Book of Common Prayer
God Is Good to His People
78 O my people, hear my teaching. Listen to the words of my mouth. 2 I will open my mouth in picture-stories. I will tell things which have been kept secret from long ago, 3 which we have heard and known because our fathers have told us. 4 We will not hide them from their children. But we will tell the children-to-come the praises of the Lord, and of His power and the great things He has done.
5 For He has made His will known to Jacob. He made the Law in Israel, which He told our fathers to teach their children. 6 So the children-to-come might know, even the children yet to be born. So they may rise up and tell it to their children. 7 Then they would put their trust in God and not forget the works of God. And they would keep His Law. 8 They would not be like their fathers, who were not right with God and would not obey Him or be faithful to Him.
9 The sons of Ephraim were ready with their bows. But they turned away in the day of fighting. 10 They did not keep the agreement of God. And they would not walk in His Law. 11 They forgot what He had done and His great works that He had shown them. 12 He did powerful works in front of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan. 13 He divided the sea and made them pass through it. He made the water stand up like a wall. 14 He led them with the cloud during the day, and with a light of fire during the night. 15 He broke the rocks in the desert, and gave them water as if it flowed from the sea. 16 He made water come out of the rock. He made the water flow down like rivers.
17 But they still kept on sinning against Him. They did not obey the Most High in the desert. 18 They tested God in their hearts by asking for the food they wanted. 19 Then they spoke against God, saying, “Can God set a table in the desert? 20 See, He hit the rock and water poured out and rivers flowed over. Can He give bread also? Will He give meat to His people?”
21 The Lord was full of anger when He heard them. And a fire was set against Jacob. His anger went up against Israel, 22 because they did not believe in God. They did not trust in Him to save them. 23 Yet He spoke to the clouds above, and opened the doors of heaven. 24 He sent down bread from heaven for them to eat. He gave them food from heaven. 25 Men ate the bread of angels. He sent them all the food they could eat. 26 He made the east wind blow in the heavens. And He brought in the south wind by His power. 27 He sent meat down on them like dust, winged birds like the sand of the sea. 28 He let them fall in the place where they were staying, all around their tents. 29 So they ate until they were full. He gave them what they wanted. 30 But before they had eaten all they wanted, even while it was still in their mouths, 31 the anger of God came upon them. And He killed the strongest of them. He cut down the young men of Israel. 32 But still they kept on sinning. They did not believe in His powerful works. 33 So He made their days come to nothing. He made their years end in fear all at once.
34 When He killed some of them, the others would look for Him. They returned and looked for God. 35 They remembered that God was their rock, and that the Most High God was the One Who set them free. 36 But they gave Him false honor with their mouth. They lied to Him with their tongue. 37 For their heart was not right toward Him. They were not faithful to His agreement. 38 But He showed them loving-kindness and forgave their sins. He did not destroy them. He held back His anger many times. He did not let all of His anger loose. 39 He remembered that they were only flesh, a wind that passes and does not return.
40 How many times they went against Him in the desert, and gave Him sorrow in that empty land! 41 They put God to the test again and again, and troubled the Holy One of Israel. 42 They did not remember His power and the day He saved them from those who hated them, 43 when He did His powerful works in Egypt and showed His greatness in the field of Zoan. 44 He changed their rivers into blood. They could not drink from their rivers. 45 He sent many flies among them that ate them, and frogs that destroyed them. 46 He gave their fields of food to the grasshopper, and all they worked for to the locust. 47 He destroyed their vines with hail, and their sycamore trees with cold. 48 He killed their cattle with hail and lightning. 49 He sent them His burning anger and trouble. He sent a group of angels to bring trouble and sorrow to them. 50 He made a straight path for His anger. He did not save their soul from death. But He gave their lives over to all these troubles. 51 He killed all the first-born in Egypt, the first children of their strength in the tents of Ham. 52 But He brought His people out like sheep. And He led them like a flock in the desert. 53 He led them and kept them safe, so they were not afraid. But the sea covered those who hated them.
54 He brought them to His holy land, to the hill country His right hand had taken. 55 He drove out the nations before them. He gave them parts of the land for a gift. And He made the families of Israel live in their tents.
56 But they tempted and went against the Most High God. They did not keep His Law. 57 They turned away and acted without faith like their fathers. They were like a bow that cannot be trusted. 58 They made Him angry with their sinful places of worship. And they made Him jealous with their false gods. 59 God was very angry when He heard them, and He hated Israel. 60 He left the holy tent at Shiloh, the tent He had set up among men. 61 And He let His strength be taken. He put His greatness into the hands of those who hated Israel. 62 He allowed His people to be killed with the sword. And He was very angry with those who belong to Him. 63 Fire burned up their young men. And their young women had no wedding songs. 64 Their religious leaders fell by the sword. And the women who lost their husbands could not cry.
65 Then the Lord woke up as if from sleep, like a strong man wild with wine. 66 He beat back those who hated Him. And He put them to shame forever. 67 He turned away from the tent of Joseph. He did not choose the family of Ephraim, 68 but chose the family of Judah, Mount Zion which He loved. 69 He built His holy place like the high mountains, like the earth He has built forever. 70 He chose David, His servant and took him from the flocks of sheep. 71 He brought him from caring for the sheep and their lambs to being the shepherd of Jacob His people, and Israel who belongs to Him. 72 So David was their shepherd with a heart that was right, and led them with good hands and wisdom.
15 What a bad day it will be! The day of the Lord is near, when the All-powerful God will come to destroy. 16 Do you see how our food has been taken from us? Has not happiness and joy been cut off from the house of our God? 17 The seeds dry up under the ground. The store-houses are laid waste. The buildings where the grain was kept are torn down, for the grain is destroyed. 18 How the animals cry inside themselves! The cattle go from place to place because there is no food for them. Even the flocks of sheep suffer. 19 I cry to You, O Lord. For fire has destroyed the fields of the desert. All the trees of the field have burned up. 20 Even the animals of the field cry to You. For the rivers are dried up, and fire has burned up the fields of the desert.
The Day of the Lord
2 Blow a horn in Zion! Give the sound of danger on My holy mountain! Let all the people of the land shake in fear, for the day of the Lord is coming. The day is near. 2 It will be a day of darkness, a day of clouds and much darkness. A large and powerful army will come like darkness spreading over the mountains. There has never been anything like it, and there will never be anything like it again for all time to come. 3 Fire destroys in front of them and behind them. The land is like the garden of Eden in front of them, but a desert waste is left behind them. Nothing gets away from them. 4 They look like horses. They run like war horses. 5 As they jump on the tops of the mountains they sound like war-wagons. They sound like a fire burning up the dry grass, like a powerful army ready for battle. 6 Nations suffer in front of them. All faces turn white. 7 They run like strong men. They go over the wall like soldiers. They each walk straight on, and do not turn from their paths. 8 They do not push each other. Each one walks in his path. When they break through those who fight against them, their path is not changed. 9 They rush upon the city. They run on the wall. They go into the houses through the windows like a robber. 10 The earth shakes in front of them. The heavens shake. The sun and the moon become dark, and the stars stop shining. 11 The Lord thunders in front of His army. His army has too many to number. Those who obey His Word are powerful. The day of the Lord is very great and fills people with fear and wonder. Who can live through it?
Giving Thanks in Heaven
19 After this I heard what sounded like the voices of many people in heaven, saying, “Thanks to our God, the One Who saves. Honor and power belong to Him. 2 For the way He punishes people is right and true. He has punished the powerful woman who sold the use of her body. She was making the earth sinful with her sex sins. She killed those who worked for God. He has punished her for it.” 3 Again they said, “Thanks to our God. The smoke from her burning goes up forever.” 4 The twenty-four leaders and the four living beings got down and worshiped God Who was sitting on the throne. They said, “Let it be so. Thanks to our God!”
5 A voice came from the throne, saying, “Give thanks to our God, you servants who are owned by Him. Give thanks to our God, you who honor Him with love and fear, both small and great.”
The Wedding Supper of the Lamb
6 Then I heard what sounded like the voices of many people. It was like the sound of powerful rushing water. And it was like loud thunder. It said, “Thanks to our God. For the Lord our God is King. He is the All-powerful One. 7 Let us be full of joy and be glad. Let us honor Him, for the time has come for the wedding supper of the Lamb. His bride has made herself ready. 8 She was given clean, white, fine linen clothes to wear. The fine linen is the right living of God’s people.”
9 The angel said to me, “Write this: ‘Those who are asked to the wedding supper of the Lamb are happy.’” And he said, “These are the true words of God.” 10 Then I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “No! Do not worship me. I am a servant together with you and your Christian brothers who tell of their trust in Christ. Worship God. For those who speak for Jesus are led in what to say as the early preachers were led.”
Giving Up Things of This Earth (A)
25 Many people followed Jesus. Then He turned around and said to them, 26 “If any man comes to Me and does not have much more love for Me than for his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be My follower. 27 If he does not carry his cross and follow Me, he cannot be My follower.
28 “If one of you wanted to build a large building, you would sit down first and think of how much money it would take to build it. You would see if you had enough money to finish it, 29 or when the base of the building is finished, you might see that you do not have enough money to finish it. Then all who would see it would make fun of you. 30 They would say, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’
31 “What if a king is going to war with another king? Will he not sit down first and decide if he is able to go with 10,000 men against the other king who is coming with 20,000 men? 32 Or, he will send a soldier to the other king while he is still a long way off. He will ask what can be done to have peace. 33 In the same way, whoever does not give up all that he has, cannot be My follower.
34 “Salt is good. But if salt has lost its taste, how can it be made to taste like salt again? 35 It is no good for the field or the waste place. Men throw it away. You have ears, then listen!”
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