Book of Common Prayer
The Eternal Faithfulness of the Lord(A)
105 Oh, (B)give thanks to the Lord!
Call upon His name;
(C)Make known His deeds among the peoples!
2 Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him;
(D)Talk of all His wondrous works!
3 Glory in His holy name;
Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the Lord!
4 Seek the Lord and His strength;
(E)Seek His face evermore!
5 (F)Remember His marvelous works which He has done,
His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth,
6 O seed of Abraham His servant,
You children of Jacob, His chosen ones!
7 He is the Lord our God;
(G)His judgments are in all the earth.
8 He (H)remembers His covenant forever,
The word which He commanded, for a thousand generations,
9 (I)The covenant which He made with Abraham,
And His oath to Isaac,
10 And confirmed it to Jacob for a statute,
To Israel as an everlasting covenant,
11 Saying, (J)“To you I will give the land of Canaan
As the allotment of your inheritance,”
12 (K)When they were few in number,
Indeed very few, (L)and strangers in it.
13 When they went from one nation to another,
From one kingdom to another people,
14 (M)He permitted no one to do them wrong;
Yes, (N)He rebuked kings for their sakes,
15 Saying, “Do not touch My anointed ones,
And do My prophets no harm.”
16 Moreover (O)He called for a famine in the land;
He destroyed all the (P)provision of bread.
17 (Q)He sent a man before them—
Joseph—who (R)was sold as a slave.
18 (S)They hurt his feet with fetters,
[a]He was laid in irons.
19 Until the time that his word came to pass,
(T)The word of the Lord tested him.
20 (U)The king sent and released him,
The ruler of the people let him go free.
21 (V)He made him lord of his house,
And ruler of all his possessions,
22 To [b]bind his princes at his pleasure,
And teach his elders wisdom.
23 (W)Israel also came into Egypt,
And Jacob dwelt (X)in the land of Ham.
24 (Y)He increased His people greatly,
And made them stronger than their enemies.
25 (Z)He turned their heart to hate His people,
To deal craftily with His servants.
26 (AA)He sent Moses His servant,
And Aaron whom He had chosen.
27 They (AB)performed His signs among them,
And wonders in the land of Ham.
28 He sent darkness, and made it dark;
And they did not rebel against His word.
29 (AC)He turned their waters into blood,
And killed their fish.
30 (AD)Their land abounded with frogs,
Even in the chambers of their kings.
31 (AE)He spoke, and there came swarms of flies,
And lice in all their territory.
32 (AF)He gave them hail for rain,
And flaming fire in their land.
33 (AG)He struck their vines also, and their fig trees,
And splintered the trees of their territory.
34 (AH)He spoke, and locusts came,
Young locusts without number,
35 And ate up all the vegetation in their land,
And devoured the fruit of their ground.
36 (AI)He also [c]destroyed all the firstborn in their land,
(AJ)The first of all their strength.
37 (AK)He also brought them out with silver and gold,
And there was none feeble among His tribes.
38 (AL)Egypt was glad when they departed,
For the fear of them had fallen upon them.
39 (AM)He spread a cloud for a covering,
And fire to give light in the night.
40 (AN)The people asked, and He brought quail,
And (AO)satisfied them with the bread of heaven.
41 (AP)He opened the rock, and water gushed out;
It ran in the dry places like a river.
42 For He remembered (AQ)His holy promise,
And Abraham His servant.
43 He brought out His people with joy,
His chosen ones with [d]gladness.
44 (AR)He gave them the lands of the [e]Gentiles,
And they inherited the labor of the nations,
45 (AS)That they might observe His statutes
And keep His laws.
[f]Praise the Lord!
A False Proverb Refuted
18 The word of the Lord came to me again, saying, 2 “What do you mean when you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying:
‘The (A)fathers have eaten sour grapes,
And the children’s teeth are set on edge’?
3 “As I live,” says the Lord God, “you shall no longer use this proverb in Israel.
Turn and Live
19 “Yet you say, ‘Why (A)should the son not bear the guilt of the father?’ Because the son has done what is lawful and right, and has kept all My statutes and observed them, he shall surely live. 20 (B)The soul who sins shall die. (C)The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. (D)The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, (E)and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.
21 “But (F)if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 22 (G)None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall (H)live. 23 (I)Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?” says the Lord God, “and not that he should turn from his ways and live?
24 “But (J)when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? (K)All the righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; because of the unfaithfulness of which he is guilty and the sin which he has committed, because of them he shall die.
25 “Yet you say, (L)‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ Hear now, O house of Israel, is it not My way which is fair, and your ways which are not fair? 26 (M)When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity, and dies in it, it is because of the iniquity which he has done that he dies. 27 Again, (N)when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness which he committed, and does what is lawful and right, he preserves himself alive. 28 Because he (O)considers and turns away from all the transgressions which he committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 29 (P)Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ O house of Israel, is it not My ways which are fair, and your ways which are not fair?
30 (Q)“Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways,” says the Lord God. (R)“Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin. 31 (S)Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a (T)new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel? 32 For (U)I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,” says the Lord God. “Therefore turn and (V)live!”
18 For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of (A)its weakness and unprofitableness, 19 for (B)the law made nothing [a]perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of (C)a better hope, through which (D)we draw near to God.
Greatness of the New Priest
20 And inasmuch as He was not made priest without an oath 21 (for they have become priests without an oath, but He with an oath by Him who said to Him:
(E)“The Lord has sworn
And will not relent,
‘You are a priest [b]forever
According to the order of Melchizedek’ ”),
22 by so much more Jesus has become a [c]surety of a (F)better covenant.
23 Also there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing. 24 But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. 25 Therefore He is also (G)able to save [d]to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives (H)to make intercession for them.
26 For such a High Priest was fitting for us, (I)who is holy, [e]harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, (J)and has become higher than the heavens; 27 who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His (K)own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. 28 For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.
The Parable of the Good Samaritan(A)
25 And behold, a certain [a]lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, (B)“Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?”
27 So he answered and said, (C)“ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and (D)‘your neighbor as yourself.’ ”
28 And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and (E)you will live.”
29 But he, wanting to (F)justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among [b]thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, (G)he passed by on the other side. 32 Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain (H)Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had (I)compassion. 34 So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 On the next day, [c]when he departed, he took out two (J)denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’ 36 So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?”
37 And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.”
Then Jesus said to him, (K)“Go and do likewise.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.