Book of Common Prayer

Babylon’s plagues

18 After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven with great authority; the earth was lit up with his glory. ² He shouted out in a strong voice, and this is what he said: “Babylon the great has fallen! She has fallen! She has become a place for demons to live, a refuge for every unclean spirit, a refuge for every unclean bird, a refuge for every unclean, hateful monster. ³ All the nations drank from the wine of the wrath of her fornication; the kings of the earth committed fornication with her, and the traders of the earth became rich from the power of her luxury.”

⁴ Then I heard another voice from heaven, and this is what it said: “Come out of her, my people, so that you don’t become embroiled in her sins, and so that you don’t receive any of her plagues. ⁵ Her sins are piled up to the sky, and God has remembered her wickedness. ⁶ Pay her back as she has paid others; give her double again for all her deeds. Mix her a double dose in her own cup—the cup in which she mixed her poisons. ⁷ She made herself glorious and lived in luxury; balance that by giving her torture and sorrow! She said in her heart, ‘I’m the queen! I’m on the throne! I’m not a widow! I’m never going to be a mourner!’ ⁸ Therefore her plagues will come in a single day, death, mourning and famine, and she will be burned with fire, because God the Lord, her judge, is strong.”

Babylon’s judgment

⁹ The kings of the earth who committed fornication with her and shared her luxury will weep and lament over her when they see the smoke from her fire. ¹⁰ They will stand far off, fearful of her tortures. “Alas, alas,” they will say, “the great city! Babylon the powerful city! Your judgment has come in a single hour.” ¹¹ The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, because nobody will buy their cargo anymore, ¹² their cargo of gold and silver, of precious stones and pearls, fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet, all the sweet-smelling wood, carved ivory, vessels of expensive wood, brass, iron, marble, ¹³ cinnamon, oriental spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, olive oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, horses, chariots and bodies . . . yes, human lives.

¹⁴ All the fruit for which you longed has gone from you; all your luxuries and sparkling objects have been destroyed; you won’t find them anymore.

Jesus and the Pharisee

14 One sabbath, Jesus went to a meal in the house of a leading Pharisee. They were keeping a close eye on him.

² There was a man there in front of Jesus who suffered from dropsy. ³ So Jesus asked the lawyers and Pharisees, “Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath or not?” ⁴ They remained silent. He took the man, healed him, and dismissed him.

⁵ Then he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a son—or an ox!—that falls into a well. Are you going to tell me you won’t pull him out straight away on the sabbath day?” ⁶ They had no answer for that.

⁷ He noticed how the guests chose the best seats, and told them this parable.

⁸ “When someone invites you to a wedding feast,” he said, “don’t go and sit in the best seat, in case some other guest more important is invited, ⁹ and the person who invited you both comes and says to you, ‘Please move down for this man,’ and you will go to the end of the line covered with embarrassment. ¹⁰ Instead, when someone invites you, go and sit down at the lowest place. Then, when your host arrives, he will say to you, ‘My dear fellow! Come on higher up!’ Then all your fellow guests will show you respect. ¹¹ All who push themselves forward, you see, will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be honored.”