Book of Common Prayer
Asaph wrote this psalm for the music leader. He should use special music.
God, help our nation[a]
80 Shepherd of Israel, listen to us!
You lead us, Joseph's family,
as your sheep.[b]
God, you sit on your throne as king,
above the cherubs.[c]
Show everyone your bright glory!
2 Shine on Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.
Show your great power!
Come and rescue us!
3 God, turn us to come back to you.
Look at us with a smile on your face!
Then we will be safe.
4 Lord God Almighty,
we, your people, are praying to you.
How long will you continue to be angry with us?
5 You have caused us to eat tears as our food.
Buckets full of tears is what we drink.
6 You have caused the people who live near us
to laugh at us.
Our enemies insult us.
7 God Almighty, turn us to come back to you.
Look at us with a smile on your face!
Then we will be safe.
8 You pulled us out from Egypt,
like a vine that you dug out of the ground.
You chased nations out of this land,
and you planted us here.[d]
9 You prepared the ground ready for us.
We put down roots like a vine.[e]
We grew well and we covered all the land.
10 Our branches gave shade to the mountains,
and to the big cedar trees.
11 Our branches reached the Mediterranean Sea,
and as far as the Euphrates River.
12 Why have you knocked down the walls
that protected us?[f]
Now, anyone who passes can rob our fruit.
13 Wild pigs from the forest attack your vine.
Other wild animals eat all the fruit.
14 Come back to us, God Almighty!
Look down from heaven
and see what is happening!
Take care of your special vine.
15 You planted it with your own right hand.
You caused it to grow, like a strong son.[g]
16 But now the enemy has cut down your vine,
and they have burned it with fire.
Show them that you are angry with them,
and destroy them!
17 Give strength to the one who sits at your right hand.
He is the man that you have chosen to serve you.[h]
18 Then we will never turn away from you.
Give to us new life and strength,
so that we may always worship you.
19 Lord God Almighty, turn us to come back to you.
Look at us with a smile on your face!
Then we will be safe.
Asaph wrote this song for the music leader, Jeduthun.
A prayer in times of trouble[a]
77 I will call out to God for help.
I will call aloud to God,
and he will listen to me.
2 When trouble came to me,
I looked for the Lord to help me.
All through the night,
I lifted my hands to him while I prayed.
But I did not feel peace in myself.
3 When I think about God,
I am sad and upset.
I do not know if he will help me.
Selah.
4 God, you do not let me close my eyes to sleep.
I am so upset that I cannot even speak.[b]
5 I think about my life long ago,
in the years that have passed.
6 At night, I remember the songs that I sang before.
I think carefully about what is happening.
7 I ask myself, ‘Will the Lord always turn against me?
Will he never be kind to me again?
8 Does he no longer have a faithful love for his people?
Will he never do what he has promised us?
9 Has God forgotten to be kind and help us?
Is he so angry that he will not be kind to us any more?’[c]
Selah.
10 Then I said, ‘This makes me very upset!
Has the Most High God stopped helping us?
11 I will remember the things that the Lord has done.
Yes, I will remember the miracles that you did long ago.
12 I will think about everything that you have done.
I will think carefully about all those great things.’
13 God, your ways are holy.
There is no god as great as our God.
14 You are the God who does miracles.
You show the nations
that you are very powerful.
15 You used your power to rescue your people.
Yes, you saved the descendants
of Jacob and Joseph.
Selah.
16 The waters of the sea saw you, God.
When they saw you,
they shook with fear!
Even the deepest seas were afraid.
17 Rain poured down from the clouds.
The noise of thunder was in the skies.
Your arrows of lightning
shot everywhere.
18 The sound of your thunder was in the storm.
Your lightning made all the world bright.
The earth shook.
19 You went through the sea.
Your path went through the deep water,
but nobody saw where your feet had gone.
20 You led your people,
as a shepherd leads his sheep.
Moses and Aaron did that for you.
Asaph wrote this psalm.
God, help us![a]
79 God, foreign nations have attacked your own land.
They have spoiled your holy temple.[b]
They have destroyed the buildings in Jerusalem.
2 They have let birds come down
and eat the dead bodies of your people.
Your servants have become food for wild animals to eat.
3 The blood of your servants has poured out
all over the streets of Jerusalem.
There is nobody left there
to bury their bodies.
4 The nations that live near to us
do not respect us.
They laugh at us and they insult us.
5 Lord, how long will this continue?
Will you be angry with us for ever?
Will you always be angry,
like a fire that continues to burn?
6 Please punish those nations
that do not respect you.
Be angry with the kingdoms
that do not pray to you.
7 They have destroyed Jacob's descendants
and the land where they live.[c]
8 Our ancestors did bad things,
but do not say that we are guilty because of that.
Be kind and send help to us quickly.
We are in a lot of trouble!
9 God, help us! You are the one who can save us.
Rescue us,
so that people will respect your great name.
Forgive our sins,
so that people know you are good.
10 Foreign nations are saying about us,
‘Their God cannot help them!’
That is not right!
People of those nations have murdered your servants,
so punish them for us to see.
11 Listen to the prisoners who are in pain!
They are calling out for help.
Use your great power to make them free,
before their enemies kill them.
12 Lord, those countries near to us
have insulted you.
Punish them as they deserve,
seven times over!
Give them as much trouble as they have given to you.
13 Then we will continue to thank you for ever.
You take care of us,
as the sheep in your field.
We will tell our children and grandchildren to praise you,
as you deserve.
The people pray to God
9 On the 24th day of the same month, the Israelite people met together. They did not eat or drink. They wore sackcloth and they put dust on their heads.[a]
2 The Israelite people made themselves separate from foreign people. They stood up and they told God that they were sorry for their sins. They agreed that their ancestors had also done many bad things. 3 While the Israelites stood there, they read from the book of God's Law during a quarter of the day. During another quarter of the day they told the Lord their God about their sins and they worshipped him. 4 The Levites stood on some high steps. They called out in a loud voice to the Lord their God. Those Levites were Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani and Kenani. 5 Then the Levites (Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah and Pethahiah) said, ‘Stand up and praise the Lord your God. He lives always and for ever.’
They said, ‘Your name is great and wonderful.[b] We praise you more than words could ever say. 6 Only you are the Lord. You made the sky and the heavens above the sky. You made all the stars, the earth and everything on it. You made the seas and everything in them. You give life to everything. The great crowd of angels in heaven bend down low to worship you.
7 You are the Lord God who chose Abram. You brought him out of Ur, in Babylonia. You changed his name to be Abraham. 8 You knew that Abraham trusted you, so you made a covenant with him. You promised to give the land of Canaan to his descendants. That was the country where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites and Girgashites lived. You have done what you promised to do, because you are righteous.
9 You saw that our ancestors had trouble and pain in Egypt. You heard them cry to you for help at the Red Sea. 10 You did great miracles to show your power against Pharaoh, his officers and all his people.[c] You knew that they were being cruel to your people. You showed everyone that you are a great God. And people still know that it is true. 11 You divided the sea into two parts so that your people could cross it on a dry path. When Pharaoh's soldiers chased after them, you threw them into the sea. They drowned in the water, like a heavy stone. 12 During the day, you led your people with a pillar of cloud. At night, you led them with a pillar of fire to give them light. You showed them the way that they should travel.
13 At Sinai mountain, you came down from heaven and you spoke to your people. You gave them your laws, rules and commands, which are good, fair and true. 14 You told them about the Sabbath and how to make it a special day. You gave all your laws to Moses so that he would teach them to your people. 15 You gave your people bread from heaven when they were hungry. You gave them water from a rock to drink when they were thirsty. You commanded them to go to the land that you had promised to give them. You told them to take it for themselves.
16 But our ancestors turned away from you. They would not agree to obey your commands. 17 They refused to obey you. They forgot about all the miracles that you had done to help them. Instead, they turned against you. They chose a leader to take them back to Egypt, where they had been slaves. But you are a God who forgives people. You are kind to people. You are slow to get angry and your love for your people always continues. So you did not leave your people alone.
18 Our ancestors made an image of a young cow to be their god.[d] They said to each other, “This is our god who brought us out of Egypt.” They insulted you in that way, but you still did not turn away from your people.
19 You were kind to them while they travelled in the desert. You continued to lead them with a pillar of cloud in the day. At night, you continued to show them the way with a pillar of fire. So they always knew which way to go. 20 You gave them your good Spirit to teach them what to do. You continued to give them manna from heaven to eat. You gave them water from a rock to drink. 21 During 40 years you took care of them in the desert. Their clothes did not spoil. Their feet did not become big with pain.
22 You gave kingdoms and nations to your people. The borders of their land reached a long way. The land of King Sihon of Heshbon became their own land. So did the land of King Og of Bashan. 23 You caused your people to have many descendants, as many as the stars in the sky. You brought them to the land that you had promised to their ancestors. You had told them to go and live in it. 24 Their descendants went there and they took the land for themselves. You gave them power over the Canaanites and the other kings and nations who lived there. They could do whatever they wanted with those people. 25 They took their strong cities and their good land for themselves. The houses of those people were full of many good things. Your people could use the things that were already there. They had their wells, their vineyards, their olive trees and other fruit trees. They had as much food as they could eat, so they became fat. The many good things that you gave them made them very happy.
The end of Babylon
18 After these things happened, I saw another angel. He was coming down from heaven. He had great authority. He was beautiful and he shone brightly. He gave light to the whole world. 2 He shouted with a very loud voice:
‘God has destroyed the great city of Babylon!
She has become a place where demons live.
She is a home for every disgusting spirit.
She is a home for every unclean bird.
She is a home for every unclean and disgusting animal.
3 She has been like a prostitute who makes men become drunk.
Then she leads them to have sex in a wrong way.
She has caused people from every nation to turn away from God.
It is like all the kings of the earth have had sex with that bad woman.
All the traders of the earth have become rich,
because she has bought things from them to enjoy a wicked life.’
4 Then I heard another voice which spoke from heaven. It said:
‘My people, leave the city! Come out!
Do not do the bad things that the people of that city have done.
Then you will not receive the terrible troubles that God sends to them.
5 They have done very many bad things.
Their sins have reached as high as heaven.
God has remembered to punish them.
6 Yes, punish the people of that city.
Do to them the same things that they have done to others.
Punish them with twice the bad things that they themselves have done.
She caused people to drink pain from her cup.
Now make her drink twice as much pain for herself!
7 She liked to receive honour.
She bought expensive things to enjoy a wicked life.
So now give her the trouble and pain that she deserves.
She has said to herself, “I rule people like a queen.
I do not live like a widow.
I will never need to be sad.”
8 Because she speaks like that,
she will receive many troubles in one single day.
Her people will become very ill.
They will be very sad.
They will have no food to eat.
Fire will destroy the city,
The Lord God is powerful.
So he will punish her with these troubles.’
Jesus tells the Pharisees and teachers of God's Law to obey God
15 After that, a group of Pharisees and teachers of God's Law came from Jerusalem to talk to Jesus. 2 They said, ‘Our leaders in past times taught us the right way to do everything. But your disciples do not obey the things that our leaders taught us. They do not wash their hands in the right way before they eat a meal. Why is that?’
3 Jesus replied, ‘God tells us the right way to obey him. But you refuse. Instead, you like to keep your own ideas. 4 God's Law says: “You must love your father and mother and obey them.” God also said, “A person should die if he says bad things against his father or against his mother.” 5 But you teach that a person may say to his father or to his mother, “I would have given gifts to help you. But I cannot do that because I have given them to God instead.” 6 Then, you let that person give nothing to his parents. He does not have to help them. This shows that you have not obeyed what God says is right. Instead, you have obeyed your own ideas. 7 You are hypocrites! What God's prophet Isaiah wrote about you long ago is true:
8 God says, “These people say good things about me,
but they do not really want to obey me.
9 They say that I am great.
But what they say has no purpose.
They teach their own rules, which I did not give to them.” ’
Jesus talks about the wrong things that people do
10 Jesus asked the crowd of people to come to him. He said to them, ‘Listen to me, so that you can understand my message. 11 It is not food that goes into people's mouths that makes them unclean. Instead, what comes out of people's mouths is important. It may show that what is inside them is unclean.’
12 Then Jesus' disciples went to him, and they said, ‘The Pharisees heard what you said. They did not agree with what you said. Do you know that?’
13 Jesus replied, ‘Those Pharisees are like plants that my Father God did not put in the ground. Like a farmer, he will completely pull all those plants out of the ground. 14 Do not listen to what the Pharisees say. They are blind, but they try to show people which way to go. A blind person cannot lead another blind person. If he does, then both of them will fall into a deep hole.’
15 Peter said to Jesus, ‘Explain to us what you mean.’
16 Jesus replied, ‘I am surprised that you still do not understand what I am saying. 17 You should understand that food first goes into people's mouths. Then it goes into their stomach, and then it passes out of their body. 18 The words that people speak come from their thoughts. It is what comes out of their mouths that makes them unclean. 19 Evil thoughts come out from people's minds. As a result, they do wrong things. They murder people. They have sex with another man's wife. They have sex in other wrong ways. They rob people. They tell lies about other people. They insult people.
20 It is these bad things that make people unclean. But if people eat food when they have not washed their hands in the right way, that will not make them unclean.’
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