Book of Common Prayer

Oh, give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good,
    for His mercy endures forever.
² Who can recount the mighty acts of the Lord
    or declare all His praise?
³ Blessed are those who keep justice
    and who do righteousness at all times.
⁴ Remember me, O Lord, when You give favor to Your people;
    visit me with Your deliverance,
⁵ that I may see the goodness over Your chosen ones,
    that I may rejoice in the gladness of Your nation,
    that I may glory with Your inheritance.

⁶ We have sinned with our fathers;
    we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedly.
⁷ Our fathers did not consider
    Your wonders in Egypt;
they did not remember the greatness of Your mercy,
    but rebelled against Him at the sea, by the Red Sea.
⁸ Nevertheless He saved them for His name’s sake,
    that He might make His mighty power known.
⁹ He rebuked the Red Sea, and it was dried up,
    so He led them through the depths as through the wilderness.
¹⁰ He saved them from the hand of him who hated them
    and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.
¹¹ The waters covered their enemies;
    there was not one of them left.
¹² Then they believed His words;
    they sang His praise.

¹³ But they soon forgot His works;
    they did not wait for His counsel,
¹⁴ but they lusted exceedingly in the wilderness
    and tested God in the desert.
¹⁵ He gave them their request,
    but He sent a wasting disease on them.

¹⁶ They envied in the camp Moses
    and Aaron, the holy priest of the Lord.
¹⁷ The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan
    and engulfed those led by Abiram.
¹⁸ A fire broke out among their company;
    the flame burned up the wicked.
¹⁹ They made a calf at Horeb,
    and worshipped the molded image.
²⁰ Thus they changed the glory of God
    for the image of an ox that eats grass.
²¹ They forgot God, their Deliverer,
    who had done great things in Egypt,
²² wondrous works in the land of Ham,
    and marvelous deeds by the Red Sea.
²³ Therefore He said that He would destroy them,
    had not Moses, His chosen one,
stood before Him to intercede,
    to turn away His wrath from destroying them.

²⁴ Then they despised the pleasant land;
    they did not believe His promise,
²⁵ but they grumbled in their tents,
    and did not listen to the voice of the Lord.
²⁶ Therefore He lifted up His hand against them
    and swore to overthrow them in the wilderness,
²⁷ and to overthrow their offspring among the nations,
    and to scatter them in the lands.

²⁸ They joined themselves to Baal of Peor
    and ate the sacrifices given for the dead.
²⁹ Thus they provoked Him to anger with their acts,
    and a plague broke out upon them.
³⁰ Then Phinehas stood up and interceded,
    and so the plague ceased.
³¹ That was counted unto him for righteousness
    unto all generations forever.
³² They angered Him also at the waters of Meribah,
    so that Moses suffered because of them,
³³ because they provoked his temper,
    so that he spoke impulsively with his lips.

³⁴ They did not destroy the nations
    as the Lord commanded them,
³⁵ but they mixed among the nations
    and learned their deeds;
³⁶ they served their idols,
    which were a snare to them.
³⁷ Yes, they sacrificed their sons
    and their daughters to demons,
³⁸ and poured out innocent blood,
    even the blood of their sons and of their daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,
    and the land was polluted with blood.
³⁹ Thus were they defiled by their acts
    and acted like whores with these actions.

⁴⁰ Therefore the wrath of the Lord was kindled against His people,
    and He abhorred His own inheritance.
⁴¹ He gave them into the hand of the nations,
    and those who hated them ruled over them.
⁴² Their enemies also oppressed them,
    and Israel was brought into subjection under their powerful hand.
⁴³ Many times He delivered them,
    but they were rebellious against Him with their counsel,
    and were afflicted for their iniquity.
⁴⁴ Nevertheless, He regarded their affliction,
    when He heard their cry:
⁴⁵ and He remembered on their behalf His covenant
    and relented according to the greatness of His mercies.
⁴⁶ He made them pitied
    among all those who held them captive.

⁴⁷ Save us, O Lord our God,
    and gather us from among the nations,
to give thanks unto Your holy name
    and to boast in Your praise.

⁴⁸ Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
    from everlasting to everlasting,
and let all the people say, “Amen!”

Praise the Lord!

¹¹ My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord,
    nor be weary of His correction;
¹² for whom the Lord loves He corrects,
    even as a father the son in whom he delights.

¹³ Happy is the man who finds wisdom,
    and the man who gets understanding;
¹⁴ for her benefit is more profitable than silver,
    and her gain than fine gold.
¹⁵ She is more precious than rubies,
    and all the things you may desire are not to be compared with her.
¹⁶ Length of days is in her right hand,
    and in her left hand riches and honor.
¹⁷ Her ways are ways of pleasantness,
    and all her paths are peace.
¹⁸ She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her,
    and happy is everyone who retains her.

¹⁹ The Lord by wisdom has founded the earth;
    by understanding He has established the heavens;
²⁰ by His knowledge the depths are broken up,
    and the clouds drop down the dew.