Book of Common Prayer
Israel’s rebelliousness and Jehovah’s deliverances.
[a]106 Praise ye Jehovah.
Oh give thanks unto Jehovah; for he is good;
For his lovingkindness endureth for ever.
2 Who can utter the mighty acts of Jehovah,
Or show forth all his praise?
3 Blessed are they that keep justice,
And he that doeth righteousness at all times.
4 Remember me, O Jehovah, with the favor that thou bearest unto thy people;
Oh visit me with thy salvation,
5 That I may see the prosperity of thy chosen,
That I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation,
That I may glory with thine inheritance.
6 We have sinned with our fathers,
We have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly.
7 Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt;
They remembered not the multitude of thy lovingkindnesses,
But were rebellious at the sea, even at the Red Sea.
8 Nevertheless he saved them for his name’s sake,
That he might make his mighty power to be known.
9 He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it was dried up:
So he led them through the depths, as through a [b]wilderness.
10 And he saved them from the hand of him that hated them,
And redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.
11 And the waters covered their adversaries;
There was not one of them left.
12 Then believed they his words;
They sang his praise.
13 They soon forgat his works;
They waited not for his counsel,
14 But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness,
And tempted God in the desert.
15 And he gave them their request,
But sent leanness into their soul.
16 They envied Moses also in the camp,
And Aaron the [c]saint of Jehovah.
17 The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan,
And covered the company of Abiram.
18 And a fire was kindled in their company;
The flame burned up the wicked.
19 They made a calf in Horeb,
And worshipped a molten image.
20 Thus they changed their glory
For the likeness of an ox that eateth grass.
21 They forgat God their Saviour,
Who had done great things in Egypt,
22 Wondrous works in the land of Ham,
And terrible things by the Red Sea.
23 Therefore he said that he would destroy them,
Had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach,
To turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them.
24 Yea, they despised the pleasant land,
They believed not his word,
25 But murmured in their tents,
And hearkened not unto the voice of Jehovah.
26 Therefore he [d]sware unto them,
That he would [e]overthrow them in the wilderness,
27 And that he would overthrow their seed among the nations,
And scatter them in the lands.
28 They joined themselves also unto Baal-peor,
And ate the sacrifices of the dead.
29 Thus they provoked him to anger with their doings;
And the plague brake in upon them.
30 Then stood up Phinehas, and executed judgment;
And so the plague was stayed.
31 And that was reckoned unto him for righteousness,
Unto all generations for evermore.
32 They angered him also at the waters of [f]Meribah,
So that it went ill with Moses for their sakes;
33 Because they were rebellious against his spirit,
And he spake unadvisedly with his lips.
34 They did not destroy the peoples,
As Jehovah commanded them,
35 But mingled themselves with the nations,
And learned their works,
36 And served their idols,
Which became a snare unto them.
37 Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto demons,
38 And shed innocent blood,
Even the blood of their sons and of their daughters,
Whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan;
And the land was polluted with blood.
39 Thus were they defiled with their works,
And played the harlot in their doings.
40 Therefore was the wrath of Jehovah kindled against his people,
And he abhorred his inheritance.
41 And he gave them into the hand of the nations;
And they that hated them ruled over them.
42 Their enemies also oppressed them,
And they were brought into subjection under their hand.
43 Many times did he deliver them;
But they were rebellious in their counsel,
And were brought low in their iniquity.
44 Nevertheless he regarded their distress,
When he heard their cry:
45 And he remembered for them his covenant,
And repented according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses.
46 He made them also to be pitied
Of all those that carried them captive.
47 Save us, O Jehovah our God,
And gather us from among the nations,
To give thanks unto thy holy name,
And to triumph in thy praise.
48 Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Israel,
From everlasting even to everlasting.
And let all the people say, Amen.
[g]Praise ye Jehovah.
21 Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign; and he reigned five and fifty years in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Hephzibah. 2 And he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, after the abominations of the nations whom Jehovah cast out before the children of Israel. 3 For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made an Asherah, as did Ahab king of Israel, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them. 4 And he built altars in the house of Jehovah, whereof Jehovah said, In Jerusalem will I put my name. 5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of Jehovah. 6 And he made his son to pass through the fire, and practised augury, and used enchantments, and [a]dealt with them that had familiar spirits, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of Jehovah, to provoke him to anger. 7 And he set the graven image of Asherah, that he had made, in the house of which Jehovah said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever; 8 neither will I cause the feet of Israel to wander any more out of the land which I gave their fathers, if only they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them. 9 But they hearkened not: and Manasseh seduced them to do that which is evil more than did the nations whom Jehovah destroyed before the children of Israel.
10 And Jehovah spake by his servants the prophets, saying, 11 Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations, and hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, that were before him, and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols; 12 therefore thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, Behold, I bring such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle. 13 And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab; and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it and turning it upside down. 14 And I will cast off the remnant of mine inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies; 15 because they have done that which is evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even unto this day.
16 Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; besides his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah. 17 Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and all that he did, and his sin that he sinned, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? 18 And Manasseh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Uzza: and Amon his son reigned in his stead.
14 Wherefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. 15 I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say. 16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a [a]communion of the blood of Christ? The [b]bread which we break, is it not a [c]communion of the body of Christ? 17 [d]seeing that we, who are many, are one [e]bread, one body: for we all partake [f]of the one [g]bread. 18 Behold Israel after the flesh: have not they that eat the sacrifices communion with the altar? 19 What say I then? that a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? 20 But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have communion with demons. 21 Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of demons: ye cannot partake of the table of the Lord, and of the table of demons. 22 Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?
23 All things are lawful; but not all things are expedient. All things are lawful; but not all things [h]edify. 24 Let no man seek his own, but each [i]his neighbor’s good. 25 Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, eat, asking no question for conscience’ sake; 26 for the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof. 27 If one of them that believe not biddeth you to a feast, and ye are disposed to go; whatsoever is set before you, eat, asking no question for conscience’ sake. 28 But if any man say unto you, This hath been offered in sacrifice, eat not, for his sake that showed it, and for conscience’ sake: 29 conscience, I say, not thine own, but the other’s; for why is my liberty judged by another conscience? 30 [j]If I partake with thankfulness, why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks? 31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. 32 Give no occasion of stumbling, either to Jews, or to Greeks, or to the church of God: 33 even as I also please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of the many, that they may be saved. 11 1 Be ye imitators of me, even as I also am of Christ.
28 And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, there met him two [a]possessed with demons, coming forth out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man could pass by that way. 29 And behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time? 30 Now there was afar off from them a herd of many swine feeding. 31 And the demons besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, send us away into the herd of swine. 32 And he said unto them, Go. And they came out, and went into the swine: and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep into the sea, and perished in the waters. 33 And they that fed them fled, and went away into the city, and told everything, and what was befallen to them that were [b]possessed with demons. 34 And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus: and when they saw him, they besought him that he would depart from their borders.
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