Book of Common Prayer
One of Asaph’s maskils.
78 My people, listen to my teachings.
Listen to what I say.
2 I will tell you a story.
I will tell you about things from the past that are hard to understand.
3 We have heard the story, and we know it well.
Our fathers told it to us.
4 And we will not forget it.
Our people will be telling this story to the last generation.
We will all praise the Lord
and tell about the amazing things he did.
5 He made an agreement with Jacob.
He gave the law to Israel.
He gave the commands to our ancestors.
He told them to teach the law to their children.
6 Then the next generation, even the children not yet born, would learn the law.
And they would be able to teach it to their own children.
7 So they would all trust in God,
never forgetting what he had done
and always obeying his commands.
8 They would not be like their ancestors,
who were stubborn and refused to obey.
Their hearts were not devoted to God,
and they were not faithful to him.
9 The men from Ephraim had their weapons,
but they ran from the battle.
10 They did not keep their agreement with God.
They refused to obey his teachings.
11 They forgot the great things he had done
and the amazing things he had shown them.
12 While their ancestors watched,
he showed his great power at Zoan in Egypt.
13 He split the Red Sea and led the people across.
The water stood like a solid wall on both sides of them.
14 Each day God led them with the tall cloud,
and each night he led them with the light from the column of fire.
15 He split the rocks in the desert
and gave them an ocean of fresh water.
16 He brought a stream of water out of the rock
and made it flow like a river!
17 But they continued sinning against him.
They rebelled against God Most High in the desert.
18 Then they decided to test God
by telling him to give them the food they wanted.
19 They complained about him and said,
“Can God give us food in the desert?
20 Yes, he struck the rock and a flood of water came out.
But can he give us bread and meat?”
21 The Lord heard what they said
and became angry with Jacob’s people.
He was angry with Israel,
22 because they did not trust in him.
They did not believe that God could save them.
23-24 But then God opened the clouds above,
and manna rained down on them for food.
It was as if doors in the sky opened,
and grain poured down from a storehouse in the sky.
25 These people ate the food of angels.
God sent plenty of food to satisfy them.
26 He sent a strong wind from the east,
and by his power he made the south wind blow.
27 He made quail fall like rain until they covered the ground.
There were so many birds that they were like sand on the seashore.
28 The birds fell in the middle of the camp,
all around their tents.
29 The people ate until they were full.
God had given them what they wanted.
30 But before they were fully satisfied,
while the food was still in their mouths,
31 God became angry and killed even the strongest of them.
He brought down Israel’s best young men.
32 But the people continued to sin!
They did not trust in the amazing things God could do.
33 So he ended their worthless lives;
he brought their years to a close with disaster.
34 When he killed some of them, the others would turn back to him.
They would come running back to God.
35 They would remember that God was their Rock.
They would remember that God Most High had saved them.
36 But they tried to fool him with their words;
they told him lies.
37 Their hearts were not really with him.
They were not faithful to the agreement he gave them.
38 But God was merciful.
He forgave their sins and did not destroy them.
Many times he held back his anger.
He never let it get out of control.
39 He remembered that they were only people,
like a wind that blows and then is gone.
40 Oh, they caused him so much trouble in the desert!
They made him so sad.
41 Again and again they tested his patience.
They really hurt the Holy One of Israel.
42 They forgot about his power.
They forgot the many times he saved them from the enemy.
43 They forgot the miracles in Egypt,
the miracles in the fields of Zoan.
44 God turned the rivers into blood,
and the Egyptians could not drink the water.
45 He sent swarms of flies that bit them.
He sent the frogs that ruined their lives.
46 He gave their crops to grasshoppers
and their other plants to locusts.
47 He destroyed their vines with hail
and their trees with sleet.
48 He killed their animals with hail
and their cattle with lightning.
49 He showed the Egyptians his anger.
He sent his destroying angels against them.
50 He found a way to show his anger.
He did not spare their lives.
He let them die with a deadly disease.
51 He killed all the firstborn sons in Egypt.
He killed every firstborn in Ham’s[a] family.
52 Then he led Israel like a shepherd.
He led his people like sheep into the desert.
53 He guided them safely.
They had nothing to fear.
He drowned their enemies in the sea.
54 He led his people to his holy land,
to the mountain he took with his own power.
55 He forced the other nations out before them
and gave each family its share of the land.
He gave each tribe of Israel a place to live.
56 But they tested God Most High and made him very sad.
They didn’t obey his commands.
57 They turned against him and were unfaithful just like their ancestors.
They changed directions like a boomerang.
58 They built high places and made God angry.
They built statues of false gods and made him jealous.
59 God heard what they were doing and became very angry.
So he rejected Israel completely!
60 He abandoned his place at Shiloh,[b]
the Holy Tent where he lived among the people.
61 He let foreigners capture the Box of the Agreement,
the symbol of his power and glory.
62 He showed his anger against his people
and let them be killed in war.
63 Their young men were burned to death,
and there were no wedding songs for their young women.
64 Their priests were killed,
but the widows had no time to mourn for them.
65 Finally, our Lord got up
like a man waking from his sleep,
like a soldier after drinking too much wine.
66 He forced his enemies to turn back defeated.
He brought them shame that will last forever.
67 Then he rejected Joseph’s family.
He did not accept Ephraim’s family.
68 No, he chose the tribe of Judah,
and he chose Mount Zion, the place he loves.
69 He built his holy Temple high on that mountain.
Like the earth, God built his Temple to last forever.
70 He chose David to be his special servant.
He took him from the sheep pens.
71 He took him away from the job of caring for sheep
and gave him the job of caring for the descendants of Jacob—Israel, his chosen people.
72 And David led them with a pure heart
and guided them very wisely.
7 Early in the morning Jerub-Baal (Gideon) and all his men set up their camp at the spring of Harod. The Midianites were camped in the valley at the bottom of the hill called Moreh, north of Gideon and his men.
2 Then the Lord said to Gideon, “I am going to help your men defeat the Midianites, but you have too many men. I don’t want the Israelites to forget me and brag that they saved themselves. 3 So make an announcement to your men. Tell them, ‘Anyone who is afraid may leave Mount Gilead and go back home.’”
At that time 22,000 men left Gideon and went back home, but 10,000 still remained.
4 Then the Lord said to Gideon, “There are still too many men. Take the men down to the water, and I will test them for you there. If I say, ‘This man will go with you,’ he will go. But if I say, ‘That one will not go with you,’ then he will not go.”
5 So Gideon led the men down to the water. There the Lord said to him, “Separate the men like this: Those who drink the water by using their tongue to lap it up like a dog will be in one group. And those who bend down to drink will be in the other group.”
6 There were 300 men who used their hands to bring water to their mouth and lapped it like a dog does. All the other people bent down and drank the water. 7 The Lord said to Gideon, “I will use the 300 men who lapped the water like a dog. I will use them to save you, and I will allow you to defeat the Midianites. Let the other men go home.”
8 So Gideon sent the other men of Israel home. He kept the 300 men with him. Those 300 men kept the supplies and the trumpets of the other men who went home.
The Midianites were camped in the valley below Gideon’s camp. 9 During the night the Lord spoke to Gideon and said, “Get up. I will let you defeat the Midianite army. Go down to their camp. 10 If you are afraid to go alone, take your servant Purah with you. Go into the camp of the Midianites. 11 Listen to what they are saying. After that you will not be afraid to attack them.”
So Gideon and his servant Purah went down to the edge of the enemy camp. 12 The Midianites, the Amalekites, and all the other people from the east were camped in that valley. There were so many people that they seemed like a swarm of locusts. It seemed like they had as many camels as there are grains of sand on the seashore.
13 Gideon came to the enemy camp, and he heard a man talking. That man was telling his friend about a dream that he had. He was saying, “I dreamed that a round loaf of bread came rolling into the camp of the Midianites. That loaf of bread hit the tent so hard that the tent turned over and fell flat.”
14 The man’s friend knew the meaning of the dream. He said, “Your dream can only have one meaning. Your dream is about that man from Israel. It is about Gideon son of Joash. It means that God will let Gideon defeat the whole army of Midian.”
15 After he heard the men talking about the dream and what it meant, Gideon bowed down to God. Then Gideon went back to the camp of the Israelites and called out to the people, “Get up! The Lord will help us defeat the Midianites.” 16 Then Gideon divided the 300 men into three groups. He gave each man a trumpet and an empty jar with a burning torch inside it. 17 Then Gideon told the men, “Watch me and do what I do. Follow me to the edge of the enemy camp. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly what I do. 18 You men surround the enemy camp. I and all the men with me will blow our trumpets. When we blow our trumpets, you blow your trumpets too. Then shout these words: ‘For the Lord and for Gideon!’”
Peter Heals a Crippled Man
3 One day Peter and John went to the Temple area. It was three o’clock in the afternoon, which was the time for the daily Temple prayer service. 2 As they were entering the Temple area, a man was there who had been crippled all his life. He was being carried by some friends who brought him to the Temple every day. They put him by one of the gates outside the Temple. It was called Beautiful Gate. There he begged for money from the people going to the Temple. 3 That day he saw Peter and John going into the Temple area. He asked them for money.
4 Peter and John looked at the crippled man and said, “Look at us!” 5 He looked at them; he thought they would give him some money. 6 But Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold, but I do have something else I can give you. By the power of Jesus Christ from Nazareth—stand up and walk!”
7 Then Peter took the man’s right hand and lifted him up. Immediately his feet and legs became strong. 8 He jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk. He went into the Temple area with them. He was walking and jumping and praising God. 9-10 All the people recognized him. They knew he was the crippled man who always sat by the Beautiful Gate to beg for money. Now they saw this same man walking and praising God. They were amazed. They did not understand how this could happen.
Peter Speaks to the People
11 The man was holding on to Peter and John. All the people were amazed. They ran to Peter and John at Solomon’s Porch.
John Tells About the Messiah(A)
19 The Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent some priests and Levites to John to ask him, “Who are you?” He told them the truth. 20 Without any hesitation he said openly and plainly, “I am not the Messiah.”
21 They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”
He answered, “No, I am not Elijah.”
They asked, “Are you the Prophet[a]?”
He answered, “No, I am not the Prophet.”
22 Then they said, “Who are you? Tell us about yourself. Give us an answer to tell the people who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
23 John told them the words of the prophet Isaiah:
“I am the voice of someone shouting in the desert:
‘Make a straight road ready for the Lord.’” (B)
24 These Jews were sent from the Pharisees. 25 They said to John, “You say you are not the Messiah. You say you are not Elijah or the Prophet. Then why do you baptize people?”
26 John answered, “I baptize people with water. But there is someone here with you that you don’t know. 27 He is the one who is coming later. I am not good enough to be the slave who unties the strings on his sandals.”
28 These things all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan River. This is where John was baptizing people.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International