Book of Common Prayer
Israel’s Rebelliousness and the Lord’s Help.
106 [a]Praise [b]the Lord!
Oh (A)give thanks to the Lord, for He (B)is good;
For (C)His mercy is everlasting.
2 Who can speak of the (D)mighty deeds of the Lord,
Or can proclaim all His praise?
3 How blessed are those who maintain [c]justice,
[d]Who (E)practice righteousness at all times!
4 Remember me, Lord, in Your (F)favor [e]toward Your people.
Visit me with Your salvation,
5 So that I may see the (G)prosperity of Your chosen ones,
That I may (H)rejoice in the joy of Your nation,
That I may (I)boast with Your [f]inheritance.
6 (J)We have sinned [g](K)like our fathers,
We have gone astray, we have behaved wickedly.
7 Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Your [h]wonders;
They (L)did not remember [i]Your abundant kindnesses,
But (M)rebelled by the sea, at the [j]Red Sea.
8 Nevertheless He saved them (N)for the sake of His name,
So that He might (O)make His power known.
9 So He (P)rebuked the [k]Red Sea and it (Q)dried up,
And He (R)led them through the mighty waters, as through the wilderness.
10 So He (S)saved them from the [l]hand of one who hated them,
And (T)redeemed them from the [m]hand of the enemy.
11 (U)The waters covered their adversaries;
Not one of them was left.
12 Then they (V)believed His words;
They (W)sang His praise.
13 They quickly (X)forgot His works;
They (Y)did not wait for His plan,
14 But (Z)became lustfully greedy in the wilderness,
And (AA)put God to the test in the desert.
15 So He (AB)gave them their request,
But (AC)sent a [n]wasting disease among them.
16 When they became (AD)envious of Moses in the camp,
And of Aaron, the holy one of the Lord,
17 The (AE)earth opened and swallowed up Dathan,
And engulfed the [o]company of Abiram.
18 And a (AF)fire blazed up in their [p]company;
The flame consumed the wicked.
19 They (AG)made a calf in Horeb,
And worshiped a cast metal image.
20 So they (AH)exchanged their glory
For the image of an ox that eats grass.
21 They (AI)forgot God their Savior,
Who had done (AJ)great things in Egypt,
22 [q](AK)Wonders in the land of Ham,
And awesome things by the [r]Red Sea.
23 Therefore (AL)He said that He would destroy them,
If (AM)Moses, His chosen one, had not stood in the gap before Him,
To turn away His wrath from destroying them.
24 Then they (AN)rejected the (AO)pleasant land;
They (AP)did not believe His word,
25 But (AQ)grumbled in their tents;
They did not listen to the voice of the Lord.
26 Therefore He [s](AR)swore to them
That He would have them fall in the wilderness,
27 And that He would (AS)bring down their [t]descendants among the nations,
And (AT)scatter them in the lands.
28 They also (AU)followed [u]Baal-peor,
And ate (AV)sacrifices offered to the dead.
29 So they (AW)provoked Him to anger with their deeds,
And a plague broke out among them.
30 Then Phinehas (AX)stood up and [v]intervened,
And so the (AY)plague was brought to a halt.
31 And it was (AZ)credited to him as righteousness,
To all generations forever.
32 They also (BA)provoked Him to wrath at the waters of [w]Meribah,
So that it (BB)went badly for Moses on their account.
33 Because they (BC)were rebellious against [x]His Spirit,
He spoke rashly with his lips.
34 They (BD)did not destroy the peoples,
As (BE)the Lord had commanded them,
35 But (BF)they got involved with the nations
And learned their [y]practices,
36 And (BG)served their idols,
(BH)Which became a snare to them.
37 They even (BI)sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the (BJ)demons,
38 And shed (BK)innocent blood,
The blood of their (BL)sons and their daughters
Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan;
And the land was (BM)defiled with the blood.
39 So they became (BN)unclean in their [z]practices,
And [aa](BO)were unfaithful in their deeds.
40 Therefore the (BP)anger of the Lord was kindled against His people,
And He (BQ)loathed His [ab](BR)inheritance.
41 So (BS)He handed them over to the [ac]nations,
And those who hated them ruled over them.
42 Their enemies also (BT)oppressed them,
And they were subdued under their [ad]power.
43 Many times He would (BU)rescue them;
They, however, were rebellious in their (BV)plan,
And they (BW)sank down into their guilt.
11 (A)My son, do not reject the [a]discipline of the Lord
Or loathe His rebuke,
12 For (B)whom the Lord loves He disciplines,
Just (C)as a father disciplines the son in whom he delights.
13 (D)Blessed is a person who finds wisdom,
And one who obtains understanding.
14 For [b]her (E)profit is better than the profit of silver,
And her produce better than gold.
15 She is (F)more precious than [c]jewels,
And nothing you desire compares with her.
16 [d](G)Long life is in her right hand;
In her left hand are (H)riches and honor.
17 Her (I)ways are pleasant ways,
And all her paths are (J)peace.
18 She is a (K)tree of life to those who take hold of her,
And happy are those who hold on to her.
19 The Lord founded the earth (L)by wisdom,
He (M)established the heavens by understanding.
20 By His knowledge the (N)ocean depths were burst open,
And the (O)clouds drip with dew.
18 (A)Little children, let’s not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and (B)truth. 19 We will know by this that we are (C)of the truth, and will set our heart at ease before Him, 20 that if our heart condemns us, that God is greater than our heart, and He knows all things. 21 (D)Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have (E)confidence [a]before God; 22 and (F)whatever we ask, we receive from Him, because we (G)keep His commandments and do (H)the things that are pleasing in His sight.
23 This is His commandment, that we [b](I)believe in (J)the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as (K)He [c]commanded us. 24 The one who (L)keeps His commandments (M)remains in Him, and He in him. (N)We know by this that (O)He remains in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.
Testing the Spirits
4 (P)Beloved, do not believe every (Q)spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because (R)many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: (S)every spirit that (T)confesses that (U)Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; 3 and every spirit that (V)does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the (W)antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and (X)now it is already in the world. 4 You are from God, (Y)little children, and (Z)have overcome them; because (AA)greater is He who is in you than (AB)he who is in the world. 5 (AC)They are from the world, therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 (AD)We are from God. (AE)The one who knows God listens to us; (AF)the one who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know (AG)the spirit of truth and (AH)the spirit of error.
17 So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb (A)four days. 18 Now (B)Bethany was near Jerusalem, about [a]fifteen stadia away; 19 and many of (C)the Jews had come to (D)Martha and Mary, (E)to console them about their brother. 20 So then (F)Martha, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him, but (G)Mary [b]stayed in the house. 21 Martha then said to Jesus, “(H)Lord, (I)if You had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 Even now I know that (J)whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” 23 Jesus *said to her, “Your brother will rise from the dead.” 24 Martha *said to Him, “(K)I know that he will rise in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “(L)I am the resurrection and the life; the one who believes in Me will live, even if he dies, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me (M)will never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She *said to Him, “Yes, Lord; I have come to believe that You are (N)the [c]Christ, the Son of God, and [d](O)He who comes into the world.”
28 When she had said this, she (P)left and called Mary her sister, saying secretly, “(Q)The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” 29 And when she heard this, she *got up quickly and came to Him.
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