Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 80[a]
Prayer for the Persecuted People
1 For the director.[b] According to “Lilies.” Eduth. A psalm of Asaph.
2 [c]Listen to us, O shepherd of Israel,[d]
you who lead Joseph like a flock.
As you sit enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth
3 over Ephraim,[e] Benjamin, and Manasseh.
Stir up your power
and come to save us.
4 Restore us, O Lord of hosts;
let your face shine[f] upon us,
and we will be saved.
5 O Lord of hosts,[g]
how long will you be angry
at your people’s prayers?
6 You have fed them with the bread of tears
and made them drink tears beyond measure.
7 You have made us an object of contention to our neighbors,
a source of mockery to our enemies.
8 Restore us, O Lord of hosts;
let your face shine upon us,
and we will be saved.
9 [h]You brought a vine[i] out of Egypt;
you dispersed the nations and planted it.
10 You prepared the ground for it;
then it took root and filled the land.
11 The mountains were covered with its shade
and the cedars of God[j] with its shoots.
12 It sent out its boughs as far as the Sea,[k]
its shoots as far as the river.
13 [l]Why have you broken down its walls
so that all who pass by pluck its grapes?[m]
14 The boars from the forest ravage it,
and wild beasts of the field feed on it.
15 Turn once again to us, O Lord of hosts;[n]
look down from heaven and see;
take care of this vine,
16 this shoot[o] that your right hand has planted,
the son that you yourself made strong.
17 Let those who would burn it or cut it down
perish when confronted by your rebuke.
18 Let your hand rest upon the man at your right,[p]
the son of man that you yourself made strong.
19 Then we will never again turn away from you;
give us life and we will call upon your name.[q]
20 Restore us, O Lord of hosts;
let your face shine upon us,
and we will be saved.
Psalm 77[a]
Lament and Consolation in Distress
1 For the director.[b] For Jeduthun. A psalm of Asaph.
2 [c]I cry aloud to God,
for when I cry out to God, he hears me.[d]
3 In the time of my distress I seek the Lord;
at night I stretch out my hands unceasingly,
and my soul refuses to be consoled.
4 [e]I groan as I think of God;
my spirit grows faint as I meditate on him. Selah
5 You keep my eyes from closing in sleep;
I am much too distraught to speak.
6 I reflect on the days of old
and recall the years long past.
7 At night I meditate in my heart,[f]
and as I reflect, my spirit questions:
8 [g]“Will the Lord cast us off forever
and never again show us his favor?
9 Has his kindness[h] vanished forever?
Has his promise ceased for all time?
10 Has God forgotten how to be merciful?
Has he shut up his compassion in anger?” Selah
11 [i]And I say: “This is my grief—
that the right hand[j] of the Most High has changed.”
12 I will remember the works of the Lord;
I will call to mind your wonders in the past.
13 I will reflect on all your deeds
and ponder your wondrous works.[k]
14 O God, your way is holy.[l]
What god is as great as our God?
15 You are the God who works wonders;
you have displayed your might to the nations.
16 With your strong arm you redeemed your people,
the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.[m] Selah
17 [n]When the waters[o] beheld you, O God,
when the waters beheld you, they writhed;
the very depths trembled.
18 The clouds poured forth their water,
the skies thundered,
your arrows[p] flashed back and forth.
19 The crash of your thunder resounded in the heavens;
your flashes of lightning lit up the world;
the earth trembled and shook.[q]
20 Your path led through the sea,
your way, through the mighty waters,
though none could trace your footsteps.[r]
21 You led your people like a flock
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.[s]
Psalm 79[a]
Prayer for Restoration
1 A psalm of Asaph.[b]
[c]O God, the nations have invaded your heritage;
they have profaned your holy temple
and turned Jerusalem into a heap of ruins.
2 They have given the corpses of your servants
as food to the birds of the air,
the flesh of your saints
to the beasts of the earth.
3 They have poured out their blood like water
all around Jerusalem,
and no one is left to bury them.[d]
4 We have become the scorn of our neighbors,
mocked and derided by those around us.[e]
5 [f]How long, O Lord?[g] Will you be angry forever?
How long will your rage continue to blaze like a fire?
6 [h]Pour out your wrath on the nations
that refuse to acknowledge you,
on the kingdoms
that fail to call on your name.[i]
7 For they have devoured Jacob
and ravaged his homeland.
8 Do not hold against us the sins of our ancestors;
let your mercy come quickly to meet us,
for we are in desperate straits.[j]
9 [k]Help us, O God, our Savior,
for the glory of your name;
deliver us and wipe away our sins
for your name’s sake.[l]
10 Why should the nations ask,
“Where is their God?”
Before our eyes make it clearly known among those nations
that you avenge[m] the blood of your servants.
11 Let the groans of the captives come before you;
through your great power
save those who have been sentenced to death.[n]
12 Repay our neighbors sevenfold[o] in their breasts, O Lord,
for the insults with which they taunted you.
13 Then we, your people, the sheep of your pasture,
will offer thanks to you[p] forever;
from generation to generation
we will proclaim your praise.
15 Journeying by the Cloud. Now on the day that the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of meeting. From evening until morning it appeared in the form of fire. 16 The cloud covered it by day and fire by night. 17 Whenever the cloud was lifted up from the tabernacle, the people of Israel would journey out. The people of Israel would then settle and pitch their tent in the place where the cloud would descend.
18 The people of Israel would journey at the command of the Lord, and they would camp at the command of the Lord. As long as the cloud hovered over the tabernacle, they would stay where they were. 19 Even when the cloud hovered over the tabernacle for several days, the people of Israel would observe the command of the Lord and they would not journey out. 20 At times the cloud would hover over the tabernacle for a few days. They stayed where they were in accordance with the command of the Lord, and they journeyed out in accordance with the command of the Lord. 21 Other times, the cloud would hover from evening until morning, and then the cloud would be lifted up in the morning. They would then journey out. Whether it was by day or by night that the cloud lifted off, it was then that they would journey out. 22 Whether it was two days or a month or a year that the cloud hovered over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would remain where they were. When it was lifted up, then they would journey out. 23 At the command of the Lord, they stayed where they were and at the command of the Lord they journeyed out. They observed the bidding of the Lord,[a] in accordance with the commands of the Lord received through Moses.
29 Plea to Hobab. Moses said to Hobab, the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, “We are setting out for the place that the Lord said, ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us and we will treat you well, for the Lord has promised good things to Israel.” 30 But he said to him, “I will not go, rather I will leave for my own land and my own people.” 31 But he said, “Please do not leave us. You know where we should camp in the desert, and you could look out for us. 32 If you come with us, then whatever good things the Lord bestows upon us, we will share them with you.”
33 Into the Wilderness. They traveled a three days’ journey from the mountain of the Lord, and the Ark of the Covenant went before them throughout the three days’ journey, searching out a resting place for them. 34 The cloud of the Lord was over them by day when they set out from the camp. 35 Whenever the Ark set forth, Moses would say,
“Rise up, O Lord, let your enemies be scattered.
Let those who hate you flee before you.”[a]
36 Whenever it rested he said,
“Return, O Lord, to the thousands upon thousands of Israel.”
Prologue
Chapter 1
Set Apart for the Gospel. 1 Paul,[a] a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the service of the gospel 2 that God promised beforehand through his Prophets[b] in the holy Scriptures, 3 [c]the gospel concerning his Son who according to the flesh was descended from David, 4 and who according to the Spirit of holiness was proclaimed to be the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.
5 Through him we have received grace and our apostolic commission to proclaim the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of his name. 6 And you are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.
7 To all of you who are God’s beloved in Rome and called to be saints:[d] grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thanksgiving and Prayer.[e] 8 First of all, I give thanks to my God through Jesus Christ for all of you because your faith has been proclaimed throughout the world. 9 For God, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, is the witness on my behalf that I remember you constantly in my prayers, 10 always asking that by God’s will I may somehow be granted my desire of coming to visit you. 11 For I am longing to see you so that I may bestow on you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— 12 or, rather, so that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.
13 I want you to be aware, brethren,[f] that I have often planned to visit you (although until now I have been prevented from doing so) because it has been my desire to achieve some harvest among you as I have among other Gentiles. 14 I have an obligation to Greeks and non-Greeks[g] alike, to both the educated and the ignorant. 15 Thus, I am ready to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome.
14 Jesus Heals a Boy with a Demon.[a] When they returned to the crowd, a man came up to Jesus, fell to his knees before him, 15 and pleaded, “Lord, have pity on my son, for he is subject to epileptic seizures and endures great suffering. He falls often into fire and often into water. 16 I brought him to your disciples, but they could not cure him.”
17 Jesus said in reply, “O unbelieving and perverse generation, how much longer shall I remain with you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” 18 Then Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was cured from that very moment.
19 Then the disciples came to Jesus and asked him privately, “Why were we not able to cast it out?” 20 He answered, “Because you have such little faith. Amen, I say to you, if you have faith as tiny as a mustard seed, you will be able to say to this mountain: ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. [ 21 But this kind of demon does not come out except by prayer and fasting.]”[b]
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