Book of Common Prayer
The Eternal Faithfulness of the Lord(A)
105 Oh, (B)give thanks to the Lord!
Call upon His name;
(C)Make known His deeds among the peoples!
2 Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him;
(D)Talk of all His wondrous works!
3 Glory in His holy name;
Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the Lord!
4 Seek the Lord and His strength;
(E)Seek His face evermore!
5 (F)Remember His marvelous works which He has done,
His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth,
6 O seed of Abraham His servant,
You children of Jacob, His chosen ones!
7 He is the Lord our God;
(G)His judgments are in all the earth.
8 He (H)remembers His covenant forever,
The word which He commanded, for a thousand generations,
9 (I)The covenant which He made with Abraham,
And His oath to Isaac,
10 And confirmed it to Jacob for a statute,
To Israel as an everlasting covenant,
11 Saying, (J)“To you I will give the land of Canaan
As the allotment of your inheritance,”
12 (K)When they were few in number,
Indeed very few, (L)and strangers in it.
13 When they went from one nation to another,
From one kingdom to another people,
14 (M)He permitted no one to do them wrong;
Yes, (N)He rebuked kings for their sakes,
15 Saying, “Do not touch My anointed ones,
And do My prophets no harm.”
16 Moreover (O)He called for a famine in the land;
He destroyed all the (P)provision of bread.
17 (Q)He sent a man before them—
Joseph—who (R)was sold as a slave.
18 (S)They hurt his feet with fetters,
[a]He was laid in irons.
19 Until the time that his word came to pass,
(T)The word of the Lord tested him.
20 (U)The king sent and released him,
The ruler of the people let him go free.
21 (V)He made him lord of his house,
And ruler of all his possessions,
22 To [b]bind his princes at his pleasure,
And teach his elders wisdom.
23 (W)Israel also came into Egypt,
And Jacob dwelt (X)in the land of Ham.
24 (Y)He increased His people greatly,
And made them stronger than their enemies.
25 (Z)He turned their heart to hate His people,
To deal craftily with His servants.
26 (AA)He sent Moses His servant,
And Aaron whom He had chosen.
27 They (AB)performed His signs among them,
And wonders in the land of Ham.
28 He sent darkness, and made it dark;
And they did not rebel against His word.
29 (AC)He turned their waters into blood,
And killed their fish.
30 (AD)Their land abounded with frogs,
Even in the chambers of their kings.
31 (AE)He spoke, and there came swarms of flies,
And lice in all their territory.
32 (AF)He gave them hail for rain,
And flaming fire in their land.
33 (AG)He struck their vines also, and their fig trees,
And splintered the trees of their territory.
34 (AH)He spoke, and locusts came,
Young locusts without number,
35 And ate up all the vegetation in their land,
And devoured the fruit of their ground.
36 (AI)He also [c]destroyed all the firstborn in their land,
(AJ)The first of all their strength.
37 (AK)He also brought them out with silver and gold,
And there was none feeble among His tribes.
38 (AL)Egypt was glad when they departed,
For the fear of them had fallen upon them.
39 (AM)He spread a cloud for a covering,
And fire to give light in the night.
40 (AN)The people asked, and He brought quail,
And (AO)satisfied them with the bread of heaven.
41 (AP)He opened the rock, and water gushed out;
It ran in the dry places like a river.
42 For He remembered (AQ)His holy promise,
And Abraham His servant.
43 He brought out His people with joy,
His chosen ones with [d]gladness.
44 (AR)He gave them the lands of the [e]Gentiles,
And they inherited the labor of the nations,
45 (AS)That they might observe His statutes
And keep His laws.
[f]Praise the Lord!
The Righteousness of God’s Judgment
65 “I was (A)sought by those who did not ask for Me;
I was found by those who did not seek Me.
I said, ‘Here I am, here I am,’
To a nation that (B)was not called by My name.
2 (C)I have stretched out My hands all day long to a (D)rebellious people,
Who (E)walk in a way that is not good,
According to their own thoughts;
3 A people (F)who provoke Me to anger continually to My face;
(G)Who sacrifice in gardens,
And burn incense on altars of brick;
4 (H)Who sit among the graves,
And spend the night in the tombs;
(I)Who eat swine’s flesh,
And the broth of [a]abominable things is in their vessels;
5 (J)Who say, ‘Keep to yourself,
Do not come near me,
For I am holier than you!’
These [b]are smoke in My nostrils,
A fire that burns all the day.
6 “Behold, (K)it is written before Me:
(L)I will not keep silence, (M)but will repay—
Even repay into their bosom—
7 Your iniquities and (N)the iniquities of your fathers together,”
Says the Lord,
(O)“Who have burned incense on the mountains
(P)And blasphemed Me on the hills;
Therefore I will measure their former work into their bosom.”
8 Thus says the Lord:
“As the new wine is found in the cluster,
And one says, ‘Do not destroy it,
For (Q)a blessing is in it,’
So will I do for My servants’ sake,
That I may not destroy them (R)all.
9 I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,
And from Judah an heir of My mountains;
My (S)elect shall inherit it,
And My servants shall dwell there.
10 (T)Sharon shall be a fold of flocks,
And (U)the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down,
For My people who have (V)sought Me.
11 “But you are those who forsake the Lord,
Who forget (W)My holy mountain,
Who prepare (X)a table for [c]Gad,
And who furnish a drink offering for [d]Meni.
12 Therefore I will number you for the sword,
And you shall all bow down to the slaughter;
(Y)Because, when I called, you did not answer;
When I spoke, you did not hear,
But did evil before My eyes,
And chose that in which I do not delight.”
The Great Apostasy
4 Now the Spirit [a]expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed (A)to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 (B)speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience (C)seared with a hot iron, 3 forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; 5 for it is [b]sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
A Good Servant of Jesus Christ
6 If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, (D)nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed. 7 But (E)reject profane and old wives’ fables, and (F)exercise yourself toward godliness. 8 For (G)bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, (H)having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come. 9 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance. 10 For to this end [c]we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, (I)who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe. 11 These things command and teach.
Take Heed to Your Ministry
12 Let no one [d]despise your youth, but be an (J)example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, [e]in spirit, in faith, in purity. 13 Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to [f]doctrine. 14 (K)Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy (L)with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. 15 Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. 16 Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.
The Pharisees: Is It Lawful to Pay Taxes to Caesar?(A)
13 (B)Then they sent to Him some of the Pharisees and the Herodians, to catch Him in His words. 14 When they had come, they said to Him, “Teacher, we know that You are true, and [a]care about no one; for You do not [b]regard the person of men, but teach the (C)way of God in truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? 15 Shall we pay, or shall we not pay?”
But He, knowing their (D)hypocrisy, said to them, “Why do you test Me? Bring Me a denarius that I may see it.” 16 So they brought it.
And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?” They said to Him, “Caesar’s.”
17 And Jesus answered and said to them, [c]“Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to (E)God the things that are God’s.”
And they marveled at Him.
The Sadducees: What About the Resurrection?(F)
18 (G)Then some Sadducees, (H)who say there is no resurrection, came to Him; and they asked Him, saying: 19 “Teacher, (I)Moses wrote to us that if a man’s brother dies, and leaves his wife behind, and leaves no children, his brother should take his wife and raise up offspring for his brother. 20 Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife; and dying, he left no offspring. 21 And the second took her, and he died; nor did he leave any offspring. And the third likewise. 22 So the seven had her and left no offspring. Last of all the woman died also. 23 Therefore, in the resurrection, when they rise, whose wife will she be? For all seven had her as wife.”
24 Jesus answered and said to them, “Are you not therefore [d]mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God? 25 For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but (J)are like angels in heaven. 26 But concerning the dead, that they (K)rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying, (L)‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? 27 He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living. You are therefore greatly [e]mistaken.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.