Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 89[a]
A well-written song[b] by Ethan the Ezrahite.
89 I will sing continually[c] about the Lord’s faithful deeds;
to future generations I will proclaim your faithfulness.[d]
2 For I say, “Loyal love is permanently established;[e]
in the skies you set up your faithfulness.”[f]
3 The Lord said,[g]
“I have made a covenant with my chosen one;
I have made a promise on oath to David, my servant:
4 ‘I will give you an eternal dynasty[h]
and establish your throne throughout future generations.’”[i] (Selah)
5 O Lord, the heavens[j] praise your amazing deeds,
as well as your faithfulness in the angelic assembly.[k]
6 For who in the skies can compare to the Lord?
Who is like the Lord among the heavenly beings,[l]
7 a God who is honored[m] in the great angelic assembly,[n]
and more awesome than[o] all who surround him?
8 O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies![p]
Who is strong like you, O Lord?
Your faithfulness surrounds you.
9 You rule over the proud sea.[q]
When its waves surge,[r] you calm them.
10 You crushed the Proud One[s] and killed it;[t]
with your strong arm you scattered your enemies.
11 The heavens belong to you, as does the earth.
You made the world and all it contains.[u]
12 You created the north and the south.
Tabor and Hermon[v] rejoice in your name.
13 Your arm is powerful,
your hand strong,
your right hand[w] victorious.[x]
14 Equity and justice are the foundation of your throne.[y]
Loyal love and faithfulness characterize your rule.[z]
15 How blessed are the people who worship you![aa]
O Lord, they experience your favor.[ab]
16 They rejoice in your name all day long,
and are vindicated[ac] by your justice.
17 For you give them splendor and strength.[ad]
By your favor we are victorious.[ae]
18 For our shield[af] belongs to the Lord,
our king to the Holy One of Israel.[ag]
19 Then you[ah] spoke through a vision to your faithful followers[ai] and said:
“I have placed a young hero[aj] over a warrior;
I have raised up a young man[ak] from the people.
20 I have discovered David, my servant.
With my holy oil I have anointed him as king.[al]
21 My hand will support him,[am]
and my arm will strengthen him.
22 No enemy will be able to exact tribute[an] from him;[ao]
a violent oppressor will not be able to humiliate him.[ap]
23 I will crush his enemies before him;
I will strike down those who hate him.
24 He will experience my faithfulness and loyal love,[aq]
and by my name he will win victories.[ar]
25 I will place his hand over the sea,
his right hand over the rivers.[as]
26 He will call out to me,
‘You are my father,[at] my God, and the protector who delivers me.’[au]
27 I will appoint him to be my firstborn son,[av]
the most exalted of the earth’s kings.
28 I will always extend my loyal love to him,
and my covenant with him is secure.[aw]
29 I will give him an eternal dynasty,[ax]
and make his throne as enduring as the skies above.[ay]
30 If his sons reject my law
and disobey my regulations,
31 if they break[az] my rules
and do not keep my commandments,
32 I will punish their rebellion by beating them with a club,[ba]
their sin by inflicting them with bruises.[bb]
33 But I will not remove[bc] my loyal love from him,
nor be unfaithful to my promise.[bd]
34 I will not break[be] my covenant
or go back on what I promised.[bf]
35 Once and for all I have vowed by my own holiness,
I will never deceive[bg] David.
36 His dynasty will last forever.[bh]
His throne will endure before me, like the sun;[bi]
37 it will remain stable, like the moon.[bj]
His throne will endure like the skies.”[bk] (Selah)
38 But you have spurned[bl] and rejected him;
you are angry with your chosen king.[bm]
39 You have repudiated[bn] your covenant with your servant;[bo]
you have thrown his crown to the ground.[bp]
40 You have broken down all his[bq] walls;
you have made his strongholds a heap of ruins.
41 All who pass by[br] have robbed him;
he has become an object of disdain to his neighbors.
42 You have allowed his adversaries to be victorious,[bs]
and all his enemies to rejoice.
43 You turn back[bt] his sword from the adversary,[bu]
and have not sustained him in battle.[bv]
44 You have brought to an end his splendor,[bw]
and have knocked[bx] his throne to the ground.
45 You have cut short his youth,[by]
and have covered him with shame. (Selah)
46 How long, O Lord, will this last?
Will you remain hidden forever?[bz]
Will your anger continue to burn like fire?
47 Take note of my brief lifespan.[ca]
Why do you make all people so mortal?[cb]
48 No man can live on without experiencing death,
or deliver his life from the power of Sheol.[cc] (Selah)
49 Where are your earlier faithful deeds,[cd] O Lord,[ce]
the ones performed in accordance with your reliable oath to David?[cf]
50 Take note, O Lord,[cg] of the way your servants are taunted,[ch]
and of how I must bear so many insults from people.[ci]
51 Your enemies, O Lord, hurl insults;
they insult your chosen king as they dog his footsteps.[cj]
52 [ck] The Lord deserves praise[cl] forevermore!
We agree! We agree![cm]
30 When Rachel saw that she could not give Jacob children, she[a] became jealous of her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children[b] or I’ll die!” 2 Jacob became furious[c] with Rachel and exclaimed, “Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children?”[d] 3 She replied, “Here is my servant Bilhah! Sleep with[e] her so that she can bear[f] children[g] for me[h] and I can have a family through her.”[i]
4 So Rachel[j] gave him her servant Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob slept with[k] her. 5 Bilhah became pregnant[l] and gave Jacob a son.[m] 6 Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me. He has responded to my prayer[n] and given me a son.” That is why[o] she named him Dan.[p]
7 Bilhah, Rachel’s servant, became pregnant again and gave Jacob another son.[q] 8 Then Rachel said, “I have fought a desperate struggle with my sister, but I have won.”[r] So she named him Naphtali.[s]
9 When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she gave[t] her servant Zilpah to Jacob as a wife. 10 Soon Leah’s servant Zilpah gave Jacob a son.[u] 11 Leah said, “How fortunate!”[v] So she named him Gad.[w]
12 Then Leah’s servant Zilpah gave Jacob another son.[x] 13 Leah said, “How happy I am,[y] for women[z] will call me happy!” So she named him Asher.[aa]
14 At the time[ab] of the wheat harvest Reuben went out and found some mandrake plants[ac] in a field and brought them to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, “Give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” 15 But Leah replied,[ad] “Wasn’t it enough that you’ve taken away my husband? Would you take away my son’s mandrakes too?” “All right,”[ae] Rachel said, “he may go to bed with[af] you tonight in exchange for your son’s mandrakes.” 16 When Jacob came in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must sleep[ag] with me because I have paid for your services[ah] with my son’s mandrakes.” So he went to bed with[ai] her that night. 17 God paid attention[aj] to Leah; she became pregnant[ak] and gave Jacob a son for the fifth time.[al] 18 Then Leah said, “God has granted me a reward[am] because I gave my servant to my husband as a wife.”[an] So she named him Issachar.[ao]
19 Leah became pregnant again and gave Jacob a son for the sixth time.[ap] 20 Then Leah said, “God has given me a good gift. Now my husband will honor me because I have given him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun.[aq]
21 After that she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.
22 Then God took note of[ar] Rachel. He paid attention to her and enabled her to become pregnant.[as] 23 She became pregnant[at] and gave birth to a son. Then she said, “God has taken away my shame.”[au] 24 She named him Joseph,[av] saying, “May the Lord give me yet another son.”
The Prologue to the Letter
1 This is what we proclaim to you:[a] what was from the beginning,[b] what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and our hands have touched (concerning the word of life— 2 and the life was revealed, and we have seen and testify and announce[c] to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us).[d] 3 What we have seen and heard we announce[e] to you too, so that[f] you may have fellowship[g] with us (and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ). 4 Thus[h] we are writing these things so that[i] our[j] joy may be complete.[k]
God Is Light, So We Must Walk in the Light
5 Now[l] this is the gospel[m] message[n] we have heard from him[o] and announce to you: God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all.[p] 6 If we say we have fellowship with him and yet keep on walking[q] in the darkness, we are lying and not practicing[r] the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses[s] us from all sin.[t] 8 If we say we do not bear the guilt of sin,[u] we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous,[v] forgiving[w] us our sins and cleansing[x] us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us.
Healing a Man Born Blind
9 Now as Jesus was passing by,[a] he saw a man who had been blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him,[b] “Rabbi, who committed the sin that caused him to be born blind, this man[c] or his parents?”[d] 3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man[e] nor his parents sinned, but he was born blind so that[f] the acts[g] of God may be revealed[h] through what happens to him.[i] 4 We must perform the deeds[j] of the one who sent me[k] as long as[l] it is daytime. Night is coming when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”[m] 6 Having said this,[n] he spat on the ground and made some mud[o] with the saliva. He[p] smeared the mud on the blind man’s[q] eyes 7 and said to him, “Go wash in the pool of Siloam”[r] (which is translated “sent”).[s] So the blind man[t] went away and washed, and came back seeing.
8 Then the neighbors and the people who had seen him previously[u] as a beggar began saying,[v] “Is this not the man[w] who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some people said,[x] “This is the man!”[y] while others said, “No, but he looks like him.”[z] The man himself[aa] kept insisting, “I am the one!”[ab] 10 So they asked him,[ac] “How then were you made to see?”[ad] 11 He replied,[ae] “The man called Jesus made mud,[af] smeared it[ag] on my eyes and told me,[ah] ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed, and was able to see.”[ai] 12 They said[aj] to him, “Where is that man?”[ak] He replied,[al] “I don’t know.”
The Pharisees’ Reaction to the Healing
13 They brought the man who used to be blind[am] to the Pharisees.[an] 14 (Now the day on which Jesus made the mud[ao] and caused him to see[ap] was a Sabbath.)[aq] 15 So the Pharisees asked him again how he had gained his sight.[ar] He replied,[as] “He put mud[at] on my eyes and I washed, and now[au] I am able to see.”
16 Then some of the Pharisees began to say,[av] “This man is not from God, because he does not observe[aw] the Sabbath.”[ax] But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform[ay] such miraculous signs?” Thus there was a division[az] among them. 17 So again they asked the man who used to be blind,[ba] “What do you say about him, since he caused you to see?”[bb] “He is a prophet,” the man replied.[bc]
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