Book of Common Prayer
One of Asaph’s maskils.
78 My people, listen to my teachings.
Listen to what I say.
2 I will tell you a story.
I will tell you about things from the past that are hard to understand.
3 We have heard the story, and we know it well.
Our fathers told it to us.
4 And we will not forget it.
Our people will be telling this story to the last generation.
We will all praise the Lord
and tell about the amazing things he did.
5 He made an agreement with Jacob.
He gave the law to Israel.
He gave the commands to our ancestors.
He told them to teach the law to their children.
6 Then the next generation, even the children not yet born, would learn the law.
And they would be able to teach it to their own children.
7 So they would all trust in God,
never forgetting what he had done
and always obeying his commands.
8 They would not be like their ancestors,
who were stubborn and refused to obey.
Their hearts were not devoted to God,
and they were not faithful to him.
9 The men from Ephraim had their weapons,
but they ran from the battle.
10 They did not keep their agreement with God.
They refused to obey his teachings.
11 They forgot the great things he had done
and the amazing things he had shown them.
12 While their ancestors watched,
he showed his great power at Zoan in Egypt.
13 He split the Red Sea and led the people across.
The water stood like a solid wall on both sides of them.
14 Each day God led them with the tall cloud,
and each night he led them with the light from the column of fire.
15 He split the rocks in the desert
and gave them an ocean of fresh water.
16 He brought a stream of water out of the rock
and made it flow like a river!
17 But they continued sinning against him.
They rebelled against God Most High in the desert.
18 Then they decided to test God
by telling him to give them the food they wanted.
19 They complained about him and said,
“Can God give us food in the desert?
20 Yes, he struck the rock and a flood of water came out.
But can he give us bread and meat?”
21 The Lord heard what they said
and became angry with Jacob’s people.
He was angry with Israel,
22 because they did not trust in him.
They did not believe that God could save them.
23-24 But then God opened the clouds above,
and manna rained down on them for food.
It was as if doors in the sky opened,
and grain poured down from a storehouse in the sky.
25 These people ate the food of angels.
God sent plenty of food to satisfy them.
26 He sent a strong wind from the east,
and by his power he made the south wind blow.
27 He made quail fall like rain until they covered the ground.
There were so many birds that they were like sand on the seashore.
28 The birds fell in the middle of the camp,
all around their tents.
29 The people ate until they were full.
God had given them what they wanted.
30 But before they were fully satisfied,
while the food was still in their mouths,
31 God became angry and killed even the strongest of them.
He brought down Israel’s best young men.
32 But the people continued to sin!
They did not trust in the amazing things God could do.
33 So he ended their worthless lives;
he brought their years to a close with disaster.
34 When he killed some of them, the others would turn back to him.
They would come running back to God.
35 They would remember that God was their Rock.
They would remember that God Most High had saved them.
36 But they tried to fool him with their words;
they told him lies.
37 Their hearts were not really with him.
They were not faithful to the agreement he gave them.
38 But God was merciful.
He forgave their sins and did not destroy them.
Many times he held back his anger.
He never let it get out of control.
39 He remembered that they were only people,
like a wind that blows and then is gone.
40 Oh, they caused him so much trouble in the desert!
They made him so sad.
41 Again and again they tested his patience.
They really hurt the Holy One of Israel.
42 They forgot about his power.
They forgot the many times he saved them from the enemy.
43 They forgot the miracles in Egypt,
the miracles in the fields of Zoan.
44 God turned the rivers into blood,
and the Egyptians could not drink the water.
45 He sent swarms of flies that bit them.
He sent the frogs that ruined their lives.
46 He gave their crops to grasshoppers
and their other plants to locusts.
47 He destroyed their vines with hail
and their trees with sleet.
48 He killed their animals with hail
and their cattle with lightning.
49 He showed the Egyptians his anger.
He sent his destroying angels against them.
50 He found a way to show his anger.
He did not spare their lives.
He let them die with a deadly disease.
51 He killed all the firstborn sons in Egypt.
He killed every firstborn in Ham’s[a] family.
52 Then he led Israel like a shepherd.
He led his people like sheep into the desert.
53 He guided them safely.
They had nothing to fear.
He drowned their enemies in the sea.
54 He led his people to his holy land,
to the mountain he took with his own power.
55 He forced the other nations out before them
and gave each family its share of the land.
He gave each tribe of Israel a place to live.
56 But they tested God Most High and made him very sad.
They didn’t obey his commands.
57 They turned against him and were unfaithful just like their ancestors.
They changed directions like a boomerang.
58 They built high places and made God angry.
They built statues of false gods and made him jealous.
59 God heard what they were doing and became very angry.
So he rejected Israel completely!
60 He abandoned his place at Shiloh,[b]
the Holy Tent where he lived among the people.
61 He let foreigners capture the Box of the Agreement,
the symbol of his power and glory.
62 He showed his anger against his people
and let them be killed in war.
63 Their young men were burned to death,
and there were no wedding songs for their young women.
64 Their priests were killed,
but the widows had no time to mourn for them.
65 Finally, our Lord got up
like a man waking from his sleep,
like a soldier after drinking too much wine.
66 He forced his enemies to turn back defeated.
He brought them shame that will last forever.
67 Then he rejected Joseph’s family.
He did not accept Ephraim’s family.
68 No, he chose the tribe of Judah,
and he chose Mount Zion, the place he loves.
69 He built his holy Temple high on that mountain.
Like the earth, God built his Temple to last forever.
70 He chose David to be his special servant.
He took him from the sheep pens.
71 He took him away from the job of caring for sheep
and gave him the job of caring for the descendants of Jacob—Israel, his chosen people.
72 And David led them with a pure heart
and guided them very wisely.
Esther Speaks to the King
5 On the third day, Esther put on her special robes. Then she stood in the inside area of the king’s palace, in front of the king’s hall. The king was sitting on his throne in the hall, facing the place where people enter the throne room. 2 When the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, he was very pleased. He held out to her the gold scepter that was in his hand. So Esther went in to the room and went near the king. Then she touched the end of the king’s gold scepter.
3 Then the king asked, “What is bothering you Queen Esther? What do you want to ask me? I will give you anything you ask for, even half my kingdom.”
4 Esther said, “I have prepared a party for you and Haman. Will you and Haman please come to the party today?”
5 Then the king said, “Bring Haman quickly so that we may do what Esther asks.”
So the king and Haman went to the party Esther had prepared for them. 6 While they were drinking wine, the king asked her again, “Now Esther, what do you want to ask for? Ask for anything, I will give it to you. So what is it you want? I will give you anything you want, up to half my kingdom.”
7 Esther answered, “This is what I want to ask for: 8 If the king is pleased with me and thinks it good to give me what I ask for, let the king and Haman come tomorrow. I will prepare another party for them. Then I will tell what I really want.”
Haman’s Anger at Mordecai
9 Haman left the king’s palace that day very happy and in a good mood. But when he saw Mordecai at the king’s gate, he became very angry. Haman was very mad at him because Mordecai didn’t show any respect when Haman walked by. Mordecai was not afraid of Haman, and this made Haman mad. 10 But Haman controlled his anger and went home. Then Haman called together his friends and his wife, Zeresh. 11 Haman started bragging about how rich he was. He was bragging to his friends about his many sons, and about all the ways the king had honored him. And he was bragging about how the king had promoted him higher than all the other leaders. 12 “And that’s not all,” Haman added. “I’m the only one Queen Esther invited to be with the king at the party she gave. And the Queen also has invited me to be with the king again tomorrow. 13 But all this means nothing to me. I cannot be happy as long as I see that Jew Mordecai sitting at the king’s gate.”
14 Then Haman’s wife Zeresh and all his friends had a suggestion. They said, “Tell someone to build a post to hang him on. Make it 75 feet[a] tall. In the morning ask the king to hang Mordecai on it. Then go to the party with the king and you can be happy.”
Haman liked this suggestion, so he ordered someone to build the hanging post.
Paul Is Brought Before Gallio
12 During the time that Gallio was the governor of Achaia, some of the Jews came together against Paul. They took him to court. 13 They said to Gallio, “This man is teaching people to worship God in a way that is against our law!”
14 Paul was ready to say something, but Gallio spoke to the Jews. He said, “I would listen to you if your complaint was about a crime or other wrong. 15 But it is only about words and names—arguments about your own law. So you must solve this problem yourselves. I don’t want to be a judge of these matters.” 16 So Gallio made them leave the court.
17 Then they all grabbed Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue. They beat him before the court. But this did not bother Gallio.
Paul Returns to Antioch
18 Paul stayed with the believers for many days. Then he left and sailed for Syria. Priscilla and Aquila were also with him. At Cenchrea Paul cut off his hair,[a] because he had made a promise to God. 19 Then they went to the city of Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. While Paul was in Ephesus, he went into the synagogue and talked with the Jews. 20 They asked him to stay longer, but he refused. 21 He left them and said, “I will come back to you again if God wants me to.” And so he sailed away from Ephesus.
22 When Paul arrived at Caesarea, he went to Jerusalem and visited the church there. After that he went to Antioch. 23 Paul stayed in Antioch for a while. Then he left there and went through the countries of Galatia and Phrygia. He traveled from town to town in these countries, helping all the followers of Jesus grow stronger in their faith.
Apollos in Ephesus and Corinth
24 A Jew named Apollos came to Ephesus. Born in the city of Alexandria, he was an educated man who knew the Scriptures well. 25 He had been taught about the Lord and was always excited[b] to talk to people about Jesus. What he taught was right, but the only baptism he knew about was the baptism that John taught. 26 Apollos began to speak very boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him speak, they took him to their home and helped him understand the way of God better.
27 Apollos wanted to go to Achaia. So the believers in Ephesus helped him. They wrote a letter to the Lord’s followers in Achaia and asked them to accept Apollos. When he arrived there, he was a great help to those who had believed in Jesus because of God’s grace. 28 He argued very strongly against the Jews before all the people. He clearly proved that the Jews were wrong. He used the Scriptures and showed that Jesus is the Messiah.
15 Everyone was hoping for the Messiah to come, and they wondered about John. They thought, “Maybe he is the Messiah.”
16 John’s answer to this was, “I baptize you in water, but there is someone coming later who is able to do more than I can. I am not good enough to be the slave who unties his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 17 He will come ready to clean the grain.[a] He will separate the good grain from the straw, and he will put the good part into his barn. Then he will burn the useless part with a fire that cannot be stopped.” 18 John said many other things like this to encourage the people to change, and he told them the Good News.
How John’s Work Later Ended
19 John criticized Herod the ruler for what he had done with Herodias, the wife of Herod’s brother, as well as for all the other bad things he had done. 20 So Herod added another bad thing to all his other wrongs: He put John in jail.
Jesus Is Baptized by John(A)
21 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus came and was baptized too. And while he was praying, the sky opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit came down on him. The Spirit looked like a real dove. Then a voice came from heaven and said, “You are my Son, the one I love. I am very pleased with you.”
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International