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)
David’s Prayer of Thanksgiving
18 Then King David went in,(A) sat in the Lord’s presence, and said,
Who am I, Lord God, and what is my house that You have brought me this far? 19 What You have done so far[a] was a little thing to You, Lord God, for You have also spoken about Your servant’s house in the distant future. And this is a revelation[b] for mankind, Lord God. 20 What more can David say to You? You know Your servant,(B) Lord God. 21 Because of Your word and according to Your will, You have revealed all these great things to Your servant.
22 This is why You are great,(C) Lord God. There is no one like You, and there is no God besides You,(D) as all we have heard confirms. 23 And who is like Your people Israel? God came to one nation on earth in order to redeem a people for Himself, to make a name for Himself, and to perform for them[c] great and awesome acts, driving out nations and their gods before Your people You redeemed for Yourself from Egypt.(E) 24 You established Your people Israel to be Your own people forever, and You, Lord, have become their God.(F)
25 Now, Lord God, fulfill the promise forever that You have made to Your servant and his house. Do as You have promised, 26 so that Your name will be exalted forever, when it is said, “The Lord of Hosts is God over Israel.” The house of Your servant David(G) will be established before You 27 since You, Lord of Hosts, God of Israel, have revealed this to Your servant when You said, “I will build a house for you.” Therefore, Your servant has found the courage to pray this prayer to You. 28 Lord God, You are God; Your words are true, and You have promised this grace to Your servant. 29 Now, please bless Your servant’s house so that it will continue before You forever. For You, Lord God, have spoken, and with Your blessing Your servant’s house will be blessed forever.(H)
12 While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack against Paul and brought him to the judge’s bench.(A) 13 “This man,” they said, “persuades people to worship God contrary to the law!”
14 As Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of a crime or of moral evil, it would be reasonable for me to put up with you Jews. 15 But if these are questions about words, names, and your own law, see to it yourselves. I don’t want to be a judge of such things.”(B) 16 So he drove them from the judge’s bench. 17 Then they all[a] seized Sosthenes,(C) the leader of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the judge’s bench. But none of these things concerned Gallio.
The Return Trip to Antioch
18 So Paul, having stayed on for many days, said good-bye to the brothers and sailed away to Syria. Priscilla and Aquila were with him. He shaved his head at Cenchreae because he had taken a vow.(D) 19 When they reached Ephesus(E) he left them there, but he himself entered the synagogue and engaged in discussion with[b] the Jews. 20 And though they asked him to stay for a longer time, he declined, 21 but he said good-bye and stated,[c] “I’ll come back to you again, if God wills.”(F) Then he set sail from Ephesus.
22 On landing at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church[d] and went down to Antioch.(G) 23 And after spending some time there, he set out, traveling through one place after another in the Galatian territory and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.(H)
The Eloquent Apollos
24 A Jew named Apollos,(I) a native Alexandrian, an eloquent man who was powerful in the use of the Scriptures, arrived in Ephesus. 25 This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit,[e] he spoke and taught the things about Jesus accurately, although he knew only John’s baptism.(J) 26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. After Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him home[f] and explained the way of God to him more accurately.(K) 27 When he wanted to cross over to Achaia, the brothers wrote to the disciples urging them to welcome him. After he arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace.(L) 28 For he vigorously refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating through the Scriptures that Jesus is the Messiah.(M)
Healing a Blind Man
22 Then they came to Bethsaida.(A) They brought a blind(B) man to Him and begged Him to touch him. 23 He took the blind man by the hand and brought him out of the village. Spitting(C) on his eyes and laying His hands on(D) him, He asked him, “Do you see anything?”
24 He looked up and said, “I see people—they look to me like trees walking.”(E)
25 Again Jesus placed His hands on the man’s eyes, and he saw distinctly. He was cured and could see everything clearly. 26 Then He sent(F) him home, saying, “Don’t even go into the village.”[a](G)
Peter’s Confession of the Messiah
27 Jesus(H) went out with His disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the road He asked His disciples, “Who do people say that I am?”
28 They answered Him, “John the Baptist;(I) others, Elijah; still others, one of the prophets.”(J)
29 “But you,” He asked them again, “who do you say that I am?”
Peter(K) answered Him, “You are the Messiah!”(L)
30 And He strictly warned(M) them to tell no one about Him.
His Death and Resurrection Predicted
31 Then(N) He began to teach them that the Son of Man(O) must suffer many things and be rejected(P) by the elders,(Q) the chief priests, and the scribes,(R) be killed, and rise(S) after three days.(T) 32 He was openly talking about this. So Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him.
33 But turning around and looking at His disciples, He rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind Me, Satan,(U) because you’re not thinking about God’s concerns,[b] but man’s!”
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