Book of Common Prayer
An instruction[a] of Asaph
Remembering God in Times of Trouble
78 Listen, my people, to my instruction.
Hear[b] the words of my mouth.
2 I will tell[c] a parable,
speaking riddles from long ago—
3 things that we have heard and known
and that our ancestors related to us.
4 We will not withhold them from their descendants;
we’ll declare to the next generation the praises of the Lord—
his might and awesome deeds that he has performed.
5 He established a decree in Jacob,
and established the Law in Israel,
that he commanded our ancestors
to reveal to their children
6 in order that the next generation—
children yet to be born—
will know them and
in turn teach them to their children.
7 Then they will put their trust in God
and they will not forget his awesome deeds.
Instead, they will keep his commandments.
8 They will not be like the rebellious generation of their ancestors,
a rebellious generation,
whose heart was not steadfast,
and whose spirits were unfaithful to God.
9 The descendants of Ephraim were sharp shooters with the bow,
but they retreated in the day of battle.
10 They did not keep God’s covenant,
and refused to live by his Law.
11 They have forgotten what he has done,
his awesome deeds that they witnessed.
12 He performed marvelous things
in the presence of their ancestors
in the land of Egypt—
in the fields of Zoan.
13 He divided the sea so that they were able to cross;
he caused the water to stand in a single location.
14 He led them with a cloud during the day,
and during the night with light from the fire.
15 He caused the rocks to split in the wilderness,
and gave them water[d] as from an abundant sea.
16 He brought streams from rock,
causing water to flow like a river.
17 But time and again, they sinned against him,
rebelling against the Most High in the desert.
18 To test God was in their minds,
when they demanded food to satisfy their cravings.[e]
19 They spoke against God by asking,
“Is God able to prepare a feast[f] in the desert?
20 It’s true that[g] Moses[h] struck the rock so that water flowed forth
and torrents of water gushed out,
but is he also able to give bread
or to supply meat for his people?”
21 Therefore, when the Lord heard this, he was angry,
and fire broke out against Jacob.
Moreover, his anger flared against Israel,
22 because they didn’t believe in God
and didn’t trust in his deliverance.
23 Yet he commanded the skies above
and the doors of the heavens to open,
24 so that manna rained down on them for food
and he sent them the grain of heaven.
25 Mortal men[i] ate the food of angels;
he sent provision to them in abundance.
26 He stirred up the east wind in the heavens
and drove the south wind by his might.
27 He caused meat to rain on them like dust
and winged birds as the sand of the sea.
28 He caused these to fall in the middle of the camp
and all around their tents.
29 So they ate and were very satisfied,
because he granted their desire.
30 However, before they had fulfilled their desire,
while their food was still in their mouths,
31 the anger of God flared against them,
and he killed the strongest men
and humbled Israel’s young men.
32 In spite of all of this, they kept on sinning
and didn’t believe in his marvelous deeds.
33 So he made their days end in futility,
and their years with sudden terror.
34 When he struck them, they sought him;
they repented, and eagerly sought God.
35 Then they remembered that God was their rock,
and the Most High God was their deliverer.
36 But they deceived him with their mouths;
they lied to him with their tongues.
37 For their hearts weren’t committed to him,
and they weren’t faithful to his covenant.
38 But he, being merciful, forgave their iniquity
and didn’t destroy them;
He restrained his anger
and didn’t vent all his wrath.
39 For he remembered that they were only flesh,
a passing wind that doesn’t return.
40 How they rebelled against him in the desert,
grieving him in the wilderness!
41 They tested God again and again,
provoking the Holy One of Israel.
42 They did not remember his power—
the day he delivered them from their adversary,
43 when he set his signs in Egypt
and his wonders in the plain of Zoan.
44 He turned their rivers into blood
and made their streams undrinkable.
45 He sent swarms of insects to bite them
and frogs to destroy them.
46 He gave their crops to caterpillars
and what they worked for to locusts.
47 He destroyed their vines with hail
and their sycamore[j] trees with frost.
48 He delivered their beasts to hail
and their livestock to lightning bolts.
49 He inflicted his burning anger,
wrath, indignation, and distress,
sending destroying angels among them.
50 He blazed a path for his anger;
he did not stop short from killing them,
but handed them over to pestilence.
51 He struck every firstborn in Egypt,
the first fruits of their manhood in the tents of Ham.
52 Yet he led out his people like sheep,
guiding them like a flock in the desert.
53 He led them to safety so they would not fear.
As for their enemies, the sea covered them.
54 He brought the people[k] to the border of his holy mountain,
which he acquired by his might.
55 He drove out nations before them
and allotted their tribal inheritance,
settling the tribes of Israel in their tents.
56 But they tested the Most High God by rebelling against him,
and they did not obey his statutes.
57 They fell away and were as disloyal as their ancestors.
They became unreliable, like a defective bow;
58 they angered him with their high places
and with their carved images they made him jealous.
59 God heard and became furious,
and he completely rejected Israel.
60 He abandoned the tent at Shiloh,
the tent that he established among mankind.
61 Then he sent his might[l] into captivity
and his glory into the control of the adversary.
62 He delivered his people over to the sword
and was angry with his possession.
63 The young men were consumed by fire,
and the virgins had no marriage celebrations.[m]
64 The priests fell by the sword,
yet their widows couldn’t weep.
65 The Lord awoke as though from sleep,
like a mighty warrior stimulated by wine.
66 He beat back his adversaries,
permanently disgracing them.
67 He rejected the clan[n] of Joseph;
and the tribe of Ephraim he did not choose.
68 But he chose the tribe of Judah,
the mountain of Zion, which he loves.
69 He built his sanctuary, high as the heavens,
like the earth that he established forever.
70 Then he chose his servant David,
whom he took from the sheepfold.
71 He brought him from birthing sheep
to care for Jacob, his people,
Israel, his possession.
72 David[o] shepherded them with a devoted heart,
and led them with skillful hands.
Isaac Lives in Philistia for a While
26 Later on, a famine swept through the land. This famine was different from the previous famine that had occurred earlier, during Abraham’s lifetime. So Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Philistines, at Gerar.
2 That’s when the Lord appeared to Isaac.[a] “You are not to go down to Egypt,” he said. “Instead, you are to settle down in an area within this land where I’ll tell you. 3 Remain in this land, and I’ll be with and bless you by giving all these lands to you and to your descendants in fulfillment of my solemn promise that I made to your father Abraham. 4 I’ll cause you to have as many descendants as the stars of the heavens, and I’ll certainly give all these lands to your descendants. Later on, through your descendants all the nations of the earth will bless one another. 5 I’m going to do this because Abraham did what I told him to do. He kept my instructions, commands, statutes, and laws.”
6 So Isaac lived in Gerar.
Isaac Grows Wealthy
12 Isaac received a 100-fold return on what he planted that year in the land he received,[a] because the Lord blessed him. 13 He[b] became very wealthy and lived a life of wealth,[c] becoming more and more wealthy. 14 He owned so many sheep, cattle, and servants that the Philistines eventually became envious of him. 15 They[d] filled in with sand all of the wells that Isaac’s[e] father Abraham’s servants had dug during his lifetime. 16 Then Abimelech ordered Isaac, “Move away from us! You’ve become more powerful than we are.” 17 So Isaac moved from there and encamped in the Gerar Valley, where he settled.
Disputes over Water Rights
18 Isaac re-excavated some wells that his father had first dug during his lifetime, because the Philistines had filled them with sand[f] after Abraham’s death. Isaac[g] renamed those wells with the same names that his father had called them.
19 While Isaac’s servants were digging in the valley, they discovered a well with flowing water. 20 But the herdsmen who lived in Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen. “The water is ours,” they said. As a result, Isaac named the well Esek,[h] for they had fiercely disputed with him about it. 21 When his workers started digging another well, those herdsmen[i] quarreled about that one, too, so Isaac[j] named it Sitnah.[k] 22 Then he left that area and dug still another well. Because they did not quarrel over that one, Isaac[l] named it Rehoboth,[m] because he used to say, “The Lord has enlarged the territory[n] for us. We will prosper in the land.”
God Renews His Promise to Isaac
23 Later on, he left there and went to Beer-sheba, 24 where one night the Lord appeared to him. “I am the God of your father Abraham,” he told him. “Don’t be afraid, because I’m with you. I’m going to bless you and multiply your descendants on account of my servant Abraham.” 25 In response, Isaac built an altar there and called on the name of the Lord. He also pitched his tents there and his servants dug a well.
Abimelech Requests a Covenant
26 Later, Abimelech traveled from Gerar to visit Isaac[o]. He arrived with Ahuzzath, his staff advisor, and Phicol, the commanding officer of his army.
27 “Why have you come to see me,” Isaac asked them, “since you hate me so much that you sent me away from you?”
28 “We’ve seen that the Lord is with you,” they responded, “so we’re proposing an agreement[p] between us—between us and you. Allow us to make a treaty with you 29 by which you’ll agree not to do us any harm, just as we haven’t harmed[q] you, since we’ve done nothing but good for you after we sent you away in peace. As a result, you’ve been tremendously blessed by the Lord.” 30 So Isaac[r] held a festival for them, and they ate and drank. 31 They woke up early the next morning and made the treaty.[s] After this, Isaac sent them off and they left on peaceful terms.
32 That very same day, Isaac’s servants arrived and reported to him about a well that they had just completed digging. “We’ve found water!” they said. 33 So Isaac[t] named the well Shebah,[u] which is why the city is named Beer-sheba[v] to this day.
17 Continue to follow and be submissive to your leaders, since they are watching over your souls as those who will have to give a word of explanation. By doing this, you will be letting them carry out their duties joyfully, and not with grief, for that would be harmful for you.
18 Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way. 19 I especially ask you to do this so that I may be brought back to you sooner.
20 Now may the God of peace, who by the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, the Great Shepherd of the sheep, 21 equip you with everything good[a] to do his will, accomplishing in us[b] what pleases him through Jesus, the Messiah.[c] To him be glory forever and ever![d] Amen.
Final Greeting
22 I urge you, brothers, to listen patiently to my encouraging message,[e] for I have written you a short letter.[f] 23 You should know that our brother Timothy has been set free. If he comes soon, he will be with me when I see you.
24 Greet all your leaders and all the saints. Those who are from Italy greet you.
25 May grace be with all of you![g]
53 Then all of them went to their own homes.
The Woman Caught in Adultery
8 Jesus, however, went to the Mount of Olives. 2 At daybreak he appeared again in the Temple, and all the people came to him. So he sat down and began to teach them. 3 But the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery.[a] After setting her before them,[b] 4 they told him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the very act of adultery. 5 Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women to death. What do you say?” 6 They said this to test him, so that they might have a charge against him. But Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with his finger.
7 When they persisted in questioning him, he straightened up and told them, “Let the person among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Then he bent down again and continued writing on the ground.[c] 9 When they heard this, they went away one by one,[d] beginning with the oldest,[e] and he was left alone with the woman standing there.[f] 10 Then Jesus stood up and asked her, “Dear lady,[g] where are your accusers?[h] Hasn’t anyone condemned you?”
11 “No one, sir,”[i] she replied.
Then Jesus said, “I don’t condemn you, either. Go home, and from now on don’t sin anymore.”[j]
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