Book of Common Prayer
For the director of music. A psalm of Asaph to the tune of “The Lilies of the Covenant.”
80 Shepherd of Israel, hear us.
You lead the people of Joseph like a flock.
You sit on your throne between the cherubim.
Show your glory
2 to the people of Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.
Call your strength into action.
Come and save us.
3 God, make us new again.
May you be pleased with us.
Then we will be saved.
4 Lord God, you rule over all.
How long will you be angry?
Will you be angry with your people even when they pray to you?
5 You have given us tears as our food.
You have made us drink tears by the bowlful.
6 You have let our neighbors mock us.
Our enemies laugh at us.
7 God who rules over all, make us new again.
May you be pleased with us.
Then we will be saved.
8 You brought Israel out of Egypt.
Israel was like a vine.
After you drove the nations out of Canaan,
you planted the vine in their land.
9 You prepared the ground for it.
It took root and spread out over the whole land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shade.
The shade of its branches covered the mighty cedar trees.
11 Your vine sent its branches out all the way to the Mediterranean Sea.
They reached as far as the Euphrates River.
12 Why have you broken down the walls around your vine?
Now all who pass by it can pick its grapes.
13 Wild pigs from the forest destroy it.
Insects from the fields feed on it.
14 God who rules over all, return to us!
Look down from heaven and see us!
Watch over your vine.
15 Guard the root you have planted with your powerful right hand.
Take care of the branch you have raised up for yourself.
16 Your vine has been cut down and burned in the fire.
You have been angry with us, and we are dying.
17 May you honor the people at your right hand.
May you honor the nation you have raised up for yourself.
18 Then we won’t turn away from you.
Give us new life. We will worship you.
19 Lord God who rules over all, make us new again.
May you be pleased with us.
Then we will be saved.
For the director of music. For Jeduthun. A psalm of Asaph.
77 I cried out to God for help.
I cried out to God to hear me.
2 When I was in trouble, I looked to the Lord for help.
During the night I lifted up my hands in prayer.
But I refused to be comforted.
3 God, I remembered you, and I groaned.
I thought about you, and I became weak.
4 You kept me from going to sleep.
I was so troubled I couldn’t speak.
5 I thought about days gone by.
I thought about the years of long ago.
6 I remembered how I used to sing praise to you in the night.
I thought about it, and here is what I asked myself.
7 “Will the Lord turn away from us forever?
Won’t he ever show us his kindness again?
8 Has his faithful love disappeared forever?
Has his promise failed for all time?
9 Has God forgotten to help us?
Has he held back his tender love because he was angry?”
10 Then I thought, “Here is what gives me hope.
For many years the Most High God showed how powerful he is.
11 Lord, I will remember what you did.
Yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.
12 I will spend time thinking about everything you have done.
I will consider all your mighty acts.”
13 God, everything you do is holy.
What god is as great as our God?
14 You are the God who does miracles.
You show your power among the nations.
15 With your mighty arm you set your people free.
You set the children of Jacob and Joseph free.
16 God, the water of the Red Sea saw you.
It saw you and boiled up.
The deepest waters were stirred up.
17 The clouds poured down rain.
The skies rumbled with thunder.
Lightning flashed back and forth like arrows.
18 Your thunder was heard in the windstorm.
Your lightning lit up the world.
The earth trembled and shook.
19 Your path led through the Red Sea.
You walked through the mighty waters.
But your footprints were not seen.
20 You led your people like a flock.
You led them by the hands of Moses and Aaron.
A psalm of Asaph.
79 God, an army from the nations has attacked your land.
They have polluted your holy temple.
They have completely destroyed Jerusalem.
2 They have left the dead bodies of your people.
They have left them as food for the birds in the sky.
They have left the bodies of your faithful people.
They have left them for the wild animals.
3 They have poured out the blood of your people like water.
It is all around Jerusalem.
No one is left to bury the dead.
4 We are something our neighbors joke about.
The nations around us laugh at us and make fun of us.
5 Lord, how long will you be angry with us? Will it be forever?
How long will your jealousy burn like fire?
6 Bring your great anger against the nations
that don’t pay any attention to you.
Bring it against the kingdoms
that don’t worship you.
7 They have swallowed up the people of Jacob.
They have destroyed Israel’s homeland.
8 Don’t hold against us the sins of our people who lived before us.
May you be quick to show us your tender love.
We are in great need.
9 God our Savior, help us.
Then glory will come to you.
Save us and forgive our sins.
Then people will honor your name.
10 Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
Show the nations that you punish those who kill your people.
We want to see it happen.
11 Listen to the groans of the prisoners.
Use your strong arm
to save people sentenced to death.
12 Lord, our neighbors have laughed at you.
Pay them back seven times for what they have done.
13 We are your people, your very own sheep.
We will praise you forever.
For all time to come
we will keep on praising you.
Worshiping Other Gods Is Worthless
7 A message from the Lord came to Jeremiah. The Lord said, 2 “Stand at the gate of my house. Announce my message to the people there. Say,
“ ‘Listen to the Lord’s message, all you people of Judah. You always come through these gates to worship the Lord. 3 The God of Israel is speaking to you. He is the Lord who rules over all. He says, “Change the way you live and act. Then I will let you live in this place. 4 Do not trust in lies. Do not say, ‘This is the temple of the Lord! This is the temple of the Lord! This is the temple of the Lord!’ 5 You must really change the way you live and act. Treat one another fairly. 6 Do not treat outsiders or widows badly in this place. Do not take advantage of children whose fathers have died. Do not kill those who are not guilty of doing anything wrong. Do not worship other gods. That will only bring harm to you. 7 If you obey me, I will let you live in this place. It is the land I gave your people of long ago. It was promised to them for ever and ever. 8 But look! You are trusting in worthless lies.
9 “ ‘ “You continue to steal and commit murder. You commit adultery. You tell lies in court. You burn incense to Baal. You worship other gods you didn’t know before. 10 Then you come and stand in front of me. You keep coming to this house where I have put my Name. You say, ‘We are safe.’ You think you are safe when you do so many things I hate. 11 My Name is in this house. But you have made it a den for robbers! I have been watching you!” announces the Lord.
12 “ ‘ “Go now to the town of Shiloh. Go to the place where I first made a home for my Name. See what I did to it because of the evil things my people Israel were doing. 13 I spoke to you again and again,” announces the Lord. “I warned you while you were doing all these things. But you did not listen. I called out to you. But you did not answer. 14 So what I did to Shiloh I will now do to the house where my Name is. It is the temple you trust in. It is the place I gave to you and your people of long ago. 15 But I will throw you out of my land. That is exactly what I did to the people of Ephraim. And they are your relatives.” ’
Abraham’s Faith Made Him Right With God
4 What should we say about these things? What did Abraham, the father of our people, discover about being right with God? 2 Did he become right with God because of something he did? If so, he could brag about it. But he couldn’t brag to God. 3 What do we find in Scripture? It says, “Abraham believed God. God accepted Abraham’s faith, and so his faith made him right with God.” (Genesis 15:6)
4 When a person works, their pay is not considered a gift. It is owed to them. 5 But things are different with God. He makes ungodly people right with himself. If people trust in him, their faith is accepted even though they do not work. Their faith makes them right with God. 6 King David says the same thing. He tells us how blessed people are when God makes them right with himself. They are blessed because they don’t have to do anything in return. David says,
7 “Blessed are those
whose lawless acts are forgiven.
Blessed are those
whose sins are taken away.
8 Blessed is the person
whose sin the Lord never counts against them.” (Psalm 32:1,2)
9 Is that blessing only for those who are circumcised? Or is it also for those who are not circumcised? We have been saying that God accepted Abraham’s faith. So his faith made him right with God. 10 When did it happen? Was it after Abraham was circumcised, or before? It was before he was circumcised, not after! 11 He was circumcised as a sign of the covenant God had made with him. It showed that his faith had made him right with God before he was circumcised. So Abraham is the father of all believers who have not been circumcised. God accepts their faith. So their faith makes them right with him. 12 And Abraham is also the father of those who are circumcised and believe. So just being circumcised is not enough. Those who are circumcised must also follow the steps of our father Abraham. He had faith before he was circumcised.
Jesus Teaches at the Feast
14 Jesus did nothing until halfway through the feast. Then he went up to the temple courtyard and began to teach. 15 The Jews there were amazed. They asked, “How did this man learn so much without being taught?”
16 Jesus answered, “What I teach is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me. 17 Here is how someone can find out whether my teaching comes from God or from me. That person must choose to do what God wants them to do. 18 Whoever speaks on their own does it to get personal honor. But someone who works for the honor of the one who sent him is truthful. Nothing about him is false. 19 Didn’t Moses give you the law? But not one of you obeys the law. Why are you trying to kill me?”
20 “You are controlled by demons,” the crowd answered. “Who is trying to kill you?”
21 Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle, and you are all amazed. 22 Moses gave you circumcision, and so you circumcise a child on the Sabbath day. But circumcision did not really come from Moses. It came from Abraham. 23 You circumcise a boy on the Sabbath day. You think that if you do, you won’t break the law of Moses. Then why are you angry with me? I healed a man’s entire body on the Sabbath day! 24 Stop judging only by what you see. Judge in the right way.”
People Don’t Agree About Who Jesus Is
25 Then some of the people of Jerusalem began asking questions. They said, “Isn’t this the man some people are trying to kill? 26 Here he is! He is speaking openly. They aren’t saying a word to him. Have the authorities really decided that he is the Messiah? 27 But we know where this man is from. When the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from.”
28 Jesus was still teaching in the temple courtyard. He cried out, “Yes, you know me. And you know where I am from. I am not here on my own authority. The one who sent me is true. You do not know him. 29 But I know him. I am from him, and he sent me.”
30 When he said this, they tried to arrest him. But no one laid a hand on him. The time for him to show who he really was had not yet come. 31 Still, many people in the crowd believed in him. They said, “How will it be when the Messiah comes? Will he do more signs than this man?”
32 The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering things like this about him. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him.
33 Jesus said, “I am with you for only a short time. Then I will go to the one who sent me. 34 You will look for me, but you won’t find me. You can’t come where I am going.”
35 The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man plan to go? Does he think we can’t find him? Will he go where our people live scattered among the Greeks? Will he go there to teach the Greeks? 36 What did he mean when he said, ‘You will look for me, but you won’t find me’? And what did he mean when he said, ‘You can’t come where I am going’?”
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