Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 80
To the Chief Musician; [set to the tune of] “Lilies, a Testimony.” A Psalm of Asaph.
1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, You Who lead Joseph like a flock; You Who sit enthroned upon the cherubim [of the ark of the covenant], shine forth
2 Before [a]Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh! Stir up Your might, and come to save us!
3 Restore us again, O God; and cause Your face to shine [in pleasure and approval on us], and we shall be saved!
4 O Lord God of hosts, how long will You be angry with Your people’s prayers?
5 You have fed them with the bread of tears, and You have given them tears to drink in large measure.
6 You make us a strife and scorn to our neighbors, and our enemies laugh among themselves.
7 Restore us again, O God of hosts; and cause Your face to shine [upon us with favor as of old], and we shall be saved!
8 You brought a vine [Israel] out of Egypt; You drove out the [heathen] nations and planted it [in Canaan].
9 You prepared room before it, and it took deep root and it filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs of it were like the great cedars [cedars of God].
11 [Israel] sent out its boughs to the [Mediterranean] Sea and its branches to the [Euphrates] River.(A)
12 Why have You broken down its hedges and walls so that all who pass by pluck from its fruit?
13 The boar out of the wood wastes it and the wild beast of the field feeds on it.
14 Turn again, we beseech You, O God of hosts! Look down from heaven and see, visit, and have regard for this vine!
15 [Protect and maintain] the stock which Your right hand planted, and the branch (the son) that You have reared and made strong for Yourself.
16 They have burned it with fire, it is cut down; may they perish at the rebuke of Your countenance.
17 Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand, upon the son of man whom You have made strong for Yourself.
18 Then will we not depart from You; revive us (give us life) and we will call upon Your name.
19 Restore us, O Lord God of hosts; cause Your face to shine [in pleasure, approval, and favor on us], and we shall be saved!
Psalm 77
To the Chief Musician; after the manner of Jeduthun [one of David’s three chief musicians, founder of an official musical family]. A Psalm of Asaph.
1 I will cry to God with my voice, even to God with my voice, and He will give ear and hearken to me.
2 In the day of my trouble I seek (inquire of and desperately require) the Lord; in the night my hand is stretched out [in prayer] without slacking up; I refuse to be comforted.
3 I [earnestly] remember God; I am disquieted and I groan; I muse in prayer, and my spirit faints [overwhelmed]. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
4 You hold my eyes from closing; I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
5 I consider the days of old, the years of bygone times [of prosperity].
6 I call to remembrance my song in the night; with my heart I meditate and my spirit searches diligently:
7 Will the Lord cast off forever? And will He be favorable no more?
8 Have His mercy and loving-kindness ceased forever? Have His promises ended for all time?
9 Has God [deliberately] abandoned or forgotten His graciousness? Has He in anger shut up His compassion? Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
10 And I say, This [apparent desertion of Israel by God] is my appointed lot and trial, but I will recall the years of the right hand of the Most High [in loving-kindness extended toward us], for this is my grief, that the right hand of the Most High changes.
11 I will [earnestly] recall the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will [earnestly] remember the wonders [You performed for our fathers] of old.
12 I will meditate also upon all Your works and consider all Your [mighty] deeds.
13 Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary [in holiness, away from sin and guilt]. Who is a great God like our God?
14 You are the God Who does wonders; You have demonstrated Your power among the peoples.
15 You have with Your [mighty] arm redeemed Your people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
16 When the waters [at the Red Sea and the Jordan] saw You, O God, they were afraid; the deep shuddered also, for [all] the waters saw You.
17 The clouds poured down water, the skies sent out a sound [of rumbling thunder]; Your arrows went forth [in forked lightning].
18 The voice of Your thunder was in the whirlwind, the lightnings illumined the world; the earth trembled and shook.
19 Your way [in delivering Your people] was through the sea, and Your paths through the great waters, yet Your footsteps were not traceable, but were obliterated.
20 You led Your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
Psalm 79
A Psalm of Asaph.
1 O God, the nations have come into [the land of Your people] Your inheritance; Your sacred temple have they defiled; they have made Jerusalem heaps of ruins.
2 The dead bodies of Your servants they have given as food to the birds of the heavens, the flesh of Your saints to the beasts of the earth.
3 Their blood they have poured out like water round about Jerusalem, and there was none to bury them.
4 [Because of such humiliation] we have become a taunt and reproach to our neighbors, a mocking and derision to those who are round about us.
5 How long, O Lord? Will You be angry forever? Shall Your jealousy [which cannot endure a divided allegiance] burn like fire?
6 Pour out Your wrath on the Gentile nations who do not acknowledge You, and upon the kingdoms that do not call on Your name.(A)
7 For they have devoured Jacob and laid waste his dwelling and his pasture.
8 O do not [earnestly] remember against us the iniquities and guilt of our forefathers! Let Your compassion and tender mercy speedily come to meet us, for we are brought very low.
9 Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of Your name! Deliver us, forgive us, and purge away our sins for Your name’s sake.
10 Why should the Gentile nations say, Where is their God? Let vengeance for the blood of Your servants which is poured out be known among the nations in our sight [not delaying until some future generation].
11 Let the groaning and sighing of the prisoner come before You; according to the greatness of Your power and Your arm spare those who are appointed to die!
12 And return into the bosom of our neighbors sevenfold the taunts with which they have taunted and scoffed at You, O Lord!
13 Then we Your people, the sheep of Your pasture, will give You thanks forever; we will show forth and publish Your praise from generation to generation.
15 And on the day that the tabernacle was erected, the cloud [of God’s presence] covered the tabernacle, that is, the Tent of the Testimony; and at evening it was over the tabernacle, having the appearance of [a pillar of] fire until the morning.(A)
16 So it was constantly; the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night.
17 Whenever the cloud was taken up from over the Tent, after that the Israelites journeyed; and in the place where the cloud rested, there the Israelites encamped.
18 At the Lord’s command the Israelites journeyed, and at [His] command they encamped. As long as the cloud rested upon the tabernacle they remained encamped.
19 Even when the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle many days, the Israelites kept the Lord’s charge and did not set out.
20 And sometimes the cloud was only a few days upon the tabernacle, but according to the command of the Lord they remained encamped, and at His command they journeyed.
21 And sometimes the cloud remained [over the tabernacle] from evening only until morning, but when the cloud was taken up, they journeyed; whether it was taken up by day or by night, they journeyed.
22 Whether it was two days or a month or a longer time that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle, dwelling on it, the Israelites remained encamped; but when it was taken up, they journeyed.
23 At the command of the Lord they remained encamped, and at [His] command they journeyed; they kept the charge of the Lord, at the command of the Lord through Moses.
29 And Moses said to Hobab son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, We are journeying to the place of which the Lord said, I will give it to you. Come with us, and we will do you good, for the Lord has promised good concerning Israel.
30 And Hobab said to him, I will not go; I will depart to my own land and to my family.
31 And Moses said, [a]Do not leave us, I pray you; for you know how we are to encamp in the wilderness, and you will serve as eyes for us.
32 And if you will go with us, it shall be that whatever good the Lord does to us, the same we will do to you.
33 They departed from the mountain of the Lord [Mount Sinai] three days’ journey; and the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them during the three days’ journey to seek out a resting-place for them.
34 The cloud of the Lord was over them by day when they went forward from the camp.
35 Whenever the ark set out, Moses said, Rise up, Lord; let Your enemies be scattered; and let those who hate You flee before You.(A)
36 And when it rested, he said, Return, O Lord, to the ten thousand thousands in Israel.
1 From Paul, a bond servant of Jesus Christ (the Messiah) called to be an apostle, (a special messenger) set apart to [preach] the Gospel (good news) of and from God,
2 Which He promised in advance [long ago] through His prophets in the sacred Scriptures—
3 [The Gospel] regarding His Son, Who as to the flesh (His human nature) was descended from David,
4 And [as to His divine nature] according to the Spirit of holiness was openly [a]designated the Son of God in power [in a striking, triumphant and miraculous manner] by His resurrection from the dead, even Jesus Christ our Lord (the Messiah, the Anointed One).
5 It is through Him that we have received grace (God’s unmerited favor) and [our] apostleship to promote obedience to the faith and make disciples for His name’s sake among all the nations,
6 And this includes you, called of Jesus Christ and invited [as you are] to belong to Him.
7 To [you then] all God’s beloved ones in Rome, called to be saints and designated for a consecrated life: Grace and spiritual blessing and peace be yours from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because [the report of] your faith is made known to all the world and is [b]commended everywhere.
9 For God is my witness, Whom I serve with my [whole] spirit [rendering priestly and spiritual service] in [preaching] the Gospel and [telling] the good news of His Son, how incessantly I always mention you when at my prayers.
10 I keep pleading that somehow by God’s will I may now at last prosper and come to you.
11 For I am yearning to see you, that I may impart and share with you some spiritual gift to strengthen and establish you;
12 That is, that we may be mutually strengthened and encouraged and comforted by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.
13 I want you to know, brethren, that many times I have planned and intended to come to you, though thus far I have been hindered and prevented, in order that I might have some fruit (some result of my labors) among you, as I have among the rest of the Gentiles.
14 Both to Greeks and to barbarians (to the cultured and to the uncultured), both to the wise and the foolish, I have an obligation to discharge and a duty to perform and a debt to pay.
15 So, for my part, I am willing and eagerly ready to preach the Gospel to you also who are in Rome.
14 And when they approached the multitude, a man came up to Him, kneeling before Him and saying,
15 Lord, do pity and have mercy on my son, for he has epilepsy (is [a]moonstruck) and he suffers terribly; for frequently he falls into the fire and many times into the water.
16 And I brought him to Your disciples, and they were not able to cure him.
17 And Jesus answered, O you unbelieving ([b]warped, wayward, rebellious) and [c]thoroughly perverse generation! How long am I to remain with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to Me.
18 And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was cured instantly.
19 Then the disciples came to Jesus and asked privately, Why could we not drive it out?
20 He said to them, Because of the littleness of your faith [that is, your lack of [d]firmly relying trust]. For truly I say to you, if you have faith [[e]that is living] like a grain of mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, Move from here to yonder place, and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.
21 [f]But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.
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