Book of Common Prayer
God Implored to Rescue His People from Their Calamities.
For the music director; set to [a]El Shoshannim; [b]Eduth. A Psalm of Asaph.
80 Listen, (A)Shepherd of Israel,
Who leads (B)Joseph like a flock;
You who (C)are enthroned above the cherubim, shine forth!
2 Before (D)Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh, (E)awaken Your power,
And come to save us!
3 God, (F)restore us
And (G)make Your face shine upon us, [c]and we will be saved.
4 (H)Lord God of armies,
(I)How long will You [d]be angry with the prayer of Your people?
5 You have fed them with the (J)bread of tears,
And You have made them drink tears in [e]large measure.
6 You make us [f]an object of contention (K)to our neighbors,
And our enemies laugh among themselves.
7 God of armies, restore us
And make Your face shine upon us, [g]and we will be saved.
8 You removed a (L)vine from Egypt;
You (M)drove out the [h]nations and (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 [i]the cedars of God with its (Q)branches.
11 It was sending out its branches (R)to the sea
And its shoots to the Euphrates River.
12 Why have You (S)broken down its [j]hedges,
So that all who pass that way pick its fruit?
13 A boar from the forest (T)eats it away,
And whatever moves in the field feeds on it.
14 God of armies, do (U)turn back;
(V)Look down from heaven and see, and take care of this vine,
15 The [k](W)shoot which Your right hand has planted,
And of the [l]son whom You have [m]strengthened for Yourself.
16 It is (X)burned with fire, it is cut down;
They perish from 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 will not (AB)turn back from You;
(AC)Revive us, and we will call upon Your name.
19 Lord God of armies, (AD)restore us;
Make Your face shine upon us, [n]and we will be saved.
Comfort in Trouble from Recalling God’s Mighty Deeds.
For the music director; [a]according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of Asaph.
77 My voice rises to God, and I will (A)cry aloud;
My voice rises to God, and He will listen to me.
2 In the (B)day of my trouble I sought the Lord;
(C)In the night my (D)hand was stretched out and did not grow weary;
My soul (E)refused to be comforted.
3 When I remember God, then I am (F)restless;
When I (G)sigh, then (H)my spirit feels weak. Selah
4 You have held my eyelids open;
I am so troubled that I (I)cannot speak.
5 I have considered the (J)days of old,
The years of long ago.
6 I will remember my (K)song in the night;
I (L)will meditate with my heart,
And my spirit [b]ponders:
7 Will the Lord (M)reject forever?
And will He (N)never be favorable again?
8 Has His (O)favor ceased forever?
Has His [c](P)promise come to an end [d]forever?
9 Has God (Q)forgotten to be gracious,
Or has He in anger [e]withdrawn 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 [g]the Lord;
I will certainly (V)remember Your wonders of old.
12 I will (W)meditate on all Your work,
And on Your deeds with thanksgiving.
13 Your way, God, is (X)holy;
(Y)What god is great like our God?
14 You are the (Z)God who works wonders;
You have (AA)made known Your strength among the peoples.
15 By Your [h]power You have (AB)redeemed Your people,
The sons of Jacob and (AC)Joseph. Selah
16 The (AD)waters saw You, God;
The waters saw You, they were in anguish;
The ocean depths also trembled.
17 The (AE)clouds poured out water;
The skies [i](AF)sounded out;
Your (AG)arrows [j]flashed here and there.
18 The (AH)sound of Your thunder was in the whirlwind;
The (AI)lightning 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,
And Your footprints were not known.
20 You (AL)led Your people like a flock
By the hand of (AM)Moses and Aaron.
Grieving over the Destruction of Jerusalem, and Prayer for Help.
A Psalm of Asaph.
79 God, the (A)nations have [a]invaded (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 servants to the birds of the sky as food,
The flesh of Your godly ones to the animals of the earth.
3 They have poured out their blood like water all around Jerusalem;
And there was (F)no one to bury them.
4 We have become a (G)disgrace before our neighbors,
An object of derision and ridicule to those around us.
5 (H)How long, Lord? 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 [b]settlement.
8 (P)Do not [c]hold us responsible for [d]the guilty deeds of our forefathers;
Let Your compassion come quickly to (Q)meet us,
For we have (R)become very low.
9 (S)Help us, God of our salvation, for the glory of (T)Your name;
And save us and [e](U)forgive our sins (V)for the sake of Your name.
10 (W)Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”
Let (X)vengeance for the blood of Your servants which has been shed
Be known among the nations in our sight.
11 Let (Y)the groaning of the prisoner come before You;
According to the greatness of Your [f]power, let [g]those who are (Z)doomed to die remain.
12 And return to our neighbors (AA)seven times as much (AB)into their lap
Their (AC)taunts with which they have taunted You, Lord.
13 So we Your people and the (AD)sheep of Your [h]pasture
Will (AE)give thanks to You forever;
To all generations we will (AF)tell of Your praise.
25 Now on the same night the Lord said to him, “Take your father’s bull [a]and a second bull seven years old, and tear down the altar of Baal which belongs to your father, and cut down the [b](A)Asherah that is beside it; 26 and build an altar to the Lord your God on the top of this stronghold in an orderly way, and take a second bull and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down.” 27 Then Gideon took ten men from his servants and did as the Lord had spoken to him; and because he was too afraid of his father’s household and the men of the city to do it by day, he did it by night.
The Altar of Baal Destroyed
28 When the people of the city got up early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal had been torn down, and the Asherah which had been beside it had been cut down, and the second bull had been offered on the altar which had been built. 29 So they said to one another, “Who did this thing?” And when they searched and inquired, they said, “Gideon the son of Joash did this thing.” 30 Then the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has torn down the altar of Baal, and indeed, he has cut down the Asherah which was beside it.” 31 But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Will you contend for Baal, or will you save him? Whoever will contend for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, since someone has torn down his altar!” 32 Therefore on that day he named [c]Gideon (B)Jerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend against him,” because he had torn down his altar.
33 Then all the Midianites, the Amalekites, and the [d]people of the east assembled together; and they crossed over and camped in (C)the Valley of Jezreel. 34 So (D)the Spirit of the Lord [e]covered Gideon like clothing; and he (E)blew a trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called together to follow him. 35 And he sent messengers throughout Manasseh, and they also were called together to follow him; and he sent messengers to Asher, (F)Zebulun, and Naphtali, and (G)they came up to meet them.
Sign of the Fleece
36 Then Gideon said to God, “(H)If You are going to save Israel [f]through me, as You have spoken, 37 behold, I am putting a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I will know that You will save Israel [g]through me, as You have spoken.” 38 And it was so. When he got up early the next morning and wrung out the fleece, he wrung the dew from the fleece, a bowl full of water. 39 Then Gideon said to God, “(I)Do not let Your anger burn against me, so that I may speak only one more time; please let me put You to the test only one more time with the fleece: let it now be dry only on the fleece, and let there be dew on all the ground.” 40 And God did so that night; for it was dry only on the fleece, and dew was on all the ground.
37 Now when they heard this, they were [a]pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “[b]Brothers, (A)what are we to do?” 38 Peter said to them, “(B)Repent, and each of you be (C)baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For (D)the promise is for you and your children and for all who are (E)far away, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” 40 And with many other words he solemnly (F)testified and kept on urging them, saying, “[c]Be saved from this (G)perverse generation!” 41 So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand [d](H)souls. 42 They were (I)continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to (J)the breaking of bread and (K)to [e]prayer.
43 [f]Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many (L)wonders and [g]signs were taking place through the apostles. 44 And all the believers [h]were together and (M)had all things in common; 45 and they (N)would sell their property and possessions and share them with all, to the extent that anyone had need. 46 (O)Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and (P)breaking bread [i]from house to house, they were taking their [j]meals together with gladness and [k]sincerity of heart, 47 praising God and (Q)having favor with all the people. And the Lord (R)was adding to [l]their number day by day (S)those who were being saved.
1 (A)In the beginning was (B)the Word, and the Word was (C)with God, and (D)the Word was God. 2 [a]He was in the beginning with God. 3 (E)All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him [b]not even one thing came into being that has come into being. 4 (F)In Him was life, and the life was (G)the Light of mankind. 5 And (H)the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not [c]grasp it.
The Witness John the Baptist
6 A man [d]came, one sent from God, and his name was (I)John. 7 [e]He came [f](J)as a witness, to testify about the Light, (K)so that all might believe through him. 8 [g](L)He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.
9 [h]This was (M)the true Light [i]that, coming into the world, enlightens every person. 10 He was in the world, and (N)the world came into being through Him, and yet the world did not [j]know Him. 11 He came to His [k]own, and His own people did not [l]accept Him. 12 But [m]as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become (O)children of God, (P)to those who [n]believe in His name, 13 (Q)who were [o]born, not of [p]blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of a man, but of God.
The Word Made Flesh
14 And (R)the Word (S)became flesh, and (T)dwelt among us; and (U)we saw His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of (V)grace and (W)truth. 15 John *(X)testified about Him and called out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘(Y)He who is coming after me has proved to be [q]my superior, (Z)because He existed before me.’” 16 For of His (AA)fullness [r]we have all received, and [s]grace upon grace. 17 For (AB)the Law was given through Moses; (AC)grace and (AD)truth [t]were realized through Jesus Christ. 18 (AE)No one has seen God at any time; (AF)God the only Son, who is (AG)in the [u]arms of the Father, (AH)He has [v]explained Him.
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