Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 78[a]
A New Beginning in Zion and David
1 A maskil of Asaph.
I
Attend, my people, to my teaching;
listen to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in a parable,[b]
unfold the puzzling events of the past.(A)
3 What we have heard and know;
things our ancestors have recounted to us.(B)
4 We do not keep them from our children;
we recount them to the next generation,
The praiseworthy deeds of the Lord and his strength,
the wonders that he performed.(C)
5 God made a decree in Jacob,
established a law in Israel:(D)
Which he commanded our ancestors,
they were to teach their children;
6 That the next generation might come to know,
children yet to be born.(E)
In turn they were to recount them to their children,
7 that they too might put their confidence in God,
And not forget God’s deeds,
but keep his commandments.
8 They were not to be like their ancestors,
a rebellious and defiant generation,(F)
A generation whose heart was not constant,(G)
and whose spirit was not faithful to God.
9 The ranks of Ephraimite archers,[c]
retreated on the day of battle.
10 They did not keep God’s covenant;
they refused to walk according to his law.
11 They forgot his deeds,
the wonders that he had shown them.
II
A
12 In the sight of their ancestors God did wonders,
in the land of Egypt, the plain of Zoan.[d](H)
13 He split the sea and led them across,(I)
making the waters stand like walls.(J)
14 He led them with a cloud by day,
all night with the light of fire.(K)
15 He split rocks in the desert,
gave water to drink, abundant as the deeps of the sea.(L)
16 He made streams flow from crags,
caused rivers of water to flow down.
B
17 But they went on sinning against him,
rebelling against the Most High in the desert.(M)
18 They tested God in their hearts,
demanding the food they craved.(N)
19 They spoke against God, and said,
“Can God spread a table in the wilderness?(O)
20 True, when he struck the rock,
water gushed forth,
the wadies flooded.
But can he also give bread,
or provide meat to his people?”
C
21 The Lord heard and grew angry;(P)
fire blazed up against Jacob;
anger flared up against Israel.
22 For they did not believe in God,
did not trust in his saving power.
23 [e]So he commanded the clouds above;
and opened the doors of heaven.
24 God rained manna upon them for food;
grain from heaven he gave them.(Q)
25 Man ate the bread of the angels;[f]
food he sent in abundance.
26 He stirred up the east wind in the skies;
by his might God brought on the south wind.
27 He rained meat upon them like dust,
winged fowl like the sands of the sea,
28 They fell down in the midst of their camp,
all round their dwellings.
29 They ate and were well filled;
he gave them what they had craved.
30 But while they still wanted more,
and the food was still in their mouths,
31 God’s anger flared up against them,
and he made a slaughter of their strongest,
laying low the youth of Israel.(R)
32 In spite of all this they went on sinning,
they did not believe in his wonders.
D
33 God ended their days abruptly,
their years in sudden death.
34 When he slew them, they began to seek him;
they again looked for God.(S)
35 They remembered[g] that God was their rock,
God Most High, their redeemer.
36 But they deceived him with their mouths,
lied to him with their tongues.
37 Their hearts were not constant toward him;
they were not faithful to his covenant.(T)
38 [h]But God being compassionate forgave their sin;
he did not utterly destroy them.
Time and again he turned back his anger,
unwilling to unleash all his rage.(U)
39 He remembered that they were flesh,
a breath that passes on and does not return.
III
A
40 How often they rebelled against God in the wilderness,
grieved him in the wasteland.
41 Again and again they tested God,
provoked the Holy One of Israel.
42 They did not remember his power,
the day he redeemed them from the foe,(V)
43 [i]When he performed his signs in Egypt,
his wonders in the plain of Zoan.(W)
44 God turned their rivers to blood;
their streams they could not drink.
45 He sent swarms of insects that devoured them,(X)
frogs that destroyed them.
46 He gave their harvest to the caterpillar,
the fruits of their labor to the locust.
47 He killed their vines with hail,(Y)
their sycamores with frost.
48 He exposed their cattle to plague,
their flocks to pestilence.(Z)
49 He let loose against them the heat of his anger,
wrath, fury, and distress,
a band of deadly messengers.
50 He cleared a path for his anger;
he did not spare them from death,
but delivered their animals to the plague.
51 He struck all the firstborn of Egypt,(AA)
the first fruits of their vigor in the tents of Ham.
52 Then God led forth his people like sheep,
guided them like a flock through the wilderness.(AB)
53 He led them on secure and unafraid,
while the sea enveloped their enemies.(AC)
54 And he brought them to his holy mountain,
the hill his right hand had won.(AD)
55 He drove out the nations before them,
allotted them as their inherited portion,
and settled in their tents the tribes of Israel.
B
56 But they tested and rebelled against God Most High,
his decrees they did not observe.
57 They turned disloyal, faithless like their ancestors;
they proved false like a slack bow.
58 They enraged him with their high places,
and with their idols provoked him[j] to jealous anger.(AE)
C
59 God heard and grew angry;
he rejected Israel completely.
60 He forsook the shrine at Shiloh,[k](AF)
the tent he set up among human beings.
61 He gave up his might into captivity,
his glorious ark into the hands of the foe.(AG)
62 God delivered his people to the sword;
he was enraged against his heritage.
63 Fire consumed their young men;
their young women heard no wedding songs.(AH)
64 Their priests fell by the sword;
their widows made no lamentation.
D
65 Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,
like a warrior shouting from the effects of wine.
66 He put his foes to flight;
everlasting shame he dealt them.
67 He rejected the tent of Joseph,
chose not the tribe of Ephraim.
68 [l]God chose the tribe of Judah,
Mount Zion which he loved.(AI)
69 He built his shrine like the heavens,
like the earth which he founded forever.
70 He chose David his servant,
took him from the sheepfolds.(AJ)
71 From tending ewes God brought him,
to shepherd Jacob, his people,
Israel, his heritage.(AK)
72 He shepherded them with a pure heart;
with skilled hands he guided them.
15 O! The day![a]
For near is the day of the Lord,
like destruction from the Almighty it is coming!(A)
16 Before our very eyes[b]
has not food been cut off?
And from the house of our God,
joy and gladness?
17 The seed lies shriveled beneath clods of dirt;[c]
the storehouses are emptied.
The granaries are broken down,
for the grain is dried up.
18 [d]How the animals groan!
The herds of cattle are bewildered!
Because they have no pasture,
even the flocks of sheep are starving.
19 To you, Lord, I cry!
for fire has devoured the wilderness pastures,
flame has scorched all the trees in the field.
20 Even the animals in the wild
cry out to you;
For the streams of water have run dry,
and fire has devoured the wilderness pastures.(B)
II. The Day of the Lord
Chapter 2
The Day Approaches
1 [e]Blow the horn in Zion,
sound the alarm on my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble,
for the day of the Lord is coming!(C)
Yes, it approaches,
2 a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of thick clouds!
Like dawn[f] spreading over the mountains,
a vast and mighty army!
Nothing like it has ever happened in ages past,
nor will the future hold anything like it,
even to the most distant generations.(D)
3 Before it,[g] fire devours,
behind it flame scorches.
The land before it is like the garden of Eden,
and behind it, a desolate wilderness;
from it nothing escapes.(E)
4 Their appearance is that of horses;
like war horses they run.
5 Like the rumble of chariots
they hurtle across mountaintops;
Like the crackling of fiery flames
devouring stubble;
Like a massive army
in battle formation.(F)
6 Before them peoples tremble,
every face turns pale.(G)
7 Like warriors they run,
like soldiers they scale walls,
Each advancing in line,
without swerving from the course.
8 No one crowds the other;
each advances in its own track;
They plunge through the weapons;
they are not checked.
9 They charge the city,
they run upon the wall,
they climb into the houses;
Through the windows
they enter like thieves.
10 Before them the earth trembles;
the heavens shake;
Sun and moon are darkened,
and the stars withhold their brightness.(H)
11 The Lord raises his voice
at the head of his army;
How immense is his host!
How numerous those who carry out his command!
How great is the day of the Lord!
Utterly terrifying! Who can survive it?(I)
Chapter 19
1 After this I heard what sounded like the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying:
“Alleluia![a]
Salvation, glory, and might belong to our God,
2 for true and just are his judgments.
He has condemned the great harlot
who corrupted the earth with her harlotry.
He has avenged on her the blood of his servants.”(A)
3 They said a second time:
“Alleluia! Smoke will rise from her forever and ever.”(B)
4 The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sat on the throne, saying, “Amen. Alleluia.”
The Victory Song.[b] 5 A voice coming from the throne said:
“Praise our God, all you his servants,
[and] you who revere him, small and great.”(C)
6 Then I heard something like the sound of a great multitude or the sound of rushing water or mighty peals of thunder, as they said:
“Alleluia!
The Lord has established his reign,
[our] God, the almighty.
7 Let us rejoice and be glad
and give him glory.
For the wedding day of the Lamb[c] has come,
his bride has made herself ready.(D)
8 She was allowed to wear
a bright, clean linen garment.”(E)
(The linen represents the righteous deeds of the holy ones.)[d]
9 Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed[e] are those who have been called to the wedding feast of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These words are true; they come from God.”(F) 10 I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “Don’t! I am a fellow servant of yours and of your brothers who bear witness to Jesus. Worship God.(G) Witness to Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”[f]
25 Great crowds were traveling with him, and he turned and addressed them, 26 (A)“If any one comes to me without hating his father[a] and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.(B) 27 Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.(C) 28 Which of you wishing to construct a tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if there is enough for its completion? 29 Otherwise, after laying the foundation and finding himself unable to finish the work the onlookers should laugh at him 30 and say, ‘This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.’ 31 Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down and decide whether with ten thousand troops he can successfully oppose another king advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops? 32 But if not, while he is still far away, he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms. 33 In the same way, everyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.(D)
The Simile of Salt.[b] 34 “Salt is good, but if salt itself loses its taste, with what can its flavor be restored?(E) 35 It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out. Whoever has ears to hear ought to hear.”(F)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.