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.
Naaman’s Leprosy Healed
5 Now (A)Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was (B)a great and honorable man in the eyes of his master, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was also a mighty man of valor, but a leper. 2 And the Syrians had gone out (C)on[a] raids, and had brought back captive a young girl from the land of Israel. She [b]waited on Naaman’s wife. 3 Then she said to her mistress, “If only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! For he would heal him of his leprosy.” 4 And Naaman went in and told his master, saying, “Thus and thus said the girl who is from the land of Israel.”
5 Then the king of Syria said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.”
So he departed and (D)took with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing. 6 Then he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which said,
Now be advised, when this letter comes to you, that I have sent Naaman my servant to you, that you may heal him of his leprosy.
7 And it happened, when the king of Israel read the letter, that he tore his clothes and said, “Am I (E)God, to kill and make alive, that this man sends a man to me to heal him of his leprosy? Therefore please consider, and see how he seeks a quarrel with me.”
8 So it was, when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Please let him come to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.”
9 Then Naaman went with his horses and chariot, and he stood at the door of Elisha’s house. 10 And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and (F)wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean.” 11 But Naaman became furious, and went away and said, “Indeed, I said to myself, ‘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 heal the leprosy.’ 12 Are not the [c]Abanah and the 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 went away in a rage. 13 And his (G)servants came near and spoke to him, and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, 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 seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his (H)flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and (I)he was clean.
15 And he returned to the man of God, he and all his aides, and came and stood before him; and he said, “Indeed, now I know that there is (J)no God in all the earth, except in Israel; now therefore, please take (K)a gift from your servant.”
16 But he said, (L)“As the Lord lives, before whom I stand, (M)I will receive nothing.” And he urged him to take it, but he refused.
17 So Naaman said, “Then, if not, please let your servant be given two mule-loads of earth; for your servant will no longer offer either burnt offering or sacrifice to other gods, but to the Lord. 18 Yet in this thing may the Lord pardon your servant: when my master goes into the temple of Rimmon to worship there, and (N)he leans on my hand, and I bow down in the temple of Rimmon—when I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the Lord please pardon your servant in this thing.”
19 Then he said to him, “Go in peace.” So he departed from him a short distance.
8 You are already full! (A)You are already rich! You have reigned as kings without us—and indeed I could wish you did reign, that we also might reign with you! 9 For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as men condemned to death; for we have been made a (B)spectacle [a]to the world, both to angels and to men. 10 We are (C)fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ! (D)We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are dishonored! 11 To the present hour we both hunger and thirst, and we are poorly clothed, and beaten, and homeless. 12 (E)And we labor, working with our own hands. (F)Being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we endure; 13 being defamed, we [b]entreat. (G)We have been made as the filth of the world, the offscouring of all things until now.
Paul’s Paternal Care
14 I do not write these things to shame you, but (H)as my beloved children I warn you. 15 For though you might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for (I)in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. 16 Therefore I urge you, (J)imitate me. 17 For this reason I have sent (K)Timothy to you, (L)who is my beloved and faithful son in the Lord, who will (M)remind you of my ways in Christ, as I (N)teach everywhere (O)in every church.
18 (P)Now some are [c]puffed up, as though I were not coming to you. 19 (Q)But I will come to you shortly, (R)if the Lord wills, and I will know, not the word of those who are puffed up, but the power. 20 For (S)the kingdom of God is not in word but in (T)power. 21 What do you want? (U)Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and a spirit of gentleness?
Murder Begins in the Heart(A)
21 “You have heard that it was said to those [a]of old, (B)‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that (C)whoever is angry with his brother [b]without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, (D)‘Raca!’[c] shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, [d]‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of [e]hell fire. 23 Therefore (E)if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 (F)leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 (G)Agree with your adversary quickly, (H)while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. 26 Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.