Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 106
1 Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!) O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever!(A)
2 Who can put into words and tell the mighty deeds of the Lord? Or who can show forth all the praise [that is due Him]?
3 Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are those who observe justice [treating others fairly] and who do right and are in right standing with God at all times.
4 [Earnestly] remember me, O Lord, when You favor Your people! O visit me also when You deliver them, and grant me Your salvation!—
5 That I may see and share the welfare of Your chosen ones, that I may rejoice in the gladness of Your nation, that I may glory with Your heritage.
6 We have sinned, as did also our fathers; we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly.(B)
7 Our fathers in Egypt understood not nor appreciated Your miracles; they did not [earnestly] remember the multitude of Your mercies nor imprint Your loving-kindness [on their hearts], but they were rebellious and provoked the Lord at the sea, even at the Red Sea.(C)
8 Nevertheless He saved them for His name’s sake [to prove the righteousness of the divine character], that He might make His mighty power known.
9 He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it dried up; so He led them through the depths as through a pastureland.(D)
10 And He saved them from the hand of him that hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the [Egyptian] enemy.(E)
11 And the waters covered their adversaries; not one of them was left.(F)
12 Then [Israel] believed His words [trusting in, relying on them]; they sang His praise.
13 But they hastily forgot His works; they did not [earnestly] wait for His plans [to develop] regarding them,
14 But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness and tempted and tried to restrain God [with their insistent desires] in the desert.(G)
15 And He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their souls and [thinned their numbers by] disease and death.(H)
16 They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron [the high priest], the holy one of the Lord.(I)
17 Therefore the earth opened and swallowed up Dathan and closed over the company of Abiram.(J)
18 And a fire broke out in their company; the flame burned up the wicked.(K)
19 They made a calf in Horeb and worshiped a molten image.(L)
20 Thus they exchanged Him Who was their Glory for the image of an ox that eats grass [they traded their Honor for the image of a calf]!
21 They forgot God their Savior, Who had done such great things in Egypt,
22 Wonders and miracles in the land of Ham, dreadful and awesome things at the Red Sea.
23 Therefore He said He would destroy them. [And He would have done so] had not Moses, His chosen one, stepped into the breach before Him to turn away His threatening wrath.(M)
24 Then they spurned and despised the pleasant and desirable land [Canaan]; they believed not His word [neither trusting in, relying on, nor holding to it];
25 But they murmured in their tents and hearkened not to the voice of the Lord.
26 Therefore He lifted up His hand [as if taking an oath] against them, that He would cause them to fall in the wilderness,
27 Cast out their descendants among the nations, and scatter them in the lands [of the earth].
28 They joined themselves also to the [idol] Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices [offered] to the lifeless [gods].
29 Thus they provoked the Lord to anger with their practices, and a plague broke out among them.
30 Then stood up Phinehas [the priest] and executed judgment, and so the plague was stayed.(N)
31 And that was credited to him for righteousness (right doing and right standing with God) to all generations forever.
32 They angered the Lord also at the waters of Meribah, so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes;(O)
33 For they provoked [Moses’] spirit, so that he spoke unadvisedly with his lips.
34 They did not destroy the [heathen] nations as the Lord commanded them,
35 But mingled themselves with the [idolatrous] nations and learned their ways and works
36 And served their idols, which were a snare to them.
37 Yes, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons(P)
38 And shed 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 their blood.
39 Thus were they defiled by their own works, and they played the harlot and practiced idolatry with their own deeds [of idolatrous rites].
40 Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against His people, insomuch that He abhorred and rejected His own heritage.(Q)
41 And He gave them into the hands of the [heathen] nations, and they that hated them ruled over them.
42 Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under the hand of their foes.
43 Many times did [God] deliver them, but they were rebellious in their counsel and sank low through their iniquity.
44 Nevertheless He regarded their distress when He heard their cry;
45 And He [earnestly] remembered for their sake His covenant and relented their sentence of evil [comforting and easing Himself] according to the abundance of His mercy and loving-kindness [when they cried out to Him].
46 He also caused [Israel] to find sympathy among those who had carried them away captive.
47 Deliver us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to Your holy name and glory in praising You.
48 Blessed (affectionately and gratefully praised) be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! And let all the people say, Amen! Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)(R)
11 My son, do not despise or shrink from the chastening of the Lord [His correction by punishment or by subjection to suffering or trial]; neither be weary of or impatient about or loathe or abhor His reproof,(A)
12 For whom the Lord loves He corrects, even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights.
13 Happy (blessed, fortunate, enviable) is the man who finds skillful and godly Wisdom, and the man who gets understanding [drawing it forth from God’s Word and life’s experiences],
14 For the gaining of it is better than the gaining of silver, and the profit of it better than fine gold.
15 Skillful and godly [a]Wisdom is more precious than rubies; and nothing you can wish for is to be compared to her.(B)
16 Length of days is in her right hand, and in her left hand are riches and honor.(C)
17 Her ways are highways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.
18 She is a tree of life to those who lay hold on her; and happy (blessed, fortunate, to be envied) is everyone who holds her fast.
19 The Lord by skillful and godly Wisdom has founded the earth; by understanding He has established the heavens.(D)
20 By His knowledge the deeps were broken up, and the skies distill the dew.
18 Little children, let us not love [merely] in theory or in speech but in deed and in truth (in practice and in sincerity).
19 By this we shall come to know (perceive, recognize, and understand) that we are of the Truth, and can reassure (quiet, conciliate, and pacify) our hearts in His presence,
20 Whenever our hearts in [[a]tormenting] self-accusation make us feel guilty and condemn us. [For [b]we are in God’s hands.] For He is above and greater than our consciences (our hearts), and He knows (perceives and understands) everything [nothing is hidden from Him].
21 And, beloved, if our consciences (our hearts) do not accuse us [if they do not make us feel guilty and condemn us], we have confidence (complete assurance and boldness) before God,
22 And we receive from Him whatever we ask, because we [[c]watchfully] obey His orders [observe His suggestions and injunctions, follow His plan for us] and [[d]habitually] practice what is pleasing to Him.
23 And this is His order (His command, His injunction): that we should believe in (put our faith and trust in and adhere to and rely on) the name of His Son Jesus Christ (the Messiah), and that we should love one another, just as He has commanded us.
24 All who keep His commandments [who obey His orders and follow His plan, live and continue to live, to stay and] abide in Him, and He in them. [[e]They let Christ be a home to them and they are the home of Christ.] And by this we know and understand and have the proof that He [really] lives and makes His home in us: by the [Holy] Spirit Whom He has given us.
4 Beloved, do not put faith in every spirit, but prove (test) the spirits to discover whether they proceed from God; for many false prophets have gone forth into the world.
2 By this you may know (perceive and recognize) the Spirit of God: every spirit which acknowledges and confesses [the fact] that Jesus Christ (the Messiah) [actually] has become man and has come in the flesh is of God [has God for its source];
3 And every spirit which does not acknowledge and confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh [but would [f]annul, destroy, [g]sever, disunite Him] is not of God [does not proceed from Him]. This [[h]nonconfession] is the [spirit] of the antichrist, [of] which you heard that it was coming, and now it is already in the world.
4 Little children, you are of God [you belong to Him] and have [already] defeated and overcome them [the agents of the antichrist], because He Who lives in you is greater (mightier) than he who is in the world.
5 They proceed from the world and are of the world; therefore it is out of the world [its [i]whole economy morally considered] that they speak, and the world listens (pays attention) to them.
6 We are [children] of God. Whoever is learning to know God [progressively to perceive, recognize, and understand God by observation and experience, and to [j]get an ever-clearer knowledge of Him] listens to us; and he who is not of God does not listen or pay attention to us. By this we know (recognize) the Spirit of Truth and the spirit of error.
17 So when Jesus arrived, He found that he [Lazarus] had already been in the tomb four days.
18 Bethany was near Jerusalem, only about two miles away,
19 And a considerable number of the Jews had gone out to see Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother.
20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet Him, while Mary remained sitting in the house.
21 Martha then said to Jesus, Master, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.
22 And even now I know that whatever You ask from God, He will grant it to You.
23 Jesus said to her, Your brother shall rise again.
24 Martha replied, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
25 Jesus said to her, I am [Myself] the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in (adheres to, trusts in, and relies on) Me, although he may die, yet he shall live;
26 And whoever continues to live and believes in (has faith in, cleaves to, and relies on) Me shall never [actually] die at all. Do you believe this?
27 She said to Him, Yes, Lord, I have believed [I do believe] that You are the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One), the Son of God, [even He] Who was to come into the world. [It is for Your coming that the world has waited.]
28 After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, privately whispering to her, The Teacher is close at hand and is asking for you.
29 When she heard this, she sprang up quickly and went to Him.
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation