Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 78
Lessons from Israel’s Past
A Maskil of Asaph.(A)
1 My people, hear my instruction;
listen to what I say.(B)
2 I will declare wise sayings;
I will speak mysteries from the past(C)—
3 things we have heard and known
and that our fathers have passed down to us.(D)
4 We must not hide them from their children,
but must tell a future generation
the praises of the Lord,
His might, and the wonderful works
He has performed.(E)
5 He established a testimony in Jacob
and set up a law in Israel,
which He commanded our fathers
to teach to their children(F)
6 so that a future generation—
children yet to be born—might know.
They were to rise and tell their children(G)
7 so that they might put their confidence in God
and not forget God’s works,
but keep His commands.(H)
8 Then they would not be like their fathers,
a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation whose heart was not loyal
and whose spirit was not faithful to God.(I)
9 The Ephraimite archers turned back
on the day of battle.(J)
10 They did not keep God’s covenant
and refused to live by His law.(K)
11 They forgot what He had done,
the wonderful works He had shown them.(L)
12 He worked wonders in the sight of their fathers
in the land of Egypt, the region of Zoan.(M)
13 He split the sea and brought them across;
the water stood firm like a wall.(N)
14 He led them with a cloud by day
and with a fiery light throughout the night.(O)
15 He split rocks in the wilderness
and gave them drink as abundant as the depths.(P)
16 He brought streams out of the stone
and made water flow down like rivers.(Q)
17 But they continued to sin against Him,
rebelling in the desert against the Most High.(R)
18 They deliberately[a] tested God,
demanding the food they craved.(S)
19 They spoke against God, saying,
“Is God able to provide food in the wilderness?
20 Look! He struck the rock and water gushed out;
torrents overflowed.(T)
But can He also provide bread
or furnish meat for His people?”(U)
21 Therefore, the Lord heard and became furious;
then fire broke out against Jacob,
and anger flared up against Israel(V)
22 because they did not believe God
or rely on His salvation.(W)
23 He gave a command to the clouds above
and opened the doors of heaven.(X)
24 He rained manna for them to eat;
He gave them grain from heaven.(Y)
25 People[b] ate the bread of angels.[c]
He sent them an abundant supply of food.(Z)
26 He made the east wind blow in the skies
and drove the south wind by His might.(AA)
27 He rained meat on them like dust,
and winged birds like the sand of the seas.
28 He made them fall in His camp,
all around His tent.[d][e](AB)
29 They ate and were completely satisfied,
for He gave them what they craved.(AC)
30 Before they had satisfied their desire,
while the food was still in their mouths,
31 God’s anger flared up against them,
and He killed some of their best men.
He struck down Israel’s choice young men.(AD)
32 Despite all this, they kept sinning
and did not believe His wonderful works.(AE)
33 He made their days end in futility,
their years in sudden disaster.(AF)
34 When He killed some of them,
the rest began to seek Him;
they repented and searched for God.(AG)
35 They remembered that God was their rock,
the Most High God, their Redeemer.(AH)
36 But they deceived Him with their mouths,
they lied to Him with their tongues,(AI)
37 their hearts were insincere toward Him,
and they were unfaithful to His covenant.(AJ)
38 Yet He was compassionate;
He atoned for[f] their guilt
and did not destroy them.
He often turned His anger aside
and did not unleash[g] all His wrath.(AK)
39 He remembered that they were only flesh,
a wind that passes and does not return.(AL)
40 How often they rebelled against Him
in the wilderness
and grieved Him in the desert.
41 They constantly tested God(AM)
and provoked the Holy One of Israel.(AN)
42 They did not remember His power shown
on the day He redeemed them from the foe,(AO)
43 when He performed His miraculous signs in Egypt
and His wonders in the region of Zoan.(AP)
44 He turned their rivers into blood,
and they could not drink from their streams.(AQ)
45 He sent among them swarms of flies,(AR)
which fed on them,
and frogs, which devastated them.(AS)
46 He gave their crops to the caterpillar
and the fruit of their labor to the locust.(AT)
47 He killed their vines with hail
and their sycamore fig trees with a flood.
48 He handed over their livestock to hail
and their cattle to lightning bolts.(AU)
49 He sent His burning anger against them:
fury, indignation, and calamity—
a band of deadly messengers.[h](AV)
50 He cleared a path for His anger.
He did not spare them from death
but delivered their lives to the plague.(AW)
51 He struck all the firstborn(AX) in Egypt,
the first progeny of the tents of Ham.[i](AY)
52 He led His people out like sheep
and guided them like a flock in the wilderness.(AZ)
53 He led them safely, and they were not afraid;
but the sea covered their enemies.(BA)
54 He brought them to His holy land,
to the mountain His right hand acquired.(BB)
55 He drove out nations before them.(BC)
He apportioned their inheritance by lot
and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.(BD)
56 But they rebelliously tested the Most High God,
for they did not keep His decrees.(BE)
57 They treacherously turned away like their fathers;
they became warped like a faulty bow.(BF)
58 They enraged Him with their high places
and provoked His jealousy with their carved images.(BG)
59 God heard and became furious;
He completely rejected Israel.(BH)
60 He abandoned the tabernacle at Shiloh,
the tent where He resided among men.[j](BI)
61 He gave up His strength[k] to captivity
and His splendor to the hand of a foe.(BJ)
62 He surrendered His people to the sword
because He was enraged with His heritage.(BK)
63 Fire consumed His chosen young men,
and His young women had no wedding songs.[l](BL)
64 His priests fell by the sword,
but the[m] widows could not lament.[n](BM)
65 Then the Lord awoke as if from sleep,
like a warrior from the effects of wine.(BN)
66 He beat back His foes;
He gave them lasting shame.(BO)
67 He rejected the tent of Joseph
and did not choose the tribe of Ephraim.
68 He chose instead the tribe of Judah,
Mount Zion, which He loved.(BP)
69 He built His sanctuary like the heights,[o]
like the earth that He established forever.(BQ)
70 He chose David His servant
and took him from the sheepfolds;(BR)
71 He brought him from tending ewes
to be shepherd over His people Jacob—
over Israel, His inheritance.(BS)
72 He shepherded them with a pure heart
and guided them with his skillful hands.(BT)
21 When Elkanah and all his household went up to make the annual sacrifice(A) and his vow offering to the Lord, 22 Hannah did not go and explained to her husband, “After the child is weaned, I’ll take him to appear in the Lord’s presence(B) and to stay there permanently.”(C)
23 Her husband Elkanah replied, “Do what you think is best,[a](D) and stay here until you’ve weaned him. May the Lord confirm your[b] word.”(E) So Hannah stayed there and nursed her son until she weaned him. 24 When she had weaned him, she took him with her to Shiloh, as well as a three-year-old bull,[c] half a bushel[d] of flour, and a jar of wine.(F) Though the boy was still young,[e] she took him to the Lord’s house at Shiloh.(G) 25 Then they slaughtered the bull and brought the boy to Eli.
26 “Please, my lord,” she said, “as sure as you live,(H) my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord. 27 I prayed for this boy,(I) and since the Lord gave me what I asked Him for,(J) 28 I now give the boy to the Lord. For as long as he lives, he is given to the Lord.”(K) Then he[f] bowed in worship to the Lord there.[g]
Hannah’s Triumphant Prayer
2 Hannah prayed:(L)
My heart rejoices in the Lord;(M)
my horn is lifted up by the Lord.
My mouth boasts over my enemies,
because I rejoice in Your salvation.(N)
2 There is no one holy like the Lord.(O)
There is no one besides You!(P)
And there is no rock like our God.(Q)
3 Do not boast so proudly,
or let arrogant words come out of your mouth,
for the Lord is a God of knowledge,
and actions are weighed by Him.(R)
4 The bows of the warriors are broken,(S)
but the feeble are clothed with strength.(T)
5 Those who are full hire themselves out for food,
but those who are starving hunger no more.
The woman who is childless gives birth to seven,(U)
but the woman with many sons pines away.(V)
6 The Lord brings death and gives life;(W)
He sends some to Sheol, and He raises others up.(X)
7 The Lord brings poverty and gives wealth;(Y)
He humbles and He exalts.(Z)
8 He raises the poor from the dust(AA)
and lifts the needy from the garbage pile.(AB)
He seats them with noblemen(AC)
and gives them a throne of honor.[h]
For the foundations of the earth are the Lord’s;(AD)
He has set the world on them.(AE)
9 He guards the steps[i] of His faithful ones,(AF)
but the wicked perish in darkness,(AG)
for a man does not prevail by his own strength.(AH)
10 Those who oppose the Lord will be shattered;[j](AI)
He will thunder in the heavens against them.(AJ)
The Lord will judge the ends of the earth.(AK)
He will give power to His king;
He will lift up the horn of His anointed.(AL)
11 Elkanah went home to Ramah,(AM) but the boy served the Lord in the presence of Eli the priest.(AN)
Matthias Chosen
15 During these days Peter stood up among the brothers[a]—the number of people who were together was about 120—and said: 16 “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled that the Holy Spirit through the mouth of David spoke in advance about Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.(A) 17 For he was one of our number and was allotted a share in this ministry.”(B) 18 Now this man acquired a field with his unrighteous wages. He fell headfirst and burst open in the middle, and all his insides spilled out.(C) 19 This became known to all the residents of Jerusalem, so that in their own language that field is called Hakeldama (that is, Field of Blood). 20 “For it is written in the Book of Psalms:
Let his dwelling become desolate;
let no one live in it;[b] and
Let someone else take his position.(D)[c]
21 “Therefore, from among the men who have accompanied us during the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us— 22 beginning from the baptism of John until the day He was taken up from us—from among these, it is necessary that one become a witness with us of His resurrection.”(E)
23 So they proposed two: Joseph, called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias.(F) 24 Then they prayed,(G) “You, Lord, know the hearts of all; show which of these two You have chosen(H) 25 to take the place[d] in this apostolic service(I) that Judas left to go to his own place.” 26 Then they cast lots(J) for them, and the lot fell to Matthias. So he was numbered with the 11 apostles.
19 Then the scribes and the chief priests(A) looked for a way to get their hands on Him(B) that very hour, because they knew He had told this parable against them, but they feared the people.(C)
God and Caesar
20 They[a](D) watched closely(E) and sent spies(F) who pretended to be righteous,[b] so they could catch Him in what He said,[c](G) to hand Him(H) over to the governor’s(I) rule and authority. 21 They questioned Him, “Teacher, we know that You speak and teach correctly,(J) and You don’t show partiality,[d](K) but teach truthfully the way of God.(L) 22 Is it lawful(M) for us to pay taxes(N) to Caesar(O) or not?”
23 But detecting their craftiness, He said to them,[e] 24 “Show Me a denarius. Whose image and inscription does it have?”
“Caesar’s,” they said.
25 “Well then,” He told them, “give back to Caesar(P) the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.”
26 They were not able to catch Him in what He said[f] in public,[g] and being amazed at His answer, they became silent.(Q)
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