Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 80
Hear, O Shepherd of Israel
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For the choir director. To “Lilies.”[a] A Testimony.[b] By Asaph. A psalm.
Opening Plea
1 O Shepherd of Israel, give ear,
you who lead Joseph like a flock.
You who are seated above the cherubim, shine forth.
2 Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh,
stir up your might.
Come with salvation for us.
Refrain
3 God, restore us, and make your face shine,
so we will be saved.
The Problem
4 Lord God of Armies, how long will your anger smoke
against the prayer of your people?
5 You make them eat bread with tears,
and you make them drink tears by the quart.[c]
6 You create strife between us and our neighbors,
so our enemies join together in mocking us.
Refrain
7 God of Armies, restore us, and make your face shine,
so we will be saved.
Past Blessing
8 You brought a vine out from Egypt.
You drove out the nations, and you planted it.
9 You cleared a place for it,
and it took root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered by its shade,
the cedars of God with its branches.
11 It sent out its boughs to the Sea,[d]
its shoots as far as the River.[e]
Present Judgment
12 Why have you broken down its walls
so that all who pass by pick its fruit?
13 A wild boar from the forest tears it up,
and the wild animals[f] feed on it.
Prayer for the King
14 God of Armies, return now!
Look down from heaven and see,
and take care of this vine,
15 the shoot that your right hand has planted,
the son that you made strong for yourself.
16 It is burned with fire like garbage.[g]
Because of the rebuke from your face they perish.
17 Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand,
on the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself.[h]
18 Then we will not turn away from you.
Cause us to live, and we will call on your name.
Refrain
19 Lord God of Armies, restore us, and make your face shine,
so we will be saved.
Psalm 77
Will the Lord Reject Forever?
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For the choir director. According to Jeduthun.[a] By Asaph. A psalm.
The Question
1 With my voice to God—
with my voice I cried out to God,
and he listened to me.
2 In the day when I was distressed I sought the Lord.
At night my hand was stretched out,
and it never grew tired,
but my soul refused to be comforted.
3 God, I remembered and I groaned. Interlude
I pondered, and my spirit became weak.
4 You propped my eyelids open.
I was troubled but did not speak.
5 I thought about the days of long ago, the years long past.
6 During the night I remembered my music.
With my heart I pondered, and my spirit asked,
7 “Will the Lord reject forever?
Will he never again show favor?
8 Has his mercy vanished to the end?
Has what he said failed for all generations?
9 Has God forgotten to be gracious? Interlude
Has he really shut up his compassion in anger?”
The Answer
10 Then I said, “This is what hurts me:
the change of the right hand of the Most High.”[b]
11 I will remember the deeds of the Lord.[c]
Yes, I will remember your wonderful work from long ago.
12 I will meditate on all your work,
and I will ponder all your deeds.
13 O God, your way is carried out in holiness.
What god is as great as God?
14 You are the God who performs a wonderful deed.
You made known your power among the peoples.
15 With your arm you redeemed your people,
the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. Interlude
16 The waters saw you, O God.
The waters saw you and swirled.
Even the depths were turbulent.
17 The clouds poured down water.
The skies echoed with thunder.
Indeed, your arrows shot back and forth.
18 The sound of your thunder was heard in the tornado.
Lightning lit up the world.
The earth trembled and quaked.
19 Your route led through the sea.
Your trail went through the mighty waters,
but your footprints were not detected.
20 You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
Psalm 79
They Have Reduced Jerusalem to Rubble
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A psalm by Asaph.
The Destruction and the Disgrace
1 God, the nations have invaded your possession.
They have profaned your holy temple.
They have reduced Jerusalem to a heap of ruins.
2 They have left the corpses of your servants
as food for the birds of the sky.
They have given the flesh of your favored ones to the wild animals.
3 They have poured out their blood like water all over Jerusalem,
and there is no one to bury them.
4 We are subjected to contempt by our neighbors,
to mockery and ridicule by those around us.
The Prayer for Justice
5 How long, O Lord? Will you stay angry forever?
How long will your jealous anger burn like fire?
6 Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge you,
on the kingdoms that do not call on your name,
7 because they have devoured Jacob,
and they have destroyed his pastureland.[a]
8 Do not charge the guilt of our fathers against us.
Hurry, let your compassion come to meet us,
for we are very weak.
9 God, who saves us, help us for the glory of your name.
Deliver us and make atonement for our sins for your name’s sake.
10 Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”
Before our very eyes, display to the nations
vengeance for the poured-out blood of your servants.
11 May the groaning of the prisoner come before you.
According to the great strength of your arm
preserve those doomed to death.
12 Pay back into the laps of our neighbors seven times as much scorn
as the scorn that they directed at you, Lord.
13 Then we your people, the flock of your pasture, will praise you forever.
From generation to generation we will recount your praise.
The Lord’s Messianic Covenant With David
7 It happened that when the king was living in his palace, and when the Lord had given him rest from his enemies all around, 2 the king said to Nathan the prophet, “Look, I live in a house of cedar, but the Ark of God sits under tent curtains.”
3 Nathan said to the king, “Go and do everything that is in your heart, because the Lord is with you.”
4 But that night the word of the Lord came to Nathan. He said, 5 “Go and tell my servant David all these things.”
The Covenant
This is what the Lord says. Are you the one to build a house for me to live in? 6 I have not lived in a house from the day I brought the people of Israel up from Egypt until today. I have been moving around in the Tent and the Dwelling. 7 I have traveled everywhere with all the people of Israel. Did I ever speak a word to any of the judges[a] of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people, or ask them, “Why have you not built a house of cedar for me?”
8 You are also to say the following to my servant David.
This is what the Lord of Armies says. I took you from the pasture, from following sheep, to be ruler over my people, over Israel. 9 I have been with you wherever you went. I have cut off all your enemies from before you. I will make your reputation great, like that of the great ones on the earth. 10 I will set up a place for my people Israel, and I will plant them there. They will dwell there, and they will not be disturbed again. Violent men will not afflict them again as they did at the beginning 11 and ever since the day I appointed judges over my people Israel. I will give you rest from all your enemies.
The Lord also declares to you that the Lord himself will make a house for you. 12 When your days are complete and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up after you your seed,[b] who will come from your own body. I will establish his kingdom. 13 He will build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he sins, I will discipline him with a rod used by men and with blows of the sons of men. 15 My faithful mercy will not depart from him as I removed it from Saul, whom I removed to make room for you. 16 Your house will stand firm, and your kingdom will endure forever before you.[c] Your throne will be established forever.
17 Nathan told David all the words that had been revealed in this vision.
In Corinth
18 After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them. 3 Because he had the same occupation, he stayed and worked with them, for they were tentmakers by trade. 4 Every Sabbath he led a discussion in the synagogue, trying to persuade both Jews and Greeks.
5 When Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was entirely devoted to preaching the word,[a] testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. 6 But when they opposed Paul and slandered him, he shook out his clothes and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on, I will go to the Gentiles!”
7 He left that place and went to the house of a man named Titius[b] Justus, a worshipper of God, whose house was next door to the synagogue. 8 Crispus, the synagogue leader, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians, when they heard, believed and were baptized.
9 One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid, but keep on speaking, and do not be silent. 10 For I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to harm you, because I have many people in this city.” 11 He stayed there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.
A Sign From Heaven
11 The Pharisees came and began to argue with him. To test him, they asked him for a sign from heaven. 12 He sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Amen I tell you: No such sign will be given to this generation.” 13 After he left them and got back into the boat, he crossed to the other side.
Watch Out for the Teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees
14 They had forgotten to take bread along except for one loaf that they had with them in the boat. 15 “Watch out,” Jesus warned them. “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.”
16 They began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread.
17 Since Jesus knew this, he said to them, “Why are you discussing your lack of bread? Do you still not understand or comprehend? Do you have a hardened heart? 18 You have eyes—do you not see? You have ears—do you not hear? Do you not remember? 19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of broken pieces did you pick up?”
“Twelve,” they told him.
20 “And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of broken pieces did you pick up?”
“Seven,” they said.
21 He said to them, “Do you still not comprehend?”
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.