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.
Obedience Is Better Than Sacrifice
21 This is what the Lord All-Powerful, the God of Israel, says: “Go and offer as many burnt offerings and sacrifices as you want. Eat the meat of those sacrifices yourselves. 22 I brought your ancestors out of Egypt. I spoke to them, but I did not give them any commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices. 23 I only gave them this command: ‘Obey me and I will be your God, and you will be my people. Do all that I command, and good things will happen to you.’
24 “But your ancestors did not listen to me. They did not pay attention to me. They were stubborn and did what they wanted to do. They did not become good. They became even more evil—they went backward, not forward. 25 From the day that your ancestors left Egypt to this day, I have sent my servants to you. My servants are the prophets. I sent them to you again and again. 26 But your ancestors did not listen to me. They did not pay attention to me. They were very stubborn and did evil even worse than their fathers did.
27 “Jeremiah, you will tell these things to the people of Judah. But they will not listen to you. You call to them, but they will not answer you. 28 So you must tell them these things: ‘This is the nation that did not obey the Lord its God. These people did not listen to God’s teachings. They don’t know the true teachings.’
The Valley of Slaughter
29 “Jeremiah, cut off your hair and throw it away.[a] Go up to the bare hilltop and cry, because the Lord has rejected this generation of people. He has turned his back on these people. And in anger he will punish them. 30 Do this because I have seen the people of Judah doing evil things.” This message is from the Lord. “They have set up their idols, and I hate those idols. They have set up idols in the Temple that is called by my name. They have made my house ‘dirty’! 31 The people of Judah built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom where they killed their own sons and daughters and burned them as sacrifices. This is something I never commanded. Something like this never even entered my mind! 32 So I warn you. The days are coming,” says the Lord, “when people will not call this place Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom anymore. No, they will call it the Valley of Slaughter. They will give it this name because they will bury the dead people in Topheth until there is no more room to bury anyone else. 33 Then the bodies of the dead people will become food for the birds of the sky. Wild animals will eat the bodies of those people. There will be no one left alive to chase the birds or animals away. 34 I will bring an end to the sounds of joy and happiness in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. There will be no more sounds of the bride and bridegroom in Judah or Jerusalem. The land will become an empty desert.”
God’s Promise Received Through Faith
13 Abraham and his descendants received the promise that they would get the whole world. But Abraham did not receive that promise because he followed the law. He received that promise because he was right with God through his faith. 14 If people could get God’s promise by following the law, then faith is worthless. And God’s promise to Abraham is worthless, 15 because the law can only bring God’s anger on those who disobey it. But if there is no law, then there is nothing to disobey.
16 So people get what God promised by having faith. This happens so that the promise can be a free gift. And if the promise is a free gift, then all of Abraham’s people will get that promise. The promise is not just for those who live under the Law of Moses. It is for all who live with faith as Abraham did. He is the father of us all. 17 As the Scriptures say, “I have made you a father of many nations.”[a] This is true before God, the one Abraham believed—the God who gives life to the dead and speaks of things that don’t yet exist as if they are real.
18 There was no hope that Abraham would have children, but Abraham believed God and continued to hope. And that is why he became the father of many nations. As God told him, “You will have many descendants.”[b] 19 Abraham was almost a hundred years old, so he was past the age for having children. Also, Sarah could not have children. Abraham was well aware of this, but his faith in God never became weak. 20 He never doubted that God would do what he promised. He never stopped believing. In fact, he grew stronger in his faith and just praised God. 21 Abraham felt sure that God was able to do what he promised. 22 So that’s why “he was accepted as one who is right with God.”[c] 23 These words (“he was accepted”) were written not only for Abraham. 24 They were also written for us. God will also accept us because we believe. We believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from death. 25 Jesus was handed over to die for our sins, and he was raised from death to make us right with God.
Jesus Talks About the Holy Spirit
37 The last day of the festival came. It was the most important day. On that day Jesus stood up and said loudly, “Whoever is thirsty may come to me and drink. 38 If anyone believes in me, rivers of living water will flow out from their heart. That is what the Scriptures say.” 39 Jesus was talking about the Spirit. The Spirit had not yet been given to people, because Jesus had not yet been raised to glory. But later, those who believed in Jesus would receive the Spirit.
The People Argue About Jesus
40 When the people heard the things that Jesus said, some of them said, “This man really is the Prophet.[a]”
41 Other people said, “He is the Messiah.”
And others said, “The Messiah will not come from Galilee. 42 The Scriptures say that the Messiah will come from the family of David. And they say that he will come from Bethlehem, the town where David lived.” 43 So the people did not agree with each other about Jesus. 44 Some of the people wanted to arrest him. But no one tried to do it.
The Jewish Leaders Refuse to Believe
45 The Temple police went back to the leading priests and the Pharisees. The priests and the Pharisees asked, “Why didn’t you bring Jesus?”
46 The Temple police answered, “We have never heard anyone say such amazing things!”
47 The Pharisees answered, “So he has fooled you too! 48 You don’t see any of the leaders or any of us Pharisees believing in him, do you? 49 But those people out there know nothing about the law. They are under God’s curse!”
50 But Nicodemus was there in that group. He was the one who had gone to see Jesus before.[b] He said, 51 “Our law will not let us judge anyone without first hearing them and finding out what they have done.”
52 The Jewish leaders answered, “You must be from Galilee too! Study the Scriptures. You will find nothing about a prophet[c] coming from Galilee.”
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International