Book of Common Prayer
God Saved Israel from Egypt
A maskil of Asaph.
78 My people, listen to my teaching.
Listen to what I say.
2 I will speak using stories.
I will tell things that have been secret since long ago.
3 We have heard them and know them.
Our fathers told them to us.
4 We will not keep them from our children.
We will tell those who come later
about the praises of the Lord.
We will tell about his power
and the miracles he has done.
5 The Lord made an agreement with Jacob.
He gave the teachings to Israel.
And he commanded our ancestors
to teach them to their children.
6 Then their children would know them,
even their children not yet born.
And they would tell their children.
7 So they would all trust God.
They would not forget what God had done.
Instead, they would obey his commands.
8 They would not be like their ancestors
who were stubborn and disobedient.
Their hearts were not loyal to God.
They were not true to him.
9 The men of Ephraim had bows for weapons.
But they ran away on the day of battle.
10 They didn’t keep their agreement with God.
They refused to live by his teachings.
11 They forgot what he had done
and the miracles he had shown them.
12 He did miracles while their ancestors watched,
in the fields of Zoan in Egypt.
13 He divided the Red Sea and led them through.
He made the water stand up like a wall.
14 He led them with a cloud by day.
And he led them at night by the light of a fire.
15 He split the rocks in the desert.
And he gave them much water, as if it were from the deep ocean.
16 He brought streams out of the rock.
The water flowed down like rivers.
17 But the people continued to sin against him.
In the desert they turned against God Most High.
18 They decided to test God
by asking for the food they wanted.
19 Then they spoke against God.
They said, “Can God prepare food in the desert?
20 When he hit the rock, water poured out.
Rivers flowed down.
But can he give us bread also?
Will he provide his people with meat?”
21 When the Lord heard them, he was very angry.
His anger was like fire to the people of Jacob.
His anger grew against the people of Israel.
22 They had not believed God.
They had not trusted him to save them.
23 But he gave a command to the clouds above.
The doors of heaven opened.
24 He rained manna down on them to eat.
He gave them grain from heaven.
25 So they ate the bread of angels.
He sent them all the food they could eat.
26 He sent the east wind from heaven.
He led the south wind by his power.
27 He rained meat on them like dust.
The birds were as many as the sand of the sea.
28 He made the birds fall inside the camp,
all around the tents.
29 So the people ate and became very full.
God had given them what they wanted.
30 While they were still eating,
and while the food was still in their mouths,
31 God became angry with them.
He killed some of the healthiest of them.
He struck down the best young men of Israel.
32 But they kept on sinning.
They did not believe even with the miracles.
33 So he ended their days without meaning
and their years in terror.
34 Anytime he killed them, some would look to him for help.
They would come back to God and follow him.
35 They would remember that God was their Rock,
that God Most High had saved them.
36 But their words were false.
Their tongues lied to him.
37 Their hearts were not really loyal to God.
They did not keep his agreement.
38 Still God was merciful.
He forgave their sins.
He did not destroy them.
Many times he held back his anger.
He did not stir up all his anger.
39 He remembered that they were only human.
They were like a wind that blows and does not come back.
40 They turned against God so often in the desert!
There they made him very sad.
41 Again and again they tested God.
They brought pain to the Holy One of Israel.
42 They did not remember his power
or the time he saved them from the enemy.
43 They forgot the signs he did in Egypt
and his miracles in the fields of Zoan.
44 He turned the rivers to blood.
So no one could drink the water.
45 He sent flies that bit the people.
He sent frogs that destroyed them.
46 He gave their crops to grasshoppers
and what they worked for to locusts.
47 He destroyed their vines with hail
and their sycamore trees with sleet.
48 He killed their animals with hail
and their cattle with lightning.
49 He showed them his hot anger.
He sent his strong anger against them.
He sent his destroying angels.
50 He found a way to show his anger.
He did not keep them from dying.
He let them die by a terrible disease.
51 God killed all the firstborn sons in Egypt,
the oldest son of each family of Ham.[a]
52 But God led out his people like sheep.
He guided them like a flock through the desert.
53 He led them to safety. They had nothing to fear.
But their enemies drowned in the sea.
54 So God brought them to his holy land.
He brought them to the mountain country he took with his own power.
55 He forced out the other nations.
And he had his people inherit the land.
He let the tribes of Israel settle there in tents.
56 But they tested God
and turned against the Most High.
They did not keep his rules.
57 They turned away and sinned just like their ancestors.
They were like a crooked bow that does not shoot straight.
58 They made God angry by building places to worship false gods.
They made him jealous with their idols.
59 When God heard them, he became very angry.
And he rejected the people of Israel completely.
60 He left his dwelling at Shiloh,
the tent where he lived among men.
61 He let his Ark of the Covenant be captured.
He let the Ark of the Covenant, which was his glory, be taken by enemies.
62 He let his people be killed.
He was very angry with his children.
63 The young men died by fire.
The young women had no one to marry.
64 Their priests fell by the sword.
But their widows were not allowed to cry.
65 Then the Lord got up as if he had been asleep.
He awoke like a man who was drunk with wine.
66 He struck down his enemies.
He disgraced them forever.
67 But God rejected the family of Joseph.
He did not choose the tribe of Ephraim.
68 Instead, he chose the tribe of Judah
and Mount Zion, which he loves.
69 And he built his Temple high like the mountains.
Like the earth, he built it to last forever.
70 He chose David to be his servant.
He took him from the sheep pens.
71 He brought him from tending the sheep
so he could lead the flock, the people of Jacob.
This flock was his own people, the people of Israel.
72 And David led them with an innocent heart.
He guided them with skillful hands.
Obedience Is More than Sacrifice
21 “‘This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies, 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 commands only about burnt offerings and sacrifices. 23 I also 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 or pay attention to me. They were stubborn and did whatever their evil hearts wanted. They went backward, not forward. 25 Since the day your ancestors left Egypt, I have sent you my servants, the prophets. I sent them to you again and again. 26 But your ancestors did not listen or pay attention to me. They were very stubborn. And they did more evil than their ancestors.’
27 “Jeremiah, you will tell these things to the people of Judah. But they will not listen to you! You will call to them, but they will not answer you. 28 So say to them, ‘This is the nation that has not obeyed the Lord its God. These people do nothing when I correct them. They do not tell the truth. It has disappeared from their lips.
The Valley of Killing
29 “‘Cut off your hair and throw it away. Go up to the bare hilltop and cry. Do it because I, the Lord, have rejected these people. I have turned my back on them. And in my anger I will punish them! 30 The people of Judah have done what I said was evil, says the Lord. They have set up their hated idols in the place where I have chosen to be worshiped. They have made it unclean! 31 The people of Judah have built places of worship at Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom. There the people offered their own sons and daughters as sacrifices. This is something I never commanded. It 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. They will not call it the Valley of Ben Hinnom anymore. They will call it the Valley of Killing. They will bury dead people in Topheth until there is no room to bury anyone else! 33 Then the bodies of the dead will lie on top of the ground. They will become food for the birds of the sky. Wild animals will eat the bodies. There will be no one left alive to chase the birds or animals away. 34 I will end the happy sounds of the bride and bridegroom. There will be no happy sounds in Judah or in the streets of Jerusalem. The land will become an empty desert!
God Keeps His Promise
13 Abraham[a] and his descendants received the promise that they would get the whole world. But Abraham did not receive that promise through the law. He received it because he was right with God through his faith. 14 If people could receive what God promised 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. But if there is no law, then there is nothing to disobey.
16 So people receive God’s promise 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 children can have that promise. The promise is not only for those people that live under the law of Moses. It is for anyone who lives with faith like Abraham. He is the father of us all. 17 As it is written in the Scriptures: “I am making you a father of many nations.”[b] This is true before God. Abraham believed in God—the God who gives life to the dead and decides that things will happen that have not yet happened.
18 There was no hope that Abraham would have children. But Abraham believed God and continued hoping. And that is why he became the father of many nations. As God told him, “Your descendants will also be too many to count.”[c] 19 Abraham was almost 100 years old, much past the age for having children. Also, Sarah could not have children. Abraham thought about all this. But his faith in God did not become weak. 20 He never doubted that God would keep his promise. Abraham never stopped believing. He grew stronger in his faith and gave praise to God. 21 Abraham felt sure that God was able to do the thing that God promised. 22 So, “God accepted Abraham’s faith, and that made him right with God.”[d] 23 Those words (“God accepted Abraham’s faith”) were written not only for Abraham. 24 They were written also for us. God will accept us also because we believe. We believe in the One who raised Jesus our Lord from death. 25 Jesus was given to die for our sins. And he was raised from death to make us right with God.
Jesus Talks About the Spirit
37 The last day of the feast came. It was the most important day. On that day Jesus stood up and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 38 If a person believes in me, rivers of living water will flow out from his heart. This is what the Scripture says.” 39 Jesus was talking about the Holy Spirit. The Spirit had not yet been given 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 The people heard these things that Jesus said. Some of them said, “This man really is the Prophet.”[a]
41 Others said, “He is the Christ.”
Still others said, “The Christ will not come from Galilee. 42 The Scripture says that the Christ will come from David’s family. And the Scripture says that the Christ will come from Bethlehem, the town where David lived.” 43 So the people did not agree with each other about Jesus. 44 Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one was able to touch him.
The Leaders Won’t Believe
45 The Temple guards went back to the leading priests and the Pharisees. The priests and the Pharisees asked, “Why didn’t you bring Jesus?”
46 The Temple guards answered, “The things he says are greater than the words of any man!”
47 The Pharisees answered, “So Jesus has fooled you too! 48 Have any of the leaders or the Pharisees believed in him? No! 49 But those people, who know nothing about the law, 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] Nicodemus said, 51 “Our law does not judge a man without hearing him. We cannot judge him until we know what he has done.”
52 They answered, “Are you from Galilee too? Study the Scriptures. You will learn that no prophet comes from Galilee.”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.