Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 106[a]
Israel’s Confession of Sin
1 Hallelujah!
A
Give thanks to the Lord, who is good,
whose mercy endures forever.(A)
2 Who can recount the mighty deeds of the Lord,
proclaim in full God’s praise?
3 Blessed those who do what is right,
whose deeds are always just.(B)
4 Remember me, Lord, as you favor your people;
come to me with your saving help,(C)
5 That I may see the prosperity of your chosen ones,
rejoice in the joy of your people,
and glory with your heritage.
B
6 We have sinned like our ancestors;(D)
we have done wrong and are guilty.
I
7 Our ancestors in Egypt
did not attend to your wonders.
They did not remember your manifold mercy;
they defied the Most High at the Red Sea.
8 Yet he saved them for his name’s sake
to make his power known.(E)
9 He roared at the Red Sea and it dried up.
He led them through the deep as through a desert.(F)
10 He rescued them from hostile hands,
freed them from the power of the enemy.
11 The waters covered their oppressors;
not one of them survived.
12 Then they believed his words
and sang his praise.(G)
II
13 But they soon forgot all he had done;
they had no patience for his plan.
14 In the desert they gave in to their cravings,
tempted God in the wasteland.(H)
15 So he gave them what they asked
and sent a wasting disease against them.(I)
III
16 In the camp they challenged Moses(J)
and Aaron, the holy one of the Lord.
17 The earth opened and swallowed Dathan,
it closed on the followers of Abiram.
18 Against their company the fire blazed;
flames consumed the wicked.
IV
19 At Horeb they fashioned a calf,(K)
worshiped a metal statue.
20 They exchanged their glory[b]
for the image of a grass-eating bull.
21 They forgot the God who had saved them,
who had done great deeds in Egypt,(L)
22 Amazing deeds in the land of Ham,
fearsome deeds at the Red Sea.
23 He would have decreed their destruction,
had not Moses, his chosen one,
Withstood him in the breach[c]
to turn back his destroying anger.(M)
V
24 Next they despised the beautiful land;(N)
they did not believe the promise.
25 In their tents they complained;
they did not heed the voice of the Lord.
26 So with raised hand he swore
he would destroy them in the desert,
27 And scatter their descendants among the nations,
disperse them in foreign lands.
VI
28 They joined in the rites of Baal of Peor,(O)
ate food sacrificed to the dead.
29 They provoked him by their actions,
and a plague broke out among them.
30 Then Phinehas rose to intervene,
and the plague was brought to a halt.
31 This was counted for him as a righteous deed
for all generations to come.
VII
32 At the waters of Meribah they angered God,(P)
and Moses suffered because of them.[d]
33 They so embittered his spirit
that rash words crossed his lips.
VIII
34 They did not destroy the peoples
as the Lord had commanded them,(Q)
35 But mingled with the nations
and imitated their ways.(R)
36 They served their idols
and were ensnared by them.(S)
37 They sacrificed to demons[e]
their own sons and daughters,
38 Shedding innocent blood,
the blood of their own sons and daughters,
Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,
desecrating the land with bloodshed.
39 They defiled themselves by their actions,
became adulterers by their conduct.
40 So the Lord grew angry with his people,
abhorred his own heritage.
41 He handed them over to the nations,
and their adversaries ruled over them.(T)
42 Their enemies oppressed them,
kept them under subjection.
43 Many times did he rescue them,
but they kept rebelling and scheming
and were brought low by their own guilt.(U)
44 Still God had regard for their affliction
when he heard their wailing.
45 For their sake he remembered his covenant
and relented in his abundant mercy,(V)
46 Winning for them compassion
from all who held them captive.
C
11 The discipline of the Lord, my son, do not spurn;(A)
do not disdain his reproof;
12 [a]For whom the Lord loves he reproves,
as a father, the son he favors.(B)
The Benefits of Finding Wisdom[b]
13 Happy the one who finds wisdom,
the one who gains understanding!(C)
14 Her profit is better than profit in silver,
and better than gold is her revenue;
15 She is more precious than corals,
and no treasure of yours can compare with her.(D)
16 Long life is in her right hand,
in her left are riches and honor;
17 Her ways are pleasant ways,
and all her paths are peace;
18 She is a tree of life[c] to those who grasp her,
and those who hold her fast are happy.(E)
19 The Lord by wisdom founded the earth,
established the heavens by understanding;
20 By his knowledge the depths[d] are split,
and the clouds drop down dew.
18 Children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth.(A)
Confidence Before God.[a] 19 [Now] this is how we shall know that we[b] belong to the truth and reassure our hearts before him 20 in whatever our hearts condemn, for God is greater than our hearts and knows everything. 21 Beloved, if [our] hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence in God 22 and receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.(B) 23 And his commandment is this: we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another just as he commanded us.(C) 24 Those who keep his commandments remain in him, and he in them, and the way we know that he remains in us is from the Spirit that he gave us.(D)
Chapter 4
Testing the Spirits.[c] 1 Beloved, do not trust every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they belong to God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.(E) 2 This is how you can know the Spirit of God: every spirit that acknowledges Jesus Christ come in the flesh belongs to God,(F) 3 and every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus[d] does not belong to God. This is the spirit of the antichrist that, as you heard, is to come, but in fact is already in the world.(G) 4 You belong to God, children, and you have conquered them, for the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5 They belong to the world; accordingly, their teaching belongs to the world, and the world listens to them.(H) 6 We belong to God, and anyone who knows God listens to us, while anyone who does not belong to God refuses to hear us. This is how we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit.(I)
17 When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, only about two miles[a] away. 19 And many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother.(A) 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary sat at home. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.(B) 22 [But] even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise.” 24 Martha said to him, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.”(C) 25 Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live,(D) 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27 [b](E)She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.”
28 When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary secretly, saying, “The teacher is here and is asking for you.” 29 As soon as she heard this, she rose quickly and went to him.
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