Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 78
Lessons from Israel’s Past
A Maskil of Asaph.(A)
1 My people, hear my instruction;
listen to what I say.(B)
2 I will declare wise sayings;
I will speak mysteries from the past(C)—
3 things we have heard and known
and that our fathers have passed down to us.(D)
4 We must not hide them from their children,
but must tell a future generation
the praises of the Lord,
His might, and the wonderful works
He has performed.(E)
5 He established a testimony in Jacob
and set up a law in Israel,
which He commanded our fathers
to teach to their children(F)
6 so that a future generation—
children yet to be born—might know.
They were to rise and tell their children(G)
7 so that they might put their confidence in God
and not forget God’s works,
but keep His commands.(H)
8 Then they would not be like their fathers,
a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation whose heart was not loyal
and whose spirit was not faithful to God.(I)
9 The Ephraimite archers turned back
on the day of battle.(J)
10 They did not keep God’s covenant
and refused to live by His law.(K)
11 They forgot what He had done,
the wonderful works He had shown them.(L)
12 He worked wonders in the sight of their fathers
in the land of Egypt, the region of Zoan.(M)
13 He split the sea and brought them across;
the water stood firm like a wall.(N)
14 He led them with a cloud by day
and with a fiery light throughout the night.(O)
15 He split rocks in the wilderness
and gave them drink as abundant as the depths.(P)
16 He brought streams out of the stone
and made water flow down like rivers.(Q)
17 But they continued to sin against Him,
rebelling in the desert against the Most High.(R)
18 They deliberately[a] tested God,
demanding the food they craved.(S)
19 They spoke against God, saying,
“Is God able to provide food in the wilderness?
20 Look! He struck the rock and water gushed out;
torrents overflowed.(T)
But can He also provide bread
or furnish meat for His people?”(U)
21 Therefore, the Lord heard and became furious;
then fire broke out against Jacob,
and anger flared up against Israel(V)
22 because they did not believe God
or rely on His salvation.(W)
23 He gave a command to the clouds above
and opened the doors of heaven.(X)
24 He rained manna for them to eat;
He gave them grain from heaven.(Y)
25 People[b] ate the bread of angels.[c]
He sent them an abundant supply of food.(Z)
26 He made the east wind blow in the skies
and drove the south wind by His might.(AA)
27 He rained meat on them like dust,
and winged birds like the sand of the seas.
28 He made them fall in His camp,
all around His tent.[d][e](AB)
29 They ate and were completely satisfied,
for He gave them what they craved.(AC)
30 Before they had satisfied their desire,
while the food was still in their mouths,
31 God’s anger flared up against them,
and He killed some of their best men.
He struck down Israel’s choice young men.(AD)
32 Despite all this, they kept sinning
and did not believe His wonderful works.(AE)
33 He made their days end in futility,
their years in sudden disaster.(AF)
34 When He killed some of them,
the rest began to seek Him;
they repented and searched for God.(AG)
35 They remembered that God was their rock,
the Most High God, their Redeemer.(AH)
36 But they deceived Him with their mouths,
they lied to Him with their tongues,(AI)
37 their hearts were insincere toward Him,
and they were unfaithful to His covenant.(AJ)
38 Yet He was compassionate;
He atoned for[f] their guilt
and did not destroy them.
He often turned His anger aside
and did not unleash[g] all His wrath.(AK)
39 He remembered that they were only flesh,
a wind that passes and does not return.(AL)
40 How often they rebelled against Him
in the wilderness
and grieved Him in the desert.
41 They constantly tested God(AM)
and provoked the Holy One of Israel.(AN)
42 They did not remember His power shown
on the day He redeemed them from the foe,(AO)
43 when He performed His miraculous signs in Egypt
and His wonders in the region of Zoan.(AP)
44 He turned their rivers into blood,
and they could not drink from their streams.(AQ)
45 He sent among them swarms of flies,(AR)
which fed on them,
and frogs, which devastated them.(AS)
46 He gave their crops to the caterpillar
and the fruit of their labor to the locust.(AT)
47 He killed their vines with hail
and their sycamore fig trees with a flood.
48 He handed over their livestock to hail
and their cattle to lightning bolts.(AU)
49 He sent His burning anger against them:
fury, indignation, and calamity—
a band of deadly messengers.[h](AV)
50 He cleared a path for His anger.
He did not spare them from death
but delivered their lives to the plague.(AW)
51 He struck all the firstborn(AX) in Egypt,
the first progeny of the tents of Ham.[i](AY)
52 He led His people out like sheep
and guided them like a flock in the wilderness.(AZ)
53 He led them safely, and they were not afraid;
but the sea covered their enemies.(BA)
54 He brought them to His holy land,
to the mountain His right hand acquired.(BB)
55 He drove out nations before them.(BC)
He apportioned their inheritance by lot
and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.(BD)
56 But they rebelliously tested the Most High God,
for they did not keep His decrees.(BE)
57 They treacherously turned away like their fathers;
they became warped like a faulty bow.(BF)
58 They enraged Him with their high places
and provoked His jealousy with their carved images.(BG)
59 God heard and became furious;
He completely rejected Israel.(BH)
60 He abandoned the tabernacle at Shiloh,
the tent where He resided among men.[j](BI)
61 He gave up His strength[k] to captivity
and His splendor to the hand of a foe.(BJ)
62 He surrendered His people to the sword
because He was enraged with His heritage.(BK)
63 Fire consumed His chosen young men,
and His young women had no wedding songs.[l](BL)
64 His priests fell by the sword,
but the[m] widows could not lament.[n](BM)
65 Then the Lord awoke as if from sleep,
like a warrior from the effects of wine.(BN)
66 He beat back His foes;
He gave them lasting shame.(BO)
67 He rejected the tent of Joseph
and did not choose the tribe of Ephraim.
68 He chose instead the tribe of Judah,
Mount Zion, which He loved.(BP)
69 He built His sanctuary like the heights,[o]
like the earth that He established forever.(BQ)
70 He chose David His servant
and took him from the sheepfolds;(BR)
71 He brought him from tending ewes
to be shepherd over His people Jacob—
over Israel, His inheritance.(BS)
72 He shepherded them with a pure heart
and guided them with his skillful hands.(BT)
Joseph Reveals His Identity
45 Joseph could no longer keep his composure in front of all his attendants,[a] so he called out, “Send everyone away from me!” No one was with him when he revealed his identity to his brothers.(A) 2 But he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and also Pharaoh’s household heard it. 3 Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still living?” But they could not answer him because they were terrified in his presence.
4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please, come near me,” and they came near. “I am Joseph, your brother,” he said, “the one you sold into Egypt.(B) 5 And now don’t be worried or angry with yourselves for selling me here, because God sent me ahead of you to preserve life.(C) 6 For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there will be five more years without plowing or harvesting. 7 God sent me ahead of you to establish you as a remnant within the land and to keep you alive by a great deliverance.[b] 8 Therefore it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
9 “Return quickly to my father and say to him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: “God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me without delay. 10 You can settle in the land of Goshen(D) and be near me—you, your children, and grandchildren, your sheep, cattle, and all you have. 11 There I will sustain you, for there will be five more years of famine. Otherwise, you, your household, and everything you have will become destitute.”’(E) 12 Look! Your eyes and my brother Benjamin’s eyes can see that it is I , Joseph, who am[c] speaking to you. 13 Tell my father about all my glory in Egypt and about all you have seen. And bring my father here quickly.”(F)
14 Then Joseph threw his arms around Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin wept on his shoulder. 15 Joseph kissed each of his brothers as he wept,[d] and afterward his brothers talked with him.
32 I want you to be without concerns. An unmarried man is concerned about the things of the Lord—how he may please(A) the Lord. 33 But a married man is concerned about the things of the world—how he may please his wife— 34 and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or a virgin is concerned about the things of the Lord,(B) so that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the things of the world—how she may please her husband. 35 Now I am saying this for your own benefit, not to put a restraint on you, but because of what is proper and so that you may be devoted to the Lord without distraction.
36 But if any man thinks he is acting improperly toward his virgin,[a] if she is past marriageable age,[b] and so it must be, he can do what he wants. He is not sinning; they can get married. 37 But he who stands firm in his heart (who is under no compulsion, but has control over his own will(C)) and has decided in his heart to keep his own virgin, will do well. 38 So then he who marries[c] his virgin does well, but he who does not marry[d] will do better.
39 A wife is bound[e] as long as her husband is living. But if her husband dies, she is free to be married to anyone she wants—only in the Lord.[f] 40 But she is happier if she remains as she is, in my opinion. And I think that I also have the Spirit of God.
Rejection at Nazareth
6 He(A) went away from there and came to His hometown,(B) and His disciples(C) followed Him. 2 When the Sabbath(D) came, He began to teach(E) in the synagogue,(F) and many who heard Him were astonished. “Where did this man get these things?” they said. “What is this wisdom(G) given to Him, and how are these miracles(H) performed by His hands? 3 Isn’t this the carpenter,(I) the son of Mary,(J) and the brother of James,(K) Joses, Judas,(L) and Simon? And aren’t His sisters here with us?” So they were offended(M) by Him.
4 Then Jesus said to them, “A prophet(N) is not without honor(O) except in his hometown, among his relatives, and in his household.” 5 So He was not able to do any miracles[a](P) there, except that He laid His hands on(Q) a few sick(R) people and healed(S) them. 6 And He was amazed(T) at their unbelief.(U)
Commissioning the Twelve
Now He was going around the villages in a circuit, teaching.(V) 7 He(W) summoned(X) the Twelve(Y) and began to send(Z) them out in pairs and gave them authority over unclean(AA) spirits.(AB) 8 He instructed them to take nothing for the road except a walking stick: no bread, no traveling bag,(AC) no money in their belts. 9 They were to wear sandals, but not put on an extra shirt.(AD) 10 Then He said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that place. 11 If any place does not welcome(AE) you and people refuse to listen to you, when you leave there, shake the dust off your feet(AF) as a testimony(AG) against them.”[b]
12 So they went out and preached(AH) that people should repent.(AI) 13 And they were driving out many demons,(AJ) anointing(AK) many sick(AL) people with olive oil,(AM) and healing them.(AN)
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