Book of Common Prayer
God Implored to Rescue His People from Their Calamities.
For the choir director; set to [a]El Shoshannim; [b]Eduth. A Psalm of Asaph.
80 Oh, give ear, (A)Shepherd of Israel,
You who lead (B)Joseph like a flock;
You who (C)are enthroned above the cherubim, shine forth!
2 Before (D)Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, (E)stir up Your power
And come to save us!
3 O God, (F)restore us
And (G)cause Your face to shine upon us, [c]and we will be saved.
4 O (H)Lord God of hosts,
(I)How long will You [d]be angry with the prayer of Your people?
5 You have fed them with the (J)bread of tears,
And You have made them to drink tears in [e]large measure.
6 You make us [f]an object of contention (K)to our neighbors,
And our enemies laugh among themselves.
7 O God of hosts, restore us
And cause Your face to shine upon us, [g]and we will be saved.
8 You removed a (L)vine from Egypt;
You (M)drove out the [h]nations and (N)planted it.
9 You (O)cleared the ground before it,
And it (P)took deep root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shadow,
And [i]the cedars of God with its (Q)boughs.
11 It was sending out its branches (R)to the sea
And its shoots to the River.
12 Why have You (S)broken down its [j]hedges,
So that all who pass that way pick its fruit?
13 A boar from the forest (T)eats it away
And whatever moves in the field feeds on it.
14 O God of hosts, (U)turn again now, we beseech You;
(V)Look down from heaven and see, and take care of this vine,
15 Even the [k](W)shoot which Your right hand has planted,
And on the [l]son whom You have [m]strengthened for Yourself.
16 It is (X)burned with fire, it is cut down;
They perish at the (Y)rebuke of Your countenance.
17 Let (Z)Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand,
Upon the son of man whom You (AA)made strong for Yourself.
18 Then we shall not (AB)turn back from You;
(AC)Revive us, and we will call upon Your name.
19 O Lord God of hosts, (AD)restore us;
Cause Your face to shine upon us, [n]and we will be saved.
Samuel Goes to Bethlehem
16 Now the Lord said to Samuel, “(A)How long will you grieve over Saul, since (B)I have rejected him from being king over Israel? (C)Fill your horn with oil and go; I will send you to (D)Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have (E)selected a king for Myself among his sons.” 2 But Samuel said, “How can I go? When Saul hears of it, he will kill me.” And the Lord said, “(F)Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ 3 You shall invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and (G)I will show you what you shall do; and (H)you shall anoint for Me the one whom I [a]designate to you.” 4 So Samuel did what the Lord said, and came to (I)Bethlehem. And the elders of the city came trembling to meet him and said, “(J)Do you come in peace?” 5 He said, “In peace; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. (K)Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” He also consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
6 When they entered, he looked at (L)Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him.” 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for [b]God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, (M)but the Lord looks at the heart.” 8 Then Jesse called (N)Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.” 9 Next Jesse made [c](O)Shammah pass by. And he said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.” 10 Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” 11 And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are these all the children?” And he said, “(P)There remains yet the youngest, and behold, he is tending the sheep.” Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and [d]bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.”
David Anointed
12 So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with (Q)beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance. And the Lord said, “(R)Arise, anoint him; for this is he.” 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and (S)anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and (T)the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. And Samuel arose and went to Ramah.
18 Children, (A)it is the last hour; and just as you heard that (B)antichrist is coming, (C)even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour. 19 (D)They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, (E)so that [a]it would be shown that they all are not of us. 20 [b]But you have an (F)anointing from (G)the Holy One, and (H)you all know. 21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but (I)because you do know it, and [c]because no lie is (J)of the truth. 22 Who is the liar but (K)the one who denies that Jesus is the [d]Christ? This is (L)the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. 23 (M)Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also. 24 As for you, let that abide in you which you heard (N)from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also (O)will abide in the Son and in the Father.
The Promise Is Eternal Life
25 (P)This is the promise which He Himself [e]made to us: eternal life.
Praise to the Creator and Preserver.
33 (A)Sing for joy in the Lord, O you righteous ones;
Praise is (B)becoming to the upright.
2 Give thanks to the Lord with the (C)lyre;
Sing praises to Him with a (D)harp of ten strings.
3 Sing to Him a (E)new song;
Play skillfully with (F)a shout of joy.
4 For the word of the Lord (G)is upright,
And all His work is done (H)in faithfulness.
5 He (I)loves righteousness and justice;
The (J)earth is full of the lovingkindness of the Lord.
6 By the (K)word of the Lord the heavens were made,
And (L)by the breath of His mouth (M)all their host.
7 He gathers the (N)waters of the sea together [a]as a heap;
He lays up the deeps in storehouses.
8 Let (O)all the earth fear the Lord;
Let all the inhabitants of the world (P)stand in awe of Him.
9 For (Q)He spoke, and it was done;
He commanded, and it [b]stood fast.
10 The Lord (R)nullifies the counsel of the nations;
He frustrates the plans of the peoples.
11 The (S)counsel of the Lord stands forever,
The (T)plans of His heart from generation to generation.
12 Blessed is the (U)nation whose God is the Lord,
The people whom He has (V)chosen for His own inheritance.
13 The Lord (W)looks from heaven;
He (X)sees all the sons of men;
14 From (Y)His dwelling place He looks out
On all the inhabitants of the earth,
15 He who (Z)fashions [c]the hearts of them all,
He who (AA)understands all their works.
16 (AB)The king is not saved by a mighty army;
A warrior is not delivered by great strength.
17 A (AC)horse is a false hope for victory;
Nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength.
18 Behold, (AD)the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,
On those who [d](AE)hope for His lovingkindness,
19 To (AF)deliver their soul from death
And to keep them alive (AG)in famine.
20 Our soul (AH)waits for the Lord;
He is our (AI)help and our shield.
21 For our (AJ)heart rejoices in Him,
Because we trust in His holy name.
22 Let Your lovingkindness, O Lord, be upon us,
According as we have [e]hoped in You.
Farewell to Ephesus
17 From Miletus he sent to (A)Ephesus and called to him (B)the elders of the church. 18 And when they had come to him, he said to them,
“You yourselves know, (C)from the first day that I set foot in [a]Asia, how I was with you the whole time, 19 serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials which came upon me [b]through (D)the plots of the Jews; 20 how I (E)did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and [c]from house to house, 21 solemnly (F)testifying to both Jews and Greeks of (G)repentance toward God and (H)faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. 22 And now, behold, bound by the [d]Spirit, (I)I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, 23 except that (J)the Holy Spirit solemnly (K)testifies to me in every city, saying that (L)bonds and afflictions await me. 24 But (M)I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may (N)finish my course and (O)the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to (P)testify solemnly of the gospel of (Q)the grace of God.
25 “And now, behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about (R)preaching the kingdom, will no longer see my face. 26 Therefore, I [e]testify to you this day that (S)I am [f]innocent of the blood of all men. 27 For I (T)did not shrink from declaring to you the whole (U)purpose of God. 28 Be on guard for yourselves and for all (V)the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you [g]overseers, to shepherd (W)the church of God which (X)He [h]purchased [i]with His own blood. 29 I know that after my departure (Y)savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing (Z)the flock; 30 and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away (AA)the disciples after them. 31 Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of (AB)three years I did not cease to admonish each one (AC)with tears. 32 And now I (AD)commend you to God and to (AE)the word of His grace, which is able to (AF)build you up and to give you (AG)the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33 (AH)I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothes. 34 You yourselves know that (AI)these hands ministered to my own needs and to the (AJ)men who were with me. 35 In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.