Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 78[a]
A well-written song[b] by Asaph.
78 Pay attention, my people, to my instruction.
Listen to the words I speak.[c]
2 I will sing a song that imparts wisdom;
I will make insightful observations about the past.[d]
3 What we have heard and learned[e]—
that which our ancestors[f] have told us—
4 we will not hide from their[g] descendants.
We will tell the next generation
about the Lord’s praiseworthy acts,[h]
about his strength and the amazing things he has done.
5 He established a rule[i] in Jacob;
he set up a law in Israel.
He commanded our ancestors
to make his deeds known to their descendants,[j]
6 so that the next generation, children yet to be born,
might know about them.
They will grow up and tell their descendants about them.[k]
7 Then they will place their confidence in God.
They will not forget the works of God,
and they will obey[l] his commands.
8 Then they will not be like their ancestors,
who were a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation that was not committed
and faithful to God.[m]
9 The Ephraimites[n] were armed with bows,[o]
but they retreated in the day of battle.[p]
10 They did not keep their covenant with God,[q]
and they refused to obey[r] his law.
11 They forgot what he had done,[s]
the amazing things he had shown them.
12 He did amazing things in the sight of their ancestors,
in the land of Egypt, in the region of Zoan.[t]
13 He divided the sea and led them across it;
he made the water stand in a heap.
14 He led them with a cloud by day,
and with the light of a fire all night long.
15 He broke open rocks in the wilderness,
and gave them enough water to fill the depths of the sea.[u]
16 He caused streams to flow from the rock,
and made the water flow like rivers.
17 Yet they continued to sin against him,
and rebelled against the Most High[v] in the desert.
18 They willfully challenged God[w]
by asking for food to satisfy their appetite.
19 They insulted God, saying,[x]
“Is God really able to give us food[y] in the wilderness?
20 Yes,[z] he struck a rock and water flowed out;
streams gushed forth.
But can he also give us food?
Will he provide meat for his people?”
21 When[aa] the Lord heard this, he was furious.
A fire broke out against Jacob,
and his anger flared up[ab] against Israel,
22 because they did not have faith in God,
and did not trust his ability to deliver them.[ac]
23 He gave a command to the clouds above,
and opened the doors in the sky.
24 He rained down manna for them to eat;
he gave them the grain of heaven.[ad]
25 Man ate the food of the mighty ones.[ae]
He sent them more than enough to eat.[af]
26 He brought the east wind through the sky,
and by his strength led forth the south wind.
27 He rained down meat on them like dust,
birds as numerous as the sand on the seashores.[ag]
28 He caused them to fall right in the middle of their camp,
all around their homes.
29 They ate until they were beyond full;[ah]
he gave them what they desired.
30 They were not yet filled up;[ai]
their food was still in their mouths,
31 when the anger of God flared up against them.
He killed some of the strongest of them;
he brought the young men of Israel to their knees.
32 Despite all this, they continued to sin,
and did not trust him to do amazing things.[aj]
33 So he caused them to die unsatisfied[ak]
and filled with terror.[al]
34 When he struck them down,[am] they sought his favor;[an]
they turned back and longed for God.
35 They remembered that God was their protector,[ao]
and that God Most High[ap] was their deliverer.[aq]
36 But they deceived him with their words,[ar]
and lied to him.[as]
37 They were not really committed to him,[at]
and they were unfaithful to his covenant.
38 Yet he is compassionate.
He forgives sin and does not destroy.
He often holds back his anger,
and does not stir up his fury.[au]
39 He remembered[av] that they were made of flesh,
and were like a wind that blows past and does not return.[aw]
40 How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness,
and insulted him[ax] in the wastelands.
41 They again challenged God,[ay]
and offended[az] the Holy One of Israel.[ba]
42 They did not remember what he had done,[bb]
how he delivered them from the enemy,[bc]
43 when he performed his awesome deeds[bd] in Egypt,
and his acts of judgment[be] in the region of Zoan.
44 He turned their rivers into blood,
and they could not drink from their streams.
45 He sent swarms of biting insects against them,[bf]
as well as frogs that overran their land.[bg]
46 He gave their crops to the grasshopper,
the fruit of their labor to the locust.
47 He destroyed their vines with hail,
and their sycamore-fig trees with driving rain.
48 He rained hail down on their cattle,[bh]
and hurled lightning bolts down on their livestock.[bi]
49 His raging anger lashed out against them.[bj]
He sent fury, rage, and trouble
as messengers who bring disaster.[bk]
50 He sent his anger in full force.[bl]
He did not spare them from death;
he handed their lives over to destruction.[bm]
51 He struck down all the firstborn in Egypt,
the firstfruits of their reproductive power[bn] in the tents of Ham.
52 Yet he brought out his people like sheep;
he led them through the wilderness like a flock.
53 He guided them safely along, and they were not afraid;
but the sea covered their enemies.
54 He brought them to the border of his holy land,
to this mountainous land[bo] that his right hand[bp] acquired.
55 He drove the nations out from before them;
he assigned them their tribal allotments[bq]
and allowed the tribes of Israel to settle down.[br]
56 Yet they challenged and defied[bs] God Most High,[bt]
and did not obey[bu] his commands.[bv]
57 They were unfaithful[bw] and acted as treacherously as[bx] their ancestors;
they were as unreliable as a malfunctioning bow.[by]
58 They made him angry with their pagan shrines,[bz]
and made him jealous with their idols.
59 God heard and was angry;
he completely rejected Israel.
60 He abandoned[ca] the sanctuary at Shiloh,
the tent where he lived among men.
61 He allowed the symbol of his strong presence to be captured;[cb]
he gave the symbol of his splendor[cc] into the hand of the enemy.[cd]
62 He delivered his people over to the sword,
and was angry with his chosen nation.[ce]
63 Fire consumed their[cf] young men,
and their[cg] virgins remained unmarried.[ch]
64 Their[ci] priests fell by the sword,
but their[cj] widows did not weep.[ck]
65 But then the Lord awoke from his sleep;[cl]
he was like a warrior in a drunken rage.[cm]
66 He drove his enemies back;
he made them a permanent target for insults.[cn]
67 He rejected the tent of Joseph;
he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim.
68 He chose the tribe of Judah
and Mount Zion, which he loves.
69 He made his sanctuary as enduring as the heavens above,[co]
as secure as the earth, which he established permanently.[cp]
70 He chose David, his servant,
and took him from the sheepfolds.
71 He took him away from following the mother sheep,[cq]
and made him the shepherd of Jacob, his people,
and of Israel, his chosen nation.[cr]
72 David[cs] cared for them with pure motives;[ct]
he led them with skill.[cu]
15 How awful that day will be![a]
For the day of the Lord is near;
it will come as destruction from the Divine Destroyer.[b]
16 Our food has been cut off right before our eyes![c]
There is no longer any joy or gladness in the temple of our God.[d]
17 The grains of seed[e] have shriveled beneath their shovels.[f]
Storehouses have been decimated,
and granaries have been torn down,
because the grain has dried up.
18 Listen to the cattle groan![g]
The herds of livestock wander around in confusion[h]
because they have no pasture.
Even the flocks of sheep are suffering.
19 To you, O Lord, I call out for help,[i]
for fire[j] has burned up[k] the pastures of the wilderness,
flames have razed[l] all the trees in the fields.
20 Even the wild animals[m] cry out to you,[n]
for the river beds[o] have dried up;
fire has destroyed[p] the pastures of the wilderness.[q]
The Locusts’ Devastation
2 Blow the trumpet[r] in Zion;
sound the alarm signal on my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land shake with fear,
for the day of the Lord is about to come.
Indeed,[s] it is near![t]
2 It will be[u] a day of dreadful darkness,[v]
a day of foreboding storm clouds,[w]
like blackness[x] spread over the mountains.
It is a huge and powerful army[y]—
there has never been anything like it ever before,
and there will not be anything like it for many generations to come![z]
3 Like fire they devour everything in their path;[aa]
a flame blazes behind them.
The land looks like the Garden of Eden[ab] before them,
but behind them there is only a desolate wilderness—
for nothing escapes them![ac]
4 They look like horses;[ad]
they charge ahead like war horses.
5 They sound like[ae] chariots rumbling[af] over mountain tops,
like the crackling[ag] of blazing fire consuming stubble,
like the noise of[ah] a mighty army[ai] being drawn up for battle.[aj]
6 People[ak] writhe in fear when they see them.[al]
All their faces turn pale with fright.[am]
7 They[an] charge[ao] like warriors;
they scale walls like soldiers.[ap]
Each one proceeds on his course;
they do not alter[aq] their path.
8 They do not jostle one another;[ar]
each of them marches straight ahead.[as]
They burst through[at] the city defenses[au]
and do not break ranks.
9 They rush into[av] the city;
they scale[aw] its walls.
They climb up into the houses;
they go in through the windows like a thief.
10 The earth quakes[ax] before them;[ay]
the sky reverberates.[az]
The sun and the moon grow dark;
the stars refuse to shine.[ba]
11 The voice of the Lord thunders[bb] as he leads his army.[bc]
Indeed, his warriors[bd] are innumerable;[be]
Surely his command is carried out![bf]
Yes, the day of the Lord is awesome[bg]
and very terrifying—who can survive[bh] it?
19 After these things I heard what sounded like the loud voice of a vast throng in heaven, saying,
“Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,
2 because his judgments are true and just.[a]
For he has judged[b] the great prostitute
who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality,
and has avenged the blood of his servants[c] poured out by her own hands!”[d]
3 Then[e] a second time the crowd shouted, “Hallelujah!” The smoke rises from her forever and ever.[f] 4 The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures threw themselves to the ground[g] and worshiped God, who was seated on the throne, saying: “Amen! Hallelujah!”
5 Then[h] a voice came from the throne, saying:
“Praise our God
all you his servants,
and all you who fear him,
both the small and the great!”
The Wedding Celebration of the Lamb
6 Then[i] I heard what sounded like the voice of a vast throng, like the roar of many waters and like loud crashes of thunder. They were shouting:[j]
“Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God,[k] the All-Powerful,[l] reigns!
7 Let us rejoice[m] and exult
and give him glory,
because the wedding celebration of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready.
8 She was permitted to be dressed in bright, clean, fine linen”[n] (for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints).[o]
9 Then[p] the angel[q] said to me, “Write the following: Blessed are those who are invited to the banquet at the wedding celebration of the Lamb!” He also said to me, “These are the true words of God.” 10 So[r] I threw myself down[s] at his feet to worship him, but[t] he said, “Do not do this![u] I am only[v] a fellow servant[w] with you and your brothers and sisters[x] who hold to the testimony about[y] Jesus. Worship God, for the testimony about Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”
Counting the Cost
25 Now large crowds[a] were accompanying Jesus,[b] and turning to them he said, 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate[c] his own father and mother, and wife and children, and brothers and sisters, and even his own life,[d] he cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not carry his own cross[e] and follow[f] me cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn’t sit down[g] first and compute the cost[h] to see if he has enough money to complete it? 29 Otherwise,[i] when he has laid[j] a foundation and is not able to finish the tower,[k] all who see it[l] will begin to make fun of[m] him. 30 They will say,[n] ‘This man[o] began to build and was not able to finish!’[p] 31 Or what king, going out to confront another king in battle, will not sit down[q] first and determine whether he is able with 10,000 to oppose[r] the one coming against him with 20,000? 32 If he cannot succeed,[s] he will send a representative[t] while the other is still a long way off and ask for terms of peace.[u] 33 In the same way therefore not one of you can be my disciple if he does not renounce all his own possessions.[v]
34 “Salt[w] is good, but if salt loses its flavor,[x] how can its flavor be restored? 35 It is of no value[y] for the soil or for the manure pile; it is to be thrown out.[z] The one who has ears to hear had better listen!”[aa]
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