Book of Common Prayer
78 Give ear, O my people, to my law; incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old,
3 which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their children, showing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord and His strength, and His wonderful works that He hath done.
5 For He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded to our fathers, that they should make them known to their children;
6 that the generation to come might know them, even the children who should be born, who should arise and declare them to their children,
7 that they might set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments;
8 and so might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not steadfast with God.
9 The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle.
10 They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in His law;
11 they forgot His works and His wonders that He had shown them.
12 Marvelous things did He in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
13 He divided the sea and caused them to pass through; and He made the waters to stand as a heap.
14 In the daytime also He led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire.
15 He cleaved the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths.
16 He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.
17 And they sinned yet more against Him by provoking the Most High in the wilderness.
18 And they tempted God in their heart by asking for meat for their lust.
19 Yea, they spoke against God: they said, “Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?
20 Behold, He smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed. Can He give bread also? Can He provide flesh for His people?”
21 Therefore the Lord heard this and was wroth; so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also rose up against Israel,
22 because they believed not in God and trusted not in His salvation,
23 though He had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven,
24 and had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them of the corn of heaven.
25 Man ate angels’ food; He sent them meat to the full.
26 He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven, and by His power He brought in the south wind.
27 He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and feathered fowls as the sand of the sea.
28 And He let it fall in the midst of their camp, round about their habitations.
29 So they ate and were well filled, for He gave them their own desire.
30 But they were not estranged from their lust; but while their meat was yet in their mouths,
31 the wrath of God came upon them and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel.
32 For all this, they sinned still and believed not in His wondrous works.
33 Therefore their days did He consume in vanity, and their years in trouble.
34 When He slew them, then they sought Him; and they returned and inquired early after God.
35 And they remembered that God was their rock, and the high God, their redeemer.
36 Nevertheless they flattered Him with their mouth, and they lied unto Him with their tongues.
37 For their heart was not right with Him, neither were they steadfast in His covenant.
38 But He, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity and destroyed them not. Yea, many a time turned He His anger away, and did not stir up all His wrath;
39 for He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passeth away and cometh not again.
40 How oft did they provoke Him in the wilderness, and grieve Him in the desert!
41 Yea, they turned back and tested God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.
42 They remembered not His hand, nor the day when He delivered them from the enemy,
43 how He had wrought His signs in Egypt and His wonders in the field of Zoan,
44 and had turned their rivers into blood, and their streams, that they could not drink.
45 He sent divers sorts of flies among them which devoured them, and frogs which destroyed them.
46 He gave also their harvest unto the caterpillar, and their labor unto the locust.
47 He destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycamore trees with frost.
48 He gave up their cattle also to the hail, and their flocks to hot thunderbolts.
49 He cast upon them the fierceness of His anger, wrath, indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels among them.
50 He made a path to His anger; He spared not their soul from death, but gave their life over to the pestilence,
51 and smote all the firstborn in Egypt, the chief of their strength in the tabernacles of Ham.
52 But He made His own people to go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
53 And He led them on safely, so that they feared not; but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
54 And He brought them to the border of His sanctuary, even to this mountain, which His right hand had purchased.
55 He cast out the heathen also before them, and apportioned them an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.
56 Yet they tested and provoked the Most High God and kept not His testimonies,
57 but turned back and dealt unfaithfully like their fathers; they were turned aside like a deceitful bow.
58 For they provoked Him to anger with their high places, and loved Him to jealousy with their graven images.
59 When God heard this, He was wroth and greatly abhorred Israel,
60 so that He forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which He had placed among men,
61 and delivered His strength into captivity, and His glory into the enemy’s hand.
62 He gave His people over also unto the sword, and was wroth with His inheritance.
63 The fire consumed their young men, and their maidens were not given to marriage.
64 Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows made no lamentation.
65 Then the Lord awakened as one out of sleep, like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine.
66 And He smote His enemies in the hinder parts, and laid upon them a perpetual reproach.
67 Moreover He refused the tabernacle of Joseph and chose not the tribe of Ephraim,
68 but chose the tribe of Judah, the Mount Zion which He loved.
69 And He built His sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth which He hath established for ever.
70 He also chose David His servant, and took him from the sheepfolds;
71 from following the ewes great with young He brought him to feed Jacob His people, and Israel His inheritance.
72 So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.
26 “Nevertheless they were disobedient and rebelled against Thee, and cast Thy law behind their backs, and slew Thy prophets who testified against them to turn them to Thee; and they wrought great provocations.
27 Therefore Thou deliveredst them into the hand of their enemies, who vexed them. And in the time of their trouble when they cried unto Thee, Thou heardest them from heaven; and according to Thy manifold mercies Thou gavest them saviors who saved them out of the hand of their enemies.
28 “But after they had rest, they did evil again before Thee. Therefore leftest Thou them in the hand of their enemies, so that they had the dominion over them; yet when they returned and cried unto Thee, Thou heardest them from heaven. And many times didst Thou deliver them according to Thy mercies,
29 and testifiedst against them, that Thou mightest bring them again unto Thy law. Yet they dealt proudly and hearkened not unto Thy commandments, but sinned against Thy judgments (which if a man do, he shall live in them), and withdrew the shoulder and hardened their neck and would not hear.
30 “Yet many years didst Thou forbear them, and testifiedst against them by Thy Spirit in Thy prophets. Yet would they not give ear; therefore gavest Thou them into the hand of the people of the lands.
31 Nevertheless for Thy great mercies’ sake Thou did not utterly consume them nor forsake them, for Thou art a gracious and merciful God.
32 “Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the fearsome God, who keepest covenant and mercy, let not all the trouble seem little before Thee that hath come upon us—on our kings, on our princes, and on our priests, and on our prophets, and on our fathers, and on all Thy people since the time of the kings of Assyria unto this day.
33 Nevertheless, Thou art just in all that is brought upon us; for Thou hast done right, but we have done wickedly.
34 Neither have our kings, our princes, our priests, nor our fathers kept Thy law, nor hearkened unto Thy commandments and Thy testimonies, wherewith Thou didst testify against them.
35 For they have not served Thee in their kingdom, and in Thy great goodness that Thou gavest them, and in the large and fat land which Thou gavest before them, neither turned they from their wicked works.
36 Behold, we are servants this day; and for the land that Thou gavest unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, behold, we are servants in it.
37 And it yieldeth much increase unto the kings whom Thou hast set over us because of our sins; also they have dominion over our bodies and over our cattle at their pleasure, and we are in great distress.
38 “And because of all this, we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, Levites, and priests set their seal unto it.”
9 “And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived wantonly with her, shall bewail her and lament for her when they shall see the smoke of her burning,
10 standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, ‘Alas! Alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour has thy judgment come.’
11 “And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her, for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:
12 the merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls; and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet; all scented wood, all manner of vessels of ivory and most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble;
13 and cinnamon, and perfumes, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat; and cattle, and sheep, and horses, and chariots; and slaves, and the souls of men.
14 “And the fruits that thy soul lusted after have departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly have departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all.
15 The merchants of these things, who were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing
16 and saying, ‘Alas! Alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and bedecked with gold and precious stones and pearls!
17 For in one hour such great riches have come to nought!’ “And every shipmaster and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off;
18 and they cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, ‘What city is like unto this great city!’
19 And they cast dust on their heads and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, ‘Alas! Alas, that great city, wherein all that had ships in the sea were made rich by reason of her extravagances! For in one hour is she made desolate!’
20 Rejoice over her, thou heaven and ye holy apostles and prophets, for God hath avenged you on her.”
21 Then Jesus went thence and departed into the region of Tyre and Sidon.
22 And behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same region and cried unto Him, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Thou Son of David! My daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.”
23 But He answered her not a word. And His disciples came and besought Him, saying, “Send her away, for she crieth after us.”
24 But He answered and said, “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
25 Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord help me.”
26 But He answered and said, “It is not meet to take children’s bread and cast it to dogs.”
27 And she said, “Truth, Lord; yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”
28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, “O woman, great is thy faith. Be it unto thee even as thou wilt.” And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.
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