Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 106[a]
106 Praise the Lord.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
and his loyal love endures.[b]
2 Who can adequately recount the Lord’s mighty acts,
or relate all his praiseworthy deeds?[c]
3 How blessed are those who promote justice,
and do what is right all the time.
4 Remember me, O Lord, when you show favor to your people.
Pay attention to me, when you deliver,
5 so I may see the prosperity[d] of your chosen ones,
rejoice along with your nation,[e]
and boast along with the people who belong to you.[f]
6 We have sinned like[g] our ancestors;[h]
we have done wrong, we have done evil.
7 Our ancestors in Egypt failed to appreciate your miraculous deeds.
They failed to remember your many acts of loyal love,
and they rebelled at the sea, by the Red Sea.[i]
8 Yet he delivered them for the sake of his reputation,[j]
that he might reveal his power.
9 He shouted at[k] the Red Sea and it dried up;
he led them through the deep water as if it were a desert.
10 He delivered them from the power[l] of the one who hated them,
and rescued[m] them from the power[n] of the enemy.
11 The water covered their enemies;
not even one of them survived.[o]
12 They believed his promises;[p]
they sang praises to him.
13 They quickly forgot what he had done;[q]
they did not wait for his instructions.[r]
14 In the wilderness they had an insatiable craving[s] for meat;[t]
they challenged God[u] in the wastelands.
15 He granted their request,
then struck them with a disease.[v]
16 In the camp they resented[w] Moses,
and Aaron, the Lord’s holy priest.[x]
17 The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan;
it engulfed[y] the group led by Abiram.[z]
18 Fire burned their group;
the flames scorched the wicked.[aa]
19 They made an image of a calf at Horeb,
and worshiped a metal idol.
20 They traded their majestic God[ab]
for the image of an ox that eats grass.
21 They rejected[ac] the God who delivered them,
the one who performed great deeds in Egypt,
22 amazing feats in the land of Ham,
mighty acts[ad] by the Red Sea.
23 He threatened[ae] to destroy them,
but[af] Moses, his chosen one, interceded with him[ag]
and turned back his destructive anger.[ah]
24 They rejected the fruitful land;[ai]
they did not believe his promise.[aj]
25 They grumbled in their tents;[ak]
they did not obey[al] the Lord.
26 So he made a solemn vow[am]
that he would make them die[an] in the wilderness,
27 make their descendants[ao] die[ap] among the nations,
and scatter them among foreign lands.[aq]
28 They worshiped[ar] Baal of Peor,
and ate sacrifices offered to the dead.[as]
29 They made the Lord angry[at] by their actions,
and a plague broke out among them.
30 Phinehas took a stand and intervened,[au]
and the plague subsided.
31 This was credited to Phinehas as a righteous act
for all generations to come.[av]
32 They made him angry by the waters of Meribah,
and Moses suffered[aw] because of them,
33 for they aroused[ax] his temper,[ay]
and he spoke rashly.[az]
34 They did not destroy the nations,[ba]
as the Lord had commanded them to do.
35 They mixed in with the nations
and learned their ways.[bb]
36 They worshiped[bc] their idols,
which became a snare to them.[bd]
37 They sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons.[be]
38 They shed innocent blood—
the blood of their sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan.
The land was polluted by bloodshed.[bf]
39 They were defiled by their deeds,
and unfaithful in their actions.[bg]
40 So the Lord was angry with his people[bh]
and despised the people who belonged to him.[bi]
41 He handed them over to[bj] the nations,
and those who hated them ruled over them.
42 Their enemies oppressed them;
they were subject to their authority.[bk]
43 Many times he delivered[bl] them,
but they had a rebellious attitude,[bm]
and degraded themselves[bn] by their sin.
44 Yet he took notice of their distress,
when he heard their cry for help.
45 He remembered his covenant with them,
and relented[bo] because of his great loyal love.
46 He caused all their conquerors[bp]
to have pity on them.
47 Deliver us, O Lord, our God.
Gather us from among the nations.
Then we will give thanks[bq] to your holy name,
and boast about your praiseworthy deeds.[br]
48 The Lord God of Israel deserves praise,[bs]
in the future and forevermore.[bt]
Let all the people say, “We agree![bu] Praise the Lord!”[bv]
11 My child, do not despise discipline from the Lord,[a]
and do not loathe[b] his rebuke.
12 For the Lord disciplines[c] those he loves,
just as a father[d] disciplines[e] the son in whom he delights.
Blessings of Obtaining Wisdom
13 Blessed[f] is the one[g] who has found[h] wisdom,
and the one who obtains[i] understanding.
14 For her[j] benefit[k] is more profitable[l] than silver,
and her[m] gain[n] is better[o] than gold.
15 She is more precious than rubies,
and none of the things you desire can compare[p] with her.[q]
16 Long life[r] is in her right hand;
in her left hand are riches and honor.
17 Her ways are very pleasant,[s]
and all her paths are peaceful.
18 She is like[t] a tree of life[u] to those who grasp onto her,
and everyone who takes hold of her will be blessed.[v]
19 By wisdom the Lord laid the foundation of the earth;[w]
he established the heavens by understanding.[x]
20 By his knowledge the primordial sea[y] was broken open,[z]
so that the clouds drip down dew.[aa]
18 Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue but in deed and truth.[a] 19 And by this[b] we will know that we are of the truth and will convince[c] our conscience[d] in his presence,[e] 20 that[f] if our conscience condemns[g] us, that[h] God is greater than our conscience and knows all things. 21 Dear friends, if our conscience does not condemn us, we have confidence in the presence of God, 22 and[i] whatever we ask we receive from him, because[j] we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing to him. 23 Now[k] this is his commandment:[l] that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he gave[m] us the commandment. 24 And the person who keeps his commandments resides[n] in God,[o] and God[p] in him. Now by this[q] we know that God[r] resides in us: by the Spirit he has given us.
Testing the Spirits
4 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit,[s] but test[t] the spirits[u] to determine[v] if they are from God, because many false prophets[w] have gone out into the world. 2 By this[x] you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses[y] Jesus as the Christ[z] who has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but[aa] every spirit that refuses to confess[ab] Jesus,[ac] that spirit[ad] is not from God, and this is the spirit[ae] of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and now is already in the world.
4 You are from God, little children, and have conquered them,[af] because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world’s perspective and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God; the person who knows God listens to us, but[ag] whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this[ah] we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit.[ai]
Speaking with Martha and Mary
17 When[a] Jesus arrived,[b] he found that Lazarus[c] had been in the tomb four days already.[d] 18 (Now Bethany was less than two miles[e] from Jerusalem, 19 so many of the Jewish people of the region[f] had come to Martha and Mary to console them[g] over the loss of their brother.)[h] 20 So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary was sitting in the house.[i] 21 Martha[j] said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will grant[k] you.”[l]
23 Jesus replied,[m] “Your brother will come back to life again.”[n] 24 Martha said,[o] “I know that he will come back to life again[p] in the resurrection at the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live[q] even if he dies, 26 and the one who lives and believes in me will never die.[r] Do you believe this?” 27 She replied,[s] “Yes, Lord, I believe[t] that you are the Christ,[u] the Son of God who comes into the world.”[v]
28 And when she had said this, Martha[w] went and called her sister Mary, saying privately,[x] “The Teacher is here and is asking for you.”[y] 29 So when Mary[z] heard this, she got up quickly and went to him.
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