Book of Common Prayer
O God, Restore Us
For the choir director. [a]El Shoshannim. [b]Eduth. Of Asaph. A Psalm.
80 O (A)Shepherd of Israel, give ear,
You who guide (B)Joseph like a flock;
You who (C)are enthroned above the cherubim, shine forth!
2 Before (D)Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, (E)stir up Your might
And come to save us!
3 O God, (F)restore us
And (G)cause Your face to shine upon us, that we would be saved.
4 O (H)Yahweh God of hosts,
(I)How long will You [c]smolder against the prayer of Your people?
5 You have fed them with the (J)bread of tears,
And You have made them to drink tears in [d]large measure.
6 You set us as [e]an object of strife (K)to our neighbors,
And our enemies mock us among themselves.
7 O God of hosts, restore us
And cause Your face to shine upon us, that we might be saved.
8 You removed a (L)vine from Egypt;
You (M)drove out the [f]nations and then You (N)planted it.
9 You (O)cleared the ground before it,
And it (P)took deep root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shadow,
And [g]the cedars of God with its (Q)boughs.
11 It sent out its branches (R)to the sea
And its shoots to the River.
12 Why have You (S)broken down its [h]hedges,
So that all who pass that way pick its fruit?
13 A boar from the forest (T)devours it
And whatever moves in the field feeds on it.
14 O God of hosts, (U)return now, we beseech You;
(V)Look down from heaven and see, and visit this vine,
15 Even the [i](W)sapling which Your right hand has planted,
And on the [j]son whom You have [k]strengthened for Yourself.
16 It is (X)burned with fire, it is cut down;
They perish at the (Y)rebuke of Your face.
17 Let (Z)Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand,
Upon the son of man whom You (AA)made strong for Yourself.
18 Then we shall not (AB)turn back from You;
(AC)Revive us, and we will call upon Your name.
19 O Yahweh God of hosts, (AD)restore us;
Cause Your face to shine upon us, that we might be saved.
In My Distress I Sought the Lord
For the choir director. According to [a]Jeduthun. Of Asaph. A Psalm.
77 My voice rises to God, and I must (A)cry aloud;
My voice rises to God, and He will hear me.
2 In the (B)day of my distress I sought the Lord;
(C)In the night my (D)hand was stretched out [b]without weariness;
My soul (E)refused to be comforted.
3 I remember God and I am (F)disturbed;
I (G)muse and (H)my spirit faints. [c]Selah.
4 You have held my eyelids open;
I am so troubled that I (I)cannot speak.
5 I give thought to the (J)days of old,
The years of long ago.
6 I remember my (K)music in the night;
I (L)am musing with my heart,
And my spirit is searching:
7 Will the Lord (M)reject evermore?
And will He (N)not be favorable again?
8 Has His (O)lovingkindness ceased forever?
Has His [d](P)word ended [e]from generation to generation?
9 Has God (Q)forgotten to be gracious,
Or has He in anger shut up His (R)compassion? Selah.
10 Then I said, “(S)It is my [f]grief,
That the (T)right hand of the Most High has changed.”
11 I shall remember the (U)deeds of Yah;
Surely I will (V)remember Your wonders of old.
12 I will (W)meditate on all Your work
And muse on Your deeds.
13 O God, Your way is (X)holy;
(Y)What god is great like God?
14 You are the (Z)God who works wonders;
You have (AA)made known Your strength among the peoples.
15 You have by Your arm (AB)redeemed Your people,
The sons of Jacob and (AC)Joseph. Selah.
16 The (AD)waters saw You, O God;
The waters saw You, they were in anguish;
The deeps also trembled.
17 The (AE)clouds poured out water;
The skies (AF)gave forth a sound;
Your (AG)arrows went here and there.
18 The (AH)sound of Your thunder was in the whirlwind;
The (AI)lightnings lit up the world;
The (AJ)earth trembled and shook.
19 Your (AK)way was in the sea
And Your paths in the mighty waters,
But Your footprints were not known.
20 You (AL)led Your people like a flock
By the hand of (AM)Moses and Aaron.
How Long, O Yahweh?
A Psalm of Asaph.
79 O God, the (A)nations have come into (B)Your inheritance;
They have defiled Your (C)holy temple;
They have (D)laid Jerusalem in ruins.
2 They have given the (E)dead bodies of Your slaves for food to the birds of the heavens,
The flesh of Your holy ones to the beasts of the earth.
3 They have poured out their blood like water round about Jerusalem;
And there was (F)no one to bury them.
4 We have become a (G)reproach to our neighbors,
A mockery and derision to those around us.
5 (H)How long, O Yahweh? Will You be angry forever?
Will Your (I)jealousy (J)burn like fire?
6 (K)Pour out Your wrath upon the nations which (L)do not know You,
And upon the kingdoms which (M)do not call upon Your name.
7 For they have (N)devoured Jacob
And (O)laid waste his [a]abode.
8 (P)Do not remember our former iniquities against us;
Let Your compassion quickly (Q)approach us,
For we are (R)brought very low.
9 (S)Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of (T)Your name;
And deliver us and (U)atone for our sins (V)for Your name’s sake.
10 (W)Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”
Let it be known among the nations before our eyes:
(X)Vengeance for the blood of Your slaves which has been poured out.
11 Let (Y)the groaning of the prisoner come before You;
According to the greatness of Your [b]power preserve [c]those who are (Z)doomed to die.
12 And return to our neighbors (AA)sevenfold (AB)into their bosom
[d]The (AC)reproach with which they have reproached You, O Lord.
13 But as for us, as Your people and the (AD)sheep of Your pasture,
We will (AE)give thanks to You forever;
From generation to generation we will (AF)recount Your praise.
Israel Confesses Their Sins
9 Now on the twenty-fourth day of (A)this month the sons of Israel gathered (B)with fasting, in sackcloth and with (C)dirt upon them. 2 The (D)seed of Israel separated themselves from all foreigners, and stood and (E)confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. 3 And (F)they rose up in their place and read from the book of the law of Yahweh their God for a fourth of the day; and for another fourth they were confessing and worshiping Yahweh their God. 4 (G)Then Jeshua rose up on the Levites’ platform, along with Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani, and they cried out with a loud voice to Yahweh their God.
5 And the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said, “Rise up, bless Yahweh your God from everlasting to everlasting!
O may Your glorious name be blessed
And exalted above all blessing and praise!
6 (H)You alone are Yahweh.
(I)You have made the heavens,
The heaven of heavens with all their host,
The earth and all that is on it,
The seas and all that is in them.
(J)You give life to all of them
And the heavenly host bows down to You.
7 You are Yahweh God,
(K)Who chose Abram
And brought him out from (L)Ur of the Chaldees,
And (M)gave him the name Abraham.
8 You found (N)his heart faithful before You,
And cut a covenant with him
To give him the land of the Canaanite,
Of the Hittite and the Amorite,
Of the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite—
To give it to his seed.
And You (O)have established Your promise,
For You are righteous.
9 “(P)You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt,
And (Q)heard their cry by the [a]Red Sea.
10 Then You performed (R)signs and wonders against Pharaoh,
Against all his servants and all the people of his land;
For You knew that (S)they acted presumptuously toward them,
And (T)made a name for Yourself as it is this day.
11 (U)You split the sea before them,
So they passed through the midst of the sea on dry land;
And (V)their pursuers You cast into the depths,
Like a stone into mighty waters.
12 And with a pillar of cloud (W)You led them by day,
And with a pillar of fire by night
To light for them the way
In which they were to go.
13 Then (X)You came down on Mount Sinai,
And (Y)spoke with them from heaven;
You gave them (Z)upright judgments and true laws,
Good statutes and commandments.
14 So You made known to them (AA)Your holy sabbath,
And commanded to them commandments, statutes and law,
By the hand of Your servant Moses.
15 You (AB)gave bread from heaven for them for their hunger,
You (AC)brought forth water from a rock for them for their thirst,
And You (AD)said to them to enter in order to possess
The land which You [b]swore to give them.
16 “But they, our fathers, (AE)acted presumptuously;
They [c](AF)became stiff-necked and would not listen to Your commandments.
17 They refused to listen,
And (AG)did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You did among them;
So they became stiff-necked and (AH)gave themselves a chief to return to their slavery [d]in Egypt.
But You are a God (AI)of lavish forgiveness,
Gracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness;
And You did not forsake them.
18 Even when they (AJ)made for themselves
A molten calf
And said, ‘This is your God
Who brought you up from Egypt,’
And [e]committed great [f]blasphemies,
19 (AK)But You, in Your abundant compassion,
Did not forsake them in the wilderness;
(AL)The pillar of cloud did not depart from them by day,
To lead them on their way,
Nor the pillar of fire by night,
To light for them the way in which they were to go.
20 (AM)You gave Your good Spirit to give them insight,
Your manna You did not withhold from their mouth,
And You gave them water for their thirst.
21 Indeed, (AN)forty years You sustained them in the wilderness, and they did not lack;
Their clothes did not wear out, nor did their feet swell.
22 You also gave them kingdoms and peoples,
And apportioned them to them as a [g]boundary.
(AO)They took possession of the land of Sihon [h]the king of Heshbon
And the land of Og the king of Bashan.
23 You made their sons numerous as (AP)the stars of heaven,
And You brought them into the land
Which You had said for their fathers to enter and possess.
24 (AQ)So their sons entered and possessed the land.
And (AR)You subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites,
And You gave them into their hand, with their kings and the peoples of the land,
To do with them according to their desire.
25 (AS)They captured fortified cities and a [i](AT)rich [j]land.
They took possession of (AU)houses full of every good thing,
Hewn cisterns, vineyards, olive groves,
Trees for food in abundance.
So they ate, were filled, and (AV)grew fat,
And (AW)reveled in Your great goodness.
Fallen Is Babylon
18 After these things I saw another (A)angel (B)coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was (C)illumined with his glory. 2 And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, “[a](D)Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! And she (E)has become a dwelling place of demons and a [b]prison of every (F)unclean spirit, and a [c]prison of every unclean bird [d]and a [e]prison of every unclean and hateful beast. 3 For all the nations [f]have drunk of the (G)wine of the wrath of her sexual immorality, and (H)the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality with her, and the (I)merchants of the earth have become rich by the power of her [g](J)sensuality.”
4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, “(K)Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues; 5 for her sins have [h](L)piled up as high as heaven, and God has (M)remembered her iniquities. 6 (N)Pay her back even as she paid, and [i]give her back double according to her deeds; in the (O)cup which she has mixed, mix double for her. 7 (P)To the degree that she glorified herself and (Q)lived [j]sensuously, to the same degree give her torment and mourning, for she says in her heart, ‘(R)I sit as a queen and I am not a widow, and will never see mourning.’ 8 For this reason (S)in one day her plagues will come, [k]pestilence and mourning and famine, and she will be (T)burned up with fire; for the Lord God who judges her (U)is strong.
God’s Commandments, Man’s Traditions
15 (A)Then some Pharisees and scribes *came to Jesus (B)from Jerusalem and said, 2 “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they (C)do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” 3 And He answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God said, ‘(D)Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘(E)He who speaks evil of father or mother is to [a]be put to death.’ 5 But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever you might benefit from me [b]is given to God,” 6 he need not [c]honor his father.’ And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7 You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you:
8 ‘(F)This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far away from Me.
9 But in vain do they worship Me,
Teaching as (G)doctrines the commands of men.’”
10 After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, “Hear and understand. 11 (H)It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.”
12 Then the disciples *came and *said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were [d]offended when they heard this statement?” 13 But He answered and said, “(I)Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. 14 Let them alone; (J)they are blind guides [e]of the blind. And (K)if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
The Heart of Man
15 Now Peter answered and said to Him, “(L)Explain the parable to us.” 16 And [f]Jesus said, “Are you still lacking in understanding also? 17 Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and goes into the sewer? 18 But (M)the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. 19 (N)For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false witness, slanders. 20 These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man.”
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