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.
18 Then Judah went and he spoke to Joseph. He said, ‘Please, my lord. Let me speak to you. You have all of Pharaoh's authority, but please do not be angry with me, your servant. 19 You asked us, “Do you have a father or another brother?” 20 And we replied, “We have a father who is very old. He has a young son who was born when our father was already old. That son's brother is dead. He is the only son of his mother who still lives. His father loves him.” 21 Then you said, “Bring your youngest brother to me so that I can see him.” 22 And we said, “The boy cannot leave his father. If he leaves him, his father will die.” 23 But you said to us, “Your youngest brother must come with you. If he does not come, I will not let you see me again.” 24 We returned to our father and we told him what you said. 25 After some time, our father said, “Go back to Egypt and buy some more food for us.” 26 But we said, “We cannot go back there. We can only go if our youngest brother goes with us. If he is not with us, we will not be able to see the man again.” 27 Then my father said to us, “My wife gave birth to two sons. 28 One of them went away and he never returned. So I said, ‘A wild animal must have eaten him.’ I have not seen him since that happened. 29 If you take my youngest son away from me too, something bad may happen to him. I am already an old man. If I lose Benjamin, I would be so sad that I would die.” ’
30 Judah continued and he said, ‘So, my lord, I could not go back to my father without his youngest son. My father stays alive because of this boy. 31 If my father sees that his son is not with us, he will die. Because we did not bring the boy back to him, he will be sad enough to die. 32 I promised my father that I would take care of the boy. I said, “I will bring the boy back. If I do not, then you can say that I am guilty. I will be guilty for all of my life.” 33 Please sir, let me stay here as your slave, instead of the boy. Let the boy return home with his brothers. 34 I cannot go back to my father if the boy is not with me. I never want to see how upset my father would be.’[a]
25 You asked me a question about people who have not yet married. The Lord has not told me any special rule about this. But I will tell you what I myself think about it. The Lord has been very kind to me. You know that you can believe what I say. 26 This is what I think: There are many troubles in the world today. So it is better for everybody to continue as they are. 27 If you have a wife, do not try to send her away. If you do not have a wife, do not try to marry. 28 But if you do marry, that is not wrong. And if a young woman marries, that is not wrong. But people who marry will have many troubles during their life together. I want to save you from problems like that.
29 My Christian friends, this is what I mean: The time that remains is very short. So men who have wives should live as if they had no wife. 30 People who are sad should live as if they were not sad. People who are happy should live as if they had nothing to laugh about. People who buy things should live as if those things do not belong to them. 31 If you enjoy the things of this world, do not live as if those things are important. This world, as it is now, will soon finish.
Jesus makes a dead girl live
21 Jesus returned to the other side of the lake in the boat. While he was by the lake, a large crowd came to him. 22 A man called Jairus came to Jesus. He was a leader at the Jewish meeting place. When he saw Jesus, he went down on his knees in front of him. 23 He said, ‘My little daughter is very ill and she will die very soon. Please come to my house and put your hands on her. Then she will be well and she will live.’ 24 So Jesus went with Jairus.
A large crowd followed Jesus. The people were pushing against him. 25 There was a sick woman who had lost blood for 12 years. 26 She had paid many doctors to help her to become well. But they could not do anything. Now she had spent all her money. She had not become well. Instead, she was now worse. 27 People had told her about Jesus. So she came in the crowd behind him and she touched his coat. 28 She said, ‘Even if I can only touch his clothes, I will become well again.’ 29 As soon as she touched Jesus' coat, the blood stopped. She felt in her body that her illness was better. She knew that she was well again.
30 Jesus knew immediately that something powerful had gone out from him. So he turned around in the crowd and he asked, ‘Who touched my clothes?’
31 His disciples replied, ‘You can see that the crowd is pushing against you. So you cannot ask who touched you!’
32 But Jesus looked around him. He wanted to see who had touched him. 33 The woman knew what had happened to her. She felt very afraid. But she came to Jesus, and she went down on her knees in front of him. Then she told him everything that had happened to her. 34 Jesus said to her, ‘Young woman, you are now well again because you believed in me. Have peace in your mind. Go now and have no more pain.’
35 While Jesus was still speaking, some men arrived from the house of Jairus. He was the leader at the Jews' meeting place. The men said to Jairus, ‘Your daughter is dead. Do not ask any longer for the teacher to come.’
36 Jesus heard what the men said to Jairus. But Jesus said to him, ‘Do not be afraid. Instead, believe.’
37 Jesus took only Peter, James and James's brother, John, with him. He would not let anyone else go with him. 38 Then they came to Jairus's house. Jesus saw that there were many people there. They were crying and they were making a loud noise. 39 Jesus went into the house and he said to the people, ‘You should not be weeping and making a noise. The child is not dead. She is asleep.’ 40 The people laughed at Jesus when he said that.
Then Jesus sent them all out of the house. He went into the place where the child was lying. The child's father and mother went with him. He also took Peter, James and John with him. 41 Then Jesus held the girl's hand. He said to her, ‘Talitha koum.’ This means, ‘Little girl, I say to you, stand up!’[a] 42 The girl stood up immediately and she walked about. She was 12 years old. The people there were very surprised. 43 Jesus said to them, ‘You must not tell anyone what has happened here. Now give the girl something to eat.’
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