Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 105[a]
God’s Faithfulness to the Covenant
1 [b]Give thanks to the Lord, invoke his name;[c]
proclaim his deeds among the peoples.
2 Offer him honor with songs of praise;
recount all his marvelous deeds.
3 Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts[d] of those who seek the Lord exult.
4 Reflect on the Lord and his strength;
seek his face continually.
5 Remember the marvels he has wrought,
his portents, and the judgments[e] he has set forth.
6 You are the offspring of his servant Abraham,
the children of Jacob, his chosen ones.[f]
7 He is the Lord, our God;
his judgments prevail all over the earth.
8 He is mindful of his covenant[g] forever,
the promise he laid down for a thousand generations,
9 the covenant he made with Abraham
and the oath he swore to Isaac.[h]
10 [i]He established it as a decree for Jacob,
and as an everlasting covenant for Israel,
11 saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan
as the portion of your heritage.”
12 [j]When they were few in number,
an insignificant group of strangers in it,
13 they wandered from nation to nation,
from one kingdom to another.
14 He permitted no one to oppress them,
and in their regard he warned kings:[k]
15 “Do not touch my anointed ones;
do no harm to my prophets.”[l]
16 Then he invoked a famine on the land
and destroyed their supply of bread.
17 But he had sent a man ahead of them,
Joseph, who had been sold as a slave.
18 They shackled his feet with fetters
and clamped an iron collar around his neck,
19 until what he had prophesied was fulfilled
and the word of the Lord proved him true.
20 The king ordered that he be released;
the ruler of the peoples set him free.
21 He appointed him as master of his household
and as ruler of all his possessions.
22 He was to instruct[m] his princes as he deemed fit
and to impart wisdom to his elders.
23 Then Israel went down into Egypt;
Jacob lived as an alien in the land of Ham.[n]
24 God greatly increased the number of his people
and made them too strong for their foes,
25 whose hearts he then turned[o] to hate his people
and to conspire against his servants.
26 He sent his servant Moses,
and Aaron whom he had chosen.
27 They performed his signs among them
and worked wonders in the land of Ham.
28 [p]He sent darkness that enveloped the land,
but they rebelled against his warnings.
29 He turned their waters into blood,
and all their fish were destroyed.
30 Their land was saturated with frogs,
even in the royal chambers.
31 At his command there came hordes of flies
and gnats throughout their country.
32 He sent them hail instead of rain,
and flashes of lightning in all their land.
33 He struck down their vines and their fig trees
and demolished the trees of their country.
34 At his word the locusts came,
as well as grasshoppers beyond all count.
35 They gobbled up every green plant in the land
and devoured the produce of the soil.
36 He struck down all the firstborn of the land,
the firstfruits of their manhood.
37 Then he led out his people with silver and gold,
and there was not one among their tribes who stumbled.
38 Egypt was glad when they departed,
for dread of Israel had overwhelmed them.
39 He spread a cloud over his people as a cover[q]
and a fire to give light by night.
40 At their request he supplied them with quail,
and he filled them with bread from heaven.[r]
41 He split open a rock and water gushed forth,
flowing through the wilderness like a river.[s]
42 For he remembered the sacred promise
that he had made to Abraham, his servant.
43 He led forth his people with rejoicing,
his chosen ones with exultation.[t]
44 He gave them the lands of the nations,
and they inherited the fruit of other people’s toil,
45 so that they might keep his decrees
and observe his laws.
Alleluia.
Chapter 4
The Battle of Emmaus.[a] 1 Gorgias took five thousand infantry and a thousand picked cavalry, and this detachment set out at night 2 in order to launch a surprise attack on the camp of the Jews. Men from the citadel served as his guides. 3 However, Judas learned of their plan, and he and his soldiers moved out to attack the royal forces at Emmaus 4 while some of the troops were still dispersed away from the camp. 5 When Gorgias reached the camp of Judas by night, therefore, he found no one there, and he began to search for them in the mountains, saying, “These men are fleeing from us.”
6 At daybreak, Judas appeared in the plain with three thousand men, although they lacked the armor and the swords they would have wished for. 7 They saw the camp of the Gentiles with its strong fortifications, flanked with cavalry, and a fighting force expert in the art of warfare. 8 Judas said to those who were with him: “Do not be afraid of their superior numbers or panic when they attack. 9 Remember how our ancestors were saved at the Red Sea when Pharaoh was pursuing them with his forces. 10 So now let us cry out to Heaven, asking him to show us his favor, to remember his covenant with our ancestors, and to destroy this army confronting us today. 11 Then all the Gentiles will know that there is one who redeems and saves Israel.”
12 When the foreigners looked up and saw them advancing against them, 13 they came out of their camp to engage in battle. Then the men with Judas blew their trumpets, 14 and the fighting began. The Gentiles were defeated and fled into the plain. 15 All those who were in the rear fell by the sword, and the rest were pursued as far as Gazara[b] and the plains of Judea, to Azotus and Jamnia, with about three thousand of them slain.
16 When Judas and his army broke off their pursuit, he said to the people: 17 “Do not be greedy for plunder, for we have yet another battle ahead of us. 18 Gorgias and his army are very close to us in the mountain area. Stand firm now against our enemies and defeat them. After that, you can safely take as much booty as you please.”
19 Just as Judas was finishing this speech, a detachment appeared, looking down from the mountain. 20 They could see that their army had been put to flight and that their camp was being burned. The smoke that could be clearly seen indicated what had occurred. 21 When they perceived this, they were very much afraid, and when they also beheld the army of Judas in the plain, ready for battle, 22 they all fled into the territory of the Philistines.
23 Then Judas went back to plunder the camp, and they confiscated a great amount of gold and silver, violet and purple cloths, and magnificent treasures. 24 As they returned, they sang hymns of thanksgiving and praise to glorify Heaven, “for he is good, for his mercy endures forever.”[c] 25 Thus Israel experienced a great deliverance that day.
22 I did not see any temple there, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 And the city had no need for the sun or the moon to shine on it, for it was lit by the glory of God, and its lamp was the Lamb. 24 [a]The nations will walk by its light, and to it the kings of the earth will bring their treasures.
25 The gates of the city will never be shut during the day—and there will be no night there. 26 The nations will come into it bringing their treasures and wealth. 27 However, nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does abominable or deceitful things, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.[b]
Chapter 22
1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb[c] 2 down the middle of the street. On either side of the river was the tree of life[d] with its twelve crops of fruit, yielding fruit each month. The leaves of the trees are for the healing of the nations.
3 Nothing accursed will be found there anymore. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face,[e] and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 And there will be no more night. They will have no need for light from a lamp or from the sun, for the Lord God will give them light, and they will reign[f] forever and ever.
Instructions to the Disciples: The Charter of the Community[a]
Chapter 18
Become Like Little Children.[b] 1 At that time, the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 Then Jesus beckoned a child to come to him, placed it in their midst, 3 and said, “Amen, I say to you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whoever humbles himself and becomes like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Woe to the World because of Scandals.[c] 5 “And whoever receives one such child in my name receives me. 6 But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. 7 Woe to the world because of scandals. Such things are bound to occur, but woe to the one through whom they come.
8 [d]“If your hand or your foot is an occasion of sin for you, cut it off and throw it away. It is preferable for you to enter into life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is preferable for you to enter into life with one eye than to have two eyes and be cast into the fires of Gehenna.
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