Book of Common Prayer
God’s Guidance of His People in Spite of Their Unfaithfulness.
A skillful song, or a didactic or reflective poem, of Asaph.
78 Listen, O my people, to my teaching;
Incline your ears to the words of my mouth [and be willing to learn].
2
I will open my mouth in a parable [to instruct using examples];
I will utter dark and puzzling sayings of old [that contain important truth]—(A)
3
Which we have heard and known,
And our fathers have told us.
4
We will not hide them from their children,
But [we will] tell to the generation to come the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord,
And [tell of] His great might and power and the wonderful works that He has done.
5
For He established a testimony (a specific precept) in Jacob
And appointed a law in Israel,
Which He commanded our fathers
That they should teach to their children [the great facts of God’s transactions with Israel],
6
That the generation to come might know them, that the children still to be born
May arise and recount them to their children,
7
That they should place their confidence in God
And not forget the works of God,
But keep His commandments,
8
And not be like their fathers—
A stubborn and rebellious generation,
A generation that did not prepare its heart to know and follow God,
And whose spirit was not faithful to God.
9
The sons of Ephraim were armed as archers and carrying bows,
Yet they turned back in the day of battle.
10
They did not keep the covenant of God
And refused to walk according to His law;
11
And they forgot His [incredible] works
And His miraculous wonders that He had shown them.
12
He did marvelous things in the sight of their fathers
In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan [where Pharaoh resided].
13
He divided the [Red] Sea and allowed them to pass through it,
And He made the waters stand up like [water behind] a dam.(B)
14
In the daytime He led them with a cloud
And all the night with a light of fire.(C)
15
He split rocks in the wilderness
And gave them abundant [water to] drink like the ocean depths.
16
He brought streams also from the rock [at Rephidim and Kadesh]
And caused waters to run down like rivers.(D)
17
Yet they still continued to sin against Him
By rebelling against the Most High in the desert.
18
And in their hearts they put God to the test
By asking for food according to their [selfish] appetite.
19
Then they spoke against God;
They said, “Can God prepare [food for] a table in the wilderness?
20
“Behold, He struck the rock so that waters gushed out
And the streams overflowed;
Can He give bread also?
Or will He provide meat for His people?”
21
Therefore, when the Lord heard, He was full of wrath;
A fire was kindled against Jacob,
And His anger mounted up against Israel,
22
Because they did not believe in God [they did not rely on Him, they did not adhere to Him],
And they did not trust in His salvation (His power to save).
23
Yet He commanded the clouds from above
And opened the doors of heaven;
24
And He rained down manna upon them to eat
And gave them the grain of heaven.(E)
25
Man ate the bread of angels;
God sent them provision in abundance.
26
He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens
And by His [unlimited] power He guided the south wind.
27
He rained meat upon them like the dust,
And winged birds (quail) like the sand of the seas.(F)
28
And He let them fall in the midst of their camp,
Around their tents.
29
So they ate and were well filled,
He gave them what they craved.
30
Before they had satisfied their desire,
And while their food was in their mouths,(G)
31
The wrath of God rose against them
And killed some of the strongest of them,
And subdued the choice young men of Israel.
32
In spite of all this they still sinned,
For they did not believe in His wonderful and extraordinary works.
33
Therefore He consumed their days like a breath [in emptiness and futility]
And their years in sudden terror.
34
When He killed [some of] them, then those remaining sought Him,
And they returned [to Him] and searched diligently for God [for a time].
35
And they remembered that God was their rock,
And the Most High God their Redeemer.
36
Nevertheless they flattered Him with their mouths
And lied to Him with their tongues.
37
For their heart was not steadfast toward Him,
Nor were they faithful to His covenant.(H)
38
[a]But He, the source of compassion and lovingkindness, forgave their wickedness and did not destroy them;
Many times He restrained His anger
And did not stir up all His wrath.
39
For He [graciously] remembered that they were mere [human] flesh,
A wind that goes and does not return.
40
How often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness
And grieved Him in the desert!
41
Again and again they tempted God,
And distressed the Holy One of Israel.
42
They did not remember [the miracles worked by] His [powerful] hand,
Nor the day when He redeemed them from the enemy,
43
How He worked His miracles in Egypt
And His wonders in the field of Zoan [where Pharaoh resided],
44
And turned their rivers into blood,
And their streams, so that they could not drink.
45
He sent among them swarms of flies which devoured them,
And frogs which destroyed them.
46
He also gave their crops to the grasshopper,
And the fruit of their labor to the locust.
47
He destroyed their vines with [great] hailstones
And their sycamore trees with frost.
48
He gave over their cattle also to the hailstones,
And their flocks and herds to thunderbolts.(I)
49
He sent upon them His burning anger,(J)
His fury and indignation and distress,
A band of angels of destruction [among them].
50
He leveled a path for His anger [to give it free run];
He did not spare their souls from death,
But turned over their lives to the plague.
51
He killed all the firstborn in Egypt,
The first and best of their strength in the tents [of the land of the sons] of Ham.
52
But God led His own people forward like sheep
And guided them in the wilderness like [a good shepherd with] a flock.
53
He led them safely, so that they did not fear;
But the sea engulfed their enemies.(K)
54
So He brought them to His holy land,
To this mountain [Zion] which His right hand had acquired.
55
He also drove out the nations before the sons of Israel
And allotted their land as an inheritance, measured out and partitioned;
And He had the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents [the tents of those who had been dispossessed].
56
Yet they tempted and rebelled against the Most High God
And did not keep His testimonies (laws).
57
They turned back and acted unfaithfully like their fathers;
They were twisted like a warped bow [that will not respond to the archer’s aim].
58
For they provoked Him to [righteous] anger with their high places [devoted to idol worship]
And moved Him to jealousy with their carved images [by denying Him the love, worship, and obedience that is rightfully and uniquely His].
59
When God heard this, He was filled with [righteous] wrath;
And utterly rejected Israel, [greatly hating her ways],
60
So that He abandoned the tabernacle at Shiloh,
The tent in which He had dwelled among men,
61
And gave up His strength and power (the ark of the covenant) into captivity,
And His glory into the hand of the enemy (the Philistines).(L)
62
He also handed His people over to the sword,
And was infuriated with His inheritance (Israel).(M)
63
The fire [of war] devoured His young men,
And His [bereaved] virgins had no wedding songs.
64
His priests [Hophni and Phinehas] fell by the sword,
And His widows could not weep.(N)
65
Then the Lord awakened as from sleep,
Like a [mighty] warrior who awakens from the sleep of wine [fully conscious of his power].
66
He drove His enemies backward;
He subjected them to lasting shame and dishonor.
67
Moreover, He rejected the tent of Joseph,
And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim [in which the tabernacle stood].
68
But He chose the tribe of Judah [as Israel’s leader],
Mount Zion, which He loved [to replace Shiloh as His capital].
69
And He built His sanctuary [exalted] like the heights [of the heavens],
Like the earth which He has established forever.
70
He also chose David His servant
And took him from the sheepfolds;(O)
71
[b]From [c]tending the ewes with nursing young He brought him
To shepherd Jacob His people,
And Israel His inheritance.(P)
72
So David shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart;
And guided them with his skillful hands.
Esther Plans a Banquet
5 On the third day [of the fast] Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace opposite his [throne] room. The king was sitting on his royal throne, facing the [main] entrance of the palace. 2 When the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, she found favor in his sight; and the king extended to her the golden scepter which was in his hand. So Esther approached and touched the top of the scepter. 3 Then the king said to her, “What is troubling you, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given to you, [a]up to half of the kingdom.” 4 Esther said, “If it pleases the king, may the king and Haman come this day to the banquet that I have prepared for him.”
5 Then the king said, “Bring Haman quickly so that we may do as Esther says.” So the king and Haman came to the banquet which Esther had prepared. 6 As they drank their wine at the banquet, the king said to Esther, “What is your [b]petition? It shall be granted to you. And what is your request? Even to half of the kingdom it shall be done.” 7 Then Esther replied, “My petition and my request is this: 8 if I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my petition and to do as I request, may the king and Haman come to the banquet that I will prepare for them; and tomorrow I will do as the king says [and express my request].”
Haman’s Pride
9 Haman went away that day joyful and in good spirits. But when he saw Mordecai at the king’s gate refusing to stand up or show fear before him, he was filled with rage toward Mordecai. 10 Nevertheless, Haman controlled himself and went home. There he sent for his friends and his wife Zeresh. 11 Then Haman recounted to them the glory of his riches, the large number of his sons, and every instance in which the king had magnified him and how he had promoted him over the officials and servants of the king. 12 Haman also said, “Even Queen Esther let no one but me come with the king to the banquet she had prepared; and tomorrow also I am invited by her [together] with the king. 13 Yet all of this does not satisfy me as long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.” 14 Then his wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Have a gallows [c]fifty cubits high made, and in the morning ask the king to have Mordecai hanged on it; then go joyfully to the banquet with the king.” And the advice pleased Haman, so he had the gallows made.
12 But when [a]Gallio was proconsul of Achaia (southern Greece), the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him before [b]the judgment seat, 13 declaring, “This man is persuading people to worship God in violation of the law [of Moses].” 14 But when Paul was about to reply, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of some misdemeanor or serious crime, O Jews, I would have reason to put up with you; 15 but since it is merely a question [of doctrine within your religion] about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves; I am [c]unwilling to judge these matters.” 16 And he drove them away from the judgment seat. 17 Then the Greeks all seized [d]Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and began beating him right in front of the judgment seat; but Gallio paid no attention to any of this.(A)
18 Paul stayed for a while longer, and then told the [e]brothers and sisters goodbye and sailed for Syria; and he was accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchrea [the southeastern port of Corinth] he had his hair cut, because he was keeping a [Nazirite] vow [of abstention]. 19 Then they arrived in Ephesus, and he left the others there; but he entered the synagogue and reasoned and debated with the Jews. 20 When they asked him to stay for a longer time, he refused; 21 but after telling them goodbye and saying, “I will return again if God is willing,” he set sail from Ephesus.
22 When he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and [f]greeted the church [at Jerusalem], and then went down to Antioch.
Paul’s Third Missionary Journey
23 After spending some time there, he left and traveled through the territory of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening and encouraging all the disciples.
24 Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent and cultured man, and well versed in the [Hebrew] Scriptures. 25 This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and being spiritually impassioned, he was speaking and teaching accurately the things about Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John; 26 and he began to speak boldly and fearlessly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained more accurately to him the way of God [and the full story of the life of Christ]. 27 And when Apollos wanted to go across to Achaia (southern Greece), the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples, [urging them] to welcome him gladly. When he arrived, he was a great help to those who, through grace, had believed and had followed Jesus as Lord and Savior, 28 for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public discussions, proving by the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed).
15 Now the people were in a state of expectation, and all were wondering in their hearts about John, as to whether he was the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed). 16 John answered them all by saying, “As for me, I baptize you [only] [a]with water; but One who is mightier [more powerful, more noble] than I is coming, and I am not fit to untie the strap of His sandals [even as His slave]. He will baptize you [who truly repent] with the Holy Spirit and [you who remain unrepentant] with [b]fire.(A) 17 His [c]winnowing fork is in His hand to thoroughly clear His threshing floor, and to gather the wheat (believers) into His barn (kingdom); but He will burn up the chaff (the unrepentant) with unquenchable fire.”
18 So with many other appeals and various admonitions John preached the good news (gospel) to the people. 19 But when Herod [Antipas] the tetrarch was repeatedly reprimanded [and convicted by John’s disapproval] for having [d]Herodias, his brother’s wife [as his own], and for all the wicked things that Herod had done,(B) 20 he also added this to them all: he locked up John in prison.
Jesus’ Baptism
21 Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized, and while He was praying, the [visible] heaven was opened,(C) 22 and the [e]Holy Spirit descended on Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came from heaven, “You are My Son, My Beloved, in You I am well-pleased and delighted!”(D)
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