Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 80
For the Music Director. To the melody of “Lilies of the Testimony.” A Psalm of Asaph.
1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
You who lead Joseph like a flock;
You who are enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth.
2 In the sight of Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh,
stir up Your strength,
and come and rescue us.
3 Restore us again, O God,
and cause Your face to shine,
and we shall be delivered.
4 O Lord God of Hosts,
how long will You be angry
against the prayers of Your people?
5 You have fed them with the bread of tears
and have given them tears to drink in great measure.
6 You make us contention for our neighbors,
and our enemies laugh among themselves.
7 Restore us again, O God of Hosts,
and cause Your face to shine,
and we shall be delivered.
8 You have brought a vine out of Egypt;
You have cast out the nations and planted it.
9 You cleared the ground for it;
it took deep root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shadow
and the mighty cedars with its branches.
11 It sent out its branches to the sea
and its shoots to the River.
12 Why have You then broken down its walls,
so that all those who pass by the way pluck its fruit?
13 The boar from the woods ravages it,
and the insects of the field devour it.
14 Return again, O God of Hosts;
look down from heaven, and behold,
have regard for this vine
15 and the root that Your right hand has planted,
and the shoots that You made strong for Yourself.
16 It is burned with fire; it is cut down;
may they perish at the rebuke from Your presence.
17 Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand,
the son of man whom You made strong for Yourself.
18 So we will not turn back from You;
give us life, and we will call upon Your name.
19 Restore us again, O Lord God of Hosts;
cause Your face to shine,
and we shall be delivered.
Psalm 77
For the Music Director. To Jeduthun. A Psalm of Asaph.
1 I cried out to God with my voice,
even to God with my voice; and He listened to me.
2 In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord;
in the night my hand is stretched out and does not weary,
my soul refuses to be comforted.
3 I remember God, and I groan;
I complain, and my spirit is overwhelmed. Selah
4 You hold my eyelids open;
I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
5 I have considered the days of old,
the years long ago.
6 May I remember my song in the night;
may I meditate in my heart;
my spirit made a diligent search:
7 “Will the Lord cast off forever,
and will He be favorable no more?
8 Has His mercy ceased forever,
and have His promises failed for all time?
9 Has God forgotten to be gracious,
and has He in anger shut up His tender mercies?” Selah
10 Then I said, “This is my grief;
yet I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High.”
11 I will remember the works of the Lord;
surely I will remember Your wonders of old.
12 I will meditate also on all Your work
and ponder on Your mighty deeds.
13 Your way, O God, is holiness;
what god is as great as our God?
14 You are the God who can do wonders;
You have declared Your strength among the nations.
15 You have with Your arm redeemed Your people,
the children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah
16 The waters saw You, O God.
The waters saw You; they were afraid;
the depths also trembled.
17 The clouds poured out water;
the skies thundered.
Your arrows flashed about.
18 The sound of Your thunder was in the whirlwind,
and Your lightning lit up the world;
the earth trembled and shook.
19 Your way is through the sea,
and Your path in the great waters,
and your footsteps are not seen.
20 You led Your people like a flock
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
Psalm 79
A Psalm of Asaph.
1 O God, the nations have come into Your inheritance;
Your holy temple they have defiled;
they have laid Jerusalem in ruins.
2 The dead bodies of Your servants
they have given to the birds of the sky for food
and the flesh of Your faithful to the animals of the land.
3 Their blood they have poured out like water
all around Jerusalem,
and there was no one to bury them.
4 We have become a reproach to our neighbors,
a scorn and derision to those who are around us.
5 How long, O Lord? Will You be angry forever?
Will Your jealousy burn like fire?
6 Pour out Your wrath
upon the nations who do not know You,
and upon the kingdoms
who have not called upon Your name.
7 For they have devoured Jacob,
and laid waste his dwelling place.
8 Do not choose to remember our former iniquities;
let Your tender mercies come swiftly to us,
for we are brought very low.
9 Help us, O God of our salvation,
for the glory of Your name;
deliver us, and purge away our sins,
for Your name’s sake.
10 Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
May the avenging of the shed blood of Your servants
be known among the nations before our eyes.
11 Let the groans of the prisoners come before You;
according to the greatness of Your power
preserve those who are appointed to die.
12 And render unto our neighbors sevenfold into their lap
the reproach that they have reproached You, O Lord.
13 But we are Your people, the sheep of Your pasture,
and will give You thanks forever;
we will declare Your praise
to all generations.
25 That night the Lord said to him, “Take a bull from your father’s herd and a second bull seven years old. Tear down your father’s Baal altar and cut down the Asherah pole beside it. 26 Then build an altar to the Lord your God on top of this stronghold in an orderly way. Take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah pole that you will cut down.”
27 So Gideon took ten men from among his slaves and did as the Lord had told him, but because he was too afraid of the rest of his father’s household and the men of the city to do it by day, he did it at night.
28 When the men of the city got up early in the morning, the altar of Baal was torn down, the Asherah pole beside it was cut down, and the second bull had been offered on the new altar that had been built.
29 They said to each other, “Who has done this?”
When they had inquired and asked, they responded, “Gideon son of Joash has done this.”
30 Then the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son so that he may die, for he tore down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.”
31 Joash then said to all who stood against him, “Would you plead for Baal? Would you save him? Whoever fights for him will be killed by morning. If Baal is a god, let him fight for himself, for someone has torn down his altar.” 32 Therefore on that day he called him Jerub-Baal, saying, “Let Baal fight him, for he tore down the altar of Baal.”
33 All the Midianites, Amalekites, and the people from the east gathered together, and they crossed over, and camped in the Valley of Jezreel. 34 The Spirit of the Lord enveloped Gideon. He blew a ram’s horn trumpet, and the Abiezrites assembled behind him. 35 He sent messengers throughout all of Manasseh and they assembled behind him as well. He also sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, so these tribes came up to meet them.
36 Gideon said to God, “If You will use my hands to save Israel, as You have said— 37 I am placing a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece only and all of the ground remains dry, then I will know that You will save Israel with my hands, as You have said.” 38 So it happened. He got up early the next morning and squeezed the fleece. Enough dew poured out of the fleece to fill a bowlful of water.
39 Then Gideon said to God, “Do not let Your anger burn against me as I speak only one more time. Please let me perform a test with the fleece one more time. Please, let the fleece be the only thing dry, and let there be dew on all of the ground.” 40 So God did this during that night. Only the fleece was dry, and the dew was on all the ground.
37 When they heard this, they were stung in the heart and said to Peter and to the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
38 Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you, and to your children, and to all who are far away, as many as the Lord our God will call.”
40 With many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” 41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized, and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.
Life Among the Believers
42 They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in the prayers. 43 Fear came to every soul. And many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. 44 All who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 They sold their property and goods and distributed them to all, according to their need. 46 And continuing daily with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
The Word Became Flesh
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were created through Him, and without Him nothing was created that was created. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of mankind. 5 The light shines in darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it.
6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 This man came as a witness in order to testify concerning the Light, that all men through Him might believe. 8 He was not this Light, but was sent in order to testify concerning the Light.
9 The true Light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was created through Him, yet the world did not know Him. 11 He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him. 12 Yet to all who received Him, He gave the power to become sons of God, to those who believed in His name, 13 who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
14 The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, the glory as the only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 John bore witness of Him and cried out, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ ” 16 We have all received from His fullness grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has seen God at any time. The only Son, who is at the Father’s side, has made Him known.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.