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.
Comfort in Trouble from Recalling God’s Mighty Deeds.
For the choir director; [a]according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of Asaph.
77 My voice rises to God, and I will (A)cry aloud;
My voice rises to God, and He will hear me.
2 In the (B)day of my trouble I sought the Lord;
(C)In the night my (D)hand was stretched out [b]without weariness;
My soul (E)refused to be comforted.
3 When I remember God, then I am (F)disturbed;
When I (G)sigh, then (H)my spirit grows faint. [c]Selah.
4 You have held my eyelids open;
I am so troubled that I (I)cannot speak.
5 I have considered the (J)days of old,
The years of long ago.
6 I will remember my (K)song in the night;
I (L)will meditate with my heart,
And my spirit [d]ponders:
7 Will the Lord (M)reject forever?
And will He (N)never be favorable again?
8 Has His (O)lovingkindness ceased forever?
Has His [e](P)promise come to an end [f]forever?
9 Has God (Q)forgotten to be gracious,
Or has He in anger [g]withdrawn His (R)compassion? Selah.
10 Then I said, “(S)It is my [h]grief,
That the (T)right hand of the Most High has changed.”
11 I shall remember the (U)deeds of [i]the Lord;
Surely I will (V)remember Your wonders of old.
12 I will (W)meditate on all Your work
And muse on Your deeds.
13 Your way, O God, is (X)holy;
(Y)What god is great like our God?
14 You are the (Z)God who works wonders;
You have (AA)made known Your strength among the peoples.
15 You have by Your [j]power (AB)redeemed Your people,
The sons of Jacob and (AC)Joseph. Selah.
16 The (AD)waters saw You, O God;
The waters saw You, they were in anguish;
The deeps also trembled.
17 The (AE)clouds poured out water;
The skies (AF)gave forth a sound;
Your (AG)arrows [k]flashed here and there.
18 The (AH)sound of Your thunder was in the whirlwind;
The (AI)lightnings lit up the world;
The (AJ)earth trembled and shook.
19 Your (AK)way was in the sea
And Your paths in the mighty waters,
And Your footprints may not be known.
20 You (AL)led Your people like a flock
By the hand of (AM)Moses and Aaron.
A Lament over the Destruction of Jerusalem, and Prayer for Help.
A Psalm of Asaph.
79 O God, the (A)nations have [a]invaded (B)Your inheritance;
They have defiled Your (C)holy temple;
They have (D)laid Jerusalem in ruins.
2 They have given the (E)dead bodies of Your servants for food to the birds of the heavens,
The flesh of Your godly ones to the beasts of the earth.
3 They have poured out their blood like water round about Jerusalem;
And there was (F)no one to bury them.
4 We have become a (G)reproach to our neighbors,
A scoffing and derision to those around us.
5 (H)How long, O Lord? Will You be angry forever?
Will Your (I)jealousy (J)burn like fire?
6 (K)Pour out Your wrath upon the nations which (L)do not know You,
And upon the kingdoms which (M)do not call upon Your name.
7 For they have (N)devoured Jacob
And (O)laid waste his [b]habitation.
8 (P)Do not remember [c]the iniquities of our forefathers against us;
Let Your compassion come quickly to (Q)meet us,
For we are (R)brought very low.
9 (S)Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of (T)Your name;
And deliver us and [d](U)forgive our sins (V)for Your name’s sake.
10 (W)Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”
Let there be known among the nations in our sight,
(X)Vengeance for the blood of Your servants which has been shed.
11 Let (Y)the groaning of the prisoner come before You;
According to the greatness of Your [e]power preserve [f]those who are (Z)doomed to die.
12 And return to our neighbors (AA)sevenfold (AB)into their bosom
[g]The (AC)reproach with which they have reproached You, O Lord.
13 So we Your people and the (AD)sheep of Your [h]pasture
Will (AE)give thanks to You forever;
To all generations we will (AF)tell of Your praise.
Naaman Is Healed
5 Now (A)Naaman, captain of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man [a]with his master, and highly respected, because by him the Lord had given victory to Aram. The man was also a valiant warrior, but he was a leper. 2 Now the Arameans had gone out (B)in bands and had taken captive a little girl from the land of Israel; and she [b]waited on Naaman’s wife. 3 She said to her mistress, “I wish that my master were [c]with the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would cure him of his leprosy.” 4 [d]Naaman went in and told his master, saying, “Thus and thus spoke the girl who is from the land of Israel.” 5 Then the king of Aram said, “Go [e]now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” He departed and (C)took with him ten talents of silver and six thousand shekels of gold and ten (D)changes of clothes.
6 He brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, “And now as this letter comes to you, behold, I have sent Naaman my servant to you, that you may cure him of his leprosy.” 7 When the king of Israel read the letter, (E)he tore his clothes and said, “(F)Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man is sending word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? But (G)consider now, and see how he is seeking [f]a quarrel against me.”
8 It happened when Elisha (H)the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent word to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Now let him come to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.” 9 So Naaman came with his horses and his chariots and stood at the doorway of the house of Elisha. 10 Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “(I)Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh will be restored to you and you will be clean.” 11 But Naaman was furious and went away and said, “Behold, I [g]thought, ‘He will surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper.’ 12 Are not [h]Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and (J)went away in a rage. 13 (K)Then his servants came near and spoke to him and said, “(L)My father, had the prophet told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” 14 So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; and (M)his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child and (N)he was clean.
Gehazi’s Greed
15 When he returned to the man of God [i]with all his company, and came and stood before him, he said, “Behold now, (O)I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel; so please (P)take a [j]present from your servant now.” 16 But he said, “(Q)As the Lord lives, before whom I stand, (R)I will take nothing.” And he urged him to take it, but he refused. 17 Naaman said, “If not, please let your servant at least be given two mules’ load of (S)earth; for your servant will no longer offer burnt offering nor will he sacrifice to other gods, but to the Lord. 18 In this matter may the Lord pardon your servant: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and (T)he leans on my hand and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, the Lord pardon your servant in this matter.” 19 He said to him, “(U)Go in peace.” So he departed from him some distance.
8 You are (A)already filled, you have already become rich, you have become kings without us; and indeed, I wish that you had become kings so that we also might reign with you. 9 For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men (B)condemned to death; because we (C)have become a spectacle to the world, [a]both to angels and to men. 10 We are (D)fools for Christ’s sake, but (E)you are prudent in Christ; (F)we are weak, but you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor. 11 To this present hour we are both (G)hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless; 12 and we toil, (H)working with our own hands; when we are (I)reviled, we bless; when we are (J)persecuted, we endure; 13 when we are slandered, we try to [b]conciliate; we have (K)become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now.
14 I do not write these things to (L)shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved (M)children. 15 For if you were to have countless (N)tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in (O)Christ Jesus I (P)became your father through the (Q)gospel. 16 Therefore I exhort you, be (R)imitators of me. 17 For this reason I (S)have sent to you (T)Timothy, who is my (U)beloved and faithful child in the Lord, and he will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, (V)just as I teach everywhere in every church. 18 Now some have become [c](W)arrogant, as though I were not (X)coming to you. 19 But I (Y)will come to you soon, (Z)if the Lord wills, and I shall find out, not the [d]words of those who are (AA)arrogant but their power. 20 For the kingdom of God does (AB)not consist in [e]words but in power. 21 What do you desire? (AC)Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness?
Personal Relationships
21 “(A)You have heard that [a]the ancients were told, ‘(B)You shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be [b]liable to (C)the court.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be [c]guilty before (D)the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘[d]You good-for-nothing,’ shall be [e]guilty before [f](E)the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be [g]guilty enough to go into the [h](F)fiery hell. 23 Therefore if you are (G)presenting your [i]offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your [j]offering there before the altar and go; first be (H)reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your [k]offering. 25 (I)Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. 26 Truly I say to you, (J)you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last [l]cent.
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