Book of Common Prayer
(A psalm by Asaph for the music leader. To the tune “Lilies of the Agreement.”)
Help Our Nation
1 (A) Shepherd of Israel, you lead
the descendants of Joseph,
and you sit on your throne
above the winged creatures.[a]
Listen to our prayer
and let your light shine
2 for the tribes of Ephraim,
Benjamin, and Manasseh.
Save us by your power.
3 Our God, make us strong again!
Smile on us and save us.
4 Lord God All-Powerful,
how much longer
will the prayers of your people
make you angry?
5 You gave us tears for food,
and you made us drink them
by the bowlful.
6 Because of you,
our enemies who live nearby
laugh and joke about us.
7 Our God, make us strong again!
Smile on us and save us.
8 We were like a grapevine
you brought out of Egypt.
You chased other nations away
and planted us here.
9 Then you cleared the ground,
and we put our roots deep,
spreading over the land.
10 Shade from this vine covered
the mountains.
Its branches climbed
the mighty cedars
11 and stretched to the sea;
its new growth reached
to the river.[b]
12 Our Lord, why have you
torn down the wall
from around the vineyard?
You let everyone who walks by
pick the grapes.
13 Now the vine is gobbled up
by pigs from the forest
and other wild animals.
14 God All-Powerful,
please do something!
Look down from heaven
and see what's happening
to this vine.
15 With your own hands
you planted its roots,
and you raised it
as your very own.
16 Enemies chopped the vine down
and set it on fire.
Now show your anger
and destroy them.
17 But help the one who sits
at your right side,[c]
the one you raised
to be your very own.
18 Then we will never turn away.
Put new life into us,
and we will worship you.
19 Lord God All-Powerful,
make us strong again!
Smile on us and save us.
(A psalm by Asaph for Jeduthun, the music leader.)
In Times of Trouble God Is with His People
1 I pray to you, Lord God,
and I beg you to listen.
2 In days filled with trouble,
I search for you.
And at night I tirelessly
lift my hands in prayer,
refusing comfort.
3 When I think of you,
I feel restless and weak.
4 Because of you, Lord God,
I can't sleep.
I am restless
and can't even talk.
5 I think of times gone by,
of those years long ago.
6 Each night my mind
is flooded with questions:[a]
7 “Have you rejected me forever?
Won't you be kind again?
8 Is this the end of your love
and your promises?
9 Have you forgotten
how to have pity?
Do you refuse to show mercy
because of your anger?”
10 Then I said, “God Most High,
what hurts me most
is that you no longer help us
with your mighty arm.”
11 Our Lord, I will remember
the things you have done,
your miracles of long ago.
12 I will think about each one
of your mighty deeds.
13 Everything you do is right,
and no other god
compares with you.
14 You alone work miracles,
and you have let nations
see your mighty power.
15 With your own arm you rescued
your people, the descendants
of Jacob and Joseph.
16 The ocean looked at you, God,
and it trembled deep down
with fear.
17 Water flowed from the clouds.
Thunder was heard above
as your arrows of lightning
flashed about.
18 Your thunder roared
like chariot wheels.
The world was made bright
by lightning,
and all the earth trembled.
19 You walked through the water
of the mighty sea,
but your footprints
were never seen.
20 You guided your people
like a flock of sheep,
and you chose Moses and Aaron
to be their leaders.
(A psalm by Asaph.)
Have Pity on Jerusalem
1 (A) Our God, foreign nations
have taken your land,
disgraced your temple,
and left Jerusalem in ruins.
2 They have fed the bodies
of your servants
to flesh-eating birds;
your loyal people are food
for savage animals.
3 All Jerusalem is covered
with their blood,
and there is no one left
to bury them.
4 Every nation around us
sneers and makes fun.
5 Our Lord, will you keep on
being angry?
Will your angry feelings
keep flaming up like fire?
6 Get angry with those nations
that don't know you
and won't worship you!
7 They have gobbled up
Jacob's descendants
and left the land in ruins.
8 (B) Don't make us pay for the sins
of our ancestors.
Have pity and come quickly!
We are completely helpless.
9 Our God, you keep us safe.
Now help us! Rescue us.
Forgive our sins
and bring honor to yourself.
10 Why should nations ask us,
“Where is your God?”
Let us and the other nations
see you take revenge
for your servants who died
a violent death.
11 Listen to the prisoners groan!
Let your mighty power save all
who are sentenced to die.
12 Each of those nations sneered
at you, our Lord.
Now let others sneer at them,
seven times as much.
13 Then we, your people,
will always thank you.
We are like sheep
with you as our shepherd,
and all generations
will hear us praise you.
The People Confess Their Sins
9 On the twenty-fourth day of the seventh month,[a] the people of Israel went without eating, and they dressed in sackcloth and threw dirt on their heads to show their sorrow. 2 They refused to let foreigners join them, as they met to confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors. 3 For three hours they stood and listened to the Law of the Lord their God, and then for the next three hours they confessed their sins and worshiped the Lord.
4 Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani stood on the special platform for the Levites and prayed aloud to the Lord their God. 5 Then the Levites Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah said:
“Stand and shout praises
to your Lord,
the eternal God![b]
Praise his wonderful name,
though he is greater
than words can express.”
The People Pray
6 You alone are the Lord,
Creator of the heavens
and all the stars,
Creator of the earth
and those who live on it,
Creator of the ocean
and all its creatures.
You are the source of life,
praised by the stars
that fill the heavens.
7 (A) You are the Lord our God,
the one who chose Abram—
you brought him from Ur
in Babylonia
and named him Abraham.
8 (B) Because he was faithful,
you made an agreement
to give his descendants
the land of the Canaanites
and Hittites,
of the Amorites and Perizzites,
and of the Jebusites
and Girgashites.
Now you have kept your promise,
just as you always do.
9 (C) When our ancestors
were in Egypt,
you saw their suffering;
when they were at the Red Sea,[c]
you heard their cry for help.
10 (D) You knew that the King of Egypt
and his officials and his nation
had mistreated your people.
So you worked fearsome miracles
against the Egyptians
and earned a reputation
that still remains.
11 (E) You divided the deep sea,
and your people walked through
on dry land.
But you tossed their enemies in,
and they sank down
like a heavy stone.
12 (F) Each day you led your people
with a thick cloud,
and at night you showed the way
with a flaming fire.
13 (G) At Sinai you came down
from heaven,
and you gave your people
good laws and teachings
that are fair and honest.
14 You commanded them to respect
your holy Sabbath,
and you instructed
your servant Moses
to teach them your laws.
15 (H) When they were hungry,
you sent bread from heaven,
and when they were thirsty,
you let water flow
from a rock.
Then you commanded them
to capture the land
that you had solemnly promised.
* 16 (I) Our stubborn ancestors
refused to obey—
they forgot about the miracles
you had worked for them,
and they were determined
to return to Egypt
and become slaves again.
17 (J) But, our God, you are merciful
and quick to forgive;
you are loving, kind,
and very patient.
So you never turned away
from them—
18 (K) not even when they made
an idol shaped like a calf
and insulted you by claiming,
“This is the god who rescued us
from Egypt.”
19 (L) Because of your great mercy,
you never abandoned them
in the desert.
And you always guided them
with a cloud by day
and a fire at night.
20 Your gentle Spirit
instructed them,[d]
and you gave them manna[e] to eat
and water to drink.
21 You took good care of them,
and for forty years
they never lacked a thing.
Their clothes didn't wear out,
and their feet were never swollen.
22 (M) You let them conquer kings
and take their land,
including King Sihon of Heshbon
and King Og of Bashan.[f]
23 (N) You brought them into the land
that you had promised
their ancestors,
and you blessed their nation
with people that outnumbered
the stars in the sky.
24 (O) Then their descendants
conquered the land.
You helped them defeat
the kings and nations
and treat their enemies
however they wished.
25 (P) They captured strong cities
and rich farmland;
they took furnished houses,
as well as cisterns,[g]
vineyards, olive orchards,
and numerous fruit trees.
They ate till they were satisfied,
and they celebrated
your abundant blessings.
The Fall of Babylon
18 I saw another angel come from heaven. This one had great power, and the earth was bright because of his glory. 2 (A) The angel shouted,
“Fallen! Powerful Babylon
has fallen
and is now the home
of demons.
It is the den
of every filthy spirit
and of all unclean birds,
and every dirty
and hated animal.
3 (B) Babylon's evil and immoral wine
has made all nations drunk.
Every king on earth
has slept with her,
and every merchant on earth
is rich because of
her evil desires.”
4 (C) Then I heard another voice
from heaven shout,
“My people, you must escape
from Babylon.
Don't take part in her sins
and share her punishment.
5 (D) Her sins are piled
as high as heaven.
God has remembered the evil
she has done.
6 (E) Treat her as she
has treated others.
Make her pay double
for what she has done.
Make her drink twice as much
of what she mixed
for others.
7 (F) That woman honored herself
with a life of luxury.
Reward her now
with suffering and pain.
“Deep in her heart
Babylon said,
‘I am the queen!
Never will I be a widow
or know what it means
to be sad.’
8 And so, in a single day
she will suffer the pain
of sorrow, hunger, and death.
Fire will destroy
her dead body,
because her judge
is the powerful Lord God.”
The Teaching of the Ancestors
(Mark 7.1-13)
15 About this time some Pharisees and teachers of the Law of Moses came from Jerusalem. They asked Jesus, 2 “Why don't your disciples obey what our ancestors taught us to do? They don't even wash their hands[a] before they eat.”
3 Jesus answered:
Why do you disobey God and follow your own teaching? 4 (A) Didn't God command you to respect your father and mother? Didn't he tell you to put to death all who curse their parents? 5 But you let people get by without helping their parents when they should. You let them say that what they have has been offered to God.[b] 6 Is this any way to show respect to your parents? You ignore God's commands in order to follow your own teaching. 7 And you are nothing but show-offs! Isaiah the prophet was right when he wrote that God had said,
8 (B) “All of you praise me
with your words,
but you never really
think about me.
9 It is useless for you
to worship me,
when you teach rules
made up by humans.”
What Really Makes People Unclean
(Mark 7.14-23)
10 Jesus called the crowd together and said, “Pay attention and try to understand what I mean. 11 The food you put into your mouth doesn't make you unclean and unfit to worship God. The bad words that come out of your mouth are what make you unclean.”
12 Then his disciples came over to him and asked, “Do you know you insulted the Pharisees by what you said?”
13 Jesus answered, “Every plant that my Father in heaven did not plant will be pulled up by the roots. 14 (C) Stay away from those Pharisees! They are like blind people leading other blind people, and all of them will fall into a ditch.”
15 Peter replied, “What did you mean when you talked about the things that make people unclean?”
16 Jesus then said:
Don't any of you know by now what I am talking about? 17 Don't you know that the food you put into your mouth goes into your stomach and then out of your body? 18 (D) But the words that come out of your mouth come from your heart. And they are what make you unfit to worship God. 19 Out of your heart come evil thoughts, murder, unfaithfulness in marriage, vulgar deeds, stealing, telling lies, and insulting others. 20 These are what make you unclean. Eating without washing your hands will not make you unfit to worship God.
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