Book of Common Prayer
Israel from Moses to David
Psalm 78
1 A contemplative song of Asaph.
Listen, my people, to my teaching.
Turn your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth with a parable.
I will utter perplexing sayings from of old,
3 which we have heard and known,
and our fathers have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their children,
telling to the next generation the praises of Adonai
and His strength and the wonders He has done.
5 For He established a testimony in Jacob
and ordained Torah in Israel,
which He commanded our fathers to teach their children,
6 so that the next generation might know,
even the children yet to be born:
they will arise and tell their children.
7 Then they will put their trust in God,
not forgetting the works of God,
but keeping His mitzvot.
8 So they will not be like their fathers—
a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation that did not prepare its heart,
whose spirit was not loyal to God.
9 The sons of Ephraim were archers armed with bows,
yet they turned back in the day of battle.
10 They did not keep God’s covenant
and refused to walk in His Torah.
11 They forgot His deeds
and His wonders that He had shown them.
12 He did miracles in front of their fathers
in the land of Egypt, in the plain of Zoan.
13 He split the sea and led them through,
and He made the water stand like a wall.
14 By day He led them with a cloud
and all night with a light of fire.
15 He split apart rocks in the wilderness
and gave them drink as abundant as the depths.
16 So He brought streams out of a rock,
and made waters flow down like rivers.[a]
17 Yet they added more sinning against Him,
rebelling against Elyon in the desert.
18 They put God to the test in their heart
by demanding food for their craving.
19 Then they spoke against God, saying,
“Can God set a table in the wilderness?
20 See, He struck the rock,
waters gushed out, streams overflowed.
But can He give bread?
Will He provide meat for His people?”
21 When Adonai heard, He was angry.
A fire was kindled against Jacob,
and fury also rose against Israel.
22 For they did not believe in God
or trust in His salvation.
23 Yet He commanded the skies above
and opened the doors of heaven,
24 and rained down manna upon them to eat,
and gave them grain of heaven.[b]
25 Man did eat the bread of angels.
He sent them abundant provision.
26 He loosed the east wind in the skies,
and by His power He drove the south wind.
27 He rained meat upon them like dust,
and winged fowl like sand of the seas.
28 And He let it fall amidst their camp,
all around their tents.
29 So they ate and were very full—
for He gave them their desire.
30 No longer a stranger from their desire,
while their food was still in their mouths,
31 the anger of God rose against them
and slew the stoutest of them,
and struck down young men of Israel.
32 Despite all this they sinned still more,
and did not trust in His wonders.
33 So He ended their days in futility
and their years in terror.
34 But when He slew them,
then they sought Him, and turned back,
and desired God eagerly.
35 Then they remembered that God was their Rock
and El Elyon their Redeemer.
36 But they flattered Him with their mouth
and kept lying to Him with their tongue.
37 For their heart was not steadfast with Him,
nor were they faithful to His covenant.
38 But He is compassionate,
forgives iniquity and does not destroy.
Yes, many times He restrains His anger,
and does not stir up all His wrath.
39 For He remembered that they are but flesh,
a passing breath that never returns.
40 How often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness,
and grieved Him in the desert!
41 Again and again they tested God,
and pained the Holy One of Israel.
42 They did not remember His hand—
the day He redeemed them from the foe,
43 when He displayed His signs in Egypt
and His wonders in the plain of Zoan.
44 He turned their rivers into blood,
so they could not drink from their streams.
45 He sent on them flies to devour them,
and frogs to devastate them,
46 and gave their crops to the grasshopper,
and their labor to the locust.
47 He destroyed their vines with hail,
and their sycamore trees with frost,
48 and gave over their cattle to the hail,
and their flocks to fiery bolts.
49 He sent on them the fury of His anger
—wrath and indignation and trouble—
a band of evil angels.
50 He cleared a path for His anger.
He spared not their soul from death,
but gave their life over to the plague.
51 He struck down all the firstborn in Egypt,
the firstfruits of their strength in the tents of Ham.
52 But He brought His people out like sheep,
and led them in the wilderness like a flock.
53 He led them to safety, so they did not fear,
but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
54 Then He brought them to His holy territory,
to the mountain His right hand had gotten.
55 He drove out nations before them,
and allotted them an inheritance.
He settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.
56 Yet they tested and rebelled against El Elyon,
and did not keep His decrees.
57 Like their fathers they turned and were treacherous.
They turned aside like a faulty bow.
58 For they provoked Him
with their high places,
so they aroused His jealousy
with their graven images.
59 God heard and was furious,
and He greatly detested Israel.
60 He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh,
the tent He pitched among men.
61 He gave up His strength into captivity,
and His glory into the adversary’s hand.
62 He gave His people over to the sword,
when He was angry at His inheritance.
63 Fire consumed their young men,
and their virgins had no wedding songs.
64 Their priests fell by the sword,
and their widows could not weep.
65 Then the Lord awoke as from sleep,
as a warrior shaking off wine.
66 He beat back His foes,
putting them to lasting scorn.
67 Then He detested Joseph’s tent
and chose not the tribe of Ephraim.
68 Instead He chose the tribe of Judah,
Mount Zion, which He loved.
69 He built His Sanctuary like the heights,
like the earth that He established forever.
70 He also chose David His servant
and took him from the sheepfolds,
71 from following nursing ewes.
He brought him to shepherd Jacob His people,
and Israel His inheritance.
72 So He shepherded them with the integrity of His heart,
and led them with His skillful hands.
15 Ah, the day!
The day of Adonai is near!
As havoc from Shaddai it will come.
16 Is food not cut off before our eyes—
joy and gladness from God’s House?
17 Seed has shriveled under the dirt clod.
Storehouses are desolate,
granaries are torn down,
for the grain has withered.
18 How the animals groan!
The herds of cattle are perplexed,
because they have no pasture.
The flocks of sheep also suffer.
19 To You, Adonai, I cry!
For fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness,
and flame has set ablaze all the trees of the field.
20 Also beasts of the field pant toward You.
For the water of wadis are dried up,
and fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.
2 Blow the shofar in Zion!
Sound an alarm on My holy mountain!
Let all living in the land tremble—
for the day of Adonai is coming—
surely it is near![a]
2 A day of darkness and gloominess,
a day of clouds and thick darkness,
as blackness spreads over the mountains.
A great and mighty people—
from antiquity there was never anything like it,
nor after it ever again from generation to generation.[b]
3 A fire devours before them
and behind them flame blazes up.
Like the Garden of Eden is the land before them,
and behind them a desolate wilderness.
Nothing at all ever escapes them.
4 Their appearance is like the appearance of horses—
they gallop like war horses.[c]
5 Like the clatter of chariots,[d]
they leap on the tops of mountains,
like crackling flame of fire devouring stubble,
like a mighty horde in battle array.
6 Before them peoples are in anguish.
All faces become ashen gray.
7 They run like mighty men.
They climb a wall like men of war.
They each march in line,
never deviating from their ways.
8 One does not crowd another.
Each one marches on his own highway.
They plunge through the weapons,
never breaking off.
9 They rush on the city,
they run on the wall,
they climb up into the houses,
coming through the windows like a thief.
10 Before them land quakes,
heaven trembles,
sun and moon become dark,
stars withdraw their brightness.[e]
11 Adonai utters His voice before His army.
For His camp is very vast—
for mighty is it that carries out His word.
For great is the day of Adonai—[f] very terrifying!
Who can endure it?
Victory Songs in Heaven
19 After these things, I heard something like the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, shouting:
“Halleluyah![a]
Salvation and glory and power belong to our God.
2 For His judgments are true and just.[b]
For He has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her whoring,
and has avenged the blood of His servants caused by her hand.”[c]
3 And a second time they shouted,
“Halleluyah!
The smoke from her goes up forever and ever!”[d]
4 Then the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who is seated on the throne, saying, “Amen! Halleluyah!”[e]
5 Then a voice came from the throne, saying:
“Praise our God,
all you His servants and
all who fear Him,
both the small and the great!”[f]
Wedding of the Lamb
6 Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude—like the roar of rushing waters[g] or like the rumbling of powerful thunder—saying,
“Halleluyah!
For Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot reigns!
7 Let us rejoice and be glad
and give the glory to Him!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come,
and His bride has made herself ready,[h]
8 She was given fine linen to wear, bright and clean!
For the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the kedoshim.”
9 Then the angel tells me, “Write: How fortunate are those who have been invited to the wedding banquet of the Lamb!” He also tells me, “These are the true words of God.”
10 Then I fell down at his feet and worshiped him. But he said to me, “See that you do not do that—for I am only a fellow servant with you and your brothers and sisters who hold to the testimony of Yeshua. Worship God! For the testimony of Yeshua is the Spirit of Prophesy.”
Telling Parables Along the Road
25 Now great crowds were traveling with Yeshua; and He turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters—and yes, even his own life—he cannot be My disciple. 27 Whoever does not carry his own cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple.
28 “For which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and figure out the cost, to see if he has enough to finish it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and isn’t able to finish everything, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and wasn’t able to finish!’
31 “Or what king, going to make war against another king, won’t first sit down to consider whether he is able with ten thousand to confront the one coming against him with twenty thousand? [a] 32 If not, while the other is still far away, he sends an ambassador and asks for peace. 33 So in the same way, whoever does not renounce all that he has, cannot be My disciple.
34 “Therefore, salt is good; but if the salt should lose its flavor, how shall it be made salty again? 35 It is not suitable for the soil or for a manure heap—it is thrown out. The one who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.