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Psalm 105

1  O give thanks to the Lord and call upon his name; ♦︎
   make known his deeds among the peoples.
2  Sing to him, sing praises, ♦︎
   and tell of all his marvellous works.
3  Rejoice in the praise of his holy name; ♦︎
   let the hearts of them rejoice who seek the Lord.
4  Seek the Lord and his strength; ♦︎
   seek his face continually.
5  Remember the marvels he has done, ♦︎
   his wonders and the judgements of his mouth,
6  O seed of Abraham his servant, ♦︎
   O children of Jacob his chosen.
7  He is the Lord our God; ♦︎
   his judgements are in all the earth.
8  He has always been mindful of his covenant, ♦︎
   the promise that he made for a thousand generations:
9  The covenant he made with Abraham, ♦︎
   the oath that he swore to Isaac,
10  Which he established as a statute for Jacob, ♦︎
   an everlasting covenant for Israel,
11  Saying, ‘To you will I give the land of Canaan ♦︎
   to be the portion of your inheritance.’
12  When they were but few in number, ♦︎
   of little account, and sojourners in the land,
13  Wandering from nation to nation, ♦︎
   from one kingdom to another people,
14  He suffered no one to do them wrong ♦︎
   and rebuked even kings for their sake,
15  Saying, ‘Touch not my anointed ♦︎
   and do my prophets no harm.’
16  Then he called down famine over the land ♦︎
   and broke every staff of bread.
17  But he had sent a man before them, ♦︎
   Joseph, who was sold as a slave.
18  They shackled his feet with fetters; ♦︎
   his neck was ringed with iron.
19  Until all he foretold came to pass, ♦︎
   the word of the Lord tested him.
20  The king sent and released him; ♦︎
   the ruler of peoples set him free.
21  He appointed him lord of his household ♦︎
   and ruler of all he possessed,
22  To instruct his princes as he willed ♦︎
   and to teach his counsellors wisdom.
23  Then Israel came into Egypt; ♦︎
   Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.
24  And the Lord made his people exceedingly fruitful; ♦︎
   he made them too many for their adversaries,
25  Whose heart he turned, so that they hated his people ♦︎
   and dealt craftily with his servants.
26  Then sent he Moses his servant ♦︎
   and Aaron whom he had chosen.
27  He showed his signs through their word ♦︎
   and his wonders in the land of Ham.
28  He sent darkness and it grew dark; ♦︎
   yet they did not heed his words.
29  He turned their waters into blood ♦︎
   and slew all their fish.
30  Their land swarmed with frogs, ♦︎
   even in their kings’ chambers.
31  He spoke the word, and there came clouds of flies, ♦︎
   swarms of gnats within all their borders.
32  He gave them hailstones for rain ♦︎
   and flames of lightning in their land.
33  He blasted their vines and their fig trees ♦︎
   and shattered trees across their country.
34  He spoke the word, and the grasshoppers came ♦︎
   and young locusts without number;
35  They ate every plant in their land ♦︎
   and devoured the fruit of their soil.
36  He smote all the firstborn in their land, ♦︎
   the first fruits of all their strength.
37  Then he brought them out with silver and gold; ♦︎
   there was not one among their tribes that stumbled.
38  Egypt was glad at their departing, ♦︎
   for a dread of them had fallen upon them.
39  He spread out a cloud for a covering ♦︎
   and a fire to light up the night.
40  They asked and he brought them quails; ♦︎
   he satisfied them with the bread of heaven.
41  He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out ♦︎
   and ran in the dry places like a river.
42  For he remembered his holy word ♦︎
   and Abraham, his servant.
43  So he brought forth his people with joy, ♦︎
   his chosen ones with singing.
44  He gave them the lands of the nations ♦︎
   and they took possession of the fruit of their toil,
45  That they might keep his statutes ♦︎
   and faithfully observe his laws.
      Alleluia.

The Passover Reviewed

16Observe the month^* of Abib by keeping the passover to the Lord your God, for in the month of Abib the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt by night. ²You shall offer the passover sacrifice to the Lord your God, from the flock and the herd, at the place that the Lord will choose as a dwelling for his name. ³You must not eat with it anything leavened. For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread with it—the bread of affliction—because you came out of the land of Egypt in great haste, so that all the days of your life you may remember the day of your departure from the land of Egypt. ⁴No leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory for seven days; and none of the meat of what you slaughter on the evening of the first day shall remain until morning. ⁵You are not permitted to offer the passover sacrifice within any of your towns that the Lord your God is giving you. ⁶But at the place that the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name, only there shall you offer the passover sacrifice, in the evening at sunset, the time of day when you departed from Egypt. ⁷You shall cook it and eat it at the place that the Lord your God will choose; the next morning you may go back to your tents. ⁸For six days you shall continue to eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a solemn assembly for the Lord your God, when you shall do no work.

The Festival of Weeks Reviewed

9 You shall count seven weeks; begin to count the seven weeks from the time the sickle is first put to the standing grain. ¹⁰Then you shall keep the festival of weeks to the Lord your God, contributing a freewill-offering in proportion to the blessing that you have received from the Lord your God. ¹¹Rejoice before the Lord your God—you and your sons and your daughters, your male and female slaves, the Levites resident in your towns, as well as the strangers, the orphans, and the widows who are among you—at the place that the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name. ¹²Remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and diligently observe these statutes.

The Festival of Booths Reviewed

13 You shall keep the festival of booths^* for seven days, when you have gathered in the produce from your threshing-floor and your wine press. ¹⁴Rejoice during your festival, you and your sons and your daughters, your male and female slaves, as well as the Levites, the strangers, the orphans, and the widows resident in your towns. ¹⁵For seven days you shall keep the festival to the Lord your God at the place that the Lord will choose; for the Lord your God will bless you in all your produce and in all your undertakings, and you shall surely celebrate.

16 Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God at the place that he will choose: at the festival of unleavened bread, at the festival of weeks, and at the festival of booths.^* They shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed; ¹⁷all shall give as they are able, according to the blessing of the Lord your God that he has given you.

Municipal Judges and Officers

18 You shall appoint judges and officials throughout your tribes, in all your towns that the Lord your God is giving you, and they shall render just decisions for the people. ¹⁹You must not distort justice; you must not show partiality; and you must not accept bribes, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of those who are in the right. ²⁰Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue, so that you may live and occupy the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

THE FIRST LETTER OF

Peter

Salutation

1Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To the exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, ²who have been chosen and destined by God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus Christ and to be sprinkled with his blood:

May grace and peace be yours in abundance.

A Living Hope

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, ⁵who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶In this you rejoice,^* even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, ⁷so that the genuineness of your faith—being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed. ⁸Although you have not seen^* him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, ⁹for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that was to be yours made careful search and inquiry, ¹¹inquiring about the person or time that the Spirit of Christ within them indicated, when it testified in advance to the sufferings destined for Christ and the subsequent glory. ¹²It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in regard to the things that have now been announced to you through those who brought you good news by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look!