Book of Common Prayer
33 He turned[a] streams into a desert,
springs of water into arid land,
34 and a fruitful land into a barren place,[b]
because of the sin of its inhabitants.
35 As for his people,[c] he turned[d] a desert into a pool of water,
and a dry land into springs of water.
36 He allowed the hungry to settle there,
and they established a city in which to live.
37 They cultivated[e] fields,
and planted vineyards,
which yielded a harvest of fruit.[f]
38 He blessed[g] them so that they became very numerous.
He would not allow their cattle to decrease in number.[h]
39 As for their enemies,[i] they decreased in number and were beaten down,
because of painful distress[j] and suffering.
40 He would pour[k] contempt upon princes,
and he made them wander in a wasteland with no road.
41 Yet he protected[l] the needy from oppression,
and cared for his families like a flock of sheep.
42 When the godly see this, they rejoice,
and every sinner[m] shuts his mouth.
43 Whoever is wise, let him take note of these things.
Let them consider the Lord’s acts of loyal love.
Psalm 108[n]
A song, a psalm of David.
108 I am determined,[o] O God.
I will sing and praise you with my whole heart.[p]
2 Awake, O stringed instrument and harp.
I will wake up at dawn.[q]
3 I will give you thanks before the nations, O Lord.
I will sing praises to you before foreigners.[r]
4 For your loyal love extends beyond the sky,[s]
and your faithfulness reaches the clouds.
5 Rise up[t] above the sky, O God.
May your splendor cover the whole earth.[u]
6 Deliver by your power[v] and answer me,
so that the ones you love may be safe.[w]
7 God has spoken in his sanctuary:[x]
“I will triumph! I will parcel out Shechem;
the Valley of Sukkoth I will measure off.[y]
8 Gilead belongs to me,
as does Manasseh.[z]
Ephraim is my helmet,[aa]
Judah my royal scepter.[ab]
9 Moab is my washbasin.[ac]
I will make Edom serve me.[ad]
I will shout in triumph over Philistia.”
10 Who will lead me into the fortified city?
Who will bring me to Edom?[ae]
11 Have you not rejected us, O God?
O God, you do not go into battle with our armies.
12 Give us help against the enemy,
for any help men might offer is futile.[af]
13 By God’s power we will conquer;[ag]
he will trample down[ah] our enemies.
Psalm 33[a]
33 You godly ones, shout for joy because of the Lord!
It is appropriate for the morally upright to offer him praise.
2 Give thanks to the Lord with the harp.
Sing to him to the accompaniment of a ten-stringed instrument.
3 Sing to him a new song.[b]
Play skillfully as you shout out your praises to him.[c]
4 For the Lord’s decrees[d] are just,[e]
and everything he does is fair.[f]
5 He promotes[g] equity and justice;
the Lord’s faithfulness extends throughout the earth.[h]
6 By the Lord’s decree[i] the heavens were made,
and by the breath[j] of his mouth all the starry hosts.
7 He piles up the water of the sea;[k]
he puts the oceans[l] in storehouses.
8 Let the whole earth fear[m] the Lord.
Let all who live in the world stand in awe of him.
9 For he spoke, and it[n] came into existence.
He issued the decree,[o] and it stood firm.
10 The Lord frustrates[p] the decisions of the nations;
he nullifies the plans[q] of the peoples.
11 The Lord’s decisions stand forever;
his plans abide throughout the ages.[r]
12 How blessed[s] is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people whom he has chosen to be his special possession.[t]
13 The Lord watches[u] from heaven;
he sees all people.[v]
14 From the place where he lives he looks carefully
at all the earth’s inhabitants.
15 He is the one who forms every human heart,[w]
and takes note of all their actions.
16 No king is delivered by his vast army;
a warrior is not saved by his great might.
17 A horse disappoints those who trust in it for victory;[x]
despite its great strength, it cannot deliver.
18 Look, the Lord takes notice of his loyal followers,[y]
those who wait for him to demonstrate his faithfulness[z]
19 by saving their lives from death[aa]
and sustaining them during times of famine.[ab]
20 We[ac] wait for the Lord;
he is our deliverer[ad] and shield.[ae]
21 For our hearts rejoice in him,
for we trust in his holy name.
22 May we experience your faithfulness, O Lord,[af]
for[ag] we wait for you.
Oracles Against the False Prophets[a]
9 Here is what the Lord says concerning the false prophets:[b]
My heart and my mind are deeply disturbed.
I tremble all over.[c]
I am like a drunk person,
like a person who has had too much wine,[d]
because of the way the Lord
and his holy word are being mistreated.[e]
10 For the land is full of people unfaithful to him.[f]
They live wicked lives and they misuse their power.[g]
So the land is dried up[h] because it is under his curse.[i]
The pastures in the wilderness are withered.
11 Moreover,[j] the Lord says,[k]
“Both the prophets and priests are godless.
I have even found them doing evil in my temple.
12 So the paths they follow will be dark and slippery.
They will stumble and fall headlong.
For I will bring disaster on them.
A day of reckoning is coming for them.”[l]
The Lord affirms it![m]
13 The Lord says,[n] “I saw the prophets of Samaria
doing something that was disgusting.[o]
They prophesied in the name of the god Baal
and led my people Israel astray.[p]
14 But I see the prophets of Jerusalem
doing something just as shocking.
They are unfaithful to me
and continually prophesy lies.[q]
So they give encouragement to people who are doing evil,
with the result that they do not stop their evildoing.[r]
I consider all of them as bad as the people of Sodom,
and the citizens of Jerusalem as bad as the people of Gomorrah.[s]
15 So then I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,[t]
have something to say concerning the prophets of Jerusalem:[u]
‘I will make these prophets eat the bitter food of suffering
and drink the poison water of judgment.[v]
For the prophets of Jerusalem are the reason[w]
that ungodliness[x] has spread throughout the land.’”
Israel’s Rejection Considered
9 [a] I am telling the truth in Christ (I am not lying!), for my conscience assures me[b] in the Holy Spirit— 2 I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.[c] 3 For I could wish[d] that I myself were accursed—cut off from Christ—for the sake of my people,[e] my fellow countrymen,[f] 4 who are Israelites. To them belong[g] the adoption as sons,[h] the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the temple worship,[i] and the promises. 5 To them belong the patriarchs,[j] and from them,[k] by human descent,[l] came the Christ,[m] who is God over all, blessed forever![n] Amen.
6 It is not as though the word of God had failed. For not all those who are descended from Israel are truly Israel,[o] 7 nor are all the children Abraham’s true descendants; rather “through Isaac will your descendants be counted.”[p] 8 This means[q] it is not the children of the flesh[r] who are the children of God; rather, the children of promise are counted as descendants. 9 For this is what the promise declared:[s] “About a year from now[t] I will return and Sarah will have a son.”[u] 10 Not only that, but when Rebekah had conceived children by one man,[v] our ancestor Isaac— 11 even before they were born or had done anything good or bad (so that God’s purpose in election[w] would stand, not by works but by[x] his calling)[y]— 12 [z] it was said to her, “The older will serve the younger,”[aa] 13 just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”[ab]
14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice with God? Absolutely not! 15 For he says to Moses: “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”[ac] 16 So then,[ad] it does not depend on human desire or exertion,[ae] but on God who shows mercy. 17 For the scripture says to Pharaoh:[af] “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may demonstrate my power in you, and that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.”[ag] 18 So then,[ah] God[ai] has mercy on whom he chooses to have mercy, and he hardens whom he chooses to harden.[aj]
60 Then many of his disciples, when they heard these things,[a] said, “This is a difficult[b] saying![c] Who can understand it?”[d] 61 When Jesus was aware[e] that his disciples were complaining[f] about this, he said to them, “Does this cause you to be offended?[g] 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascending where he was before?[h] 63 The Spirit is the one who gives life; human nature is of no help![i] The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.[j] 64 But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus had already known from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.)[k] 65 So Jesus added,[l] “Because of this I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has allowed him to come.”[m]
Peter’s Confession
66 After this many of his disciples quit following him[n] and did not accompany him[o] any longer. 67 So Jesus said to the twelve, “You don’t want to go away too, do you?”[p] 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We[q] have come to believe and to know[r] that you are the Holy One of God!”[s] 70 Jesus replied,[t] “Didn’t I choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is the devil?”[u] 71 (Now he said this about Judas son of Simon Iscariot,[v] for Judas,[w] one of the twelve, was going to betray him.)[x]
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