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.
4 Then Esther’s maidens and her eunuchs came and told her, and the queen writhed in great anguish. And she sent garments to clothe Mordecai that he might remove his sackcloth from him, but he did not accept them. 5 Then Esther summoned Hathach from the king’s eunuchs, whom [a]the king had appointed to attend her, and ordered him to go to Mordecai to learn what this was and why it was. 6 So Hathach went out to Mordecai to the city square in front of the king’s gate. 7 Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and (A)the exact amount of money that Haman had promised to pay to the king’s treasuries for the destruction of the Jews. 8 He also gave him (B)a copy of the text of the edict which had been issued in Susa for their destruction, that he might show Esther and inform her, and to order her to go in to the king to implore his favor and to plead with him for her people.
9 Hathach came back and related Mordecai’s words to Esther. 10 Then Esther spoke to Hathach and ordered him to reply to Mordecai: 11 “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that for any man or woman who (C)comes to the king to the inner court who is not summoned, (D)he has but one law, that he be put to death, unless the king holds out (E)to him the golden scepter so that he may live. And I have not been summoned to come to the king for these thirty days.” 12 They related Esther’s words to Mordecai.
13 Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not imagine that you in the king’s palace can escape any more than all the Jews. 14 For if you remain silent at this time, relief and (F)deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?”
Esther Plans to Intercede
15 Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, 16 “Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa, and fast for me; (G)do not eat or drink for (H)three days, night or day. I and my maidens also will fast in the same way. And thus I will go in to the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish.” 17 So Mordecai went away and did just as Esther had commanded him.
Paul at Corinth
18 After these things he left (A)Athens and went to (B)Corinth. 2 And he found a Jew named (C)Aquila, a native of (D)Pontus, having recently come from (E)Italy with his wife (F)Priscilla, because (G)Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. He came to them, 3 and because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and (H)they were working, for by trade they were tent-makers. 4 And he was reasoning (I)in the synagogue every (J)Sabbath and trying to persuade (K)Jews and Greeks.
5 But when (L)Silas and Timothy (M)came down from (N)Macedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the word, solemnly (O)testifying to the Jews that (P)Jesus was the [a]Christ. 6 But when they resisted and blasphemed, he (Q)shook out his garments and said to them, “Your (R)blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will go (S)to the Gentiles.” 7 Then he left there and went to the house of a man named [b]Titius Justus, (T)a worshiper of God, whose house was next to the synagogue. 8 (U)Crispus, (V)the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord (W)with all his household, and many of the (X)Corinthians when they heard were believing and being baptized. 9 And the Lord said to Paul in the night by (Y)a vision, “Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; 10 for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city.” 11 And he settled there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.
Introduction
1 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things [a](A)accomplished among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who (B)from the beginning [b]were (C)eyewitnesses and [c](D)servants of (E)the [d]word, 3 it seemed fitting for me as well, (F)having [e]investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you (G)in consecutive order, (H)most excellent (I)Theophilus; 4 so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been [f](J)taught.
John the Baptist Preaches
3 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when (A)Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and (B)Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, 2 in the high priesthood of (C)Annas and (D)Caiaphas, (E)the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness. 3 And he came into all (F)the district around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins; 4 as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,
“(G)The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
‘Make ready the way of the Lord,
Make His paths straight.
5 ‘(H)Every ravine will be filled,
And every mountain and hill will be [a]brought low;
The crooked will become straight,
And the rough roads smooth;
6 (I)And all [b]flesh will (J)see the salvation of God.’”
7 So he began saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him, “(K)You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and (L)do not begin to say [c]to yourselves, ‘(M)We have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. 9 Indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; so (N)every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
10 And the crowds were questioning him, saying, “(O)Then what shall we do?” 11 And he would answer and say to them, “The man who has two tunics is to (P)share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise.” 12 And some (Q)tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” 13 And he said to them, “[d]Collect no more than what you have been ordered to.” 14 Some soldiers were questioning him, saying, “And what about us, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not take money from anyone by force, or (R)accuse anyone falsely, and (S)be content with your wages.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.