Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer to Bring Israel Back
For the director of music. To the tune of “Lilies of the Agreement.” A psalm of Asaph [C a Levitical musician, a descendant of Gershon, at the time of David; 1 Chr. 6:39; 15:17; 2 Chr. 5:12].
80 Shepherd of Israel, ·listen to us [give ear].
You ·lead [guide] the people of Joseph [C the northern empire of Israel] like a flock.
You sit on your throne between the ·gold creatures with wings [L cherubim; Ex. 25:18–22; 1 Kin. 8:7].
·Show your greatness [L Shine forth] 2 to the people of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh.
·Use [Arouse] your strength,
and come to ·save us [give us victory].
3 God, ·take us back [restore us].
·Show us your kindness [L Make your face shine on us; 31:16; 67:1; Num. 6:24–26] so we can ·be saved [have victory].
4 Lord God ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts],
how long will you ·be angry [L smoke/fume at us]
at the prayers of your people?
5 You have fed your people ·with tears [L the bread/food of tears];
you have made them drink ·many tears [tears by measure/L the third].
6 You made ·those around us fight over us [L us the strife of our neighbors],
and our enemies ·make fun of [ridicule] us.
7 God ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts], ·take us back [restore us].
·Show us your kindness [L Make your face shine on us; 31:16; 67:1; Num. 6:24–26] so we can ·be saved [have victory].
8 You brought ·us out of Egypt as if we were a vine [L a vine out of Egypt; Gen. 49:22; Is. 5:1–7; 27:2–6; Jer. 2:21; 12:10; Ezek. 15:1–8; 19:10–14; Hos. 10:1].
You ·forced out [dispossessed] other nations and planted us in the land.
9 You cleared the ground for us.
We took root and filled the land.
10 We covered the mountains with our shade.
We had branches like the mighty cedar tree.
11 Our branches reached the Mediterranean Sea,
and our shoots went to the Euphrates River.
12 So why did you ·pull [break] down our walls?
Now everyone who passes by ·steals from us [picks our fruit].
13 Like ·wild pigs [L boars of the forest] they ·walk over us [ravage us; gobble us up];
like ·wild animals [L creatures of the field] they feed on us.
14 God ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts], ·come back [restore us].
Look down from heaven and see.
Take care of us, your vine.
15 You planted this ·shoot [root] with your own hands
and strengthened this child [C the king].
16 Now it is cut down and burned with fire;
you destroyed us by ·your angry looks [L the rebuke of your face].
17 ·With your hand,
strengthen the one you have chosen for yourself [L Let your hand be on the man of your right hand; C the king].
18 Then we will not ·turn away from [deviate from; be disloyal to] you.
Give us life again, and we will call ·to you for help [L on your name].
19 Lord God ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts], ·take us back [restore us].
·Show us your kindness [L Make your face shine on us; 31:16; 67:1; Num. 6:24–26] so we can ·be saved [have victory].
Remembering God’s Help
For the director of music. For Jeduthun [C a Levitical musician; 1 Chr. 16:41–42; 25:1, 6; 2 Chr. 5:12]. A psalm of Asaph [C a Levitical musician, a descendant of Gershon, at the time of David; 1 Chr. 6:39; 15:17; 2 Chr. 5:12].
77 I cry out to God;
I call to God, and he ·will hear [or heard] me.
2 I ·look [sought] for the Lord on the day of ·trouble [L my distress].
All night long I ·reach out my untiring hands [L flow forth my hand and it does not grow weak],
but I ·cannot [refuse to] be comforted.
3 When I remember God, I ·become upset [moan];
when I ·think [reflect; meditate], ·I become afraid [my soul faints]. ·
4 You ·keep my eyes from closing [L grab the eyelids of my eyes].
I am too ·upset [disturbed] to say anything.
5 I keep thinking about the old days,
the years of long ago [C when things were going well].
6 At night I remember my songs.
I ·think [meditate] and ·I ask myself [L my spirit inquires]:
7 “Will the Lord reject us forever?
Will he never be ·kind [favorable] to us again?
8 Is his ·love [loyalty] gone forever?
Has he stopped speaking for all time [C he questions God’s commitment to the covenant]?
9 Has God forgotten ·mercy [compassion]?
Is he too angry to ·pity [have mercy on] us?” ·
10 Then I say, “This is what makes me sad:
·For years the power of God Most High was with us [L The right hand of the God Most High has changed].”
11 I remember what the Lord did;
I remember the ·miracles [wonderful acts] you did long ago.
12 I ·think [mused] about all the things you did
and ·consider [meditated on] your deeds.
13 God, your ways are holy.
·No god [L What god…?] is as great as our God.
14 You are the God who does ·miracles [wonders];
you have ·shown [made known to] people your power.
15 By your ·power [L arm] you have ·saved [redeemed] your people,
the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. ·
16 God, the waters saw you;
they saw you and ·became afraid [L writhed];
the deep waters shook with fear.
17 The clouds poured down their rain.
The ·sky [clouds] ·thundered [L gave forth a sound].
Your lightning flashed back and forth like arrows.
18 Your thunder sounded in the whirlwind.
Lightning lit up the world.
The earth trembled and ·shook [quaked].
19 You made a way through the sea
and paths through the ·deep [L many] waters,
but your footprints were not ·seen [revealed].
20 You led your people like a flock
by ·using [L the hand of] Moses and Aaron [Ex. 14–15].
The Nation Cries for Jerusalem
A psalm of Asaph [C a Levitical musician, a descendant of Gershon, at the time of David; 1 Chr. 6:39; 15:17; 2 Chr. 5:12].
79 God, nations have come against your ·chosen people [L inheritance].
They have ·ruined [profaned] your holy Temple.
They have turned Jerusalem into ·ruins [a dump; 2 Kin. 25:9–10].
2 They have given the bodies of your servants as food to the ·wild birds [L birds of the sky/heavens].
They have given the ·bodies [L flesh] of ·those who worship you [your faithful ones; saints] to the wild animals [Jer. 34:20].
3 They have spilled blood like water all around Jerusalem.
No one was left to bury the dead.
4 We are a ·joke [reproach; scorn] to the ·other nations [L residents];
·they [L the people around us] ·laugh [ridicule] and make fun of us.
5 Lord, how long?
Will you be angry forever?
How long will your jealousy burn like a fire?
6 ·Be angry with [L Pour out your wrath on] the nations that do not know you
and ·with [or on] the kingdoms that do not ·honor you [L call on your name].
7 They have ·gobbled up [devoured] the people of Jacob
and ·destroyed [desolated] their ·land [pasturage].
8 Don’t ·punish us for our past sins [L remember our former guilt].
Show your ·mercy [compassion] to us soon,
because we are ·helpless [very low]!
9 God our ·Savior [Victor], help us
·so people will praise you [L for the glory of your name].
·Save [Protect] us and ·forgive [atone for] our sins
·so people will honor you [L for your name].
10 Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
·Tell [Inform] the other nations ·in our presence [L before our eyes]
that you ·punish [avenge] ·those who kill your servants [L the blood of your servants that has been poured out].
11 ·Hear the moans of the prisoners [Let the groans of the prisoner come before you].
Use your great ·power [L arm]
to save those ·sentenced [doomed] to die.
12 Repay ·those around [L into the bosom of those around] us seven times over
for their ·insults to [reproach/scorn of] you, Lord.
13 We are your people, the sheep of your ·flock [pasture].
We will ·thank [praise] you always;
·forever and ever [from generation to generation] we ·will praise you [L recount your praise].
Jeremiah’s Temple Message
7 This is the word that the Lord spoke to Jeremiah: 2 “Stand at the gate of the ·Temple [L house of God] and ·preach [proclaim] this ·message [L word] there:
“‘Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of the nation of Judah! All you who come through these gates to ·worship [bow down to] the Lord, listen to this message! 3 This is what the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts], the God of Israel, says: ·Change your lives and do what is right [L Reform/Amend your ways/paths and your deeds]! Then I will ·let you live [or live with you] in this place. 4 Don’t ·trust [put confidence in] ·the lies of people who say [L false words], “This is the Temple of the Lord. This is the Temple of the Lord. This is the Temple of the Lord [C presumptuously thinking that God will not destroy the city as long as his house is there]!” 5 You must ·change your lives and do what is right [L reform/amend your ways/paths and your deeds]. Be fair to each other. 6 You must not ·be hard on [oppress] ·strangers [resident aliens], orphans, and widows [Deut. 10:18]. Don’t ·kill [L spill the blood of] innocent people in this place! Don’t ·follow [L go after] other gods, or they will ·ruin [harm; hurt] your lives. 7 If you do these things, I will ·let you live [or live with you] in this land that I gave to your ·ancestors [fathers] ·to keep forever [L forever and ever].
8 “‘But look, you ·are trusting [have confidence in] ·lies [L false words], which is useless. 9 Will you steal and murder and be guilty of adultery? Will you falsely ·accuse other people [take oaths; swear]? Will you ·burn incense [make offerings] to the god Baal and ·follow [L go after] other gods you have not known? 10 If you do that, do you think you can come before me and stand in this ·place [L house] ·where I have chosen to be worshiped [L which is called by my name]? Do you think you can say, “We are safe!” when you do all these ·hateful things [abominations]? 11 This ·place [L house] ·where I have chosen to be worshiped [L that is called by my name] is nothing more to you than a ·hideout [den] for robbers [Mark 11:17; Luke 19:46]. I have been watching you, says the Lord.
12 “‘You people of Judah, go now to the town of Shiloh, where I ·first [formerly] made ·a place to be worshiped [L my name dwell]. See what I did to it because of the evil things the people of Israel had done. 13 You [C the people of Judah] have done all these evil things too, says the Lord. I spoke to you again and again, but you did not listen to me. I called you, but you did not answer. 14 So I will destroy the ·place [L house] ·where I have chosen to be worshiped in Jerusalem [which is called by my name]. You ·trust [have confidence] in that place, which I gave to you and your ·ancestors [fathers], but I will destroy it just as I destroyed Shiloh [1 Sam. 4:1–22; Ps. 78:60–64]. 15 I will ·push you [throw you] away from me just as I ·pushed [threw] away your ·relatives [L brothers], the people of Israel [L all the seed of Ephraim; C the dominant tribe of the northern kingdom of Israel, exiled by the Assyrians in 722 bc]!’
The Example of Abraham
4 So what can we say that Abraham, ·the father of our people [L our forefather according to the flesh; Gen. 12—25], ·learned about faith [discovered in this regard; L has found]? 2 If Abraham was ·made right [justified; declared righteous] by ·the things he did [L the works of the law], he had a reason to ·brag [boast]. ·But this is not God’s view [or …but he could not boast before God], 3 because the Scripture says, “Abraham believed God, and ·God accepted Abraham’s faith, and that faith made him right with God [L it was credited/counted to him for righteousness; Gen. 15:6].”
4 When people work, their ·pay [wage] is not ·given [credited; counted] as ·a gift [grace], but as something ·earned [due to them]. 5 ·But people cannot do any work that will make them right with God. So they must trust in him [L But for the one who does not work, but trusts in God], who ·makes even evil people right in his sight [justifies/makes righteous the ungodly]. Then God ·accepts their faith, and that makes them right with him [L credits/counts their faith for righteousness]. 6 David said the same thing. He said that people are ·truly blessed [happy; spiritually fulfilled] when God, ·without paying attention to their deeds [apart from works], ·makes people right with himself [L credits/counts righteousness to them].
7 “·Blessed [Happy; Spiritually fulfilled] are they
whose ·sins [lawless deeds] are forgiven,
whose ·wrongs [sins] are ·pardoned [covered; blotted out].
8 ·Blessed [Happy; Spiritually fulfilled] is the person
whom the Lord does not ·consider guilty [L count sin against; Ps. 32:1–2].”
9 Is this ·blessing [happiness; spiritual fulfillment] only for those who are circumcised or also for those who are not circumcised? We have already said that ·God accepted Abraham’s faith and that faith made him right with God [L faith was credited/counted to Abraham for righteousness; v. 3]. 10 So how did this happen? Did God accept Abraham before or after he was circumcised? It was not after, but before his circumcision. 11 Abraham ·was circumcised [L received the sign of circumcision; Gen. 17:9–14] ·to show that he was right with God [L as a seal/guarantee of the righteousness he had] through faith before he was circumcised. So Abraham is the father of all those who believe but are not circumcised, so that ·they too may be accepted as being right with God [righteousness may be credited/counted to them also]. 12 And Abraham is also the father of those who have been circumcised and who ·live following [L walk in the footsteps of] the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
Jesus Teaches at the Feast
14 When the feast was about half over, Jesus went to the Temple [courts; 2:14] and began to teach. 15 The people ·were amazed [marveled] and said, “This man has never studied in school. How did he learn so much?”
16 Jesus answered them, “The things I teach are not my own, but they come from him who sent me [C God]. 17 If people ·choose [desire; want] to do ·what God wants [L God’s will], they will know that my teaching comes from God and not from me. 18 Those who ·teach their own ideas [speak with their own authority] are trying to get ·honor [glory] for themselves. But those who try to bring ·honor [glory] to the one who sent them speak the truth, and there is nothing ·false [or unrighteous] in them. [C The Greek here is singular (“But the one who…”), so Jesus is speaking especially about himself.] 19 Moses gave you the law [L Has not Moses given you the law?; Ex. 34:29–32], but none of you obeys that law. Why are you trying to kill me?”
20 The people answered, “A demon has come into you [L You have a demon]. We are not trying to kill you [L Who is trying to kill you?].”
21 Jesus ·said to [answered] them, “I did one ·miracle [L work; deed; 5:1–15], and you are all ·amazed [astonished]. 22 Moses gave you the law about circumcision [Ex. 12:44–49]. (But really Moses did not give you circumcision; it came from ·our ancestors [L the fathers/patriarchs; Gen. 17:9–14].) And yet you circumcise a ·baby boy [L person] on a Sabbath day. 23 If a ·baby boy [L person] can be circumcised on a Sabbath day ·to obey the law of Moses [L so the law of Moses may not be broken], why are you angry at me for healing a person’s whole body on the Sabbath day? 24 Stop judging by ·the way things look [outward appearances], but judge by ·what is really right [L right/just/righteous judgment].”
Is Jesus the Christ?
25 Then some of the people who lived in Jerusalem said, “·This is the man [L Isn’t this the man…?] they are trying to kill. 26 But he is ·teaching where everyone can see and hear him [L speaking publicly], and no one is ·trying to stop [L saying anything to] him. Maybe the ·leaders [rulers; authorities] have ·decided [come to recognize] he really is the ·Christ [Messiah]. 27 But we know where this man is from. Yet when the real ·Christ [Messiah] comes, no one will know where he comes from.” [C Some Jewish traditions claimed the Messiah would be unknown until he came to deliver Israel.]
28 Jesus, teaching in the Temple [courts; 2:14], cried out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. But I have not come ·by my own authority [on my own initiative; L from myself]. I was sent by the One who is true, whom you don’t know. 29 But I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.”
30 When Jesus said this, they tried to ·seize [arrest] him. But no one was able to ·touch him [L lay a hand on him], because ·it was not yet the right time [L his hour had not yet come; see 2:4]. 31 But many ·of the people [L in the crowd] believed in Jesus. They said, “When the ·Christ [Messiah] comes, will he do more ·miracles [L signs] than this man has done?”
The Leaders Try to Arrest Jesus
32 The Pharisees [see 1:24] heard the crowd ·whispering [arguing; murmuring; grumbling] these things about Jesus. So the leading priests and the Pharisees sent some Temple ·guards [police; officers] to ·arrest [seize] him. 33 [L Therefore] Jesus said, “I will be with you a little while longer. Then I will go back to the One who sent me. 34 You will ·look for [seek] me, but you will not find me. And you cannot come where I am [C in heaven].”
35 [L Therefore] ·Some people [The Jewish leaders; L The Jews] said to each other, “Where will this man go so we cannot find him? Will he go to the ·Greek cities where our people live [L dispersion/scattering among the Greeks; C ever since the Babylonian exile many Jewish people had lived outside the land of Israel] and teach the Greek people there? [C The Jews often used “Greeks” for Gentiles generally.] 36 What did he mean when he said, ‘You will look for me, but you will not find me,’ and ‘You cannot come where I am’?”
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