Book of Common Prayer

A Prayer for the Nation

80 Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel, You Who lead Joseph like a flock! You Who sit on Your throne above the angels, let Your light shine! ² Stir up Your power in front of Ephraim and Benjamin and Manassah, and come to save us! ³ O God, bring us back to You. Make Your face shine upon us, that we may be saved.

⁴ O Lord God of all, how long will You be angry with the prayers of Your people? ⁵ You have fed them with the bread of tears. And You have made them drink a big amount of tears. ⁶ You have made us an object of arguing to our neighbors. Those who hate us laugh among themselves. ⁷ O God of all, bring us back to You. Make Your face shine upon us, and we will be saved.

⁸ You brought a vine out of Egypt. You drove out the nations, and You planted it. ⁹ You cleared the land for it. And its roots went deep and filled the land. ¹⁰ The mountains were covered with its shadow. And the tall trees were covered with its branches. ¹¹ It sent out its branches to the sea, and its new branches to the River. ¹² Why have You broken down its walls so that all who pass by pick its fruit? ¹³ The wild pig from among the trees eats it away. And whatever moves in the field eats from it.

¹⁴ O God of all, we beg You to return. Look down from heaven and see. Take care of this vine. ¹⁵ Take care of the root Your right hand has planted, and the branch that You have raised up for Yourself. ¹⁶ They have burned it with fire. It is cut down. May they be lost when they hear Your strong words. ¹⁷ Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand, the son of man you have made strong for Yourself. ¹⁸ Then we will not turn away from You. Give us new life again, and we will call on Your name. ¹⁹ O Lord God of all, bring us back to You. Make Your face shine upon us, and we will be saved.

Comfort in Times of Trouble

77 My voice goes up to God, and I will cry out. My voice goes up to God and He will hear me. ² I looked to the Lord when I was in trouble. I put out my hand at night, and it did not get tired. My soul would not be comforted. ³ When I remember God, then I am troubled. When I am in deep thought, then my spirit becomes weak. ⁴ You keep my eyes from closing. I am so troubled that I cannot speak. ⁵ I have thought about the days of old, the years of long ago. ⁶ I remember my song in the night. I think with my heart. And my spirit asks questions.

⁷ Will the Lord turn away forever? Will He never show favor again? ⁸ Has His loving-kindness stopped forever? Has His promise come to an end for all time? ⁹ Has God forgotten to be loving and kind? Has He in anger taken away His loving-pity? ¹⁰ Then I said, “It is my sorrow that the right hand of the Most High has changed.”

¹¹ I will remember the things the Lord has done. Yes, I will remember the powerful works of long ago. ¹² I will think of all Your work, and keep in mind all the great things You have done. ¹³ O God, Your way is holy. What god is great like our God? ¹⁴ You are the God Who does great works. You have shown Your power among the people. ¹⁵ You have set free Your people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph, with Your strong arm.

¹⁶ The waters saw You, O God. The waters saw You and shook. The sea shook also. ¹⁷ The clouds poured down water. The sky sounded with thunder. Your arrows of lightning went this way and that. ¹⁸ The sound of Your thunder was in the turning wind. The lightning lit up the world. The earth shook. ¹⁹ Your way was through the sea. Your paths went through the powerful waters. And it cannot be known where You stepped. ²⁰ You led Your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

A Prayer for Jerusalem

79 O God, the nations have come into the land of Your people. They have made Your holy house dirty. They have crushed the walls and buildings of Jerusalem. ² They have given the dead bodies of Your servants to the birds of the heavens for food. The flesh of those who belong to You has been given to the wild animals of the earth. ³ They have poured out their blood like water all around Jerusalem. And there was no one to bury them. ⁴ We have become a shame to our neighbors. Those around us laugh at and make fun of us. ⁵ How long, O Lord? Will You be angry forever? Will Your jealousy burn like fire? ⁶ Pour out Your anger on the nations that do not know You, and on the nations that do not call on Your name. ⁷ For they have destroyed Jacob. They have laid waste the place where he lived.

⁸ Do not hold the sins of our fathers against us. Let Your loving-pity come fast to meet us. For we are in much need. ⁹ O God Who saves us, help us for the honor of Your name. Take us out of trouble and forgive our sins, for the honor of Your name. ¹⁰ Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” Make it known among the nations, in front of our eyes, that You punish for the blood that has poured from Your servants. ¹¹ Hear the cries of those in prison. By the greatness of Your power, save those who are being sent to death. ¹² And return to our neighbors seven times the shame that they have brought You, O Lord. ¹³ Then we Your people, the sheep of Your field, will give thanks to You forever. We will tell of Your praise to all the people of all times.

⁴ Then Esther’s women and men servants came and told her, and the queen was very troubled. She sent clothes for Mordecai to wear, that he might take off his clothes made from hair. But he would not take them. ⁵ Then Esther called Hathach from the king’s servants whom the king had chosen to help her. She told him to go to Mordecai and find out what was wrong and why. ⁶ So Hathach went out to Mordecai at the king’s gate in the open space of the city. ⁷ And Mordecai told him all that had happened to him. He told him just how much money Haman had promised to pay to the king’s store-houses to have the Jews destroyed. ⁸ He also gave him one of the letters of the law that was sent out from Susa to destroy the Jews, that he might show it to Esther and let her know. And he said that she should go in to the king and beg him to show favor to her people.

⁹ Hathach went and told Esther what Mordecai had said. ¹⁰ Then Esther told Hathach to say to Mordecai, ¹¹ “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s nation know that he has one law for any man or woman who comes to him in his room who has not been called: They will be put to death, unless the king holds out his special golden stick to him so that he may live. And I have not been called to come to the king for these thirty days.” ¹² Then Mordecai was told what Esther had said.

¹³ Mordecai answered, “Do not think that you in the king’s special house will live any more than all the other Jews. ¹⁴ For if you keep quiet at this time, help will come to the Jews from another place. But you and your father’s house will be destroyed. Who knows if you have not become queen for such a time as this?” ¹⁵ Then Esther told them to say to Mordecai, ¹⁶ “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and have them all go without food so they can pray better for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my women servants will go without food in the same way. Then I will go in to the king, which is against the law. And if I die, I die.” ¹⁷ So Mordecai went away and did just as Esther had told him.

Paul Goes to Corinth

18 After that Paul went from the city of Athens and came to the city of Corinth. ² He met a Jew there named Aquila who was born in the country of Pontus. He had lived in the country of Italy a short time. His wife Priscilla was with him. Claudius, who was the leader of the country, had told all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see Aquila and Priscilla. ³ They made tents for a living. Paul did the same kind of work so he stayed with them and they worked together.

⁴ Every Day of Rest he would go to the Jewish place of worship and teach both Jews and Greeks. ⁵ Silas and Timothy came down from the country of Macedonia. Then Paul used all his time preaching to the Jews. He taught that Jesus was the Christ. ⁶ But they worked against Paul and said bad things about him. He shook his clothes and said, “Whatever happens to you is your own doing. I am free from your guilt. From now on I will go to the people who are not Jews.”

⁷ Paul went from there and came to the house of a man named Titus Justus who worshiped God. His house was next to the Jewish place of worship. ⁸ Crispus was the leader of the Jewish place of worship. He and his family believed in the Lord. Many of the people of Corinth who heard Paul became Christians and were baptized.

⁹ Paul saw the Lord in a dream one night. He said to Paul, “Do not be afraid. Keep speaking. Do not close your mouth. ¹⁰ I am with you. No one will hurt you. I have many people in this city who belong to Me.” ¹¹ For a year and a half Paul stayed there and taught them the Word of God.

Luke Writes to Theophilus

1 Many people have written about the things that have happened among us. ² Those who saw everything from the first and helped teach the Good News have passed these things on to us. ³ Dear Theophilus, I have looked with care into these things from the beginning. I have decided it would be good to write them to you one after the other the way they happened. ⁴ Then you can be sure you know the truth about the things you have been taught.

John the Baptist Makes the Way Ready for Jesus ^(A)

3 Tiberius Caesar had been ruler for fifteen years. Pontius Pilate was ruler of the country of Judea. Herod was the ruler of the country of Galilee. His brother Philip was the ruler of the countries of Ituraea and Trachonitis. Lysanias was the ruler of the country of Abilene. ² Annas and Caiaphas were the head religious leaders.

The Word of God came to John the Baptist, the son of Zacharias. John was in the desert. ³ He went into all the country around the Jordan River. He preached that people should be baptized because they were sorry for their sins and had turned from them, and they would be forgiven. ⁴ The early preacher Isaiah wrote these words: “His voice calls out in the desert. ‘Make the way ready for the Lord. Make the road straight for Him! ⁵ Every valley will be filled and every mountain and hill will be brought down. The turns in the road will be made straight and the rough places will be made smooth. ⁶ And all men will see God saving people from the punishment of their sins.’” ^(B)

⁷ John said to the people who came to be baptized by him, “You family of snakes! Who told you how to keep from the anger of God that is coming? ⁸ Do something to let me see that you have turned from your sins. Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you, God can make children for Abraham out of these stones. ⁹ Even now the ax is on the root of the trees. Every tree that does not give good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” ¹⁰ The people asked him, “Then what should we do?” ¹¹ He answered them, “If you have two coats, give one to him who has none. If you have food, you must share some.” ¹² Tax-gatherers came to be baptized also. They asked him, “Teacher, what are we to do?” ¹³ He said to them, “Do not take more money from people than you should.” ¹⁴ Also soldiers asked him, “What are we to do?” He answered them, “Take no money from anyone by using your own strength. Do not lie about anyone. Be happy with the pay you get.”