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.
Individual Retribution
18 The Lord’s message came to me: 2 “What do you mean by quoting this proverb concerning the land of Israel:
“‘The fathers eat sour grapes,
And the children’s teeth become numb?’[a]
3 “As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord,[b] you will not quote this proverb in Israel anymore! 4 Indeed! All lives are mine—the life of the father as well as the life of the son is mine. The one[c] who sins will die.
19 “Yet you say, ‘Why should the son not suffer[a] for his father’s iniquity?’ When the son does what is just and right, and observes all my statutes and carries them out, he will surely live. 20 The person who sins is the one who will die. A son will not suffer[b] for his father’s iniquity, and a father will not suffer[c] for his son’s iniquity; the righteous person will be judged according to his righteousness, and the wicked person according to his wickedness.[d]
21 “But if the wicked person turns from all the sin he has committed and observes all my statutes and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die. 22 None of the sins he has committed will be held[e] against him; because of the righteousness he has done, he will live. 23 Do I actually delight in the death of the wicked, declares the Sovereign Lord? Do I not prefer that he turn from his wicked conduct and live?
24 “But if a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and practices wrongdoing according to all the abominable practices the wicked carry out, will he live? All his righteous acts will not be remembered; because of the unfaithful acts he has done and the sin he has committed, he will die.[f]
25 “Yet you say, ‘The Lord’s conduct[g] is unjust!’ Hear, O house of Israel: Is my conduct unjust? Is it not your conduct that is unjust? 26 When a righteous person turns back from his righteousness and practices wrongdoing, he will die for it;[h] because of the wrongdoing he has done, he will die. 27 When a wicked person turns from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will preserve his life. 28 Because he considered[i] and turned from all the sins he had done, he will surely live; he will not die. 29 Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The Lord’s conduct is unjust!’ Is my conduct unjust, O house of Israel? Is it not your conduct that is unjust?
30 “Therefore, I will judge each person according to his conduct,[j] O house of Israel, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent[k] and turn from all your wickedness; then it will not be an obstacle leading to iniquity.[l] 31 Throw away all your sins you have committed and fashion yourselves a new heart and a new spirit![m] Why should you die, O house of Israel? 32 For I take no delight in the death of anyone,[n] declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!
18 On the one hand a former command is set aside[a] because it is weak and useless,[b] 19 for the law made nothing perfect. On the other hand a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God. 20 And since[c] this was not done without a sworn affirmation—for the others have become priests without a sworn affirmation, 21 but Jesus[d] did so[e] with a sworn affirmation by the one who said to him, “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, ‘You are a priest forever’”[f]— 22 accordingly Jesus has become the guarantee[g] of a better covenant. 23 And the others[h] who became priests were numerous, because death prevented them[i] from continuing in office,[j] 24 but he holds his priesthood permanently since he lives forever. 25 So he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. 26 For it is indeed fitting for us to have such a high priest: holy, innocent, undefiled, separate from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. 27 He has no need to do every day what those priests do, to offer sacrifices first for their own sins and then for the sins of the people, since he did this in offering himself once for all. 28 For the law appoints as high priests men subject to weakness,[k] but the word of solemn affirmation that came after the law appoints a son made perfect forever.
The Parable of the Good Samaritan
25 Now[a] an expert in religious law[b] stood up to test Jesus,[c] saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”[d] 26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you understand it?”[e] 27 The expert[f] answered, “Love[g] the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,[h] and love your neighbor as yourself.”[i] 28 Jesus[j] said to him, “You have answered correctly;[k] do this, and you will live.”
29 But the expert,[l] wanting to justify[m] himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied,[n] “A man was going down[o] from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat[p] him up, and went off, leaving him half dead.[q] 31 Now by chance[r] a priest was going down that road, but[s] when he saw the injured man[t] he passed by[u] on the other side.[v] 32 So too a Levite, when he came up to[w] the place and saw him,[x] passed by on the other side. 33 But[y] a Samaritan[z] who was traveling[aa] came to where the injured man[ab] was, and when he saw him, he felt compassion for him.[ac] 34 He[ad] went up to him[ae] and bandaged his wounds, pouring olive oil[af] and wine on them. Then[ag] he put him on[ah] his own animal,[ai] brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 The[aj] next day he took out two silver coins[ak] and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever else you spend, I will repay you when I come back this way.’[al] 36 Which of these three do you think became a neighbor[am] to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” 37 The expert in religious law[an] said, “The one who showed mercy[ao] to him.” So[ap] Jesus said to him, “Go and do[aq] the same.”
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.