Book of Common Prayer
God’s Guidance of His People in Spite of Their Unfaithfulness.
A [a]Maskil of Asaph.
78 (A)Listen, my people, to my [b]instruction;
(B)Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 I will (C)open my mouth in a parable;
I will tell (D)riddles of old,
3 Which we have heard and known,
And (E)our fathers have told us.
4 We will (F)not conceal them from their children,
But we will (G)tell the generation to come the praises of the Lord,
And His power and His (H)wondrous works that He has done.
5 For He established a (I)testimony in Jacob,
And appointed a (J)law in Israel,
Which He (K)commanded our fathers
That they were to [c](L)teach them to their children,
6 (M)So that the generation to come would know, (N)the children yet to be born,
That they would arise and (O)tell them to their children,
7 So that they would put their confidence in God
And (P)not forget the works of God,
But (Q)comply with His commandments,
8 And (R)not be like their fathers,
A (S)stubborn and rebellious generation,
A generation that (T)did not [d]prepare its heart
And whose spirit was not (U)faithful to God.
9 The sons of Ephraim [e]were (V)archers equipped with bows,
Yet (W)they turned back on the day of battle.
10 They (X)did not keep the covenant of God
And refused to (Y)walk in His Law;
11 They (Z)forgot His deeds
And His [f]miracles that He had shown them.
12 (AA)He performed wonders before their fathers
In the land of Egypt, in the (AB)field of Zoan.
13 He (AC)divided the sea and caused them to pass through,
And He made the waters stand (AD)up like a heap.
14 Then He led them with the cloud by (AE)day
And all the night with a (AF)light of fire.
15 He (AG)split the rocks in the wilderness
And gave them plenty to drink like the ocean depths.
16 He (AH)brought forth streams from the rock
And made waters run down like rivers.
17 Yet they still continued to sin against Him,
To (AI)rebel against the Most High in the desert.
18 And in their heart they (AJ)put God to the test
By asking for (AK)food [g]that suited their taste.
19 Then they spoke against God;
They said, “(AL)Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?
20 Behold, He (AM)struck the rock so that waters gushed out,
And streams were overflowing;
Can He also provide bread?
Will He prepare (AN)meat for His people?”
21 Therefore the Lord heard and [h]was (AO)full of wrath;
And a fire was kindled against Jacob,
And anger also mounted against Israel,
22 Because they (AP)did not believe in God
And did not trust in His salvation.
23 Yet He commanded the clouds above
And (AQ)opened the doors of heaven;
24 He (AR)rained down manna upon them to eat,
And gave them [i](AS)food from heaven.
25 Man ate the bread of [j]angels;
He sent them [k]food [l](AT)in abundance.
26 He (AU)made the east wind blow in the sky
And by His [m]power He directed the south wind.
27 When He rained meat upon them like the dust,
Even (AV)winged fowl like the sand of the seas,
28 He let them fall in the midst of [n]their camp,
All around their dwellings.
29 So they (AW)ate and were well filled,
And He [o]satisfied their longing.
30 [p]Yet before they had abandoned their longing,
(AX)While their food was in their mouths,
31 The (AY)anger of God rose against them
And killed [q]some of their (AZ)strongest ones,
And [r]subdued the choice men of Israel.
32 In spite of all this they (BA)still sinned
And (BB)did not believe in His wonderful works.
33 So He brought (BC)their days to an end in futility,
And their years to an end in sudden terror.
34 When He killed them, then they (BD)sought Him,
And they returned and searched (BE)diligently for God;
35 And they remembered that God was their (BF)rock,
And the Most High God their (BG)Redeemer.
36 But they (BH)flattered Him with their mouth
And (BI)lied to Him with their tongue.
37 For their heart was not (BJ)steadfast toward Him,
Nor were they faithful with His covenant.
38 But He, being (BK)compassionate, [s](BL)forgave their wrongdoing and did not destroy them;
And often He [t](BM)restrained His anger
And did not stir up all His wrath.
39 So (BN)He remembered that they were only (BO)flesh,
A [u](BP)wind that passes and does not return.
40 How often they (BQ)rebelled against Him in the wilderness
And (BR)grieved Him in the (BS)desert!
41 Again and again they [v](BT)tempted God,
And pained the (BU)Holy One of Israel.
42 They (BV)did not remember (BW)His [w]power,
The day when He (BX)redeemed them from the enemy,
43 When He performed His (BY)signs in Egypt
And His (BZ)marvels in the field of Zoan,
44 And (CA)turned their rivers to blood,
And their streams, so that they could not drink.
45 He sent swarms of (CB)flies among them that devoured them,
And (CC)frogs that destroyed them.
46 He also gave their crops to the (CD)grasshopper
And the product of their labor to the (CE)locust.
47 He [x]destroyed their vines with (CF)hailstones
And their sycamore trees with frost.
48 He also turned their (CG)cattle over to the hailstones,
And their herds to bolts of lightning.
49 He (CH)sent His burning anger upon them,
Fury and indignation and trouble,
A band of [y]destroying angels.
50 He leveled a path for His anger;
He did not spare their souls from death,
But (CI)turned their lives over to the plague,
51 And (CJ)struck all the firstborn in Egypt,
The (CK)first and best of their vigor in the tents of (CL)Ham.
52 But He (CM)led His own people out like sheep,
And guided them in the wilderness (CN)like a flock;
53 He led them (CO)safely, so that they did not fear;
But (CP)the sea engulfed their enemies.
54 So (CQ)He brought them to His holy [z]land,
To this [aa](CR)hill country (CS)which His right hand had gained.
55 He also (CT)drove out the nations from them
And (CU)apportioned them as an inheritance by measurement,
And had the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents.
56 Yet they [ab](CV)tempted and (CW)rebelled against the Most High God
And did not keep His testimonies,
57 But turned back and (CX)acted treacherously like their fathers;
They (CY)turned aside like a treacherous bow.
58 For they (CZ)provoked Him with their (DA)high places
And (DB)moved Him to jealousy with their (DC)carved images.
59 When God heard them, He [ac]was filled with (DD)wrath
And He utterly (DE)rejected Israel;
60 So that He (DF)abandoned the (DG)dwelling place at Shiloh,
The tent [ad]which He had pitched among people,
61 And He gave up His (DH)strength to captivity
And His glory (DI)into the hand of the enemy.
62 He also (DJ)turned His people over to the sword,
And [ae]was filled with wrath at His inheritance.
63 (DK)Fire devoured [af]His young men,
And [ag]His (DL)virgins had no wedding songs.
64 [ah]His (DM)priests fell by the sword,
And [ai]His (DN)widows could not weep.
65 Then the Lord (DO)awoke as if from sleep,
Like a (DP)warrior [aj]overcome by wine.
66 He [ak](DQ)drove His adversaries backward;
He put on them an everlasting disgrace.
67 He also (DR)rejected the tent of Joseph,
And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim,
68 But chose the tribe of Judah,
Mount (DS)Zion, which He loved.
69 And He (DT)built His sanctuary like the heights,
Like the earth which He has established forever.
70 He also (DU)chose His servant David
And took him from the sheepfolds;
71 From [al](DV)the care of the [am]ewes (DW)with nursing lambs He brought him
To (DX)shepherd Jacob His people,
And Israel (DY)His inheritance.
72 So he shepherded them according to the (DZ)integrity of his heart,
And guided them with his skillful hands.
21 This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: “Add your (A)burnt offerings to your sacrifices and (B)eat flesh. 22 For I did not (C)speak to your fathers, or command them on the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. 23 But this is [a]what I commanded them, saying, ‘(D)Obey My voice, and (E)I will be your God, and you will be My people; and you shall walk [b]entirely in the way which I command you, so that it may (F)go well for you.’ 24 Yet they (G)did not obey or incline their ear, but walked by their own advice and in the stubbornness of their evil hearts, and they [c](H)went backward and not forward. 25 Since the day that your fathers came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have (I)sent you all My servants the prophets, sending them daily, again and again. 26 Yet they did not listen to Me or incline their ear, but (J)stiffened their neck; they (K)did more evil than their fathers.
27 “So you shall (L)speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you; and you shall call to them, but they will (M)not answer you. 28 And you shall say to them, ‘This is the nation that (N)did not obey the voice of the Lord their God or accept discipline; [d](O)trustworthiness has perished and has been eliminated from their mouth.
29 (P)Cut off [e]your hair and throw it away,
And (Q)take up a song of mourning on the bare heights;
For the Lord has (R)rejected and forsaken
The generation of His wrath.’
30 For the sons of Judah have done that which is evil in My sight,” declares the Lord. “They have (S)put their detestable things in the house which is called by My name, to defile it. 31 They have (T)built the high places of Topheth, which is in the Valley of Ben-hinnom, to (U)burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I (V)did not command, and it did not come into My [f]mind.
32 “(W)Therefore, behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when it will no longer be called Topheth, or the Valley of Ben-hinnom, but the Valley of the Slaughter; for they will (X)bury in Topheth [g]because there is no other place. 33 The (Y)dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the sky and for the animals of the earth; and no one will frighten them away. 34 Then I will (Z)eliminate from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride; for the (AA)land will become a site of ruins.
13 For (A)the promise to Abraham or to his [a]descendants (B)that he would be heir of the world was not [b]through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For (C)if those who are [c]of the Law are heirs, then faith is made void and the promise is nullified; 15 for (D)the Law brings about wrath, but (E)where there is no law, there also is no violation.
16 For this reason it is [d]by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with (F)grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to (G)all the [e]descendants, not only to [f]those who are of the Law, but also to [g](H)those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is (I)the father of us all, 17 (as it is written: “I have made you (J)a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed, that is, God, (K)who gives life to the dead and (L)calls into being (M)things that do not exist. 18 In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become (N)a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, “(O)So shall your [h]descendants be.” 19 Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now (P)as good as dead since (Q)he was about a hundred years old, and (R)the deadness of Sarah’s womb; 20 yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, (S)giving glory to God, 21 and (T)being fully assured that (U)what God had promised, He was able also to perform. 22 Therefore (V)it was also credited to him as righteousness. 23 Now (W)not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him, 24 but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, to us (X)who believe in Him who (Y)raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 He who was (Z)delivered over because of our wrongdoings, and was (AA)raised because of our justification.
37 Now on (A)the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “(B)If anyone is thirsty, [a]let him come to Me and drink. 38 The one who believes in Me, (C)as the Scripture said, ‘[b]From his innermost being will flow rivers of (D)living water.’” 39 But this He said (E)in reference to the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for (F)the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet (G)glorified.
People’s Division over Jesus
40 Some of the people therefore, after they heard these words, were saying, “This truly is (H)the Prophet.” 41 Others were saying, “This is the [c]Christ.” But others were saying, “(I)Surely the [d]Christ is not coming from Galilee, is He? 42 Has the Scripture not said that the Christ comes from (J)the descendants of David, and from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” 43 So (K)a dissension occurred in the crowd because of Him. 44 And (L)some of them wanted to arrest Him, but no one laid hands on Him.
45 The (M)officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, and they said to them, “Why did you not bring Him?” 46 The (N)officers answered, “(O)Never has a man spoken in this way!” 47 The Pharisees then replied to them, “(P)You have not been led astray too, have you? 48 (Q)Not one of (R)the rulers or Pharisees has believed in Him, has he? 49 But this crowd that does not know the Law is accursed!” 50 (S)Nicodemus (the one who came to Him before, being one of them) *said to them, 51 “(T)Our Law does not judge the person unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing, does it?” 52 They answered and said to him, “(U)You are not from Galilee as well, are you? Examine the Scriptures, and see that no prophet arises out of Galilee.”
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