Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 80
A Prayer for Restoration
For the choir director: according to “The Lilies.”(A) A testimony of Asaph.(B) A psalm.
1 Listen, Shepherd of Israel,
who leads Joseph like a flock;(C)
you who sit enthroned between the cherubim,(D)
shine(E) 2 on Ephraim,
Benjamin, and Manasseh.(F)
Rally your power and come to save us.(G)
3 Restore us, God;
make your face shine on us,(H)
so that we may be saved.(I)
4 Lord God of Armies,
how long will you be angry
with your people’s prayers?(J)
5 You fed them the bread of tears
and gave them a full measure[a]
of tears to drink.(K)
6 You put us at odds with our neighbors;
our enemies mock us.(L)
7 Restore us, God of Armies;
make your face shine on us, so that we may be saved.(M)
8 You dug up a vine from Egypt;
you drove out the nations and planted it.(N)
9 You cleared a place for it;
it took root and filled the land.(O)
10 The mountains were covered by its shade,
and the mighty cedars[b] with its branches.(P)
11 It sent out sprouts toward the Sea[c]
and shoots toward the River.[d](Q)
12 Why have you broken down its walls
so that all who pass by pick its fruit?(R)
13 Boars from the forest tear at it
and creatures of the field feed on it.(S)
14 Return, God of Armies.(T)
Look down from heaven and see;
take care of this vine,
15 the root[e] your right hand planted,
the son[f] that you made strong for yourself.(U)
16 It was cut down and burned;
they[g] perish at the rebuke of your countenance.(V)
17 Let your hand be with the man at your right hand,
with the son of man
you have made strong for yourself.(W)
18 Then we will not turn away from you;
revive us, and we will call on your name.(X)
19 Restore us, Lord, God of Armies;(Y)
make your face shine on us, so that we may be saved.(Z)
Psalm 77
Confidence in a Time of Crisis
For the choir director: according to Jeduthun. Of Asaph.(A) A psalm.
1 I cry aloud to God,
aloud to God, and he will hear me.(B)
2 I sought the Lord in my day of trouble.
My hands were continually lifted up
all night long;
I refused to be comforted.(C)
3 I think of God; I groan;
I meditate; my spirit becomes weak.(D)Selah
4 You have kept me from closing my eyes;
I am troubled and cannot speak.(E)
5 I consider days of old,
years long past.(F)
6 At night I remember my music;
I meditate in my heart, and my spirit ponders.(G)
7 “Will the Lord reject forever
and never again show favor?(H)
8 Has his faithful love ceased forever?
Is his promise at an end for all generations?(I)
9 Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Has he in anger withheld his compassion?” (J)Selah
10 So I say, “I am grieved
that the right hand of the Most High has changed.”[a](K)
11 I will remember the Lord’s works;
yes, I will remember your ancient wonders.(L)
12 I will reflect on all you have done
and meditate on your actions.(M)
13 God, your way is holy.
What god is great like God?(N)
14 You are the God who works wonders;
you revealed your strength among the peoples.(O)
15 With power you redeemed your people,
the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.(P)Selah
16 The water saw you, God.
The water saw you; it trembled.
Even the depths shook.(Q)
17 The clouds poured down water.
The storm clouds thundered;
your arrows flashed back and forth.(R)
18 The sound of your thunder was in the whirlwind;
lightning lit up the world.(S)
The earth shook and quaked.(T)
19 Your way went through the sea
and your path through the vast water,
but your footprints were unseen.(U)
20 You led your people like a flock(V)
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.(W)
Psalm 79
Faith amid Confusion
A psalm of Asaph.(A)
1 God, the nations have invaded your inheritance,
desecrated your holy temple,
and turned Jerusalem into ruins.(B)
2 They gave the corpses of your servants
to the birds of the sky for food,
the flesh of your faithful ones
to the beasts of the earth.(C)
3 They poured out their blood
like water all around Jerusalem,
and there was no one to bury them.(D)
4 We have become an object of reproach
to our neighbors,
a source of mockery and ridicule
to those around us.(E)
5 How long, Lord? Will you be angry forever?
Will your jealousy keep burning like fire?(F)
6 Pour out your wrath on the nations
that don’t acknowledge you,
on the kingdoms that don’t call on your name,(G)
7 for they have devoured Jacob
and devastated his homeland.(H)
8 Do not hold past iniquities[a] against us;
let your compassion come to us quickly,
for we have become very weak.(I)
9 God of our salvation, help us,(J)
for the glory of your name.
Rescue us and atone for our sins,
for your name’s sake.(K)
10 Why should the nations ask,
“Where is their God?” (L)
Before our eyes,
let vengeance for the shed blood of your servants
be known among the nations.(M)
11 Let the groans of the prisoners reach you;
according to your great power,
preserve those condemned to die.(N)
The Birth of Jacob and Esau
19 These are the family records of Isaac son of Abraham. Abraham fathered Isaac.(A) 20 Isaac was forty years old when he took as his wife Rebekah(B) daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram(C) and sister of Laban the Aramean.(D) 21 Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was childless.(E) The Lord was receptive to his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived.(F) 22 But the children inside her struggled with each other, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” [a] So she went to inquire of the Lord.(G) 23 And the Lord said to her:
Two nations are in your womb;
two peoples will come from you and be separated.
One people will be stronger than the other,(H)
and the older will serve the younger.(I)
24 When her time came to give birth, there were indeed twins in her womb. 25 The first one came out red-looking,[b] covered with hair[c] like a fur coat, and they named him Esau.(J) 26 After this, his brother came out grasping Esau’s heel with his hand.(K) So he was named Jacob.[d](L) Isaac was sixty years old when they were born.
Esau Sells His Birthright
27 When the boys grew up, Esau became an expert hunter, an outdoorsman,[e] but Jacob was a quiet man who stayed at home.[f] 28 Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for wild game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.(M)
29 Once when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the field exhausted. 30 He said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stuff, because I’m exhausted.” That is why he was also named Edom.[g]
31 Jacob replied, “First sell me your birthright.”
32 “Look,” said Esau, “I’m about to die, so what good is a birthright to me?”
33 Jacob said, “Swear to me first.” So he swore to Jacob and sold his birthright to him. 34 Then Jacob gave bread and lentil stew to Esau; he ate, drank, got up, and went away. So Esau despised his birthright.(N)
Final Exhortations
13 Let brotherly love(A) continue. 2 Don’t neglect to show hospitality, for by doing this some have welcomed angels as guests without knowing it.(B) 3 Remember those in prison, as though you were in prison with them, and the mistreated,[a] as though you yourselves were suffering bodily.[b] 4 Marriage is to be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, because God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.(C) 5 Keep your life free from the love of money. Be satisfied with what you have, for he himself has said, I will never leave you or abandon you.[c](D) 6 Therefore, we may boldly say,
7 Remember your leaders who have spoken God’s word to you. As you carefully observe the outcome of their lives, imitate their faith.(F) 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.(G) 9 Don’t be led astray by various kinds of strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be established by grace and not by food regulations, since those who observe them have not benefited.(H) 10 We have an altar from which those who worship at the tabernacle do not have a right to eat.(I) 11 For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the most holy place by the high priest(J) as a sin offering are burned outside the camp.(K) 12 Therefore, Jesus also suffered outside the gate,(L) so that he might sanctify[e] the people by his own blood. 13 Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing his disgrace.(M) 14 For we do not have an enduring city here; instead, we seek the one to come.(N) 15 Therefore, through him let us continually offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name.(O) 16 Don’t neglect to do what is good and to share, for God is pleased with such sacrifices.(P)
The Promise of the Spirit
37 On the last and most important day of the festival,(A) Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me[a](B) and drink.(C) 38 The one who believes in me,(D) as the Scripture(E) has said, will have streams of living water(F) flow(G) from deep within him.” 39 He said this about the Spirit.(H) Those who believed in Jesus were going to receive the Spirit,(I) for the Spirit[b] had not yet been given[c] because Jesus had not yet been glorified.
The People Are Divided over Jesus
40 When some from the crowd heard these words, they said, “This truly is the Prophet.”(J) 41 Others said, “This is the Messiah.” But some said, “Surely the Messiah doesn’t come from Galilee, does he? 42 Doesn’t the Scripture(K) say that the Messiah comes from David’s(L) offspring[d] and from the town of Bethlehem,(M) where David lived?” 43 So the crowd was divided(N) because of him. 44 Some of them wanted to seize him,(O) but no one laid hands on him.
Debate over Jesus’s Claims
45 Then the servants(P) came to the chief priests(Q) and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him?”
46 The servants answered, “No man ever spoke like this!” [e](R)
47 Then the Pharisees responded to them, “Are you fooled(S) too? 48 Have any of the rulers(T) or Pharisees believed in him? 49 But this crowd, which doesn’t know the law, is accursed.”
50 Nicodemus(U)—the one who came to him previously and who was one of them—said to them, 51 “Our law doesn’t judge a man before it hears from him and knows what he’s doing, does it?” (V)
52 “You aren’t from Galilee(W) too, are you?” they replied. “Investigate and you will see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”(X)
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