Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 80
For the worship leader. A song of Asaph to the tune “The Lilies.”[a]
Psalm 80 is a communal lament composed in Judah (the Southern Kingdom) after the fall of Israel (the Northern Kingdom) in 722 b.c.
1 Turn Your ear toward us, Shepherd of Israel,
You who lead the children of Joseph like a flock.
You who sit enthroned above heaven’s winged creatures,[b]
radiate Your light!
2 In the presence of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh,
arouse Your strength and power,
and save us!
3 Bring us back to You, God.
Turn the light of Your face upon us so that we will be rescued from this sea of darkness.
4 O Eternal God, Commander of heaven’s armies,
how long will You remain angry at the prayers of Your sons and daughters?
5 You have given them tears for food;
You have given them an abundance of tears to drink.
6 You have made us a source of trouble for our neighbors—
our enemies laugh to each other behind our backs.
7 O God, Commander of heaven’s armies, bring us back to You.
Turn the light of Your face upon us so that we will be rescued from this sea of darkness.
8 You took us like a grapevine dug from the soil of Egypt;
You forced out the nations and transplanted it in Your land.
9 You groomed the ground around it,
planted it so it would root deep into the earth, and it covered all the land.
10 As it grew, the mountains were blanketed by its shadow;
the mighty cedars were covered by its branches.
11 The plant extended its branches to the Mediterranean Sea,
and spread its shoots all the way to the Euphrates River.
12 God, why have You pulled down the wall that protected it
so that everyone who wanders by can pick its sweet grapes?
13 The wild boar of the forest eats it all,
and the creatures of the field feast upon it.
14 O God, Commander of heaven’s armies, come back to us.
Gaze down from heaven and see what has happened.
Keep watch over this vine, and nourish it.
15 Look after the saplings which You planted with Your own right hand,
the child whom You have raised and nurtured for Yourself.
16 Your enemies have chopped it down and burned it with fire;
may they be destroyed by the sight of Your rebuke.
17 Let Your protective hand rest on the one who is at Your right hand,
the child of man whom You have raised and nurtured for Yourself.
18 Then we will not turn away from You.
Bring us back to life! And we will call out for You!
19 O Eternal God, Commander of heaven’s armies, bring us back to You.
Turn the light of Your face upon us so that we will be rescued from this sea of darkness.
Psalm 77
For the worship leader, Jeduthun. A song of Asaph.
1 I cry up to heaven,
“My God, True God,” and He hears.
2 In my darkest days, I seek the Lord.
Through the night, my hands are raised up, stretched out, waiting;
And though they do not grow tired,
my soul is uneasy.
3 I remember the True God and become distraught.
I think about Him, and my spirit becomes weak.
[pause][a]
4 You hold my eyes wide open.
I am troubled beyond words.
5 My mind drifts to thoughts of yesterdays
and yesteryears.
6 I call to mind my music; it keeps me company at night.
Together with my heart I contemplate;
my spirit searches, wondering, questioning:
7 “What will the Lord do? Reject us for good?
Will He never show us His favor again?
8 Has His loyal love finally worn down?
Have His promises reached an end?
9 Has the True God forgotten how to be gracious?
In His anger, has He withdrawn His compassion?”
[pause]
10 “I can’t help but be distraught,” I said,
“for the power of the Most High that was once for us is now against us.”
11 I will remember the actions the Eternal has taken,
reminisce on Your ancient wonders.
12 I will reflect on all of Your work;
indeed, I will study all You have performed.
13 O God, Your way is so different, so distinct, so divine.
No other god compares with our God.
14 You, God, and Your works evoke wonder.
You have proved Your strength to the nations.
15 You used Your great power to release Your people:
with a strong arm, You freed Jacob’s children, and Joseph’s.
[pause]
16 The waters saw You, O True God.
The seas saw You and swelled in sorrow.
Even the deep trembled.
17 Water poured from the clouds,
and the sky boomed out in response
as Your arrows of lightning flashed this way and that.
18 The sound of Your thunder whirled within the wind
as Your lightning lit up the world.
Yes, the whole earth trembled and shook.
19 Your way ran through the sea,
Your path cut through great waters,
and still no one can spot Your footprints.
20 You led Your people as a flock
tended by the hands of Moses and Aaron.
Psalm 79
A song of Asaph.
1 O God, the nations around us have raided the land that belongs to You;
they have defiled Your holy house
and crushed Jerusalem to a heap of ruins.
2 Your servants are dead;
birds of the air swoop down to pick at their remains.
Scavengers of the earth eat what is left of Your saints.
3 The enemy poured out their blood;
it flowed like water
all over Jerusalem,
and there is no one left, no one to bury what remains of them.
4 The surrounding peoples taunt us.
We are nothing but a joke to them, people to be ridiculed.
The Book of Psalms records both the highs and lows in the lives of God’s covenant people. Psalm 79 is an example of a communal lament after the destruction of Jerusalem and the loss of God’s temple. Songs like these address God with a complaint resulting from some sort of national tragedy.
Communal laments share a common structure. First, the singers address God and tell Him of their problems. Second, they beg Him for help and express trust that He will answer them, often remembering how He has saved Israel in the past. Finally, the singers promise to praise God once He has resolved their problem. The specifics of the situation determine the thrust of the song. Communal laments are often the people’s poetic and practical response to their perception of God’s inaction in their affairs.
5 How long can this go on, O Eternal One?
Will You stay angry at us forever?
Your jealousy burning like wildfire?
6 Flood these outsiders with Your wrath—
they have no knowledge of You!
Drown the kingdoms of this world
that call on false gods and not on Your name.
7 For these nations devoured Jacob, consumed him,
and turned his home into a wasteland.
8 Do not hold the sins of our ancestors against us,
but send Your compassion to meet us quickly, God.
We are in deep despair.
9 Help us, O God who saves us,
to the honor and glory of Your name.
Pull us up, deliver us, and forgive our sins,
for Your name’s sake.
10 Don’t give these people any reason to ask,
“Where is their God?”
Avenge the blood spilled by Your servants.
Put it on display among the nations before our very eyes.
11 May the deep groans and wistful sighs of the prisoners reach You,
and by Your great power, save those condemned to die.
12 Pay back each of our invaders personally, seven times
for the shame they heaped on You, O Lord!
13 Then we, Your people, the sheep of Your pasture,
will pause and give You thanks forever;
Your praise will be told by our generation to the next.
9 Later, on the 24th day of that same month, the Israelites came back together. Everyone fasted and wore sackcloth to show their repentance. They covered their heads with dust to show their mourning. 2 They also separated themselves from the foreigners who were living among them. Then the Israelites stood up and confessed their sins and the sins of their dead ancestors. 3 For three hours[a] they stood in their designated places and read from the book of the Eternal’s law. Following that they confessed and worshiped the Eternal One, their True God, for another three hours. 4 On the stairs above them stood the Levites: Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani. With loud cries they called out to the Eternal, their True God.
5 The same Levites (Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah) instructed the people.
Levites: Stand up! Worship the Eternal who is your God who exists from everlasting to everlasting.
May Your glorious name be praised—
even lifted up beyond all blessing and praise.
6 You are the Eternal, the only One.
The skies are Your work alone—
You made the heavens above those skies
and the stars that fill them.
You made the earth and everything upon it,
the seas and all that lives within their depths.
Your creation lives and is sustained by You,
and those who dwell in the heavens
Fall down before You and worship.
7 You are the Eternal God.
You chose Abram and drew him out from Ur of the Chaldees.
You changed his name to Abraham.
8 In him You found a true heart,
a heart devoted to You.
With him You made a covenant that
the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites,
The Perizzites, the Jebusites, and the Girgashites
would belong to him and to his descendants.
And what You have promised, You have done
because You are righteous.
9 When our ancestors suffered in Egypt,
You saw their misery.
When they were trapped at the edge of the Red Sea,
You heard their cries for help.
10-11 Pharaoh and all who served him
and all his subjects were completely overwhelmed
by the signs and wonders You performed.
In their arrogance, they opposed Your people, our ancestors.
So You opened the sea, and Your people walked through the water on dry ground,
and no one has forgotten the name of the One who did it to this day.
But the Egyptians pursued our ancestors into the sea,
You threw those running after our ancestors into the depths of the sea,
like a heavy rock hurled into water.
12 During the day, You led them by a cloud shaped like a pillar.
During the night, a pillar of fire lit the way, showing them where to go.
13 You led them to Mount Sinai;
and when they arrived, You came down from heaven and spoke to them.
You gave them right decrees and good laws,
beneficial statutes and commands revealing Your will for them.
14 You revealed to Your people Your sacred Sabbath
and how to keep it holy.
Through Your servant Moses You taught them how to live,
giving commands and decrees.
15 When Your people were hungry,
You gave them food from heaven.
When they were thirsty, You made water flow out of a rock.
You told them to enter the land You promised them.
You told them to enter and take possession of it.
16-17 But our ancestors resisted following You.
They were arrogant. They were proud.
They refused to obey Your commands, plugging their ears.
Knowing what You had done for them in the past,
They willfully forgot it in the present. Stubborn. Rebellious.
Instead of following You,
They appointed their own leader
to take them back to the land of their oppression—to Egypt!
But You are not like us, God.
You are filled with love, compassion, and forgiveness.
You endure much with your anger and display Your loyal love;
You did not abandon them,
18 Even when they molded a cow out of gold for themselves, saying,
“This is the god who rescued us from Egypt.”
They committed horrible atrocities.
19 In Your incomprehensible compassion,
You did not abandon them in the wilderness.
The pillar of cloud didn’t evaporate;
day by day it guided them.
The pillar of fire was not extinguished;
night by night it led them along the right paths.
20 In Your generosity, You gave them Your good Spirit to teach them.
Not once did You hold back manna for their mouths
or drink for their thirst.
21 In 40 years of living in the wilderness,
You provided for every need they had:
Their clothing did not wear out,
nor did their feet swell from endless walking.
22 You gave them kingdoms and peoples
that they could divide up to the corners of their territory:
The country of Sihon (king of Hesbon)
and the territory of Og (king of Bashan).
23 The children of Israel multiplied
and rivaled the stars in the sky.
You brought them to the very land
You promised Abraham’s
His descendants would come into and possess.
24 Into the land they went, and it became theirs.
For our forefathers You made sure even the Canaanites there were powerless.
You subdued everything and everyone to their power—
land, kings, and people—to do with as they pleased.
25 They overwhelmed strong and secure cities.
They overtook fertile, productive land.
They claimed well-furnished houses, wells that were already dug,
vineyards, olive groves, and orchards filled with fruit.
They ate their fill. They grew fat.
They basked in Your generosity and goodness.
Because Babylon is the city responsible for the destruction of Jerusalem’s first temple in 586 b.c., John uses this ominous symbol to describe the Babylon of his day—Rome, the city on seven hills. In a.d. 70, the Roman armies march against Jerusalem, destroy the second temple, and scatter the Jewish people.
The whore, who is identified as Babylon, is a symbol to readers in John’s day of Rome and its allure. Its beauty and power are legendary, but beneath the surface lies the truth of its nature. People who ally themselves with Rome and all that it represents are partners with ruin. In the years since John’s Revelation was first written, the whore has been seen as many different world forces. What Rome represents in John’s day has been replicated by many different world powers and their material attractions.
18 Next I saw another messenger descending from heaven. I knew he possessed great authority because his glory illuminated the earth.
2 Heavenly Messenger (with a powerful voice): Fallen, fallen, is Babylon the great city!
It has become a habitat for demons,
A haunt for every kind of foul spirit,
a prison for every sort of unclean and hateful bird.
3 For all the nations have drunk deeply
from the wine of the wrath of her immorality,
And the kings of the earth have disgraced themselves by engaging in gross sexual acts with her,
and the merchants of the earth have grown fat and rich, profiting off the power purchased with her luxury.
4 Then I heard another voice from heaven urge,
A Voice: My people, get away from her—fast.
Make sure you do not get caught up in her sins.
Put some distance between you so that you do not share in her plagues,
5 For her sins are higher than the highest mountain. They reach far into the heavens,
and God has not forgotten even one of her missteps.
6 Deal out to her what she has dealt out to others,
and repay her double according to her deeds.
In the cup where she mixed her drink, mix her a double.
7 Whatever glory she demanded and whatever luxury she lived,
give back to her the same measure in torment and sorrow.
Secretly she says in her heart:
“I rule as queen;
I am not like a widow;
I will never experience grief.”
8 Because of this arrogance, in a single day, plagues will overwhelm her.
Her portion will be death and sorrow and famine,
And she will be incinerated with fire,
for mighty is the Lord God who exacts judgment on her.
15 Some Pharisees and scribes came from Jerusalem to ask Jesus a question.
Scribes and Pharisees: 2 The law of Moses has always held that one must ritually wash his hands before eating. Why don’t Your disciples observe this tradition?
3 Jesus turned the Pharisees’ question back on them.
Jesus: Why do you violate God’s command because of your tradition? 4 God said, “Honor your father and mother.[a] Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.”[b] 5-6 But you say that one need no longer honor his parents so long as he says to them, “What you might have gained from me, I now give to the glory of God.” Haven’t you let your tradition trump the word of God? 7 You hypocrites! Isaiah must have had you in mind when he prophesied,
8 People honor Me with their lips,
but their hearts are nowhere near Me.
9 Because they elevate mere human ritual to the status of law,
their worship of Me is a meaningless sham.[c]
10 (to the multitude) Hear and understand this: 11 What you put into your mouth cannot make you clean or unclean; it is what comes out of your mouth that can make you unclean.
12 Later the disciples came to Him.
Disciples: Do You realize the Pharisees were shocked by what You said?
Jesus: 13 Every plant planted by someone other than My heavenly Father will be plucked up by the roots. 14 So let them be. They are blind guides. What happens when one blind person leads another? Both of them fall into a ditch.
Peter: 15 Explain that riddle to us.
Jesus: 16 Do you still not see? 17 Don’t you understand that whatever you take in through your mouth makes its way to your stomach and eventually out of the bowels of your body? 18 But the things that come out of your mouth—your curses, your fears, your denunciations—these come from your heart, and it is the stirrings of your heart that can make you unclean. 19 For your heart harbors evil thoughts—fantasies of murder, adultery, and whoring; fantasies of stealing, lying, and slandering. 20 These make you unclean—not eating with a hand you’ve not ritually purified with a splash of water and a prayer.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.