Book of Common Prayer
A maskil of Asaph.
78 My people, listen to my teaching.
Pay attention to what I say.
2 I will open my mouth and tell a story.
I will speak about things that were hidden.
They happened a long time ago.
3 We have heard about them and we know them.
Our people who lived before us have told us about them.
4 We won’t hide them from our children.
We will tell them to those who live after us.
We will tell them what the Lord has done that is worthy of praise.
We will talk about his power and the wonderful things he has done.
5 He gave laws to the people of Jacob.
He gave Israel their law.
He commanded our people who lived before us
to teach his laws to their children.
6 Then those born later would know his laws.
Even their children yet to come would know them.
And they in turn would tell their children.
7 Then they would put their trust in God.
They would not forget what he had done.
They would obey his commands.
8 They would not be like their people who lived long ago.
Those people were stubborn. They refused to obey God.
They turned away from him.
Their spirits were not faithful to him.
9 The soldiers of Ephraim were armed with bows.
But they ran away on the day of battle.
10 They didn’t keep the covenant God had made with them.
They refused to live by his law.
11 They forgot what he had done.
They didn’t remember the wonders he had shown them.
12 He did miracles right in front of their people who lived long ago.
At that time they were living in Egypt, in the area of Zoan.
13 God parted the Red Sea and led them through it.
He made the water stand up like a wall.
14 He guided them with the cloud during the day.
He led them with the light of a fire all night long.
15 He broke the rocks open in the desert.
He gave them as much water as there is in the oceans.
16 He brought streams out of a rocky cliff.
He made water flow down like rivers.
17 But they continued to sin against him.
In the desert they refused to obey the Most High God.
18 They were stubborn and tested God.
They ordered him to give them the food they wanted.
19 They spoke against God. They said,
“Can God really put food on a table in the desert?
20 It is true that he struck the rock, and streams of water poured out.
Huge amounts of water flowed down.
But can he also give us bread?
Can he supply meat for his people?”
21 When the Lord heard what they said, he was very angry.
His anger broke out like fire against the people of Jacob.
He became very angry with Israel.
22 That was because they didn’t believe in God.
They didn’t trust in his power to save them.
23 But he gave a command to the skies above.
He opened the doors of the heavens.
24 He rained down manna for the people to eat.
He gave them the grain of heaven.
25 Mere human beings ate the bread of angels.
He sent them all the food they could eat.
26 He made the east wind blow from the heavens.
By his power he caused the south wind to blow.
27 He rained down meat on them like dust.
He sent them birds like sand on the seashore.
28 He made the birds come down inside their camp.
The birds fell all around their tents.
29 People ate until they couldn’t eat any more.
He gave them what they had wanted.
30 But even before they had finished eating, God acted.
He did it while the food was still in their mouths.
31 His anger rose up against them.
He put to death the strongest among them.
He struck down Israel’s young men.
32 But even after all that, they kept on sinning.
Even after the wonderful things he had done, they still didn’t believe.
33 So he brought their days to an end like a puff of smoke.
He ended their years with terror.
34 Every time God killed some of them, the others would seek him.
They gladly turned back to him again.
35 They remembered that God was their Rock.
They remembered that God Most High had set them free.
36 But they didn’t mean it when they praised him.
They lied to him when they spoke.
37 They turned away from him.
They weren’t faithful to the covenant he had made with them.
38 But he was full of tender love.
He forgave their sins
and didn’t destroy his people.
Time after time he held back his anger.
He didn’t let all his burning anger blaze out.
39 He remembered that they were only human.
He remembered they were only a breath of air
that drifts by and doesn’t return.
40 How often they refused to obey him in the desert!
How often they caused him sorrow in that dry and empty land!
41 Again and again they tested God.
They made the Holy One of Israel sad and angry.
42 They didn’t remember his power.
They forgot the day he set them free
from those who had treated them so badly.
43 They forgot how he had shown them his signs in Egypt.
They forgot his miracles in the area of Zoan.
44 He turned the river of Egypt into blood.
The people of Egypt couldn’t drink water from their streams.
45 He sent large numbers of flies that bit them.
He sent frogs that destroyed their land.
46 He gave their crops to the grasshoppers.
He gave their food to the locusts.
47 He destroyed their vines with hail.
He destroyed their fig trees with sleet.
48 He killed their cattle with hail.
Their livestock were struck by lightning.
49 Because he was so angry with Egypt, he caused them to have great trouble.
In his great anger he sent destroying angels against them.
50 God prepared a path for his anger.
He didn’t spare their lives.
He gave them over to the plague.
51 He killed the oldest son of each family in Egypt.
He struck down the oldest son in every house in the land of Ham.
52 But he brought his people out like a flock.
He led them like sheep through the desert.
53 He guided them safely, and they weren’t afraid.
But the Red Sea swallowed up their enemies.
54 And so he brought his people to the border of his holy land.
He led them to the central hill country he had taken by his power.
55 He drove out the nations to make room for his people.
He gave to each family a piece of land to pass on to their children.
He gave the tribes of Israel a place to make their homes.
56 But they tested God.
They refused to obey the Most High God.
They didn’t keep his laws.
57 They were like their people who lived long ago.
They turned away from him and were not faithful.
They were like a bow that doesn’t shoot straight.
They couldn’t be trusted.
58 They made God angry by going to their high places.
They made him jealous by worshiping the statues of their gods.
59 When God saw what the people were doing, he was very angry.
He turned away from them completely.
60 He deserted the holy tent at Shiloh.
He left the tent he had set up among his people.
61 He allowed the ark to be captured.
Into the hands of his enemies he sent the ark where his glory rested.
62 He let his people be killed by swords.
He was very angry with them.
63 Fire destroyed their young men.
Their young women had no one to marry.
64 Their priests were killed by swords.
Their widows weren’t able to weep.
65 Then the Lord woke up as if he had been sleeping.
He was like a warrior waking up from the deep sleep caused by wine.
66 He drove back his enemies.
He put them to shame that will last forever.
67 He turned his back on the tents of the people of Joseph.
He didn’t choose to live in the tribe of Ephraim.
68 Instead, he chose to live in the tribe of Judah.
He chose Mount Zion, which he loved.
69 There he built his holy place as secure as the heavens.
He built it to last forever, like the earth.
70 He chose his servant David.
He took him from the sheep pens.
71 He brought him from tending sheep
to be the shepherd of his people Jacob.
He made him the shepherd of Israel, his special people.
72 David cared for them with a faithful and honest heart.
With skilled hands he led them.
21 The Lord who rules over all is the God of Israel. He says, “Go ahead! Add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices. Eat the meat yourselves! 22 When I brought your people out of Egypt, I spoke to them. But I did not just give them commands about burnt offerings and sacrifices. 23 I also gave them another command. I said, ‘Obey me. Then I will be your God. And you will be my people. Live the way I command you to live. Then things will go well with you.’ 24 But they did not listen. They refused to pay any attention to me. Instead, they did what their stubborn and evil hearts wanted them to do. They went backward and not forward. 25 Again and again I sent my servants the prophets to you. They came to you day after day. They prophesied from the time your people left Egypt until now. 26 But your people of long ago did not listen. They refused to pay any attention to me. They were stubborn. They did more evil things than their people who lived before them.
27 “Jeremiah, when you tell them all this, they will not listen to you. When you call out to them, they will not answer. 28 So say to them, ‘You are a nation that has not obeyed the Lord your God. You did not pay attention when you were corrected. Truth has died out. You do not tell the truth anymore.’ ”
29 The Lord says to the people of Jerusalem, “Cut off your hair. Throw it away. Sing a song of sadness on the bare hilltops. I am very angry with you. I have turned my back on you. I have deserted you.
The Valley of Death
30 “The people of Judah have done what is evil in my eyes,” announces the Lord. “They have set up statues of their gods. They have worshiped them in the house where my Name is. They have made my house ‘unclean.’ I hate those statues. 31 The people have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom. There they worship other gods. And there they sacrifice their children in the fire. That is something I did not command. It did not even enter my mind. 32 So watch out!” announces the Lord. “The days are coming when people will not call it Topheth anymore. And they will not call it the Valley of Ben Hinnom either. Instead, they will call it the Valley of Death. They will bury the dead bodies of some people in Topheth. But they will run out of room. 33 Then they will not be able to bury the bodies of other people there. So the bodies will become food for birds and wild animals. And no one will scare them away. 34 I will put an end to the sounds of joy and gladness. The voices of brides and grooms will not be heard anymore. There will be no sounds of joy in the towns of Judah. And there will be no joy in the streets of Jerusalem. The land will become a desert.
13 Abraham and his family received a promise. God promised that Abraham would receive the world. It would not come to him because he obeyed the law. It would come because of his faith, which made him right with God. 14 Do those who depend on the law receive the promise? If they do, faith would mean nothing. God’s promise would be worthless. 15 The law brings God’s anger. Where there is no law, the law can’t be broken.
16 The promise is based on God’s grace. The promise comes by faith. All of Abraham’s children will certainly receive the promise. And it is not only for those who are ruled by the law. Those who have the same faith that Abraham had are also included. He is the father of us all. 17 It is written, “I have made you a father of many nations.” (Genesis 17:5) God considers Abraham to be our father. The God that Abraham believed in gives life to the dead. Abraham’s God also creates things that did not exist before.
18 When there was no reason for hope, Abraham believed because he had hope. He became the father of many nations, exactly as God had promised. God said, “That is how many children you will have.” (Genesis 15:5) 19 Abraham did not become weak in his faith. He accepted the fact that he was past the time when he could have children. At that time Abraham was about 100 years old. He also realized that Sarah was too old to have children. 20 But Abraham kept believing in God’s promise. He became strong in his faith. He gave glory to God. 21 He was absolutely sure that God had the power to do what he had promised. 22 That’s why “God accepted Abraham because he believed. So his faith made him right with God.” (Genesis 15:6) 23 The words “God accepted Abraham’s faith” were written not only for Abraham. 24 They were written also for us. We believe in the God who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. So God will accept our faith and make us right with himself. 25 Jesus was handed over to die for our sins. He was raised to life in order to make us right with God.
37 It was the last and most important day of the feast. Jesus stood up and spoke in a loud voice. He said, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Does anyone believe in me? Then, just as Scripture says, rivers of living water will flow from inside them.” 39 When he said this, he meant the Holy Spirit. Those who believed in Jesus would receive the Spirit later. Up to that time, the Spirit had not been given. This was because Jesus had not yet received glory.
40 The people heard his words. Some of them said, “This man must be the Prophet we’ve been expecting.”
41 Others said, “He is the Messiah.”
Still others asked, “How can the Messiah come from Galilee? 42 Doesn’t Scripture say that the Messiah will come from the family line of David? Doesn’t it say that he will come from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?” 43 So the people did not agree about who Jesus was. 44 Some wanted to arrest him. But no one laid a hand on him.
The Jewish Leaders Do Not Believe
45 Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and the Pharisees. They asked the guards, “Why didn’t you bring him in?”
46 “No one ever spoke the way this man does,” the guards replied.
47 “You mean he has fooled you also?” the Pharisees asked. 48 “Have any of the rulers or Pharisees believed in him? 49 No! But this mob knows nothing about the law. There is a curse on them.”
50 Then Nicodemus, a Pharisee, spoke. He was the one who had gone to Jesus earlier. He asked, 51 “Does our law find a man guilty without hearing him first? Doesn’t it want to find out what he is doing?”
52 They replied, “Are you from Galilee too? Look into it. You will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.”
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