Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 80
A Prayer for Restoration
For the choir director: according to “The Lilies.”[a] A testimony of Asaph.(A) A psalm.
1 Listen, Shepherd of Israel,
who leads Joseph like a flock;(B)
You who sit enthroned on the cherubim,(C)
rise up(D)
2 before Ephraim,
Benjamin, and Manasseh.[b](E)
Rally Your power and come to save us.(F)
3 Restore us, God;
look on us with favor,
and we will be saved.(G)
4 Lord God of Hosts,
how long will You be angry
with Your people’s prayers?(H)
5 You fed them the bread of tears
and gave them a full measure[c]
of tears to drink.(I)
6 You make us quarrel with our neighbors;
our enemies make fun of us.(J)
7 Restore us, God of Hosts;
look on us with favor, and we will be saved.(K)
8 You uprooted a vine from Egypt;
You drove out the nations and planted it.(L)
9 You cleared a place for it;
it took root and filled the land.(M)
10 The mountains were covered by its shade,
and the mighty cedars[d] with its branches.(N)
11 It sent out sprouts toward the Sea[e]
and shoots toward the River.[f](O)
12 Why have You broken down its walls
so that all who pass by pick its fruit?(P)
13 The boar from the forest tears it
and creatures of the field feed on it.(Q)
14 Return, God of Hosts.(R)
Look down from heaven and see;
take care of this vine,
15 the root[g] Your right hand has planted,
the shoot[h] that You made strong for Yourself.(S)
16 It was cut down and burned up;[i]
they[j] perish at the rebuke of Your countenance.(T)
17 Let Your hand be with the man at Your right hand,
with the son of man
You have made strong for Yourself.(U)
18 Then we will not turn away from You;
revive us, and we will call on Your name.(V)
19 Restore us, Yahweh, the God of Hosts;(W)
look on us with favor, and we will be saved.(X)
Psalm 77
Confidence in a Time of Crisis
For the choir director: according to Jeduthun. Of Asaph.(A) A psalm.
1 I cry aloud to God,
aloud to God, and He will hear me.(B)
2 I sought the Lord in my day of trouble.
My hands were continually lifted up
all night long;
I refused to be comforted.(C)
3 I think of God; I groan;
I meditate; my spirit becomes weak.(D)
4 You have kept me from closing my eyes;
I am troubled and cannot speak.(E)
5 I consider days of old,
years long past.(F)
6 At night I remember my music;
I meditate in my heart, and my spirit ponders.(G)
7 “Will the Lord reject forever
and never again show favor?(H)
8 Has His faithful love ceased forever?
Is His promise at an end for all generations?(I)
9 Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Has He in anger withheld His compassion?”(J)
10 So I say, “I am grieved[a]
that the right hand of the Most High has changed.”(K)
11 I will remember the Lord’s works;
yes, I will remember Your ancient wonders.(L)
12 I will reflect on all You have done
and meditate on Your actions.(M)
13 God, Your way is holy.
What god is great like God?(N)
14 You are the God who works wonders;
You revealed Your strength among the peoples.(O)
15 With power You redeemed Your people,
the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.(P)
16 The waters saw You, God.
The waters saw You; they trembled.
Even the depths shook.(Q)
17 The clouds poured down water.
The storm clouds thundered;
Your arrows flashed back and forth.(R)
18 The sound of Your thunder was in the whirlwind;
lightning lit up the world.(S)
The earth shook and quaked.(T)
19 Your way went through the sea
and Your path through the great waters,
but Your footprints were unseen.(U)
20 You led Your people like a flock(V)
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.(W)
Psalm 79
Faith amid Confusion
A psalm of Asaph.(A)
1 God, the nations have invaded Your inheritance,
desecrated Your holy temple,
and turned Jerusalem into ruins.(B)
2 They gave the corpses of Your servants
to the birds of the sky for food,
the flesh of Your godly ones
to the beasts of the earth.(C)
3 They poured out their blood
like water all around Jerusalem,
and there was no one to bury them.(D)
4 We have become an object of reproach
to our neighbors,
a source of mockery and ridicule
to those around us.(E)
5 How long, Yahweh? Will You be angry forever?
Will Your jealousy keep burning like fire?(F)
6 Pour out Your wrath on the nations
that don’t acknowledge You,
on the kingdoms that don’t call on Your name,(G)
7 for they have devoured Jacob
and devastated his homeland.(H)
8 Do not hold past sins[a] against us;
let Your compassion come to us quickly,
for we have become weak.(I)
9 God of our salvation, help us(J)—
for the glory of Your name.
Deliver us and atone for[b] our sins,
because of Your name.(K)
10 Why should the nations ask,
“Where is their God?”(L)
Before our eyes,
let vengeance for the shed blood of Your servants
be known among the nations.(M)
11 Let the groans of the prisoners reach You;
according to Your great power,
preserve those condemned to die.(N)
The Lord’s Covenant with David
7 When the king had settled into his palace(A) and the Lord had given him rest on every side from all his enemies, 2 the king said to Nathan the prophet, “Look, I am living in a cedar house while the ark of God sits inside tent curtains.”(B)
3 So Nathan told the king, “Go and do all that is on your heart, for the Lord is with you.”
4 But that night the word of the Lord came to Nathan: 5 “Go to My servant David and say, ‘This is what the Lord says: Are you to build a house for Me to live in?(C) 6 From the time I brought the Israelites out of Egypt until today I have not lived in a house; instead, I have been moving around with a tent as My dwelling.(D) 7 In all My journeys with all the Israelites, have I ever asked anyone among the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd My people Israel: Why haven’t you built Me a house of cedar?’
8 “Now this is what you are to say to My servant David: ‘This is what the Lord of Hosts says: I took you from the pasture and from following the sheep to be ruler over My people Israel.(E) 9 I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have destroyed all your enemies before you. I will make a name for you like that of the greatest in the land.(F) 10 I will establish a place for My people Israel and plant them,(G) so that they may live there and not be disturbed again. Evildoers will not afflict them as they have done 11 ever since the day I ordered judges to be over My people Israel.(H) I will give you rest from all your enemies.
“‘The Lord declares to you: The Lord Himself will make a house for you. 12 When your time comes and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up after you your descendant, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.(I) 13 He will build a house for My name,(J) and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.(K) 14 I will be a father to him, and he will be a son to Me.(L) When he does wrong, I will discipline him with a human rod and with blows from others. 15 But My faithful love will never leave him(M) as I removed it from Saul; I removed him from your way.(N) 16 Your house and kingdom will endure before Me[a] forever,(O) and your throne will be established forever.’”(P)
17 Nathan spoke all these words and this entire vision to David.
Founding the Corinthian Church
18 After this, he[a] left Athens and went to Corinth,(A) 2 where he found a Jewish man named Aquila,(B) a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius[b] had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul came to them, 3 and being of the same occupation, stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers[c] by trade.(C) 4 He reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and tried to persuade both Jews and Greeks.(D)
5 When Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with preaching the message[d] and solemnly testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah.(E) 6 But when they resisted and blasphemed,(F) he shook his robe[e](G) and told them, “Your blood is on your own heads!(H) I am innocent.[f] From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”(I) 7 So he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God, whose house was next door to the synagogue. 8 Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed the Lord, along with his whole household.(J) Many of the Corinthians, when they heard, believed and were baptized.
9 Then the Lord said to Paul in a night vision, “Don’t be afraid, but keep on speaking and don’t be silent. 10 For I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to hurt you, because I have many people in this city.”(K) 11 And he stayed there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.
The Yeast of the Pharisees and Herod
11 The(A) Pharisees(B) came out and began to argue with Him, demanding of Him a sign(C) from heaven(D) to test(E) Him. 12 But sighing deeply in His spirit,(F) He said, “Why does this generation(G) demand a sign? I assure you:(H) No sign will be given to this generation!” 13 Then He left them, got on board the boat again, and went to the other side.
14 They had forgotten to take bread and had only one loaf with them in the boat. 15 Then(I) He commanded them: “Watch out! Beware of the yeast(J) of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.”(K)
16 They were discussing among themselves that they did not have any bread. 17 Aware of this, He said to them, “Why are you discussing that you do not have any bread? Don’t you understand or comprehend? Is your heart hardened?(L) 18 Do you have eyes, and not see, and do you have ears, and not hear?(M)[a] And do you not remember?(N) 19 When I broke the five loaves for the 5,000, how many baskets full of pieces of bread did you collect?”
“Twelve,” they told Him.
20 “When I broke the seven loaves for the 4,000, how many large baskets full of pieces of bread did you collect?”
“Seven,” they said.
21 And He said to them, “Don’t you understand yet?”(O)
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