Book of Common Prayer

⁷ He is the Eternal, our True God;
    His justice extends to every corner of the earth.
⁸ He keeps His covenant promises forever
    and remembers the word He spoke to a thousand generations—
⁹ The covenant He made with Abraham
    and His sworn oath to Isaac, his son.
¹⁰ Then God confirmed it to Jacob—decreed it so—
    to Israel He promised a never-ending covenant,
¹¹ Saying, “I will give you the land of Canaan
    as your part; it will be your inheritance.”

¹² When God’s people were only a few in number—
    indeed, very few—they were strangers in a foreign land.
¹³ They roamed from place to place,
    from one kingdom to another.
¹⁴ God didn’t allow anyone to tyrannize them;
    He rebuked kings in order to protect His people:
¹⁵ “Do not lay a hand on My anointed people;
    do not do any harm to My prophets.”

¹⁶ He ordered famine to grip the land and
    cut them off from their supply of bread.
¹⁷ But long before, He had sent a man ahead of them:
    Joseph, who had been sold into slavery.^[a]
18 At first, his masters shackled his feet with chains,
    placed his neck into a collar of iron.
¹⁹ That was until the Eternal’s promises came to pass;
    His word tested Joseph and proved him worthy.
²⁰ The king sent out the order to release him from prison;
    the ruler of Egypt liberated him from the chains.
²¹ Then he put Joseph in charge of the royal household,
    made him ruler of all the royal possessions,
²² Allowed him to imprison the royal officials whenever he saw fit
    and impart wisdom to the elders in the land.

²³ Then, when the time was right, Israel also went to Egypt;
    Jacob resided as an alien in the land of Ham.
²⁴ And while they were there, the Eternal made His people prosperous;
    He made them stronger than their enemies.
²⁵ He turned the Egyptians’ hearts against His people^[b]
    to cheat and scheme against His servants.

²⁶ Then, He sent His servant Moses
    and Aaron, the men He had chosen.
²⁷ They did all the signs He planned for them to do among the Egyptians,
    and they performed miracles in the land of Ham.
²⁸ He sent darkness to cover the land;
    they did not stray from His word.
²⁹ At His command, their waters turned to blood;
    their fish began to die.
³⁰ Throngs of frogs covered the land,
    invading even in the chambers of their kings.
³¹ At His command, a swarm of flies arrived,
    and gnats came over all their land.
³² He caused hail to fall instead of rain;
    lightning flashed over all their land.
³³ He struck their vines and their fig trees;
    He destroyed the trees over all their land.
³⁴ At His command, locusts came;
    young locusts marched beyond number,
³⁵ And they ate up all the plants that grew
    and all the fruits over their land.
³⁶ He also brought death to the firstborn in all their land,
    the first offspring of each man.

³⁷ Then He brought His people out of slavery, weighed down with silver and gold;
    and of all His tribes,
    not one of them stumbled, not one was left behind.
³⁸ Egypt was glad to see them go,
    for Pharaoh’s people had been overcome with fear of them.
³⁹ He spread out a cloud to cover His people
    and sent a fire to light their way at night.
⁴⁰ They asked, and He sent them coveys of quail,
    satisfying their hunger with the food of heaven.
⁴¹ He split the rock and water poured out;
    it flowed like a river through the desert.
⁴² For He remembered His holy covenant
    with Abraham, His servant.

⁴³ That’s why He rescued His people joyously
    and why His chosen ones celebrated with shouts and singing.
⁴⁴ When the time was right, He gave them land from other nations
    so that they might possess the works of their hands,
⁴⁵ So that they would be able to keep His commands
    and obey His laws.
Praise the Eternal!

    Fathers have eaten sour grapes,
        and their children’s teeth are set on edge?

The Eternal One has sworn an oath
    and cannot change His mind:
You are a priest forever.^[a]