Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer to Restore Israel
For the music director, according to The Lilies.
A testimony. Of Asaph. A psalm.[a]
80 Give ear, O shepherd of Israel,
who leads Joseph like a flock.
Shine forth, you who sits enthroned above the cherubim.
2 Before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh,
stir up your power
and come for our salvation.
3 O God, restore us,
and cause your face to shine that we may be saved.
4 O Yahweh God of hosts,
how long will you be angry[b]
against the prayer of your people?
5 You have fed them the bread of tears;
you have given them tears to drink in full measure.[c]
6 You have made us an object of strife to our neighbors,
and our enemies mock among themselves.
7 O God of hosts, restore us
and cause your face to shine that we may be saved.
8 You uprooted a vine from Egypt;
you drove out the nations and planted it.
9 You prepared a place before it,
and it took deep root[d] and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shade,
and the mighty cedars with its boughs.
11 It spread its branches to the sea
and its shoots to the river.
12 Why have you broken down its walls,
so that all who pass on the road pluck fruit from it?
13 Swine from the forests devour[e] it
and creatures of the field feed on it.
14 Please return, O God of hosts.
Observe from heaven and see,
and pay attention to this vine,
15 eventhe stalk that your right hand planted,
and concerning the shoot[f] you strengthened for yourself.
16 It is burned with fire, cut down.
They perish at the rebuke of your face.
17 Let your hand be on the man of your right hand,
on the son of humankind whom you made strong for yourself.
18 Then we will not turn back from you.
Restore us to life, and we will proclaim your name.
19 O Yahweh God of hosts, restore us;
cause your face to shine that we may be saved.
Praise to Yahweh for His Help
146 Praise Yah.[a]
Praise Yahweh, O my soul.
2 I will praise Yahweh while I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I am still alive.
3 Do not place trust in princes,
in a son of humankind with whom there is no deliverance.
4 His breath departs; he returns to his plot;[b]
on that day his plans perish.
5 Blessed is the one whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is on Yahweh as his God,
6 who made heaven and earth,
the sea and all that is in them,
the one who keeps faith[c] forever,
7 who executes justice for the oppressed,
who gives food for the hungry.
Yahweh sets prisoners free;
8 Yahweh opens the eyes of the blind;
Yahweh raises up those bowed down;
Yahweh loves the righteous;
9 Yahweh protects[d] the strangers.
He helps up the orphan and the widow,
but the way of the wicked he thwarts.[e]
10 Yahweh will reign forever,
Your God, O Zion, throughout all generations.[f]
Praise Yah.[g]
Praise to Yahweh for His Providence
147 Praise Yah.[h]
For it is good to sing praises to our God;
for it is pleasant; praise is fitting.
2 Yahweh is building Jerusalem;
he gathers the scattered ones of Israel.
3 He is the one who heals the brokenhearted,
and binds up their wounds.
4 He counts the number of the stars;
he gives names to all of them.
5 Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
his understanding is unlimited.
6 Yahweh helps the afflicted up;
he brings the wicked down to the ground.
7 Sing to Yahweh with thanksgiving;
sing praises to our God with lyre,
8 who covers the heavens with clouds,
who provides rain for the earth,
who causes grass to grow on the mountains.
9 He gives to the animal its food,
and to the young ravens that cry.
10 He does not delight in the strength of the horse;
he takes no pleasure in the legs of the man.
11 Yahweh takes pleasure in those who fear him,
the ones who hope[i] for his loyal love.
12 Laud Yahweh, O Jerusalem;
praise your God, O Zion,
13 for he strengthens the bars of your gates.
He blesses your children within you;
14 he makes your border peaceful;
he satisfies you with the finest of wheat.[j]
15 He sends out his command[k] to the earth;
his word runs swiftly.
16 He gives snow like wool;
he scatters frost like ashes;
17 he throws his hail like crumbs.
Who can stand before his cold?[l]
18 He sends out his word and melts them;
he blows his breath, the water flows.
19 He declares his word to Jacob,
his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.
20 He has not done so for any nation,
and they do not know his ordinances.
Praise Yah.[m]
18 Then King David went and sat before Yahweh and said, “Who am I, my lord Yahweh, and what is my house that you have brought me up to this place?[a] 19 Still, this was insignificant[b] in your eyes, my lord Yahweh, and also you have spoken about the house of your servant from afar, and this may be the teaching of humans, my lord Yahweh. 20 What more can David say to you?[c] You know your servant, my lord Yahweh. 21 Because of your word and according to your heart, you have done all of this great thing, in order to let your servant know. 22 Therefore you are great, my lord Yahweh, for there is no one like you, and there is no god except you, in all that we have heard with our ears. 23 Who is like your people, like Israel? Israel is the one nation on earth whose God led them,[d] in order to redeem a people for himself, and to make a name for himself, and to do for you[e] the great and awesome things for your land in the presence of your people whom he redeemed for himself from Egypt, from the nations and their gods. 24 You have established your people Israel for yourself as a people forever, and you, O Yahweh, have become their God. 25 So then, Yahweh God, the word that you have spoken concerning your servant and concerning his house, confirm it forever, and do just as you have promised. 26 Your name shall be great forever, and they will say,[f] ‘Yahweh of hosts is God over Israel’; and the house of your servant David shall be established before you. 27 For you, O Yahweh of hosts, are God of Israel! You have revealed to the ear of your servant, ‘I will build a house for you’; therefore your servant has found courage[g] to pray this prayer to you. 28 Now, my Lord Yahweh, you alone are God, and your words are[h] true. You have promised this good to your servant. 29 So then, be content and bless the house of your servant to be forever in your presence, for you, my Lord Yahweh, have spoken, and because of your blessing, may the house of your servant be blessed forever.”
Justified by the Law, or Justified by Faith?
3 O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as having been crucified? 2 I want only to learn this from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now trying to be made complete by the flesh? 4 Have you suffered so many things for nothing—if indeed also it was for nothing? 5 Therefore does the one who gives you the Spirit and who works miracles among you do so by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
6 Just as Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness, 7 then understand that the ones who have faith[a], these are sons of Abraham. 8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, proclaimed the good news in advance to Abraham: “In you all the nations[b] will be blessed.”[c] 9 So then, the ones who have faith are blessed together with Abraham who believed. 10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse, for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all the things that are written in the book of the law to do them.”[d] 11 Now it is clear that no one is justified in the sight of God by the law, because “the one who is righteous will live by faith.”[e] 12 But the law is not from faith, but “the one who does these things will live by them.”[f]
13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by[g] becoming a curse for us, because it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree,”[h] 14 in order that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
The Birth of John the Baptist
57 Now the time came for Elizabeth that she should give birth, and she gave birth to a son. 58 And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy to her,[a] and they rejoiced with her. 59 And it happened that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were wanting to name him after[b] his father Zechariah. 60 And his mother answered and[c] said, “No, but he will be named John.” 61 And they said to her, “There is no one of your relatives who is called by this name.” 62 So they made signs to his father asking what he wanted him to be named, 63 and he asked for a writing tablet and[d] wrote, saying, “John is his name.” And they were all astonished. 64 And his mouth and his tongue were opened immediately, and he began to speak,[e] praising God. 65 And fear came on all those who lived near them, and in all the hill country of Judea all these events were discussed. 66 And all those who heard kept these things[f] in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be? For indeed the hand of the Lord was with him!”
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