Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 80
Hear, O Shepherd of Israel
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For the choir director. To “Lilies.”[a] A Testimony.[b] By Asaph. A psalm.
Opening Plea
1 O Shepherd of Israel, give ear,
you who lead Joseph like a flock.
You who are seated above the cherubim, shine forth.
2 Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh,
stir up your might.
Come with salvation for us.
Refrain
3 God, restore us, and make your face shine,
so we will be saved.
The Problem
4 Lord God of Armies, how long will your anger smoke
against the prayer of your people?
5 You make them eat bread with tears,
and you make them drink tears by the quart.[c]
6 You create strife between us and our neighbors,
so our enemies join together in mocking us.
Refrain
7 God of Armies, restore us, and make your face shine,
so we will be saved.
Past Blessing
8 You brought a vine out from Egypt.
You drove out the nations, and you planted it.
9 You cleared a place for it,
and it took root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered by its shade,
the cedars of God with its branches.
11 It sent out its boughs to the Sea,[d]
its shoots as far as the River.[e]
Present Judgment
12 Why have you broken down its walls
so that all who pass by pick its fruit?
13 A wild boar from the forest tears it up,
and the wild animals[f] feed on it.
Prayer for the King
14 God of Armies, return now!
Look down from heaven and see,
and take care of this vine,
15 the shoot that your right hand has planted,
the son that you made strong for yourself.
16 It is burned with fire like garbage.[g]
Because of the rebuke from your face they perish.
17 Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand,
on the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself.[h]
18 Then we will not turn away from you.
Cause us to live, and we will call on your name.
Refrain
19 Lord God of Armies, restore us, and make your face shine,
so we will be saved.
Psalm 77
Will the Lord Reject Forever?
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For the choir director. According to Jeduthun.[a] By Asaph. A psalm.
The Question
1 With my voice to God—
with my voice I cried out to God,
and he listened to me.
2 In the day when I was distressed I sought the Lord.
At night my hand was stretched out,
and it never grew tired,
but my soul refused to be comforted.
3 God, I remembered and I groaned. Interlude
I pondered, and my spirit became weak.
4 You propped my eyelids open.
I was troubled but did not speak.
5 I thought about the days of long ago, the years long past.
6 During the night I remembered my music.
With my heart I pondered, and my spirit asked,
7 “Will the Lord reject forever?
Will he never again show favor?
8 Has his mercy vanished to the end?
Has what he said failed for all generations?
9 Has God forgotten to be gracious? Interlude
Has he really shut up his compassion in anger?”
The Answer
10 Then I said, “This is what hurts me:
the change of the right hand of the Most High.”[b]
11 I will remember the deeds of the Lord.[c]
Yes, I will remember your wonderful work from long ago.
12 I will meditate on all your work,
and I will ponder all your deeds.
13 O God, your way is carried out in holiness.
What god is as great as God?
14 You are the God who performs a wonderful deed.
You made known your power among the peoples.
15 With your arm you redeemed your people,
the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. Interlude
16 The waters saw you, O God.
The waters saw you and swirled.
Even the depths were turbulent.
17 The clouds poured down water.
The skies echoed with thunder.
Indeed, your arrows shot back and forth.
18 The sound of your thunder was heard in the tornado.
Lightning lit up the world.
The earth trembled and quaked.
19 Your route led through the sea.
Your trail went through the mighty waters,
but your footprints were not detected.
20 You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
Psalm 79
They Have Reduced Jerusalem to Rubble
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A psalm by Asaph.
The Destruction and the Disgrace
1 God, the nations have invaded your possession.
They have profaned your holy temple.
They have reduced Jerusalem to a heap of ruins.
2 They have left the corpses of your servants
as food for the birds of the sky.
They have given the flesh of your favored ones to the wild animals.
3 They have poured out their blood like water all over Jerusalem,
and there is no one to bury them.
4 We are subjected to contempt by our neighbors,
to mockery and ridicule by those around us.
The Prayer for Justice
5 How long, O Lord? Will you stay angry forever?
How long will your jealous anger burn like fire?
6 Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge you,
on the kingdoms that do not call on your name,
7 because they have devoured Jacob,
and they have destroyed his pastureland.[a]
8 Do not charge the guilt of our fathers against us.
Hurry, let your compassion come to meet us,
for we are very weak.
9 God, who saves us, help us for the glory of your name.
Deliver us and make atonement for our sins for your name’s sake.
10 Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”
Before our very eyes, display to the nations
vengeance for the poured-out blood of your servants.
11 May the groaning of the prisoner come before you.
According to the great strength of your arm
preserve those doomed to death.
12 Pay back into the laps of our neighbors seven times as much scorn
as the scorn that they directed at you, Lord.
13 Then we your people, the flock of your pasture, will praise you forever.
From generation to generation we will recount your praise.
Fast for the Right Reasons
58
Cry out with a full-throated shout.
Do not hold back.
Shout like the blast of a ram’s horn.
Declare to my people their rebellious deeds.
Declare to the house of Jacob their sins.
2 They seek me day by day,
and they are delighted to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right,
as if they had not forsaken the just ways of their God.
They ask me for just verdicts.
They are delighted to approach God:
3 “Why do we fast, but you do not see?
Why do we afflict ourselves, but you are not aware?”
This is what you do!
On the same day when you fast, you do whatever you please,
and you oppress all your workers.
4 You fast so you can fight and quarrel,
so you can strike with a wicked fist.
You should not fast the way you are doing it today
if you expect God on high to hear your voice.
5 Is this the kind of fast that I would choose:
a day when a person afflicts himself
and bows his head like a reed
and makes his bed on sackcloth and ashes?
Do you call this a fast, a day to gain the Lord’s favor?
6 On the contrary, isn’t this the kind of fast that I would choose:
to loosen the chains of wickedness,
to tear apart the ropes of a yoke,
to release the oppressed so they go free,
and to tear every yoke to pieces?
7 Isn’t a true fast that you share your bread with the hungry
and bring the homeless and afflicted into a house?
Yes, when you see a naked person, you are to cover him,
and do not hide yourself from your own flesh and blood.
8 Then your light will break forth like dawn,
and your healing will spring up quickly.
Your righteousness will go out ahead of you,
and the Glory of the Lord will follow you.
9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer.
You will cry out, and he will say, “Here I am!”
If you remove the bar of the yoke from among you,
and if you stop finger-pointing and speaking wickedly,
10 if you offer your life for the hungry,
and if you satisfy the desires of the afflicted,
then your light will shine in the darkness,
and your darkest gloom will shine like the noonday sun.
11 Then the Lord will lead you continually.
He will satisfy your desire in arid places,
and he will strengthen your bones.
Then you will be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water, whose waters will not fail.
12 Then your ancient ruins will be rebuilt,
and you will restore the foundations from past generations.
Then you will be called the repairer of broken walls,
the restorer of streets to live on.
What Matters: A New Creation, Not Circumcision
11 See what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand. 12 Those who want to look good in the flesh are the ones who are trying to compel you to be circumcised. Their only reason is so that they are not persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 As a matter of fact, those who are circumcised do not keep the law themselves. But they want to have you circumcised, so that they can boast about your flesh.
14 But far be it from me to boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. 15 In fact, in Christ Jesus[a] circumcision or uncircumcision does not matter. What matters is being a new creation. 16 Peace and mercy on those who follow this rule, namely, on the Israel of God.
17 Finally, let no one cause me any trouble, because I bear the marks of the Lord Jesus on my body.
18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.
Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection Again
30 They went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know this, 31 because he was teaching his disciples. He told them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill him. But three days after he is killed, he will rise.”
32 But they did not understand the statement and were afraid to ask him about it.
Who Is the Greatest?
33 They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the way?” 34 But they remained silent, because on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. 35 Jesus sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he will be the last of all and the servant of all.” 36 Then he took a little child and placed him in their midst. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them, 37 “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me. And whoever welcomes me, welcomes not just me but also him who sent me.”
Whoever Is Not Against Us Is for Us
38 John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name. We tried to stop him, because he was not following us.”
39 But Jesus said, “Do not try to stop him, because no one who does a miracle in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil about me. 40 Whoever is not against us is for us. 41 Amen I tell you: Whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in my name, because you belong to Christ, will certainly not lose his reward.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.