Book of Common Prayer
The Lord Can Be Trusted
1 (A) Praise the Lord
and pray in his name!
Tell everyone
what he has done.
2 Sing praises to the Lord!
Tell about his miracles.
3 Celebrate and worship
his holy name
with all your heart.
4 Trust the Lord
and his mighty power.
5 Remember his miracles
and all his wonders
and his fair decisions.
6 You belong to the family
of Abraham, his servant;
you are his chosen ones,
the descendants of Jacob.
7 The Lord is our God,
bringing justice
everywhere on earth.
8 He will never forget
his agreement or his promises,
not in thousands of years.
* 9 (B) God made an eternal promise
10 (C) to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
11 when he said, “I'll give you
the land of Canaan.”
12 At the time there were
only a few of us,
and we were homeless.
13 We wandered from nation
to nation, from one country
to another.
14 (D) God did not let anyone
mistreat our people.
Instead he protected us
by punishing rulers
15 and telling them,
“Don't touch my chosen leaders
or harm my prophets!”
16 (E) God kept crops from growing
until food was scarce
everywhere in the land.
17 (F) But he had already sent Joseph,
sold as a slave into Egypt,
18 (G) with chains of iron
around his legs and neck.
19 Joseph remained a slave
until his own words
had come true,
and the Lord had finished
testing him.
20 (H) Then the king of Egypt
set Joseph free
21 (I) and put him in charge
of everything he owned.
22 Joseph was in command
of the officials,
and he taught the leaders
how to use wisdom.
23 (J) Jacob and his family
came and settled in Egypt
as foreigners.
24 (K) They were the Lord's people,
so he let them grow stronger
than their enemies.
25 They served the Lord,
and he made the Egyptians plan
hateful things against them.
26 (L) God sent his servant Moses.
He also chose and sent Aaron
27 to his people in Egypt,
and they worked miracles
and wonders there.
28 (M) Moses and Aaron obeyed God,
and he sent darkness
to cover Egypt.
29 (N) God turned their rivers
into streams of blood,
and the fish all died.
30 (O) Frogs were everywhere,
even in the royal palace.
31 (P) When God gave the command,
flies and gnats
swarmed all around.
32 (Q) In place of rain,
God sent hailstones
and flashes of lightning.
33 He destroyed their grapevines
and their fig trees,
and he made splinters
of all the other trees.
34 (R) God gave the command,
and more grasshoppers came
than could be counted.
35 They ate every green plant
and all the crops that grew
in the land of Egypt.
36 (S) Then God took the life
of every first-born son.
37 (T) When God led Israel from Egypt,
they took silver and gold,
and no one was left behind.
38 The Egyptians were afraid
and gladly let them go.
39 (U) God hid them under a cloud
and guided them by fire
during the night.
40 (V) When they asked for food,
he sent more birds
than they could eat.
41 (W) God even split open a rock,
and streams of water
gushed into the desert.
42 God never forgot
his sacred promise
to his servant Abraham.
43 When the Lord rescued
his chosen people from Egypt,
they celebrated with songs.
44 (X) The Lord gave them the land
and everything else
the nations had worked for.
45 He did this so that his people
would obey all his laws.
Shout praises to the Lord!
The Lord Will Punish the Guilty
65 (A) I, the Lord, was ready
to answer even those
who were not asking
and to be found by those
who were not searching.
To a nation that refused
to worship me,[a]
I said, “Here I am!”
2 (B) All day long I have reached out
to stubborn and sinful people
going their own way.
3 They keep making me angry
by sneering at me,
while offering sacrifices
to idols in gardens
and burning incense
to them on bricks.
4 They spend their nights
hiding in burial caves;
they eat the meat of pigs,[b]
cooked in sauces
made of stuff unfit to eat.
5 And then they say to others,
“Don't come near us!
We're dedicated to God.”
Such people are like smoke,
irritating my nose all day.
6 I have written this down;
I won't keep silent.
I'll pay them back
just as their sins deserve.
7 I, the Lord, will make them pay
for their sins and for those
of their ancestors—
they have disgraced me
by burning incense
on mountains.
8 Here is what the Lord says:
A cluster of grapes
that produces wine
is worth keeping!
So, because of my servants,
I won't destroy everyone.
9 I have chosen the people
of Israel and Judah,
and I will bless them
with many descendants.
They will settle here
in this land of mountains,
and it will be theirs.
10 (C) My people will worship me.
Then the coastlands of Sharon
and the land as far
as Achor Valley[c]
will turn into pastureland
where cattle and sheep
will feed and rest.
11 What will I, the Lord, do
if any of you reject me
and my holy mountain?
What will happen to you
for offering food and wine
to the gods you call
“Good Luck” and “Fate”?
12 Your luck will end!
I will see to it that you
are slaughtered with swords.
You refused to answer
when I called out;
you paid no attention
to my instructions.
Instead, you did what I hated,
knowing it was wrong.
People Will Turn from Their Faith
4 God's Spirit clearly says that in the last days many people will turn from their faith. They will be fooled by evil spirits and by teachings that come from demons. 2 They will also be fooled by the false claims of liars whose consciences have lost all feeling. These liars 3 will forbid people to marry or to eat certain foods. But God created these foods to be eaten with thankful hearts by his followers who know the truth. 4 Everything God created is good. And if you give thanks, you may eat anything. 5 What God has said and your prayer will make it fit to eat.
Paul's Advice to Timothy
6 If you teach these things to other followers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus. You will show you have grown up on the teachings about our faith and on the good instructions you have obeyed. 7 Don't have anything to do with worthless, senseless stories. Work hard to be truly religious. 8-9 As the saying goes,
“Exercise is good
for your body,
but religion helps you
in every way.
It promises life
now and forever.”
These words are worthwhile and should not be forgotten. 10 We have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of everyone, but especially of those who have faith. This is why we work and struggle so hard.[a]
11 Teach these things and tell everyone to do what you say. 12 Don't let anyone make fun of you, just because you are young. Set an example for other followers by what you say and do, as well as by your love, faith, and purity.
13 Until I arrive, be sure to keep on reading the Scriptures in worship, and don't stop preaching and teaching. 14 Use the gift you were given when the prophets spoke and the group of church leaders[b] blessed you by placing their hands on you. 15 Remember these things and think about them, so everyone can see how well you are doing. 16 Be careful about the way you live and about what you teach. Keep on doing this, and you will save not only yourself, but the people who hear you.
Paying Taxes
(Matthew 22.15-22; Luke 20.20-26)
13 The Pharisees got together with Herod's followers.[a] Then they sent some men to trick Jesus into saying something wrong. 14 They went to him and said, “Teacher, we know that you are honest. You treat everyone with the same respect, no matter who they are. And you teach the truth about what God wants people to do. Tell us, should we pay taxes to the Emperor or not?”
15 Jesus knew what they were up to, and he said, “Why are you trying to test me? Show me a coin!”
16 They brought him a silver coin, and he asked, “Whose picture and name are on it?”
“The Emperor's,” they answered.
17 Then Jesus told them, “Give the Emperor what belongs to him and give God what belongs to God.” The men were amazed at Jesus.
Life in the Future World
(Matthew 22.23-33; Luke 20.27-40)
18 (A) The Sadducees did not believe that people would rise to life after death. So some of them came to Jesus and said:
19 (B) Teacher, Moses wrote that if a married man dies and has no children, his brother should marry the widow. Their first son would then be thought of as the son of the dead brother. 20 There were once seven brothers. The first one married, but died without having any children. 21 The second brother married his brother's widow, and he also died without having children. The same thing happened to the third brother, 22 and finally to all seven brothers. At last the woman died. 23 When God raises people from death, whose wife will this woman be? After all, she had been married to all seven brothers.
24 Jesus answered:
You are completely wrong! You don't know what the Scriptures teach. And you don't know anything about the power of God. 25 When God raises people to life, they won't marry. They will be like the angels in heaven. 26 (C) You surely know about people being raised to life. You know that in the story about Moses and the burning bush, God said, “I am the God worshiped by Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”[b] 27 He isn't the God of the dead, but of the living. You Sadducees are all wrong.
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