Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 105[a]
105 Give thanks to the Lord.
Call on his name.
Make known his accomplishments among the nations.
2 Sing to him.
Make music to him.
Tell about all his miraculous deeds.
3 Boast about his holy name.
Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
4 Seek the Lord and the strength he gives.
Seek his presence continually.
5 Recall the miraculous deeds he performed,
his mighty acts and the judgments he decreed,[b]
6 O children[c] of Abraham,[d] God’s[e] servant,
you descendants[f] of Jacob, God’s[g] chosen ones.
7 He is the Lord our God;
he carries out judgment throughout the earth.[h]
8 He always remembers his covenantal decree,
the promise he made[i] to a thousand generations—
9 the promise[j] he made to Abraham,
the promise he made by oath to Isaac.
10 He gave it to Jacob as a decree,
to Israel as a lasting promise,[k]
11 saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan
as the portion of your inheritance.”
12 When they were few in number,
just a very few, and resident foreigners within it,
13 they wandered from nation to nation,
and from one kingdom to another.[l]
14 He let no one oppress them;
he disciplined kings for their sake,
15 saying,[m] “Don’t touch my chosen ones.[n]
Don’t harm my prophets.”
16 He called down a famine upon the earth;
he cut off all the food supply.[o]
17 He sent a man ahead of them[p]—
Joseph was sold as a servant.
18 The shackles hurt his feet;[q]
his neck was placed in an iron collar,[r]
19 until the time when his prediction[s] came true.
The Lord’s word[t] proved him right.[u]
20 The king authorized his release;[v]
the ruler of nations set him free.
21 He put him in charge of his palace,[w]
and made him manager of all his property,
22 giving him authority to imprison his officials[x]
and to teach his advisers.[y]
23 Israel moved to[z] Egypt;
Jacob lived for a time[aa] in the land of Ham.
24 The Lord[ab] made his people very fruitful,
and made them[ac] more numerous than their[ad] enemies.
25 He caused the Egyptians[ae] to hate his people,
and to mistreat[af] his servants.
26 He sent his servant Moses,
and Aaron, whom he had chosen.
27 They executed his miraculous signs among them,[ag]
and his amazing deeds in the land of Ham.
28 He made it dark;[ah]
Moses and Aaron did not disobey his orders.[ai]
29 He turned the Egyptians’ water into blood,
and killed their fish.
30 Their land was overrun by frogs,
which even got into the rooms of their kings.
31 He ordered flies to come;[aj]
gnats invaded their whole territory.
32 He sent hail along with the rain;[ak]
there was lightning in their land.[al]
33 He destroyed their vines and fig trees,
and broke the trees throughout their territory.
34 He ordered locusts to come,[am]
innumerable grasshoppers.
35 They ate all the vegetation in their land,
and devoured the crops of their fields.[an]
36 He struck down all the firstborn in their land,
the firstfruits of their reproductive power.[ao]
37 He brought his people[ap] out enriched[aq] with silver and gold;
none of his tribes stumbled.
38 Egypt was happy when they left,
for they were afraid of them.[ar]
39 He spread out a cloud for a cover,[as]
and provided a fire to light up the night.
40 They asked for food,[at] and he sent quail;
he satisfied them with food from the sky.[au]
41 He opened up a rock and water flowed out;
a river ran through dry regions.
42 Yes,[av] he remembered the sacred promise[aw]
he made to Abraham his servant.
43 When he led his people out, they rejoiced;
his chosen ones shouted with joy.[ax]
44 He handed the territory of nations over to them,
and they took possession of what other peoples had produced,[ay]
45 so that they might keep his commands
and obey[az] his laws.
Praise the Lord.
The Sacrilege of the Priestly Message
2 “Now, you priests, this commandment is for you. 2 If you do not listen and take seriously[a] the need to honor my name,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will send judgment[b] on you and turn your blessings into curses—indeed, I have already done so because you are not taking it to heart. 3 I am about to discipline your children[c] and will spread offal[d] on your faces,[e] the very offal produced at your festivals, and you will be carried away along with it. 4 Then you will know that I sent this commandment to you so that my covenant[f] may continue to be with Levi,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 5 “My covenant with him was designed to bring life and peace. I gave its statutes to him to fill him with awe, and he indeed revered me and stood in awe before me. 6 He taught what was true;[g] sinful words were not found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and integrity, and he turned many people away from sin. 7 For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge of sacred things, and people should seek instruction from him[h] because he is the messenger of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 8 You, however, have turned from the way. You have caused many to violate the law;[i] you have corrupted the covenant with Levi,”[j] says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 9 “Therefore, I have caused you to be ignored and belittled before all people to the extent that you are not following after me and are showing partiality in your[k] instruction.”
The Rebellion of the People
10 Do we not all have one father?[l] Did not one God create us? Why do we betray one another, thus making light of the covenant of our ancestors? 11 Judah has become disloyal, and unspeakable sins have been committed in Israel and Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned[m] the holy things that the Lord loves and has turned to a foreign god![n] 12 May the Lord cut off from the community[o] of Jacob every last person who does this,[p] as well as the person who presents improper offerings to the Lord of Heaven’s Armies!
13 You also do this: You cover the altar of the Lord with tears[q] as you weep and groan, because he no longer pays any attention to the offering nor accepts it favorably from you. 14 Yet you ask, “Why?” The Lord is testifying against you on behalf of the wife you married when you were young,[r] to whom you have become unfaithful even though she is your companion and wife by law.[s] 15 No one who has even a small portion of the Spirit in him does this.[t] What did our ancestor[u] do when seeking a child from God? Be attentive, then, to your own spirit, for one should not be disloyal to the wife he took in his youth.[v] 16 “I hate divorce,”[w] says the Lord God of Israel, “and the one who is guilty of violence,”[x] says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “Pay attention to your conscience, and do not be unfaithful.”
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into this or that town[a] and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.” 14 You[b] do not know about tomorrow. What is your life like?[c] For you are a puff of smoke[d] that appears for a short time and then vanishes. 15 You ought to say instead,[e] “If the Lord is willing, then we will live and do this or that.” 16 But as it is,[f] you boast about your arrogant plans.[g] All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows what is good to do[h] and does not do it is guilty of sin.[i]
Warning to the Rich
5 Come now, you rich! Weep and cry aloud[j] over the miseries that are coming on you. 2 Your riches have rotted and your clothing has become moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have rusted and their rust will be a witness against you. It will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have hoarded treasure![k] 4 Look, the pay you have held back from the workers who mowed your fields cries out against you, and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.[l] 5 You have lived indulgently and luxuriously on the earth. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.[m] 6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous person, although he does not resist you.[n]
The Coming of the Kingdom
20 Now at one point[a] the Pharisees[b] asked Jesus[c] when the kingdom of God[d] was coming, so he answered, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs[e] to be observed, 21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is[f] in your midst.”[g]
The Coming of the Son of Man
22 Then[h] he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days[i] of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23 Then people[j] will say to you, ‘Look, there he is!’[k] or ‘Look, here he is!’ Do not go out or chase after them.[l] 24 For just like the lightning flashes[m] and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day.[n] 25 But first he must[o] suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26 Just[p] as it was[q] in the days of Noah,[r] so too it will be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 People[s] were eating,[t] they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage—right up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then[u] the flood came and destroyed them all.[v] 28 Likewise, just as it was[w] in the days of Lot, people[x] were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building; 29 but on the day Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.[y] 30 It will be the same on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day, anyone who is on the roof,[z] with his goods in the house, must not come down[aa] to take them away, and likewise the person in the field must not turn back. 32 Remember Lot’s wife![ab] 33 Whoever tries to keep[ac] his life[ad] will lose it,[ae] but whoever loses his life will preserve it. 34 I tell you, in that night there will be two people in one bed; one will be taken and the other left.[af] 35 There will be two women grinding grain together;[ag] one will be taken and the other left.”[ah]
37 Then[ai] the disciples[aj] said[ak] to him, “Where,[al] Lord?” He replied to them, “Where the dead body[am] is, there the vultures[an] will gather.”[ao]
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