Book of Common Prayer

Psalm 105

¹ O give thanks unto the Lord, call upon His name, make known His doings among the peoples!

² Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; meditate on and talk of all His marvelous deeds and devoutly praise them.

³ Glory in His holy name; let the hearts of those rejoice who seek and require the Lord [as their indispensable necessity].

⁴ Seek, inquire of and for the Lord, and crave Him and His strength (His might and inflexibility to temptation); seek and require His face and His presence [continually] evermore.

⁵ [Earnestly] remember the marvelous deeds that He has done, His miracles and wonders, the judgments and sentences which He pronounced [upon His enemies, as in Egypt].^(A)

⁶ O you offspring of Abraham His servant, you children of Jacob, His chosen ones,

⁷ He is the Lord our God; His judgments are in all the earth.

⁸ He is [earnestly] mindful of His covenant and forever it is imprinted on His heart, the word which He commanded and established to a thousand generations,

⁹ The covenant which He made with Abraham, and His sworn promise to Isaac,^(B)

¹⁰ Which He confirmed to Jacob as a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant,

¹¹ Saying, Unto you will I give the land of Canaan as your measured portion, possession, and inheritance.

¹² When they were but a few men in number, in fact, very few, and were temporary residents and strangers in it,

¹³ When they went from one nation to another, from one kingdom to another people,

¹⁴ He allowed no man to do them wrong; in fact, He reproved kings for their sakes,^(C)

¹⁵ Saying, Touch not My anointed, and do My prophets no harm.^(D)

¹⁶ Moreover, He called for a famine upon the land [of Egypt]; He cut off every source of bread.^(E)

¹⁷ He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold as a servant.^(F)

¹⁸ His feet they hurt with fetters; he was laid in chains of iron and his soul entered into the iron,

¹⁹ Until his word [to his cruel brothers] came true, until the word of the Lord tried and tested him.

²⁰ The king sent and loosed him, even the ruler of the peoples, and let him go free.

²¹ He made Joseph lord of his house and ruler of all his substance,^(G)

²² To bind his princes at his pleasure and teach his elders wisdom.

²³ Israel also came into Egypt; and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.^(H)

²⁴ There [the Lord] greatly increased His people and made them stronger than their oppressors.

²⁵ He turned the hearts [of the Egyptians] to hate His people, to deal craftily with His servants.

²⁶ He sent Moses His servant, and Aaron, whom He had chosen.

²⁷ They showed His signs among them, wonders and miracles in the land of Ham (Egypt).

²⁸ He sent [thick] darkness and made the land dark, and they [God’s two servants] rebelled not against His word.^(I)

²⁹ He turned [Egypt’s] waters into blood and caused their fish to die.^(J)

³⁰ Their land brought forth frogs in abundance, even in the chambers of their kings.^(K)

³¹ He spoke, and there came swarms of beetles and flies and mosquitoes and lice in all their borders.^(L)

³² He gave them hail for rain, with lightning like flaming fire in their land.^(M)

³³ He smote their vines also and their fig trees and broke the [ice-laden] trees of their borders.^(N)

³⁴ He spoke, and the locusts came, and the grasshoppers, and that without number,^(O)

³⁵ And ate up all the vegetation in their land and devoured the fruit of their ground.

³⁶ He smote also all the firstborn in their land, the beginning and chief substance of all their strength.^(P)

³⁷ He brought [Israel] forth also with silver and gold, and there was not one feeble person among their tribes.^(Q)

³⁸ Egypt was glad when they departed, for the fear of them had fallen upon the people.^(R)

³⁹ The Lord spread a cloud for a covering [by day], and a fire to give light in the night.^(S)

⁴⁰ [The Israelites] asked, and He brought quails and satisfied them with the bread of heaven.^(T)

⁴¹ He opened the rock, and water gushed out; it ran in the dry places like a river.^(U)

⁴² For He [earnestly] remembered His holy word and promise to Abraham His servant.^(V)

⁴³ And He brought forth His people with joy, and His chosen ones with gladness and singing,

⁴⁴ And gave them the lands of the nations [of Canaan], and they reaped the fruits of those peoples’ labor,^(W)

⁴⁵ That they might observe His statutes and keep His laws [hearing, receiving, loving, and obeying them]. Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)

6 It pleased [King] Darius [successor to Belshazzar] to set over the kingdom 120 satraps who should be [in charge] throughout all the kingdom,

² And over them three presidents—of whom Daniel was one—that these satraps might give account to them and that the king should have no loss or damage.

³ Then this Daniel was distinguished above the presidents and the satraps because an excellent spirit was in him, and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.

⁴ Then the presidents and satraps sought to find occasion [to bring accusation] against Daniel concerning the kingdom, but they could find no occasion or fault, for he was faithful, nor was there any error or fault found in him.

⁵ Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion [to bring accusation] against this Daniel except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.^(A)

⁶ Then these presidents and satraps came [tumultuously] together to the king and said to him, King Darius, live forever!

⁷ All the presidents of the kingdom, the deputies and the satraps, the counselors and the governors, have consulted and agreed that the king should establish a royal statute and make a firm decree that whoever shall ask a petition of any god or man for thirty days, except of you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions.

⁸ Now, O king, establish the decree and sign the writing that it may not be changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be altered.

⁹ So King Darius signed the writing and the decree.

¹⁰ Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house, and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he got down upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously.^(B)

¹¹ Then these men came thronging [by agreement] and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God.

¹² Then they came near and said before the king concerning his prohibitory decree, Have you not signed an edict that any man who shall make a petition to any god or man within thirty days, except of you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered and said, The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be changed or repealed.

¹³ Then they said before the king, That Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, does not regard or pay any attention to you, O king, or to the decree that you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day.

¹⁴ Then the king, when he heard these words, was much distressed [over what he had done] and set his mind on Daniel to deliver him; and he labored until the sun went down to rescue him.

¹⁵ Then these same men came thronging [by agreement] to the king and said, Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no decree or statute which the king establishes may be changed or repealed.

¹ The elderly elder [of the church addresses this letter] to the elect (chosen) lady (Cyria) and her children, whom I truly love—and not only I but also all who are [progressively] learning to recognize and know and understand the Truth—

² Because of the Truth which lives and stays on in our hearts and will be with us forever:

³ Grace (spiritual blessing), mercy, and [soul] peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ (the Messiah), the Father’s Son, in all sincerity (truth) and love.

⁴ I was greatly delighted to find some of your children walking (living) in [the] Truth, just as we have been commanded by the Father [Himself].

⁵ And now I beg you, lady (Cyria), not as if I were issuing a new charge (injunction or command), but [simply recalling to your mind] the one we have had from the beginning, that we love one another.

⁶ And what this love consists in is this: that we live and walk in accordance with and guided by His commandments (His orders, ordinances, precepts, teaching). This is the commandment, as you have heard from the beginning, that you continue to walk in love [guided by it and following it].

⁷ For many imposters (seducers, deceivers, and false leaders) have gone out into the world, men who will not acknowledge (confess, admit) the coming of Jesus Christ (the Messiah) in bodily form. Such a one is the imposter (the seducer, the deceiver, the false leader, the antagonist of Christ) and the antichrist.

⁸ Look to yourselves (take care) that you may not lose (throw away or destroy) all that we and you have labored for, but that you may [persevere until you] win and receive back a perfect reward [in full].

⁹ Anyone who runs on ahead [of God] and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ [who is not content with what He taught] does not have God; but he who continues to live in the doctrine (teaching) of Christ [does have God], he has both the Father and the Son.

¹⁰ If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine [is disloyal to what Jesus Christ taught], do not receive him [do not accept him, do not welcome or admit him] into [your] house or bid him Godspeed or give him any encouragement.

¹¹ For he who wishes him success [who encourages him, wishing him Godspeed] is a partaker in his evil doings.

¹² I have many things to write to you, but I prefer not to do so with paper and ink; I hope to come to see you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete.

¹³ The children of your elect (chosen) sister wish to be remembered to you. Amen (so be it).

¹² While He was in one of the towns, there came a man full of (covered with) leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, Lord, if You are willing, You are able to cure me and make me clean.

¹³ And [Jesus] reached out His hand and touched him, saying, I am willing; be cleansed! And immediately the leprosy left him.

¹⁴ And [Jesus] charged him to tell no one [^[a]that he might chance to meet], ^[b]until [He said] you go and show yourself to the priest, and make an offering for your purification, as Moses commanded, for a testimony and proof to the people, that they may have evidence [of your healing].^(A)

¹⁵ But so much the more the news spread abroad concerning Him, and great crowds kept coming together to hear [Him] and to be healed by Him of their infirmities.

¹⁶ But He Himself withdrew [in retirement] to the wilderness (desert) and prayed.

¹⁷ One of those days, as He was teaching, there were Pharisees and teachers of the Law sitting by, who had come from every village and town of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was [present] with Him to heal ^[c]them.

¹⁸ And behold, some men were bringing on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed, and they tried to carry him in and lay him before [Jesus].

¹⁹ But finding no way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him with his stretcher through the tiles into the midst, in front of Jesus.

²⁰ And when He saw [their confidence in Him, springing from] their faith, He said, Man, your sins are forgiven you!

²¹ And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason and question and argue, saying, Who is this [Man] Who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?

²² But Jesus, knowing their thoughts and questionings, answered them, Why do you question in your hearts?

²³ Which is easier: to say, Your sins are forgiven you, or to say, Arise and walk [about]?

²⁴ But that you may know that the Son of Man has the [^[d]power of] authority and right on earth to forgive sins, He said to the paralyzed man, I say to you, arise, pick up your litter (stretcher), and go to your own house!

²⁵ And instantly [the man] stood up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went away to his house, ^[e]recognizing and praising and thanking God.

²⁶ And overwhelming astonishment and ecstasy seized them all, and they ^[f]recognized and praised and thanked God; and they were filled with and controlled by reverential fear and kept saying, We have seen wonderful and strange and incredible and unthinkable things today!