Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 78[a]
A well-written song[b] by Asaph.
78 Pay attention, my people, to my instruction.
Listen to the words I speak.[c]
2 I will sing a song that imparts wisdom;
I will make insightful observations about the past.[d]
3 What we have heard and learned[e]—
that which our ancestors[f] have told us—
4 we will not hide from their[g] descendants.
We will tell the next generation
about the Lord’s praiseworthy acts,[h]
about his strength and the amazing things he has done.
5 He established a rule[i] in Jacob;
he set up a law in Israel.
He commanded our ancestors
to make his deeds known to their descendants,[j]
6 so that the next generation, children yet to be born,
might know about them.
They will grow up and tell their descendants about them.[k]
7 Then they will place their confidence in God.
They will not forget the works of God,
and they will obey[l] his commands.
8 Then they will not be like their ancestors,
who were a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation that was not committed
and faithful to God.[m]
9 The Ephraimites[n] were armed with bows,[o]
but they retreated in the day of battle.[p]
10 They did not keep their covenant with God,[q]
and they refused to obey[r] his law.
11 They forgot what he had done,[s]
the amazing things he had shown them.
12 He did amazing things in the sight of their ancestors,
in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.[t]
13 He divided the sea and led them across it;
he made the water stand in a heap.
14 He led them with a cloud by day,
and with the light of a fire all night long.
15 He broke open rocks in the wilderness,
and gave them enough water to fill the depths of the sea.[u]
16 He caused streams to flow from the rock,
and made the water flow like rivers.
17 Yet they continued to sin against him,
and rebelled against the Most High[v] in the desert.
18 They willfully challenged God[w]
by asking for food to satisfy their appetite.
19 They insulted God, saying,[x]
“Is God really able to give us food[y] in the wilderness?
20 Yes,[z] he struck a rock and water flowed out;
streams gushed forth.
But can he also give us food?
Will he provide meat for his people?”
21 When[aa] the Lord heard this, he was furious.
A fire broke out against Jacob,
and his anger flared up[ab] against Israel,
22 because they did not have faith in God,
and did not trust his ability to deliver them.[ac]
23 He gave a command to the clouds above,
and opened the doors in the sky.
24 He rained down manna for them to eat;
he gave them the grain of heaven.[ad]
25 Man ate the food of the mighty ones.[ae]
He sent them more than enough to eat.[af]
26 He brought the east wind through the sky,
and by his strength led forth the south wind.
27 He rained down meat on them like dust,
birds as numerous as the sand on the seashores.[ag]
28 He caused them to fall right in the middle of their camp,
all around their homes.
29 They ate until they were beyond full;[ah]
he gave them what they desired.
30 They were not yet filled up;[ai]
their food was still in their mouths,
31 when the anger of God flared up against them.
He killed some of the strongest of them;
he brought the young men of Israel to their knees.
32 Despite all this, they continued to sin,
and did not trust him to do amazing things.[aj]
33 So he caused them to die unsatisfied[ak]
and filled with terror.[al]
34 When he struck them down,[am] they sought his favor;[an]
they turned back and longed for God.
35 They remembered that God was their protector,[ao]
and that God Most High[ap] was their deliverer.[aq]
36 But they deceived him with their words,[ar]
and lied to him.[as]
37 They were not really committed to him,[at]
and they were unfaithful to his covenant.
38 Yet he is compassionate.
He forgives sin and does not destroy.
He often holds back his anger,
and does not stir up his fury.[au]
39 He remembered[av] that they were made of flesh,
and were like a wind that blows past and does not return.[aw]
40 How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness,
and insulted him[ax] in the wastelands.
41 They again challenged God,[ay]
and offended[az] the Holy One of Israel.[ba]
42 They did not remember what he had done,[bb]
how he delivered them from the enemy,[bc]
43 when he performed his awesome deeds[bd] in Egypt,
and his acts of judgment[be] in the region of Zoan.
44 He turned their rivers into blood,
and they could not drink from their streams.
45 He sent swarms of biting insects against them,[bf]
as well as frogs that overran their land.[bg]
46 He gave their crops to the grasshopper,
the fruit of their labor to the locust.
47 He destroyed their vines with hail,
and their sycamore-fig trees with driving rain.
48 He rained hail down on their cattle,[bh]
and hurled lightning bolts down on their livestock.[bi]
49 His raging anger lashed out against them.[bj]
He sent fury, rage, and trouble
as messengers who bring disaster.[bk]
50 He sent his anger in full force.[bl]
He did not spare them from death;
he handed their lives over to destruction.[bm]
51 He struck down all the firstborn in Egypt,
the firstfruits of their reproductive power[bn] in the tents of Ham.
52 Yet he brought out his people like sheep;
he led them through the wilderness like a flock.
53 He guided them safely along, and they were not afraid;
but the sea covered their enemies.
54 He brought them to the border of his holy land,
to this mountainous land[bo] that his right hand[bp] acquired.
55 He drove the nations out from before them;
he assigned them their tribal allotments[bq]
and allowed the tribes of Israel to settle down.[br]
56 Yet they challenged and defied[bs] God Most High,[bt]
and did not obey[bu] his commands.[bv]
57 They were unfaithful[bw] and acted as treacherously as[bx] their ancestors;
they were as unreliable as a malfunctioning bow.[by]
58 They made him angry with their pagan shrines,[bz]
and made him jealous with their idols.
59 God heard and was angry;
he completely rejected Israel.
60 He abandoned[ca] the sanctuary at Shiloh,
the tent where he lived among men.
61 He allowed the symbol of his strong presence to be captured;[cb]
he gave the symbol of his splendor[cc] into the hand of the enemy.[cd]
62 He delivered his people over to the sword,
and was angry with his chosen nation.[ce]
63 Fire consumed their[cf] young men,
and their[cg] virgins remained unmarried.[ch]
64 Their[ci] priests fell by the sword,
but their[cj] widows did not weep.[ck]
65 But then the Lord awoke from his sleep;[cl]
he was like a warrior in a drunken rage.[cm]
66 He drove his enemies back;
he made them a permanent target for insults.[cn]
67 He rejected the tent of Joseph;
he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim.
68 He chose the tribe of Judah
and Mount Zion, which he loves.
69 He made his sanctuary as enduring as the heavens above,[co]
as secure as the earth, which he established permanently.[cp]
70 He chose David, his servant,
and took him from the sheepfolds.
71 He took him away from following the mother sheep,[cq]
and made him the shepherd of Jacob, his people,
and of Israel, his chosen nation.[cr]
72 David[cs] cared for them with pure motives;[ct]
he led them with skill.[cu]
Exhortation to Remember That Blessing Comes from God
11 Be sure you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments, ordinances, and statutes that I am giving you today. 12 When you eat your fill, when you build and occupy good houses, 13 when your cattle and flocks increase, when you have plenty of silver and gold, and when you have abundance of everything, 14 be sure[a] you do not feel self-important and forget the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt, the place of slavery, 15 and who brought you through the great, fearful wilderness of venomous serpents[b] and scorpions, an arid place with no water. He made water flow[c] from a flint rock and 16 fed you in the wilderness with manna (which your ancestors had never before known) so that he might by humbling you test you[d] and eventually bring good to you. 17 Be careful[e] not to say, “My own ability and skill[f] have gotten me this wealth.” 18 You must remember the Lord your God, for he is the one who gives ability to get wealth; if you do this he will confirm his covenant that he made by oath to your ancestors,[g] even as he has to this day. 19 Now if you forget the Lord your God at all[h] and follow other gods, worshiping and prostrating yourselves before them, I testify to you today that you will surely be annihilated. 20 Just like the nations the Lord is about to destroy from your sight, so he will do to you[i] because you would not obey him.[j]
16 Do not be led astray, my dear brothers and sisters.[a] 17 All generous giving and every perfect gift[b] is from above, coming down[c] from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or the slightest hint of change.[d] 18 By his sovereign plan he gave us birth[e] through the message of truth, that we would be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
Living Out the Message
19 Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters![f] Let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger. 20 For human[g] anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness.[h] 21 So put away all filth and evil excess and humbly[i] welcome the message implanted within you, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be sure you live out the message and do not merely listen to it and so deceive yourselves. 23 For if someone merely listens to the message and does not live it out, he is like someone[j] who gazes at his own face[k] in a mirror. 24 For he gazes at himself and then goes out and immediately forgets[l] what sort of person he was. 25 But the one who peers into the perfect law of liberty and fixes his attention there,[m] and does not become a forgetful listener but one who lives it out—he[n] will be blessed in what he does.[o] 26 If someone thinks he is religious yet does not bridle his tongue, and so deceives his heart, his religion is futile. 27 Pure and undefiled religion before[p] God the Father[q] is this: to care for orphans and widows in their adversity[r] and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
Instructions on Prayer
11 Now[a] Jesus[b] was praying in a certain place. When[c] he stopped, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John[d] taught[e] his disciples.” 2 So he said to them, “When you pray,[f] say:
Father,[g] may your name be honored;[h]
may your kingdom come.[i]
3 Give us each day our daily bread,[j]
4 and forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins[k] against us.
And do not lead us into temptation.”[l]
5 Then[m] he said to them, “Suppose one of you[n] has a friend, and you go to him[o] at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread,[p] 6 because a friend of mine has stopped here while on a journey,[q] and I have nothing to set before[r] him.’ 7 Then[s] he will reply[t] from inside, ‘Do not bother me. The door is already shut, and my children and I are in bed.[u] I cannot get up and give you anything.’[v] 8 I tell you, even though the man inside[w] will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of the first man’s[x] sheer persistence[y] he will get up and give him whatever he needs.
9 “So[z] I tell you: Ask,[aa] and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door[ab] will be opened for you. 10 For everyone who asks[ac] receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door[ad] will be opened. 11 What father among you, if your[ae] son asks for[af] a fish, will give him a snake[ag] instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?[ah] 13 If you then, although you are[ai] evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit[aj] to those who ask him!”
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