness. 19 For the law made nothing perfect, but now a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.
20 And He was not made a priest without an oath. 21 (Other priests were made without an oath, but this One with an oath by the One who said to Him:
“The Lord has sworn
and will not relent,
‘You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.’ ”[a])
22 Through this oath Jesus became the guarantor of a better covenant.
23 And the former priests were numerous because they were hindered from serving because of death. 24 But He, because He lives forever, has an everlasting priesthood. 25 Therefore He is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, because He at all times lives to make intercession for them.
26 For such a High Priest was fitting for us, for He is holy, innocent, undefiled, separate from sinners, and is higher than the heavens. 27 Unlike those high priests, He does not need to offer daily sacrifices—first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for He did this once for all when He offered up Himself. 28 For the law appoints men who are weak as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints a Son who is made perfect forever.
The Good Samaritan
25 Now, a lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read?”
27 He answered, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind’[a] and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’[b]”
28 He said to him, “You have answered correctly. Do this, and you will live.”
29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 Jesus answered, “A man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing and wounded him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 By chance a priest came down that way. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to that place, looked at him and passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 34 and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine. Then he set him on his own donkey and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The next day when he departed, he took out two denarii[c] and gave them to the innkeeper and said to him, ‘Take care of him. I will repay you whatever else you spend when I return.’
36 “Now which of these three do you think was a neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?”
37 He said, “The one who showed mercy on him.”
Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.