Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 105[a]
105 Give thanks to the Lord.
Call on his name.
Make known his accomplishments among the nations.
2 Sing to him.
Make music to him.
Tell about all his miraculous deeds.
3 Boast about his holy name.
Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
4 Seek the Lord and the strength he gives.
Seek his presence continually.
5 Recall the miraculous deeds he performed,
his mighty acts and the judgments he decreed,[b]
6 O children[c] of Abraham,[d] God’s[e] servant,
you descendants[f] of Jacob, God’s[g] chosen ones.
7 He is the Lord our God;
he carries out judgment throughout the earth.[h]
8 He always remembers his covenantal decree,
the promise he made[i] to a thousand generations—
9 the promise[j] he made to Abraham,
the promise he made by oath to Isaac.
10 He gave it to Jacob as a decree,
to Israel as a lasting promise,[k]
11 saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan
as the portion of your inheritance.”
12 When they were few in number,
just a very few, and resident foreigners within it,
13 they wandered from nation to nation,
and from one kingdom to another.[l]
14 He let no one oppress them;
he disciplined kings for their sake,
15 saying,[m] “Don’t touch my chosen ones.[n]
Don’t harm my prophets.”
16 He called down a famine upon the earth;
he cut off all the food supply.[o]
17 He sent a man ahead of them[p]—
Joseph was sold as a servant.
18 The shackles hurt his feet;[q]
his neck was placed in an iron collar,[r]
19 until the time when his prediction[s] came true.
The Lord’s word[t] proved him right.[u]
20 The king authorized his release;[v]
the ruler of nations set him free.
21 He put him in charge of his palace,[w]
and made him manager of all his property,
22 giving him authority to imprison his officials[x]
and to teach his advisers.[y]
23 Israel moved to[z] Egypt;
Jacob lived for a time[aa] in the land of Ham.
24 The Lord[ab] made his people very fruitful,
and made them[ac] more numerous than their[ad] enemies.
25 He caused the Egyptians[ae] to hate his people,
and to mistreat[af] his servants.
26 He sent his servant Moses,
and Aaron, whom he had chosen.
27 They executed his miraculous signs among them,[ag]
and his amazing deeds in the land of Ham.
28 He made it dark;[ah]
Moses and Aaron did not disobey his orders.[ai]
29 He turned the Egyptians’ water into blood,
and killed their fish.
30 Their land was overrun by frogs,
which even got into the rooms of their kings.
31 He ordered flies to come;[aj]
gnats invaded their whole territory.
32 He sent hail along with the rain;[ak]
there was lightning in their land.[al]
33 He destroyed their vines and fig trees,
and broke the trees throughout their territory.
34 He ordered locusts to come,[am]
innumerable grasshoppers.
35 They ate all the vegetation in their land,
and devoured the crops of their fields.[an]
36 He struck down all the firstborn in their land,
the firstfruits of their reproductive power.[ao]
37 He brought his people[ap] out enriched[aq] with silver and gold;
none of his tribes stumbled.
38 Egypt was happy when they left,
for they were afraid of them.[ar]
39 He spread out a cloud for a cover,[as]
and provided a fire to light up the night.
40 They asked for food,[at] and he sent quail;
he satisfied them with food from the sky.[au]
41 He opened up a rock and water flowed out;
a river ran through dry regions.
42 Yes,[av] he remembered the sacred promise[aw]
he made to Abraham his servant.
43 When he led his people out, they rejoiced;
his chosen ones shouted with joy.[ax]
44 He handed the territory of nations over to them,
and they took possession of what other peoples had produced,[ay]
45 so that they might keep his commands
and obey[az] his laws.
Praise the Lord.
3 Jacob sent messengers on ahead[a] to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the region[b] of Edom. 4 He commanded them, “This is what you must say to my lord Esau: ‘This is what your servant[c] Jacob says: I have been staying with Laban until now.[d] 5 I have oxen, donkeys, sheep, and male and female servants. I have sent[e] this message[f] to inform my lord, so that I may find favor in your sight.’”
6 The messengers returned to Jacob and said, “We went to your brother Esau. He is coming to meet you and has 400 men with him.” 7 Jacob was very afraid and upset. So he divided the people who were with him into two camps, as well as the flocks, herds, and camels. 8 “If Esau attacks one camp,”[g] he thought,[h] “then the other camp will be able to escape.”[i]
9 Then Jacob prayed,[j] “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, O Lord, you said[k] to me, ‘Return to your land and to your relatives and I will make you prosper.’[l] 10 I am not worthy of all the faithful love[m] you have shown[n] your servant. With only my walking stick[o] I crossed the Jordan,[p] but now I have become two camps. 11 Rescue me,[q] I pray, from the hand[r] of my brother Esau,[s] for I am afraid he will come[t] and attack me, as well as the mothers with their children.[u] 12 But you[v] said, ‘I will certainly make you prosper[w] and will make[x] your descendants like the sand on the seashore, too numerous to count.’”[y]
13 Jacob[z] stayed there that night. Then he sent[aa] as a gift[ab] to his brother Esau 14 200 female goats and 20 male goats, 200 ewes and 20 rams, 15 30 female camels with their young, 40 cows and 10 bulls, and 20 female donkeys and 10 male donkeys. 16 He entrusted them to[ac] his servants, who divided them into herds.[ad] He told his servants, “Pass over before me, and keep some distance between one herd and the next.” 17 He instructed the servant leading the first herd,[ae] “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘To whom do you belong?[af] Where are you going? Whose herds are you driving?’[ag] 18 then you must say,[ah] ‘They belong[ai] to your servant Jacob.[aj] They have been sent as a gift to my lord Esau.[ak] In fact Jacob himself is behind us.’”[al]
19 He also gave these instructions to the second and third servants, as well as all those who were following the herds, saying, “You must say the same thing to Esau when you meet him.[am] 20 You must also say, ‘In fact your servant Jacob is behind us.’”[an] Jacob thought,[ao] “I will first appease him[ap] by sending a gift ahead of me.[aq] After that I will meet him.[ar] Perhaps he will accept me.”[as] 21 So the gifts were sent on ahead of him[at] while he spent that night in the camp.[au]
Warning About False Teachers
18 Children, it is the last hour, and just as you heard that the antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists[a] have appeared. We know from this that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us, because if they had belonged to us, they would have remained[b] with us. But[c] they went out from us[d] to demonstrate[e] that all of them do not belong to us.[f]
20 Nevertheless you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know.[g] 21 I have not written to you that[h] you do not know the truth, but that[i] you do know it, and that[j] no lie is of the truth. 22 Who is the liar but the person who denies that Jesus is the Christ[k] ? This one is the antichrist: the person who denies the Father and the Son. 23 Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father either. The person who confesses the Son has the Father also.[l]
24 As for you, what you have heard from the beginning must remain[m] in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. 25 Now this[n] is the promise that he[o] himself made to[p] us: eternal life.[q] 26 These things I have written to you about those who are trying to deceive you.[r]
27 Now as for you, the anointing[s] that you received from him[t] resides[u] in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you. But as his[v] anointing teaches you about all things, it is true and is not a lie. Just as[w] it[x] has taught you, you reside[y] in him.
Children of God
28 And now, little children, remain[z] in him,[aa] so that when[ab] he appears we may have confidence and not shrink away from him in shame when he comes back.[ac] 29 If you know that he is righteous, you also know[ad] that everyone who practices righteousness has been fathered[ae] by him.
19 Another sharp division took place among the Jewish people[a] because of these words. 20 Many of them were saying, “He is possessed by a demon and has lost his mind![b] Why do you listen to him?” 21 Others said, “These are not the words[c] of someone possessed by a demon. A demon cannot cause the blind to see,[d] can it?”[e]
Jesus at the Feast of Dedication
22 Then came the feast of the Dedication[f] in Jerusalem. 23 It was winter,[g] and Jesus was walking in the temple area[h] in Solomon’s Portico.[i] 24 The Jewish leaders[j] surrounded him and asked,[k] “How long will you keep us in suspense?[l] If you are the Christ,[m] tell us plainly.”[n] 25 Jesus replied,[o] “I told you and you do not believe. The deeds[p] I do in my Father’s name testify about me. 26 But you refuse to believe because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give[q] them eternal life, and they will never perish;[r] no one will snatch[s] them from my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all,[t] and no one can snatch[u] them from my Father’s hand. 30 The Father and I[v] are one.”[w]
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