Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 80[a]
Prayer for the Persecuted People
1 For the director.[b] According to “Lilies.” Eduth. A psalm of Asaph.
2 [c]Listen to us, O shepherd of Israel,[d]
you who lead Joseph like a flock.
As you sit enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth
3 over Ephraim,[e] Benjamin, and Manasseh.
Stir up your power
and come to save us.
4 Restore us, O Lord of hosts;
let your face shine[f] upon us,
and we will be saved.
5 O Lord of hosts,[g]
how long will you be angry
at your people’s prayers?
6 You have fed them with the bread of tears
and made them drink tears beyond measure.
7 You have made us an object of contention to our neighbors,
a source of mockery to our enemies.
8 Restore us, O Lord of hosts;
let your face shine upon us,
and we will be saved.
9 [h]You brought a vine[i] out of Egypt;
you dispersed the nations and planted it.
10 You prepared the ground for it;
then it took root and filled the land.
11 The mountains were covered with its shade
and the cedars of God[j] with its shoots.
12 It sent out its boughs as far as the Sea,[k]
its shoots as far as the river.
13 [l]Why have you broken down its walls
so that all who pass by pluck its grapes?[m]
14 The boars from the forest ravage it,
and wild beasts of the field feed on it.
15 Turn once again to us, O Lord of hosts;[n]
look down from heaven and see;
take care of this vine,
16 this shoot[o] that your right hand has planted,
the son that you yourself made strong.
17 Let those who would burn it or cut it down
perish when confronted by your rebuke.
18 Let your hand rest upon the man at your right,[p]
the son of man that you yourself made strong.
19 Then we will never again turn away from you;
give us life and we will call upon your name.[q]
20 Restore us, O Lord of hosts;
let your face shine upon us,
and we will be saved.
Psalm 77[a]
Lament and Consolation in Distress
1 For the director.[b] For Jeduthun. A psalm of Asaph.
2 [c]I cry aloud to God,
for when I cry out to God, he hears me.[d]
3 In the time of my distress I seek the Lord;
at night I stretch out my hands unceasingly,
and my soul refuses to be consoled.
4 [e]I groan as I think of God;
my spirit grows faint as I meditate on him. Selah
5 You keep my eyes from closing in sleep;
I am much too distraught to speak.
6 I reflect on the days of old
and recall the years long past.
7 At night I meditate in my heart,[f]
and as I reflect, my spirit questions:
8 [g]“Will the Lord cast us off forever
and never again show us his favor?
9 Has his kindness[h] vanished forever?
Has his promise ceased for all time?
10 Has God forgotten how to be merciful?
Has he shut up his compassion in anger?” Selah
11 [i]And I say: “This is my grief—
that the right hand[j] of the Most High has changed.”
12 I will remember the works of the Lord;
I will call to mind your wonders in the past.
13 I will reflect on all your deeds
and ponder your wondrous works.[k]
14 O God, your way is holy.[l]
What god is as great as our God?
15 You are the God who works wonders;
you have displayed your might to the nations.
16 With your strong arm you redeemed your people,
the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.[m] Selah
17 [n]When the waters[o] beheld you, O God,
when the waters beheld you, they writhed;
the very depths trembled.
18 The clouds poured forth their water,
the skies thundered,
your arrows[p] flashed back and forth.
19 The crash of your thunder resounded in the heavens;
your flashes of lightning lit up the world;
the earth trembled and shook.[q]
20 Your path led through the sea,
your way, through the mighty waters,
though none could trace your footsteps.[r]
21 You led your people like a flock
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.[s]
Psalm 79[a]
Prayer for Restoration
1 A psalm of Asaph.[b]
[c]O God, the nations have invaded your heritage;
they have profaned your holy temple
and turned Jerusalem into a heap of ruins.
2 They have given the corpses of your servants
as food to the birds of the air,
the flesh of your saints
to the beasts of the earth.
3 They have poured out their blood like water
all around Jerusalem,
and no one is left to bury them.[d]
4 We have become the scorn of our neighbors,
mocked and derided by those around us.[e]
5 [f]How long, O Lord?[g] Will you be angry forever?
How long will your rage continue to blaze like a fire?
6 [h]Pour out your wrath on the nations
that refuse to acknowledge you,
on the kingdoms
that fail to call on your name.[i]
7 For they have devoured Jacob
and ravaged his homeland.
8 Do not hold against us the sins of our ancestors;
let your mercy come quickly to meet us,
for we are in desperate straits.[j]
9 [k]Help us, O God, our Savior,
for the glory of your name;
deliver us and wipe away our sins
for your name’s sake.[l]
10 Why should the nations ask,
“Where is their God?”
Before our eyes make it clearly known among those nations
that you avenge[m] the blood of your servants.
11 Let the groans of the captives come before you;
through your great power
save those who have been sentenced to death.[n]
12 Repay our neighbors sevenfold[o] in their breasts, O Lord,
for the insults with which they taunted you.
13 Then we, your people, the sheep of your pasture,
will offer thanks to you[p] forever;
from generation to generation
we will proclaim your praise.
Prophecies Mainly in the Days of Jehoiakim
Chapter 7
True Worship.[a] 1 This is the word of the Lord that was delivered to Jeremiah: 2 Stand at the gate of the house of the Lord, and proclaim there this message: Hear the word of the Lord, all you people of Judah who enter through these gates to worship the Lord. 3 This is the message that the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, proclaims to you: Amend your ways and your deeds so that I may remain with you in this place. 4 Do not place your trust in these deceptive words: This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.
5 However, if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you are upright in your dealings with your neighbor; 6 if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow; if you do not shed innocent blood in this place; and if you do not follow other gods and thereby cause your own destruction, 7 then I will allow you to live in this place, in the land that I gave as a permanent gift to your fathers long ago.
8 You have been placing your trust in deceitful words that are completely worthless. 9 Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, engage in perjury, burn incense to Baal, and follow other gods about whom you know nothing, 10 and then come and stand before me in this house which bears my name and say, “We are safe,” all the while intending to continue doing these abominable deeds? 11 Has this house which bears my name become in your eyes a den of thieves? Be assured that I am fully aware of what you are doing, says the Lord.
12 Go now to my shrine of Shiloh which I originally designated as the dwelling place of my name. There you can observe what I did to it as the result of the wickedness of my people Israel.[b] 13 And now, because you have done all these things, says the Lord, and refused to listen when I spoke to you continuously, and would not answer when I called you, 14 I therefore will do to the house that bears my name, to this house in which you trust, and to this place which I gave to you and your fathers, just what I did to Shiloh. 15 And I will cast you out of my sight, just as I cast out all your kinsfolk, all the offspring of Ephraim.
Abraham Justified through Faith[a]
Chapter 4
Justified through Faith, Not Works.[b] 1 What then are we to say about Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh? 2 If Abraham was justified by the works he did, he has good reason to boast, but not in the eyes of God. 3 For what does Scripture say? “Abraham placed his faith in God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”[c]
4 Now when a man works, his wages are not regarded as a gift but as something that is due to him. 5 However, when someone who does not work places his faith in one who justifies the godless, such faith is reckoned as righteousness. 6 [d]In the same way, David speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God attributes righteousness apart from works:
7 “Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven
and whose sins are blotted out.
8 Blessed is the man
to whom the Lord imputes no guilt.”
Justified before Being Circumcised.[e] 9 Is this blessedness granted only to the circumcised, or does it apply to the uncircumcised as well? We have asserted that Abraham’s faith “was credited to him as righteousness.” 10 How was it credited? Was it when he was circumcised or uncircumcised? Not when he was circumcised, but when he was uncircumcised.
11 Abraham received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. In this way, he was the father of all who believe without being circumcised and who thus have righteousness credited to them. 12 Therefore, he is the father of the circumcised who have not only received circumcision but also follow that path of faith traversed by Abraham before he was circumcised.
14 Do Not Judge by Appearances.[a] When the feast was half over, Jesus went up into the temple and began to teach. 15 The Jews were astonished, and they wondered, “How has this man acquired such knowledge when he has never studied?”[b] 16 Jesus answered them,
“My teaching is not my own;
rather, it comes from him who sent me.
17 Anyone who resolves to do his will
will know whether my teaching comes from God
or whether I am speaking on my own authority.
18 Whoever speaks on his own authority
is simply seeking his own glory,
but whoever seeks the glory
of the one who sent him
is a truthful person,
and there is no dishonesty in him.
19 “Did not Moses give you the Law?
And not one of you keeps the Law.
Why are you trying to kill me?”
20 The crowd shouted, “You are possessed! Who is trying to kill you?” 21 Jesus replied,
“I performed a single work,[c]
and all of you are astonished.
22 Moses gave you circumcision
—although it did not originate with Moses
but with the patriarchs—
and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.
23 Now if a man can be circumcised on the Sabbath
so that the Law of Moses may not be broken,
why are you angry with me
for making a man’s entire body
completely healthy on the Sabbath?
24 Do not base your judgment on appearances;
judge according to what is right.”
25 Where Is Jesus from and Where Is He Going?[d] Then some of the inhabitants of Jerusalem said, “Is this not the man they are trying to kill? 26 And yet he is speaking publicly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities realize that he is the Christ? 27 And yet we know where this man is from. But when the Christ appears, no one will know where he is from.”
28 Then Jesus cried out as he was teaching in the temple,
“You know me,
and you also know where I am from.
Yet I have not come of my own accord,
but he who sent me is true.
You do not know him,
29 but I know him
because I am from him
and it was he who sent me.”
30 So they tried to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him because his hour had not yet come. 31 Yet many in the crowd believed in him, and they said, “When the Christ comes, will he perform more signs than this man has accomplished?”
32 When the Pharisees overheard the crowd murmuring about him, the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him. 33 Jesus then said,
“I will remain with you
only for a short time longer,
and then I shall return
to him who sent me.
34 You will search for me,
but you will not find me,
for where I am you cannot come.”
35 The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not be able to find him? Will he go abroad to the people who are dispersed among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? 36 What does he mean when he says, ‘You will search for me, but you will be unable to find me,’ and ‘Where I am you cannot come’?”
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