Book of Common Prayer
A maskil by Asaph.
78 Open your ears to my teachings, my people.
Turn your ears to the words from my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth to illustrate points.
I will explain what has been hidden long ago,
3 things that we have heard and known about,
things that our parents have told us.
4 We will not hide them from our children.
We will tell the next generation
about the Lord’s power and great deeds
and the miraculous things he has done.
5 He established written instructions for Jacob’s people.
He gave his teachings to Israel.
He commanded our ancestors to make them known to their children
6 so that the next generation would know them.
Children yet to be born ⌞would learn them⌟.
They will grow up and tell their children
7 to trust God, to remember what he has done,
and to obey his commands.
8 Then they will not be like their ancestors,
a stubborn and rebellious generation.
Their hearts were not loyal.
Their spirits were not faithful to God.
9 The men of Ephraim, well-equipped with bows ⌞and arrows⌟,
turned ⌞and ran⌟ on the day of battle.
10 They had not been faithful to God’s promise.[a]
They refused to follow his teachings.
11 They forgot what he had done—
the miracles that he had shown them.
12 In front of their ancestors he performed miracles
in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan.
13 He divided the sea and led them through it.
He made the waters stand up like a wall.
14 He guided them by a cloud during the day
and by a fiery light throughout the night.
15 He split rocks in the desert.
He gave them plenty to drink, an ocean of water.
16 He made streams come out of a rock.
He made the water flow like rivers.
17 They continued to sin against him,
to rebel in the desert against the Most High.
18 They deliberately tested God by demanding the food they craved.
19 They spoke against God by saying,
“Can God prepare a banquet in the desert?
20 True, he did strike a rock,
and water did gush out,
and the streams did overflow.
But can he also give us bread or provide us, his people, with meat?”
21 When the Lord heard this, he became furious.
His fire burned against Jacob
and his anger flared up at Israel
22 because they did not believe God
or trust him to save them.
23 In spite of that, he commanded the clouds above
and opened the doors of heaven.
24 He rained manna down on them to eat
and gave them grain from heaven.
25 Humans ate the bread of the mighty ones,
and God sent them plenty of food.
26 He made the east wind blow in the heavens
and guided the south wind with his might.
27 He rained meat down on them like dust,
birds like the sand on the seashore.
28 He made the birds fall in the middle of his camp,
all around his dwelling place.
29 They ate more than enough.
He gave them what they wanted,
30 but they still wanted more.
While the food was still in their mouths,
31 the anger of God flared up against them.
He killed their strongest men and slaughtered the best young men in Israel.
32 In spite of all this, they continued to sin,
and they no longer believed in his miracles.
33 He brought their days to an end like a whisper in the wind.
He brought their years to an end in terror.
34 When he killed ⌞some of⌟ them, ⌞the rest⌟ searched for him.
They turned from their sins and eagerly looked for God.
35 They remembered that God was their rock,
that the Most High was their defender.
36 They flattered him with their mouths
and lied to him with their tongues.
37 Their hearts were not loyal to him.
They were not faithful to his promise.
38 But he is compassionate.
He forgave their sin.
He did not destroy them.
He restrained his anger many times.
He did not display all of his fury.
39 He remembered that they were only flesh and blood,
a breeze that blows and does not return.
40 How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness!
How often they caused him grief in the desert!
41 Again and again they tested God,
and they pushed the Holy One of Israel to the limit.
42 They did not remember his power—
the day he freed them from their oppressor,
43 when he performed his miraculous signs in Egypt,
his wonders in the fields of Zoan.
44 He turned their rivers into blood
so that they could not drink from their streams.
45 He sent a swarm of flies that bit them
and frogs that ruined them.
46 He gave their crops to grasshoppers
and their produce to locusts.
47 He killed their vines with hail
and their fig trees with frost.
48 He let the hail strike their cattle
and bolts of lightning strike their livestock.
49 He sent his burning anger, rage, fury, and hostility against them.
He sent an army of destroying angels.
50 He cleared a path for his anger.
He did not spare them.
He let the plague take their lives.
51 He slaughtered every firstborn in Egypt,
the ones born in the tents of Ham when their fathers were young.
52 But he led his own people out like sheep
and guided them like a flock through the wilderness.
53 He led them safely.
They had no fear while the sea covered their enemies.
54 He brought them into his holy land,
to this mountain that his power had won.
55 He forced nations out of their way
and gave them the land of the nations as their inheritance.
He settled the tribes of Israel in their own tents.
56 They tested God Most High and rebelled against him.
They did not obey his written instructions.
57 They were disloyal and treacherous like their ancestors.
They were like arrows shot from a defective bow.
58 They made him angry because of their illegal worship sites.
They made him furious because they worshiped idols.
59 When God heard, he became furious.
He completely rejected Israel.
60 He abandoned his dwelling place in Shiloh,
the tent where he had lived among humans.
61 He allowed his power to be taken captive
and handed his glory over to an oppressor.
62 He let swords kill his people.
He was furious with those who belonged to him.
63 Fire consumed his best young men,
so his virgins heard no wedding songs.
64 His priests were cut down with swords.
The widows ⌞of his priests⌟ could not even weep ⌞for them⌟.
65 Then the Lord woke up like one who had been sleeping,
like a warrior sobering up from ⌞too much⌟ wine.
66 He struck his enemies from behind
and disgraced them forever.
67 He rejected the tent of Joseph.
He did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,
68 but he chose the tribe of Judah,
Mount Zion which he loved.
69 He built his holy place to be like the high heavens,
like the earth which he made to last for a long time.
70 He chose his servant David.
He took him from the sheep pens.
71 He brought him from tending the ewes that had lambs
so that David could be the shepherd of the people of Jacob,
of Israel, the people who belonged to the Lord.
72 With unselfish devotion David became their shepherd.
With skill he guided them.
15 This will be a terrible day!
The day of the Lord is near,
and it will come like destruction from the Almighty.
16 Food disappears right before our eyes.
Happiness and rejoicing disappear from our God’s temple.
17 Seeds shrivel up in their shells.
Storehouses are destroyed.
Barns are ruined.
The grain has dried up.
18 The animals groan.
Herds of cattle wander around confused.
There’s no pasture for them.
Even flocks of sheep are suffering.
19 O Lord, I cry to you for help!
Fire has burned up the open pastures.
Flames have burned up all the trees in the orchards.
20 Even wild animals long for you.
Streams run dry.
Fire has burned up the open pastures.
The Day of the Lord
2 Blow the ram’s horn in Zion.
Sound the alarm on my holy mountain.
Everyone who lives in the land should tremble,
because the day of the Lord is coming.
Certainly, it is near.
2 It is a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and overcast skies.
A large and mighty army
will spread over the mountains like the dawn.[a]
Nothing like this has ever happened.
Nothing like this will ever happen again.
3 In front of this army a fire burns.
Behind it flames are blazing.
In front of it the land is like the garden of Eden.
Behind it the land is like a barren desert.
Nothing escapes it!
4 The soldiers look like horses.
They run like war horses.
5 As they leap on mountaintops,
they sound like rattling chariots,
like crackling fire burning up straw,
and like a mighty army prepared for battle.
6 People are terrified in their presence.
Every face turns pale.
7 They run like warriors.
They climb walls like soldiers.
They march straight ahead.
They do not leave their places.
8 They do not crowd one another.
They keep in their own lines.
Even when they break through the defenses,
they do not break their ranks.
9 They rush into the city.
They run along the wall.
They climb into houses.
They enter through windows like thieves.
10 The earth quakes in their presence,
and the sky shakes.
The sun and the moon turn dark,
and the stars no longer shine.
11 The Lord shouts out orders to his army.
His forces are very large.
The troops that carry out his commands are mighty.
The day of the Lord is extremely terrifying.
Who can endure it?
The Lamb’s Wedding
19 After these things I heard what sounded like the loud noise from a large crowd in heaven, saying,
“Hallelujah!
Salvation, glory, and power belong to our God.
2 His judgments are true and fair.
He has condemned the notorious prostitute
who corrupted the world with her sexual sins.
He has taken revenge on her for the blood of his servants.”
3 A second time they said, “Hallelujah! The smoke goes up from her forever and ever.” 4 The 24 leaders and the 4 living creatures bowed and worshiped God, who was sitting on the throne. They said, “Amen! Hallelujah!” 5 A voice came from the throne. It said, “Praise our God, all who serve and fear him, no matter who you are.”
6 I heard what sounded like the noise from a large crowd, like the noise of raging waters, like the noise of loud thunder, saying,
“Hallelujah! The Lord our God, the Almighty, has become king.
7 Let us rejoice, be happy, and give him glory
because it’s time for the marriage of the lamb.
His bride has made herself ready.
8 She has been given the privilege of wearing
dazzling, pure linen.”
This fine linen represents the things that God’s holy people do that have his approval.
9 Then the angel said to me, “Write this: ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the lamb’s wedding banquet.’ ” He also told me, “These are God’s true words.” 10 I bowed at his feet to worship him. But he told me, “Don’t do that! I am your coworker and a coworker of the Christians who hold on to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God, because the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy!”
The Cost of Being a Disciple
25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus. He turned to them and said, 26 “If people come to me and are not ready to abandon their fathers, mothers, wives, children, brothers, and sisters, as well as their own lives, they cannot be my disciples. 27 So those who do not carry their crosses and follow me cannot be my disciples.
28 “Suppose you want to build a tower. You would first sit down and figure out what it costs. Then you would see if you have enough money to finish it. 29 Otherwise, if you lay a foundation and can’t finish the building, everyone who watches will make fun of you. 30 They’ll say, ‘This person started to build but couldn’t finish the job.’
31 “Or suppose a king is going to war against another king. He would first sit down and think things through. Can he and his 10,000 soldiers fight against a king with 20,000 soldiers? 32 If he can’t, he’ll send ambassadors to ask for terms of peace while the other king is still far away. 33 In the same way, none of you can be my disciples unless you give up everything.
34 “Salt is good. But if salt loses its taste, how will you restore its flavor? 35 It’s not any good for the ground or for the manure pile. People throw it away.
“Let the person who has ears listen!”
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