Book of Common Prayer
Prayer for Israel’s Restoration
To the Chief Musician. (A)Set to [a]“The Lilies.” A [b]Testimony of Asaph. A Psalm.
80 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
(B)You who lead Joseph (C)like a flock;
You who dwell between the cherubim, (D)shine forth!
2 Before (E)Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh,
Stir up Your strength,
And come and save us!
4 O Lord God of hosts,
(H)How long will You be angry
Against the prayer of Your people?
5 (I)You have fed them with the bread of tears,
And given them tears to drink in great measure.
6 You have made us a strife to our neighbors,
And our enemies laugh among themselves.
7 Restore us, O God of hosts;
Cause Your face to shine,
And we shall be saved!
8 You have brought (J)a vine out of Egypt;
(K)You have cast out the [c]nations, and planted it.
9 You prepared room for it,
And caused it to take deep root,
And it filled the land.
10 The hills were covered with its shadow,
And the [d]mighty cedars with its (L)boughs.
11 She sent out her boughs to [e]the Sea,
And her branches to [f]the River.
12 Why have You (M)broken down her [g]hedges,
So that all who pass by the way pluck her fruit?
13 The boar out of the woods uproots it,
And the wild beast of the field devours it.
14 Return, we beseech You, O God of hosts;
(N)Look down from heaven and see,
And visit this vine
15 And the vineyard which Your right hand has planted,
And the branch that You made strong (O)for Yourself.
16 It is burned with fire, it is cut down;
(P)They perish at the rebuke of Your countenance.
17 (Q)Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand,
Upon the son of man whom You made strong for Yourself.
18 Then we will not turn back from You;
Revive us, and we will call upon Your name.
19 Restore us, O Lord God of hosts;
Cause Your face to shine,
And we shall be saved!
The Happiness of Those Whose Help Is the Lord
146 Praise[a] the Lord!
(A)Praise the Lord, O my soul!
2 (B)While I live I will praise the Lord;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
3 (C)Do not put your trust in princes,
Nor in [b]a son of man, in whom there is no [c]help.
4 (D)His spirit departs, he returns to his earth;
In that very day (E)his plans perish.
5 (F)Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help,
Whose hope is in the Lord his God,
6 (G)Who made heaven and earth,
The sea, and all that is in them;
Who keeps truth forever,
7 (H)Who executes justice for the oppressed,
(I)Who gives food to the hungry.
(J)The Lord gives freedom to the prisoners.
8 (K)The Lord opens the eyes of the blind;
(L)The Lord raises those who are bowed down;
The Lord loves the righteous.
9 (M)The Lord watches over the strangers;
He relieves the fatherless and widow;
(N)But the way of the wicked He [d]turns upside down.
10 (O)The Lord shall reign forever—
Your God, O Zion, to all generations.
Praise the Lord!
Praise to God for His Word and Providence
147 Praise[e] the Lord!
For (P)it is good to sing praises to our God;
(Q)For it is pleasant, and (R)praise is beautiful.
2 The Lord (S)builds up Jerusalem;
(T)He gathers together the outcasts of Israel.
3 (U)He heals the brokenhearted
And binds up their [f]wounds.
4 (V)He counts the number of the stars;
He calls them all by name.
5 (W)Great is our Lord, and (X)mighty in power;
(Y)His understanding is infinite.
6 (Z)The Lord lifts up the humble;
He casts the wicked down to the ground.
7 Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
Sing praises on the harp to our God,
8 (AA)Who covers the heavens with clouds,
Who prepares rain for the earth,
Who makes grass to grow on the mountains.
9 (AB)He gives to the beast its food,
And (AC)to the young ravens that cry.
10 (AD)He does not delight in the strength of the horse;
He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man.
11 The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him,
In those who hope in His mercy.
12 Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!
Praise your God, O Zion!
13 For He has strengthened the bars of your gates;
He has blessed your children within you.
14 (AE)He makes peace in your borders,
And (AF)fills you with [g]the finest wheat.
15 (AG)He sends out His command to the earth;
His word runs very swiftly.
16 (AH)He gives snow like wool;
He scatters the frost like ashes;
17 He casts out His hail like [h]morsels;
Who can stand before His cold?
18 (AI)He sends out His word and melts them;
He causes His wind to blow, and the waters flow.
19 (AJ)He declares His word to Jacob,
(AK)His statutes and His judgments to Israel.
20 (AL)He has not dealt thus with any nation;
And as for His judgments, they have not known them.
[i]Praise the Lord!
13 Therefore the Lord said:
(A)“Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths
And honor Me (B)with their lips,
But have removed their hearts far from Me,
And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men,
14 (C)Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work
Among this people,
A marvelous work and a wonder;
(D)For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,
And the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.”
15 (E)Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the Lord,
And their works are in the dark;
(F)They say, “Who sees us?” and, “Who knows us?”
16 Surely you have things turned around!
Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay;
For shall the (G)thing made say of him who made it,
“He did not make me”?
Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it,
“He has no understanding”?
Future Recovery of Wisdom
17 Is it not yet a very little while
Till (H)Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field,
And the fruitful field be esteemed as a forest?
18 (I)In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book,
And the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.
19 (J)The humble also shall increase their joy in the Lord,
And (K)the poor among men shall rejoice
In the Holy One of Israel.
20 For the [a]terrible one is brought to nothing,
(L)The scornful one is consumed,
And all who (M)watch for iniquity are cut off—
21 Who make a man an offender by a word,
And (N)lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate,
And turn aside the just (O)by empty words.
22 Therefore thus says the Lord, (P)who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:
“Jacob shall not now be (Q)ashamed,
Nor shall his face now grow pale;
23 But when he sees his children,
(R)The work of My hands, in his midst,
They will hallow My name,
And hallow the Holy One of Jacob,
And fear the God of Israel.
24 These also (S)who erred in spirit will come to understanding,
And those who complained will learn doctrine.”
The Glory of the New Jerusalem
22 (A)But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 (B)The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine [a]in it, for the [b]glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. 24 (C)And the nations [c]of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor [d]into it. 25 (D)Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (E)(there shall be no night there). 26 (F)And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into [e]it. 27 But (G)there shall by no means enter it anything [f]that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s (H)Book of Life.
The River of Life
22 And he showed me (I)a [g]pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 (J)In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was (K)the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were (L)for the healing of the nations. 3 And (M)there shall be no more curse, (N)but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His (O)servants shall serve Him. 4 (P)They shall see His face, and (Q)His name shall be on their foreheads. 5 (R)There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor (S)light of the sun, for (T)the Lord God gives them light. (U)And they shall reign forever and ever.
Mary Visits Elizabeth
39 Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, (A)to a city of Judah, 40 and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. 41 And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was (B)filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, (C)“Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. 45 (D)Blessed is she who [a]believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord.”
The Song of Mary
46 And Mary said:
48 For (A)He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant;
For behold, henceforth (B)all generations will call me blessed.
49 For He who is mighty (C)has done great things for me,
And (D)holy is His name.
50 And (E)His mercy is on those who fear Him
From generation to generation.
51 (F)He has shown strength with His arm;
(G)He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
52 (H)He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
And exalted the lowly.
53 He has (I)filled the hungry with good things,
And the rich He has sent away empty.
54 He has helped His (J)servant Israel,
(K)In remembrance of His mercy,
55 (L)As He spoke to our (M)fathers,
To Abraham and to his (N)seed forever.”
56 And Mary remained with her about three months, and returned to her house.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.