Book of Common Prayer

⁵ God gave his Law
to Jacob's descendants,
    the people of Israel.
And he told our ancestors
    to teach their children,
⁶ so that each new generation
would know his Law
    and tell it to the next.
⁷ Then they would trust God
    and obey his teachings,
without forgetting anything
    God had done.
⁸ They would be different
    from their ancestors,
who were stubborn, rebellious,
    and unfaithful to God.

⁹ The warriors from Ephraim
    were armed with arrows,
but they ran away
    when the battle began.
¹⁰ They broke their agreement
    with God,
and they turned their backs
    on his teaching.
¹¹ They forgot all he had done,
    even the mighty miracles
^12 (B)(C) he did for their ancestors
    near Zoan^[a] in Egypt.

^13 (D) God made a path in the sea
and piled up the water
    as he led them across.
^14 (E) He guided them during the day
    with a cloud,
and each night he led them
    with a flaming fire.
^15 (F) God made water flow
from rocks he split open
    in the desert,
and his people drank freely,
    as though from a lake.
¹⁶ He made streams gush out
    like rivers from rocks.

¹⁷ But in the desert,
the people of God Most High
    kept sinning and rebelling.
^18 (G) They stubbornly tested God
and demanded from him
    what they wanted to eat.
¹⁹ They challenged God by saying,
“Can God provide food
    out here in the desert?
²⁰ It's true God struck the rock
and water gushed out
    like a river,
but can he give his people
    bread and meat?”

²¹ When the Lord heard this,
    he was angry and furious
with Jacob's descendants,
    the people of Israel.
²² They had refused to trust him,
and they had doubted
    his saving power.

²³ But God gave a command
    to the clouds,
and he opened the doors
    in the skies.
^24 (H) From heaven he sent grain
    that they called manna.^[b]
25 He gave them more than enough,
and each one of them ate
    this special food.

²⁶ God's mighty power
sent a strong wind
    from the southeast,
²⁷ and it brought birds
that covered the ground,
    like sand on the beach.
²⁸ Then God made the birds fall
in the camp of his people
    near their tents.

²⁹ God gave his people
    all they wanted,
and each of them ate
    until they were full.
³⁰ But before they had swallowed
    the last bite,
³¹ God became angry and killed
the strongest and best
    from the families of Israel.

³² But the rest kept on sinning
and would not trust
    God's miracles.
³³ So he cut their lives short
    and made them terrified.
³⁴ After he killed some of them,
the others turned to him
    with all their hearts.
³⁵ They remembered God Most High,
the mighty rock^[c]
    that kept them safe.
³⁶ But they tried to flatter God,
    and they told him lies;
^37 (I) they were unfaithful
    and broke their promises.

³⁸ Yet God was kind.
He kept forgiving their sins
    and didn't destroy them.
He often became angry,
    but never lost his temper.
³⁹ God remembered that they
    were made of flesh
and were like a wind
that blows once
    and then dies down.

⁴⁰ While they were in the desert,
they often rebelled
    and made God sad.
⁴¹ They kept testing him
and caused terrible pain
    for the Holy One of Israel.
⁴² They forgot about his power
and how he had rescued them
    from their enemies.

⁴³ God showed them all kinds
of wonderful miracles
    near Zoan^[d] in Egypt.
^44 (J) He turned the rivers of Egypt
    into blood,
and no one could drink
    from the streams.
^45 (K) He sent swarms of flies
    to pester the Egyptians,
and he sent frogs
    to cause them trouble.

^46 (L) God let worms and grasshoppers
    eat their crops.
^47 (M) He destroyed their grapevines
and their fig trees
    with hail and floods.^[e]
48 Then he killed their cattle
    with hail
and their other animals
    with lightning.

⁴⁹ God was so angry and furious
    that he went into a rage
and caused them great trouble
by sending swarms
    of destroying angels.
⁵⁰ God released his anger
and slaughtered them
    in a terrible way.
^51 (N) He killed the first-born son
    of each Egyptian family.

^52 (O) Then God led his people
    out of Egypt
and guided them in the desert
    like a flock of sheep.
^53 (P) He led them safely along,
    and they were not afraid,
but their enemies drowned
    in the sea.

^54 (Q) God brought his people
    to the sacred mountain
that he had taken
    by his own power.
^55 (R) He made nations run
    from the tribes of Israel,
and he let the tribes
    take over their land.

^56 (S) But the people tested
    God Most High,
and they refused
    to obey his laws.
⁵⁷ They were as unfaithful
    as their ancestors,
and they were as crooked
    as a twisted arrow.
⁵⁸ God demanded all their love,
but they made him angry
    by worshiping idols.

⁵⁹ So God became furious
and completely rejected
    the people of Israel.
^60 (T) Then he deserted his home
at Shiloh, where he lived
    here on earth.
^61 (U) He let enemies capture
the sacred chest^[f]
    and let them dishonor him.

⁶² God took out his anger
    on his chosen ones
and let them be killed
    by enemy swords.
⁶³ Fire destroyed the young men,
and the young women were left
    with no one to marry.
⁶⁴ Priests died violent deaths,
but their widows
    were not allowed to mourn.

⁶⁵ Finally the Lord woke up,
like a soldier
    startled from a drunken sleep.
⁶⁶ God scattered his enemies
and made them ashamed
    forever.

⁶⁷ Then the Lord decided
    not to make his home
with Joseph's descendants
    in Ephraim.^[g]
68 Instead he chose the tribe
    of Judah,
and he chose Mount Zion,
    the place he loves.
⁶⁹ There he built his temple
as lofty as the mountains
and as solid as the earth
he made to last forever.

^70 (V) The Lord God chose David
to be his servant and took him
    from tending sheep
⁷¹     and from caring for lambs.
Then God made him the leader
    of Israel, his own nation.
⁷² David treated the people fairly
    and guided them with wisdom.

² No other god^[e] is like you.
And with you we are safer
    than on a high mountain.^[f]
3 I can tell those proud people,
    “Stop your boasting!
Nothing is hidden from the Lord,
    and he judges what we do.”

⁴ Our Lord, you break
    the bows of warriors,
but you give strength
    to everyone who stumbles.
⁵ People who once
    had plenty to eat
must now hire themselves out
    for only a piece of bread.
But you give the hungry more
    than enough to eat.
A woman did not have a child,
    and you gave her seven,
but a woman who had many
    was left with none.
^6 (B) You take away life,
    and you give life.
You send people down
to the world of the dead
    and bring them back again.

⁷ Our Lord, you are the one
    who makes us rich or poor.
You put some in high positions
    and bring disgrace on others.
⁸ You lift the poor and homeless
    out of the garbage dump
and give them places of honor
    in royal palaces.

You set the world on foundations,
    and they belong to you.
⁹ You protect your loyal people,
but everyone who is evil
    will die in darkness.

We cannot win a victory
    by our own strength.
¹⁰ Our Lord, those who attack you
    will be broken in pieces
when you fight back
    with thunder from heaven.
You will judge the whole earth
and give power and strength
    to your chosen king.