Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 106
Israel’s Unfaithfulness to God
1 Hallelujah!
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
His faithful love endures forever.(A)
2 Who can declare the Lord’s mighty acts
or proclaim all the praise due Him?(B)
3 How happy are those who uphold justice,
who practice righteousness at all times.(C)
4 Remember me, Lord,
when You show favor to Your people.(D)
Come to me with Your salvation
5 so that I may enjoy the prosperity
of Your chosen ones,
rejoice in the joy of Your nation,
and boast about Your heritage.(E)
6 Both we and our fathers have sinned;
we have done wrong and have acted wickedly.(F)
7 Our fathers in Egypt did not grasp
the significance of Your wonderful works
or remember Your many acts of faithful love;
instead, they rebelled by the sea—the Red Sea.(G)
8 Yet He saved them because of His name,
to make His power known.(H)
9 He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up;
He led them through the depths as through a desert.(I)
10 He saved them from the hand of the adversary;
He redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.(J)
11 Water covered their foes;
not one of them remained.(K)
12 Then they believed His promises
and sang His praise.(L)
13 They soon forgot His works
and would not wait for His counsel.(M)
14 They were seized with craving in the wilderness
and tested God in the desert.(N)
15 He gave them what they asked for,
but sent a wasting disease among them.(O)
16 In the camp they were envious of Moses
and of Aaron, the Lord’s holy one.(P)
17 The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan;
it covered the assembly of Abiram.(Q)
18 Fire blazed throughout their assembly;
flames consumed the wicked.(R)
19 At Horeb they made a calf
and worshiped the cast metal image.(S)
20 They exchanged their glory[a][b]
for the image of a grass-eating ox.(T)
21 They forgot God their Savior,
who did great things in Egypt,(U)
22 wonderful works in the land of Ham,[c]
awe-inspiring acts at the Red Sea.(V)
23 So He said He would have destroyed them—
if Moses His chosen one
had not stood before Him in the breach
to turn His wrath away from destroying them.(W)
24 They despised the pleasant land
and did not believe His promise.(X)
25 They grumbled in their tents
and did not listen to the Lord’s voice.(Y)
26 So He raised His hand against them with an oath
that He would make them fall in the desert(Z)
27 and would disperse their descendants[d]
among the nations,
scattering them throughout the lands.(AA)
28 They aligned themselves with Baal of Peor
and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods.[e](AB)
29 They provoked the Lord with their deeds,
and a plague broke out against them.(AC)
30 But Phinehas stood up and intervened,
and the plague was stopped.(AD)
31 It was credited to him as righteousness
throughout all generations to come.(AE)
32 They angered the Lord at the waters of Meribah,
and Moses suffered[f] because of them;(AF)
33 for they embittered his spirit,[g]
and he spoke rashly with his lips.(AG)
34 They did not destroy the peoples
as the Lord had commanded them(AH)
35 but mingled with the nations
and adopted their ways.(AI)
36 They served their idols,
which became a snare to them.(AJ)
37 They sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons.(AK)
38 They shed innocent blood—
the blood of their sons and daughters
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan;
so the land became polluted with blood.(AL)
39 They defiled themselves by their actions
and prostituted themselves by their deeds.(AM)
40 Therefore the Lord’s anger burned against His people,
and He abhorred His own inheritance.(AN)
41 He handed them over to the nations;
those who hated them ruled them.(AO)
42 Their enemies oppressed them,
and they were subdued under their power.(AP)
43 He rescued them many times,
but they continued to rebel deliberately
and were beaten down by their sin.(AQ)
44 When He heard their cry,
He took note of their distress,(AR)
45 remembered His covenant with them,
and relented according to the riches
of His faithful love.(AS)
46 He caused them to be pitied
before all their captors.(AT)
47 Save us, Yahweh our God,
and gather us from the nations,
so that we may give thanks to Your holy name
and rejoice in Your praise.(AU)
Balak Hires Balaam
22 The Israelites traveled on and camped in the plains of Moab near the Jordan across from Jericho. 2 Now Balak(A) son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. 3 Moab was terrified of the people because they were numerous, and Moab dreaded the Israelites. 4 So the Moabites said to the elders of Midian, “This horde will devour everything around us like an ox eats up the green plants in the field.”
Since Balak son of Zippor was Moab’s king at that time, 5 he sent messengers to Balaam(B) son of Beor at Pethor, which is by the Euphrates in the land of his people.[a][b] Balak said to him: “Look, a people has come out of Egypt; they cover the surface of the land and are living right across from me. 6 Please come and put a curse on these people for me because they are more powerful than I am. I may be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land, for I know that those you bless are blessed and those you curse are cursed.”
7 The elders of Moab and Midian departed with fees for divination in hand.(C) They came to Balaam and reported Balak’s words to him. 8 He said to them, “Spend the night here, and I will give you the answer the Lord tells me.” So the officials of Moab stayed with Balaam.
9 Then God came to Balaam and asked, “Who are these men with you?”
10 Balaam replied to God, “Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab, sent this message to me: 11 ‘Look, a people has come out of Egypt, and they cover the surface of the land. Now come and put a curse on them for me. I may be able to fight against them and drive them away.’”
12 Then God said to Balaam, “You are not to go with them. You are not to curse this people, for they are blessed.”
13 So Balaam got up the next morning and said to Balak’s officials, “Go back to your land, because the Lord has refused to let me go with you.”
14 The officials of Moab arose, returned to Balak, and reported, “Balaam refused to come with us.”
15 Balak sent officials again who were more numerous and higher in rank than the others. 16 They came to Balaam and said to him, “This is what Balak son of Zippor says: ‘Let nothing keep you from coming to me, 17 for I will greatly honor you and do whatever you ask me. So please come and put a curse on these people for me!’”
18 But Balaam responded to the servants of Balak, “If Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go against the command of the Lord my God to do anything small or great. 19 Please stay here overnight as the others did, so that I may find out what else the Lord has to tell me.”
20 God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “Since these men have come to summon you, get up and go with them, but you must only do what I tell you.” 21 When he got up in the morning, Balaam saddled his donkey and went with the officials of Moab.
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey[a] its desires. 13 And do not offer any parts[b] of it to sin(A) as weapons for unrighteousness. But as those who are alive from the dead, offer yourselves to God,(B) and all the parts[c] of yourselves to God as weapons for righteousness. 14 For sin will not rule over you, because you are not under law(C) but under grace.(D)
From Slaves of Sin to Slaves of God
15 What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace?(E) Absolutely not!(F) 16 Don’t you know that if you offer yourselves to someone[d] as obedient slaves,(G) you are slaves of that one you obey(H)—either of sin leading to death(I) or of obedience leading to righteousness? 17 But thank God that, although you used to be slaves of sin,(J) you obeyed from the heart that pattern of teaching you were transferred[e] to,(K) 18 and having been liberated from sin,(L) you became enslaved to righteousness. 19 I am using a human analogy[f](M) because of the weakness of your flesh.[g] For just as you offered the parts[h] of yourselves as slaves to moral impurity, and to greater and greater lawlessness, so now offer them as slaves to righteousness, which results in sanctification. 20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free from allegiance to righteousness.[i](N) 21 So what fruit was produced[j] then from the things you are now ashamed of?(O) For the end of those things is death.(P) 22 But now, since you have been liberated from sin and have become enslaved to God,(Q) you have your fruit, which results in sanctification[k](R)—and the end is eternal life!(S) 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.(T)
Cleansing the Temple Complex
12 Jesus went into the temple complex[a](A) and drove out all those buying and selling in the temple. He overturned the money changers’ tables and the chairs of those selling doves.(B) 13 And He said to them, “It is written, My house will be called a house of prayer.[b] But you are making it a den of thieves!”(C)[c]
Children Praise Jesus
14 The blind and the lame came to Him in the temple complex, and He healed them. 15 When the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonders that He did and the children shouting in the temple complex, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant 16 and said to Him, “Do You hear what these children are saying?”
“Yes,” Jesus told them. “Have you never read:
17 Then He left them, went out of the city to Bethany,(E) and spent the night there.
The Barren Fig Tree
18 Early in the morning,(F) as He was returning to the city, He was hungry. 19 Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He went up to it and found nothing on it except leaves. And He said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” At once the fig tree withered.
20 When the disciples saw it, they were amazed and said, “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?”
21 Jesus answered them, “I assure you: If you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you tell this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will be done.(G) 22 And if you believe, you will receive(H) whatever you ask for in prayer.”
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