Book of Common Prayer
Prayer for Israel’s Restoration
To the Chief Musician. (A)Set to [a]“The Lilies.” A [b]Testimony of Asaph. A Psalm.
80 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
(B)You who lead Joseph (C)like a flock;
You who dwell between the cherubim, (D)shine forth!
2 Before (E)Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh,
Stir up Your strength,
And come and save us!
4 O Lord God of hosts,
(H)How long will You be angry
Against the prayer of Your people?
5 (I)You have fed them with the bread of tears,
And given them tears to drink in great measure.
6 You have made us a strife to our neighbors,
And our enemies laugh among themselves.
7 Restore us, O God of hosts;
Cause Your face to shine,
And we shall be saved!
8 You have brought (J)a vine out of Egypt;
(K)You have cast out the [c]nations, and planted it.
9 You prepared room for it,
And caused it to take deep root,
And it filled the land.
10 The hills were covered with its shadow,
And the [d]mighty cedars with its (L)boughs.
11 She sent out her boughs to [e]the Sea,
And her branches to [f]the River.
12 Why have You (M)broken down her [g]hedges,
So that all who pass by the way pluck her fruit?
13 The boar out of the woods uproots it,
And the wild beast of the field devours it.
14 Return, we beseech You, O God of hosts;
(N)Look down from heaven and see,
And visit this vine
15 And the vineyard which Your right hand has planted,
And the branch that You made strong (O)for Yourself.
16 It is burned with fire, it is cut down;
(P)They perish at the rebuke of Your countenance.
17 (Q)Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand,
Upon the son of man whom You made strong for Yourself.
18 Then we will not turn back from You;
Revive us, and we will call upon Your name.
19 Restore us, O Lord God of hosts;
Cause Your face to shine,
And we shall be saved!
The Consoling Memory of God’s Redemptive Works
To the Chief Musician. (A)To Jeduthun. A Psalm of Asaph.
77 I cried out to God with my voice—
To God with my voice;
And He gave ear to me.
2 In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord;
My hand was stretched out in the night without ceasing;
My soul refused to be comforted.
3 I remembered God, and was troubled;
I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah
4 You hold my eyelids open;
I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
5 I have considered the days of old,
The years of ancient times.
6 I call to remembrance my song in the night;
I meditate within my heart,
And my spirit [a]makes diligent search.
7 Will the Lord cast off forever?
And will He be favorable no more?
8 Has His mercy ceased forever?
Has His (B)promise failed [b]forevermore?
9 Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Has He in anger shut up His tender mercies? Selah
10 And I said, “This is my [c]anguish;
But I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High.”
11 I will remember the works of the Lord;
Surely I will remember Your wonders of old.
12 I will also meditate on all Your work,
And talk of Your deeds.
13 Your way, O God, is in [d]the (C)sanctuary;
Who is so great a God as our God?
14 You are the God who does wonders;
You have declared Your strength among the peoples.
15 You have with Your arm redeemed Your people,
The sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah
16 The waters saw You, O God;
The waters saw You, they were (D)afraid;
The depths also trembled.
17 The clouds poured out water;
The skies sent out a sound;
Your arrows also flashed about.
18 The voice of Your thunder was in the whirlwind;
The lightnings lit up the world;
The earth trembled and shook.
19 Your way was in the sea,
Your path in the great waters,
And Your footsteps were not known.
20 You led Your people like a flock
By the hand of Moses and Aaron.
A Dirge and a Prayer for Israel, Destroyed by Enemies
A Psalm of Asaph.
79 O God, the [a]nations have come into (A)Your inheritance;
Your holy temple they have defiled;
(B)They have laid Jerusalem [b]in heaps.
2 (C)The dead bodies of Your servants
They have given as food for the birds of the heavens,
The flesh of Your saints to the beasts of the earth.
3 Their blood they have shed like water all around Jerusalem,
And there was no one to bury them.
4 We have become a reproach to our (D)neighbors,
A scorn and derision to those who are around us.
5 (E)How long, Lord?
Will You be angry forever?
Will Your (F)jealousy burn like fire?
6 (G)Pour out Your wrath on the [c]nations that (H)do not know You,
And on the kingdoms that (I)do not call on Your name.
7 For they have devoured Jacob,
And laid waste his dwelling place.
8 (J)Oh, do not remember [d]former iniquities against us!
Let Your tender mercies come speedily to meet us,
For we have been brought very low.
9 Help us, O God of our salvation,
For the glory of Your name;
And deliver us, and provide atonement for our sins,
(K)For Your name’s sake!
10 (L)Why should the [e]nations say,
“Where is their God?”
Let there be known among the nations in our sight
The avenging of the blood of Your servants which has been shed.
Trusting in Lying Words(A)
7 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 2 (B)“Stand in the gate of the Lord’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, all you of Judah who enter in at these gates to worship the Lord!’ ” 3 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: (C)“Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. 4 (D)Do not trust in these lying words, saying, ‘The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these.’
5 “For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if you thoroughly (E)execute [a]judgment between a man and his neighbor, 6 if you do not oppress the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, (F)or walk after other gods to your hurt, 7 (G)then I will cause you to dwell in this place, in (H)the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.
8 “Behold, you trust in (I)lying words that cannot profit. 9 (J)Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and (K)walk after other gods whom you do not know, 10 (L)and then come and stand before Me in this house (M)which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered to do all these abominations’? 11 Has (N)this house, which is called by My name, become a (O)den of thieves in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it,” says the Lord.
12 “But go now to (P)My place which was in Shiloh, (Q)where I set My name at the first, and see (R)what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel. 13 And now, because you have done all these works,” says the Lord, “and I spoke to you, (S)rising up early and speaking, but you did not hear, and I (T)called you, but you did not answer, 14 therefore I will do to the house which is called by My name, in which you trust, and to this place which I gave to you and your fathers, as I have done to (U)Shiloh. 15 And I will cast you out of My sight, (V)as I have cast out all your brethren—(W)the whole posterity of Ephraim.
Abraham Justified by Faith(A)
4 What then shall we say that (B)Abraham our (C)father[a] has found according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was (D)justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? (E)“Abraham believed God, and it was [b]accounted to him for righteousness.” 4 Now (F)to him who works, the wages are not counted [c]as grace but as debt.
David Celebrates the Same Truth
5 But to him who (G)does not work but believes on Him who justifies (H)the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, 6 just as David also (I)describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:
7 “Blessed(J) are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
And whose sins are covered;
8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.”
Abraham Justified Before Circumcision
9 Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness. 10 How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised. 11 And (K)he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that (L)he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also, 12 and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of the faith which our father (M)Abraham had while still uncircumcised.
14 Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and (A)taught. 15 (B)And the Jews marveled, saying, “How does this Man know letters, having never studied?”
16 [a]Jesus answered them and said, (C)“My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me. 17 (D)If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority. 18 (E)He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who (F)seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and (G)no unrighteousness is in Him. 19 (H)Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law? (I)Why do you seek to kill Me?”
20 The people answered and said, (J)“You have a demon. Who is seeking to kill You?”
21 Jesus answered and said to them, “I did one work, and you all marvel. 22 (K)Moses therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, (L)but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. 23 If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with Me because (M)I made a man completely well on the Sabbath? 24 (N)Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”
Could This Be the Christ?
25 Now some of them from Jerusalem said, “Is this not He whom they seek to (O)kill? 26 But look! He speaks boldly, and they say nothing to Him. (P)Do the rulers know indeed that this is [b]truly the Christ? 27 (Q)However, we know where this Man is from; but when the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from.”
28 Then Jesus cried out, as He taught in the temple, saying, (R)“You both know Me, and you know where I am from; and (S)I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me (T)is true, (U)whom you do not know. 29 [c]But (V)I know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent Me.”
30 Therefore (W)they sought to take Him; but (X)no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come. 31 And (Y)many of the people believed in Him, and said, “When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this Man has done?”
Jesus and the Religious Leaders
32 The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning Him, and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take Him. 33 Then Jesus said [d]to them, (Z)“I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I (AA)go to Him who sent Me. 34 You (AB)will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you (AC)cannot come.”
35 Then the Jews said among themselves, “Where does He intend to go that we shall not find Him? Does He intend to go to (AD)the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? 36 What is this thing that He said, ‘You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come’?”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.