Book of Common Prayer

¹ Give thanks to the Lord.
Proclaim^[a] his name.
Make his deeds known among the peoples.
² Sing to him, make music to him.
Meditate on all his wonders.
³ Take pride in his holy name.
Let the heart of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
⁴ Search for the Lord and his strength.
Seek his face always.
⁵ Remember the wonders which he has done,
his signs, and the judgments from his mouth,
⁶ you descendants of Abraham his servant,
you sons 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 he commanded for a thousand generations,
⁹ the covenant which he made with Abraham,
and his oath to Isaac.
¹⁰ Yes, he confirmed it to Jacob as a statute,
to Israel as an everlasting covenant.
¹¹ He said, “To you I will give the land of Canaan,
the territory you will possess.”

¹² While they were few in number,
just a little group and aliens in the land,
¹³ they moved around from nation to nation,
from one kingdom to another people.
¹⁴ He did not allow anyone to oppress them,
and he rebuked kings because of them:
¹⁵ “Do not touch my anointed ones,
and do not harm my prophets.”

¹⁶ Then he summoned a famine on the land.
He destroyed their entire food supply.
¹⁷ He sent ahead of them a man sold as a slave, Joseph.
¹⁸ They hurt his feet with chains.
His throat was clamped in an iron collar,
¹⁹ until the time when his predictions came true.
The promise of the Lord tested him.
²⁰ The king sent for him and released him.
The ruler of peoples set him free.
²¹ He made him master of his house
and ruler over all his possessions,
²² to bind his officials by his will,
to teach his elders wisdom.

²³ Then Israel came to Egypt.
Jacob lived as an alien in the land of Ham.^[b]
24 Then the Lord made his people very fruitful.
He made them too numerous for their foes.
²⁵ He turned the Egyptians’ hearts so they hated his people.
They dealt deceitfully with his servants.
²⁶ He sent Moses his servant,
and Aaron, whom he had chosen.
²⁷ They performed his signs among them,
his warning signs in the land of Ham.
²⁸ He sent darkness, and it became extremely dark,
because Israel^[c] did not rebel against his words.
²⁹ He turned their waters into blood,
and he caused their fish to die.
³⁰ Their land swarmed with frogs,
even in the rooms of their kings.
³¹ He spoke, and a swarm of flies came.
There were lice^[d] throughout their borders.
³² He gave them hail instead of rain,
with blazing lightning throughout their land.
³³ Then he struck down their vines and fig trees,
and he broke down the trees within their borders.
³⁴ He spoke, and the locusts came,
and grasshoppers without number.
³⁵ They ate every green plant in their land.
They ate the produce of their soil.
³⁶ Then he struck down all the firstborn in their land,
the first fruit of all their virility.
³⁷ Then he brought Israel out with silver and gold.
From among their tribes no one stumbled.
³⁸ Egypt was glad when they went out,
because fear of Israel had fallen on them.

³⁹ He spread out a cloud as a canopy
and fire to give light at night.
⁴⁰ They asked, and he brought quail,
and he satisfied them with bread from heaven.
⁴¹ He opened the rock, and water gushed out.
It flowed in the desert like a river.

⁴² Because he remembered his holy word to Abraham, his servant,
⁴³ he brought out his people with rejoicing,
his chosen ones with a joyful shout.
⁴⁴ He gave them the lands of the nations,
and they took possession of the work of other peoples
⁴⁵ so that they could keep his statutes and observe his laws.