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
Chapter 22
1 Then the Israelites moved on and encamped in the plains of Moab[a] on the other side of the Jordan opposite Jericho.
Balaam Summoned. 2 Now Balak, son of Zippor, saw all that Israel did to the Amorites, 3 and Moab feared the Israelites greatly because they were numerous. Moab was in dread of the Israelites. 4 So Moab said to the elders of Midian, “Now this horde will devour everything around us as an ox devours the grass of the field.” At that time Balak, son of Zippor, was king of Moab; 5 and he sent messengers to Balaam, son of Beor, at Pethor on the river, in the land of the Ammonites,[b] to summon him with these words, “A people has come out of Egypt! They have covered up the earth and are settling down opposite me! 6 Now come, curse this people for me,[c] since they are stronger than I am. Perhaps I may be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land. For I know that whoever you bless is blessed and whoever you curse is cursed.” 7 So the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian, themselves experts in divination,[d] left and went to Balaam, to whom they gave Balak’s message. 8 He said to them, “Stay here overnight, and I will give you whatever answer the Lord gives me.” So the princes of Moab lodged with Balaam.
9 Then God came to Balaam and said: Who are these men with you? 10 Balaam answered God, “Balak, son of Zippor, king of Moab, sent me the message: 11 ‘This people that has come out of Egypt has covered up the earth. Now come, lay a curse on them for me; perhaps I may be able to fight them and drive them out.’” 12 But God said to Balaam: Do not go with them and do not curse this people, for they are blessed. 13 The next morning Balaam arose and told the princes of Balak, “Go back to your own country, for the Lord has refused to let me go with you.” 14 So the princes of Moab went back to Balak with the report, “Balaam refused to come with us.”
Second Appeal to Balaam. 15 Balak yet again sent princes, who were more numerous and more distinguished than the others. 16 On coming to Balaam they told him, “Thus says Balak, son of Zippor: Please do not refuse to come to me. 17 I will reward you very handsomely and will do anything you ask of me. Come, lay a curse on this people for me.” 18 (A)But Balaam replied to Balak’s servants, “Even if Balak gave me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything, small or great, contrary to the command of the Lord, my God. 19 But, you too stay here overnight, so that I may learn what else the Lord may say to me.” 20 That night God came to Balaam and said to him: If these men have come to summon you, go back with them; yet only on the condition that you do exactly as I tell you. 21 So the next morning when Balaam arose, he saddled his donkey,[e] and went off with the princes of Moab.
12 [a]Therefore, sin must not reign over your mortal bodies so that you obey their desires.(A) 13 And do not present the parts of your bodies to sin as weapons for wickedness, but present yourselves to God as raised from the dead to life and the parts of your bodies to God as weapons for righteousness.(B) 14 For sin is not to have any power over you, since you are not under the law but under grace.(C)
15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? Of course not!(D) 16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to someone as obedient slaves,(E) you are slaves of the one you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?(F) 17 But thanks be to God that, although you were once slaves of sin, you have become obedient from the heart to the pattern of teaching to which you were entrusted.[b] 18 Freed from sin, you have become slaves of righteousness. 19 I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your nature. For just as you presented the parts of your bodies as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness for lawlessness, so now present them as slaves to righteousness for sanctification. 20 (G)For when you were slaves of sin, you were free from righteousness.[c] 21 But what profit did you get then from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.(H) 22 But now that you have been freed from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit that you have leads to sanctification,[d] and its end is eternal life.(I) 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.(J)
12 (A)Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all those engaged in selling and buying there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves.[a](B) 13 (C)And he said to them, “It is written:
‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’[b]
but you are making it a den of thieves.”
14 (D)The blind and the lame[c] approached him in the temple area, and he cured them. 15 When the chief priests and the scribes saw the wondrous things[d] he was doing, and the children crying out in the temple area, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant 16 [e](E)and said to him, “Do you hear what they are saying?” Jesus said to them, “Yes; and have you never read the text, ‘Out of the mouths of infants and nurslings you have brought forth praise’?” 17 And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany, and there he spent the night.
The Cursing of the Fig Tree.[f] 18 (F)When he was going back to the city in the morning, he was hungry. 19 (G)Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went over to it, but found nothing on it except leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again.” And immediately the fig tree withered. 20 When the disciples saw this, they were amazed and said, “How was it that the fig tree withered immediately?” 21 [g](H)Jesus said to them in reply, “Amen, I say to you, if you have faith and do not waver, not only will you do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will be done. 22 (I)Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive.”
The Authority of Jesus Questioned.[h]
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