Book of Common Prayer
Israel’s Rebelliousness and the Lord’s Help.
106 [a]Praise [b]the Lord!
Oh (A)give thanks to the Lord, for He (B)is good;
For (C)His mercy is everlasting.
2 Who can speak of the (D)mighty deeds of the Lord,
Or can proclaim all His praise?
3 How blessed are those who maintain [c]justice,
[d]Who (E)practice righteousness at all times!
4 Remember me, Lord, in Your (F)favor [e]toward Your people.
Visit me with Your salvation,
5 So that I may see the (G)prosperity of Your chosen ones,
That I may (H)rejoice in the joy of Your nation,
That I may (I)boast with Your [f]inheritance.
6 (J)We have sinned [g](K)like our fathers,
We have gone astray, we have behaved wickedly.
7 Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Your [h]wonders;
They (L)did not remember [i]Your abundant kindnesses,
But (M)rebelled by the sea, at the [j]Red Sea.
8 Nevertheless He saved them (N)for the sake of His name,
So that He might (O)make His power known.
9 So He (P)rebuked the [k]Red Sea and it (Q)dried up,
And He (R)led them through the mighty waters, as through the wilderness.
10 So He (S)saved them from the [l]hand of one who hated them,
And (T)redeemed them from the [m]hand of the enemy.
11 (U)The waters covered their adversaries;
Not one of them was left.
12 Then they (V)believed His words;
They (W)sang His praise.
13 They quickly (X)forgot His works;
They (Y)did not wait for His plan,
14 But (Z)became lustfully greedy in the wilderness,
And (AA)put God to the test in the desert.
15 So He (AB)gave them their request,
But (AC)sent a [n]wasting disease among them.
16 When they became (AD)envious of Moses in the camp,
And of Aaron, the holy one of the Lord,
17 The (AE)earth opened and swallowed up Dathan,
And engulfed the [o]company of Abiram.
18 And a (AF)fire blazed up in their [p]company;
The flame consumed the wicked.
19 They (AG)made a calf in Horeb,
And worshiped a cast metal image.
20 So they (AH)exchanged their glory
For the image of an ox that eats grass.
21 They (AI)forgot God their Savior,
Who had done (AJ)great things in Egypt,
22 [q](AK)Wonders in the land of Ham,
And awesome things by the [r]Red Sea.
23 Therefore (AL)He said that He would destroy them,
If (AM)Moses, His chosen one, had not stood in the gap before Him,
To turn away His wrath from destroying them.
24 Then they (AN)rejected the (AO)pleasant land;
They (AP)did not believe His word,
25 But (AQ)grumbled in their tents;
They did not listen to the voice of the Lord.
26 Therefore He [s](AR)swore to them
That He would have them fall in the wilderness,
27 And that He would (AS)bring down their [t]descendants among the nations,
And (AT)scatter them in the lands.
28 They also (AU)followed [u]Baal-peor,
And ate (AV)sacrifices offered to the dead.
29 So they (AW)provoked Him to anger with their deeds,
And a plague broke out among them.
30 Then Phinehas (AX)stood up and [v]intervened,
And so the (AY)plague was brought to a halt.
31 And it was (AZ)credited to him as righteousness,
To all generations forever.
32 They also (BA)provoked Him to wrath at the waters of [w]Meribah,
So that it (BB)went badly for Moses on their account.
33 Because they (BC)were rebellious against [x]His Spirit,
He spoke rashly with his lips.
34 They (BD)did not destroy the peoples,
As (BE)the Lord had commanded them,
35 But (BF)they got involved with the nations
And learned their [y]practices,
36 And (BG)served their idols,
(BH)Which became a snare to them.
37 They even (BI)sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the (BJ)demons,
38 And shed (BK)innocent blood,
The blood of their (BL)sons and their daughters
Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan;
And the land was (BM)defiled with the blood.
39 So they became (BN)unclean in their [z]practices,
And [aa](BO)were unfaithful in their deeds.
40 Therefore the (BP)anger of the Lord was kindled against His people,
And He (BQ)loathed His [ab](BR)inheritance.
41 So (BS)He handed them over to the [ac]nations,
And those who hated them ruled over them.
42 Their enemies also (BT)oppressed them,
And they were subdued under their [ad]power.
43 Many times He would (BU)rescue them;
They, however, were rebellious in their (BV)plan,
And they (BW)sank down into their guilt.
The Nations Will Be Judged
3 “[a]For behold, (A)in those days and at that time,
When I (B)restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
2 I will (C)gather all the nations
And bring them down to the (D)Valley of [b]Jehoshaphat.
Then I will (E)enter into judgment with them there
On behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel,
Whom they have (F)scattered among the nations;
And they have (G)divided up My land.
9 (A)Proclaim this among the nations:
(B)Prepare for holy war; (C)stir up the warriors!
Have all the soldiers come forward, have them come up!
10 (D)Beat your plowshares into swords,
And your pruning hooks into spears;
(E)Let the weak man say, “I am a warrior.”
11 [a](F)Hurry and come, all you surrounding nations,
And gather yourselves there.
Bring down, Lord, Your (G)warriors.
12 Let the nations be awakened
And come up to the (H)Valley of [b]Jehoshaphat,
For there I will sit to (I)judge
All the surrounding nations.
13 (J)Put in the sickle, for the (K)harvest is ripe.
Come, (L)tread the grapes, for the (M)wine press is full;
The vats overflow, for their (N)wickedness is great.
14 (O)Multitudes, multitudes in the (P)valley of [c]decision!
For the (Q)day of the Lord is near in the valley of [d]decision.
15 The (R)sun and moon have become dark,
And the stars have lost their brightness.
16 The Lord (S)roars from Zion
And (T)utters His voice from Jerusalem,
And the (U)heavens and the earth quake.
But the Lord is a (V)refuge for His people,
And a (W)stronghold for the sons of Israel.
17 Then you will (X)know that I am the Lord your God,
Dwelling on Zion, My (Y)holy mountain.
So Jerusalem will be (Z)holy,
And (AA)strangers will no longer pass through it.
A Living Hope and a Sure Salvation
1 (A)Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who reside as (B)strangers, (C)scattered throughout (D)Pontus, (E)Galatia, (F)Cappadocia, (G)Asia, and (H)Bithynia, (I)who are chosen 2 according to the (J)foreknowledge of God the Father, (K)by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, [a]to (L)obey Jesus Christ and be (M)sprinkled with His blood: (N)May grace and peace be multiplied to you.
3 (O)Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who (P)according to His great mercy (Q)has caused us to be born again to (R)a living hope through the (S)resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to obtain an (T)inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and (U)will not fade away, (V)reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are (W)protected by the power of God (X)through faith for (Y)a salvation ready (Z)to be revealed in the last time. 6 (AA)In this you greatly rejoice, even though now (AB)for a little while, (AC)if necessary, you have been distressed by (AD)various [b]trials, 7 so that the [c](AE)proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which perishes (AF)though tested by fire, (AG)may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor at (AH)the revelation of Jesus Christ; 8 and (AI)though you have not seen Him, you (AJ)love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and [d]full of glory, 9 obtaining as (AK)the outcome of your faith, the salvation of [e]your souls.
10 (AL)As to this salvation, the prophets who (AM)prophesied of the (AN)grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, 11 [f]seeking to know what person or time (AO)the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He (AP)predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories [g]to follow. 12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who (AQ)preached the gospel to you by (AR)the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which (AS)angels long to [h]look.
Concerning Divorce
19 (A)When Jesus had finished these words, He left Galilee and (B)came into the region of Judea beyond the Jordan; 2 and [a]large crowds followed Him, and (C)He healed them there.
3 Some Pharisees came to [b]Jesus, testing Him and [c]asking, “(D)Is it lawful for a man to [d]divorce his wife for any reason at all?” 4 And He answered and said, “Have you not read (E)that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘(F)For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife, and (G)the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, no person is to separate.” 7 They *said to Him, “(H)Why, then, did Moses command to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away?” 8 He *said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to [e]divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. 9 And I say to you, (I)whoever [f]divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman [g]commits adultery[h].”
10 The disciples *said to Him, “If the relationship of the man with his wife is like this, it is better not to marry.” 11 But He said to them, “(J)Not all men can accept this statement, but (K)only those to whom it has been given. 12 For there are eunuchs who were born that way from their mother’s womb; and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by people; and there are also eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who is able to accept this, let him accept it.”
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