Book of Common Prayer
God’s Love for Israel
105 Give thanks to the Lord and pray to him.
Tell the nations what he has done.
2 Sing to him. Sing praises to him.
Tell about all the wonderful things he has done.
3 Be glad that you are his.
Let those who ask the Lord for help be happy.
4 Depend on the Lord and his strength.
Always go to him for help.
5 Remember the wonderful things he has done.
Remember his miracles and his decisions.
6 You are descendants of his servant Abraham,
the children of Jacob, his chosen people.
7 He is the Lord our God.
His laws are for all the world.
8 He will keep his agreement forever.
He will keep his promises always.
9 He will keep his agreement he made with Abraham.
He will keep the promise he made to Isaac.
10 He made it a law for the people of Jacob.
He made it an agreement with Israel to last forever.
11 The Lord said, “I will give you the land of Canaan.
The promised land will belong to you.”
12 Then God’s people were few in number.
They were strangers in the land.
13 They went from one nation to another.
They went from one kingdom to another.
14 But the Lord did not let anyone hurt them.
He warned kings not to harm them.
15 He said, “Don’t hurt my chosen people.
Don’t harm my prophets.”
16 God ordered a time of hunger in the land.
And he destroyed all the food.
17 Then he sent a man ahead of them.
It was Joseph, who was sold as a slave.
18 They put chains around his feet
and an iron ring around his neck.
19 Then the time he had spoken of came.
The Lord’s words proved that Joseph was right.
20 The king of Egypt sent for Joseph and freed him.
The ruler of the people set him free.
21 He made him the master of his house.
Joseph was in charge of his riches.
22 He could order the princes as he wished.
He taught the older men to be wise.
23 Then his father Israel came to Egypt.
Jacob, also called Israel, lived in Egypt.[a]
24 The Lord made his people grow in number.
He made them stronger than their enemies.
25 And he caused the Egyptians to hate his people.
They made plans against the Lord’s servants.
26 Then he sent his servant Moses,
and Aaron, whom he had chosen.
27 They did many signs among the Egyptians.
They worked miracles in Egypt.
28 The Lord sent darkness and made the land dark.
But the Egyptians turned against what he said.
29 So he changed their water into blood
and made their fish die.
30 Then their country was filled with frogs.
They were even in the bedrooms of their rulers.
31 The Lord spoke, and flies came.
Gnats were everywhere in the country.
32 He made hail fall like rain.
And he sent lightning through their land.
33 He struck down their grapevines and fig trees.
He destroyed every tree in the country.
34 He spoke, and grasshoppers came.
The locusts were too many to count.
35 They ate all the plants in the land.
They ate what the earth produced.
36 The Lord also killed all the firstborn sons in the land,
the oldest son of each family.
37 Then he brought his people out,
and they carried with them silver and gold.
Not one of his people stumbled.
38 The Egyptians were glad when they left
because the Egyptians were afraid of them.
39 The Lord covered them with a cloud
and lit up the night with fire.
40 When they asked, he brought them quail.
He filled them with bread from heaven.
41 God split the rock, and water flowed out.
It ran like a river through the desert.
42 He remembered his holy promise
to his servant Abraham.
43 So God brought his people out with joy.
He brought out his chosen ones with singing.
44 He gave them lands that belonged to other nations.
They received what others had worked for.
45 This was so they would keep his orders
and obey his teachings.
Praise the Lord!
God and Israel Make Their Agreement
24 The Lord told Moses, “You, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu and 70 of the elders of Israel must come up to me. You must worship me from a distance. 2 Then Moses alone must come near me. The other men must not come near. And the rest of the people must not come up the mountain with Moses.”
3 So Moses told the people all the Lord’s words and laws for living. Then all of the people answered out loud together. They said, “We will do all the things that the Lord has said.” 4 So Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. And he got up early the next morning. He built an altar near the bottom of the mountain. He set up 12 stones, 1 stone for each of the 12 tribes of Israel. 5 Then Moses sent young Israelite men to offer whole burnt offerings. They also sacrificed young bulls as fellowship offerings to the Lord. 6 Moses took the blood of these animals. He put half of it in bowls. And he sprinkled the other half of the blood on the altar. 7 Then Moses took the book with the agreement written in it. He read it so the people could hear him. And they said, “We will do everything that the Lord has said. We will obey.”
8 Then Moses took the blood from the bowls. He sprinkled it on the people. He said, “This is the blood that begins the agreement. This is the agreement which the Lord has made with you about all these things.”
9 Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu and 70 of the elders of Israel went up the mountain. 10 They saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was a surface. It looked as if it were paved with blue sapphire stones. And it was as clear as the sky! 11 These leaders of the Israelites saw God. But God did not destroy them. Then they ate and drank together.
Moses Gets the Stone Tablets
12 The Lord said to Moses, “Come up the mountain to me. Wait there, and I will give you two stone tablets. On these are the teachings and the commandments. I have written these to teach the people.”
13 So Moses and his helper Joshua set out. Moses went up Sinai, the mountain of God. 14 Moses said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we come back to you. Aaron and Hur are with you. Anyone who has a disagreement with others can take it to them.”
Moses Meets with God
15 When Moses went up on the mountain, the cloud covered it. 16 The greatness of the Lord came down on Mount Sinai. The cloud covered the mountain for six days. On the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from inside the cloud. 17 The Israelites could see the greatness of the Lord. It looked like a fire burning on top of the mountain. 18 Then Moses went into the cloud and went higher up the mountain. Moses was on the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights.
8 Be sure that no one leads you away with false ideas and words that mean nothing. Those ideas come from men. They are the worthless ideas of this world. They are not from Christ. 9 All of God lives fully in Christ (even when Christ was on earth). 10 And in him you have a full and true life. He is ruler over all rulers and powers.
11 In Christ you had a different kind of circumcision. That circumcision was not done by hands. I mean, you were made free from the power of your sinful self. That is the kind of circumcision Christ does. 12 When you were baptized, you were buried with Christ and you were raised up with Christ because of your faith in God’s power. That power was shown when he raised Christ from death. 13 You were spiritually dead because of your sins and because you were not free from the power of your sinful self. But God made you alive with Christ. And God forgave all our sins. 14 We owed a debt because we broke God’s laws. That debt listed all the rules we failed to follow. But God forgave us that debt. He took away that debt and nailed it to the cross. 15 God defeated the spiritual rulers and powers. With the cross God won the victory and defeated them. He showed the world that they were powerless.
Don’t Follow People’s Rules
16 So do not let anyone make rules for you about eating and drinking or about a religious feast, a New Moon Festival, or a Sabbath day. 17 In the past, these things were like a shadow of what was to come. But the new things that were coming are found in Christ. 18 Some enjoy acting as if they were humble and love to worship angels. They are always talking about the visions they have seen. Do not let them tell you that you are wrong. They are full of foolish pride because of their human way of thinking. 19 They do not keep themselves under the control of Christ, the head. The whole body depends on Christ. Because of him all the parts of the body care for each other and help each other. This strengthens the body and holds it together. And so the body grows in the way God wants.
20 You died with Christ and were made free from the worthless rules of the world. So why do you act as if you still belong to this world? I mean, why do you follow rules like these: 21 “Don’t handle this,” “Don’t taste that,” “Don’t touch that thing”? 22 These rules are talking about earthly things that are gone as soon as they are used. They are only human commands and teachings. 23 These rules seem to be wise. But they are only part of a human religion. They make people pretend not to be proud and make them punish their bodies. But they do not really control the evil desires of the sinful self.
Jesus Begins Work in Galilee
12 Jesus heard that John had been put in prison. So Jesus went back to Galilee. 13 He left Nazareth and went and lived in Capernaum, a town near Lake Galilee. Capernaum is in the area near Zebulun and Naphtali. 14 Jesus did this to make true what the prophet Isaiah said:
15 “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali
are on the way to the sea.
They are along the Jordan River.
This is Galilee where the non-Jewish people live.
16 These people who live in darkness
will see a great light.
They live in a place that is very dark.
But a light will shine on them.” Isaiah 9:1-2
Jesus Chooses Some Followers
17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Change your hearts and lives, because the kingdom of heaven is coming soon.”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.