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)
National Confession of Sin
9 On the twenty-fourth day of this month(A) the Israelites assembled; they were fasting, wearing sackcloth, and had put dust on their heads.(B) 2 Those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all foreigners,(C) and they stood(D) and confessed their sins and the guilt of their fathers.(E) 3 While they stood in their places,(F) they read from the book of the law of the Lord their God for a fourth of the day and spent another fourth of the day(G) in confession(H) and worship of the Lord their God. 4 Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani stood on the raised platform built for the Levites(I) and cried out loudly to the Lord their God. 5 Then the Levites—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah(J)—said, “Stand up. Praise Yahweh your God from everlasting to everlasting.”(K)
Praise Your glorious name,(L)
and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise.
6 You[a] alone are Yahweh.(M)
You created the heavens,
the highest heavens with all their host,
the earth and all that is on it,
the seas and all that is in them.
You give life to all of them,(N)
and the heavenly host worships You.(O)
7 You are Yahweh,
the God who chose Abram
and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans,(P)
and changed his name to Abraham.(Q)
8 You found his heart faithful in Your sight,(R)
and made a covenant with him
to give the land of the Canaanites,
Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites,
Jebusites, and Girgashites—
to give it to his descendants.(S)
You have kept Your promise,
for You are righteous.
9 You saw the oppression of our ancestors in Egypt(T)
and heard their cry at the Red Sea.
10 You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh,
all his officials, and all the people of his land,(U)
for You knew how arrogantly they treated our ancestors.
You made a name for Yourself
that endures to this day.
11 You divided the sea before them,
and they crossed through it on dry ground.(V)
You hurled their pursuers into the depths
like a stone into churning waters.(W)
12 You led them with a pillar of cloud by day,
and with a pillar of fire by night,
to illuminate the way they should go.(X)
13 You came down on Mount Sinai,(Y)
and spoke to them from heaven.
You gave them impartial ordinances, reliable instructions,
and good statutes and commands.
14 You revealed Your holy Sabbath to them,
and gave them commands, statutes, and instruction
through Your servant Moses.(Z)
15 You provided bread from heaven(AA) for their hunger;
You brought them water from the rock(AB) for their thirst.
You told them to go in and possess the land
You had sworn[b] to give them.(AC)
16 But our ancestors acted arrogantly;
they became stiff-necked and did not listen to Your commands.
17 They refused to listen
and did not remember Your wonders
You performed among them.(AD)
They became stiff-necked and appointed a leader
to return to their slavery in Egypt.[c](AE)
But You are a forgiving God,
gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and rich in faithful love,(AF)
and You did not abandon them.
18 Even after they had cast an image of a calf
for themselves and said,
“This is your God who brought you out of Egypt,”(AG)
and they had committed terrible blasphemies,
19 You did not abandon them in the wilderness
because of Your great compassion.
During the day the pillar of cloud
never turned away from them,
guiding them on their journey.
And during the night the pillar of fire
illuminated the way they should go.(AH)
20 You sent Your good Spirit(AI) to instruct them.
You did not withhold Your manna(AJ) from their mouths,
and You gave them water for their thirst.(AK)
21 You provided for them in the wilderness 40 years(AL)
and they lacked nothing.
Their clothes did not wear out,
and their feet did not swell.(AM)
22 You gave them kingdoms and peoples
and assigned them to be a boundary.
They took possession
of the land of Sihon[d] king of Heshbon
and of the land of Og king of Bashan.(AN)
23 You multiplied their descendants
like the stars of heaven(AO)
and brought them to the land
You told their ancestors to go in and take possession of it.
24 So their descendants went in and possessed the land:
You subdued the Canaanites who inhabited the land before them
and handed their kings and the surrounding peoples over to them,(AP)
to do as they pleased with them.
25 They captured fortified cities and fertile land
and took possession of well-supplied houses,
cisterns cut out of rock, vineyards,
olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance.(AQ)
They ate, were filled,
became prosperous, and delighted in Your great goodness.
The Fall of Babylon the Great
18 After this I saw another angel with great authority coming down from heaven, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. 2 He cried in a mighty voice:
It has fallen,[a]
Babylon the Great has fallen!(A)
She has become a dwelling for demons,
a haunt for every unclean spirit,
a haunt for every unclean bird,
and a haunt[b] for every unclean and despicable beast.[c](B)
3 For all the nations have drunk[d]
the wine of her sexual immorality,
which brings wrath.(C)
The kings of the earth
have committed sexual immorality with her,
and the merchants of the earth
have grown wealthy from her excessive luxury.
4 Then I heard another voice from heaven:
Come out of her, My people,
so that you will not share in her sins(D)
or receive any of her plagues.
5 For her sins are piled up[e] to heaven,(E)
and God has remembered her crimes.
6 Pay her back the way she also paid,(F)
and double it according to her works.(G)
In the cup in which she mixed,(H)
mix a double portion for her.
7 As much as she glorified herself and lived luxuriously,
give her that much torment and grief,
for she says in her heart,
“I sit as a queen;
I am not a widow,
and I will never see grief.”(I)
8 For this reason her plagues will come in one day[f]—
death and grief and famine.
She will be burned up with fire,
because the Lord God who judges her is mighty.
The Tradition of the Elders
15 Then(A) Pharisees and scribes came from Jerusalem to Jesus and asked,(B) 2 “Why do Your disciples(C) break the tradition of the elders? For they don’t wash their hands when they eat!”[a](D)
3 He answered them, “And why do you break God’s commandment because of your tradition? 4 For God said:[b]
Honor your father and your mother;(E)[c] and,
The one who speaks evil of father or mother
must be put to death.(F)[d]
5 But you say, ‘Whoever tells his father or mother, “Whatever benefit you might have received from me is a gift committed to the temple”— 6 he does not have to honor his father.’[e] In this way, you have revoked God’s word[f] because of your tradition. 7 Hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you when he said:
8 These people[g] honor Me with their lips,
but their heart is far from Me.
9 They worship Me in vain,
teaching as doctrines the commands of men.”(G)[h]
Defilement Is from Within
10 Summoning the crowd, He told them, “Listen and understand: 11 It’s not what goes into the mouth that defiles(H) a man, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”(I)
12 Then the disciples came up and told Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees took offense when they heard this statement?”
13 He replied, “Every plant that My heavenly Father didn’t plant will be uprooted.(J) 14 Leave them alone! They are blind guides.[i] And if the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit.”(K)
15 Then Peter replied to Him, “Explain this parable to us.”(L)
16 “Are even you still lacking in understanding?” He[j] asked. 17 “Don’t you realize[k] that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is eliminated?[l] 18 But what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this defiles a man.(M) 19 For from the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies,(N) blasphemies.(O) 20 These are the things that defile a man, but eating with unwashed hands does not defile a man.”(P)
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