Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 78
A contemplative song[a] of Asaph.
1 O my people, listen to me!
Hear my instruction; soak up every word of what I am about to tell you.
2 I will open my mouth in parables;
I will speak of ancient mysteries—
3 Things that we have heard about, things that we have known,
things which our ancestors declared to us again and again.
4 We will not keep these things secret from their children;
rather, we will tell the coming generation
All about the praise that is due to the Eternal One.
We will tell them all about His strength, power, and wonders.
5 He gave His holy law to Jacob,
His teaching to the people of Israel,
Which He instructed our fathers
to pass down to their children
6 So that the coming generation would know them by heart,
even the children who are not yet born,
So that they might one day stand up and teach them to their children,
7 tell them to put their confidence and hope in God,
And never forget the wondrous things He has done.
They should obey His commandments always
8 And avoid following in the footsteps of their parents,
a hard-headed and rebellious generation—
A generation of uncultivated hearts,
whose spirits were unfaithful to God.
9 The sons of Ephraim were master archers, armed with all the necessary equipment,
yet when the battle hour arrived, they ran away.
10 They were not loyal to their covenant with God;
they turned away and refused to walk in it;
11 They did not remember all the wondrous things He had done,
even the great miracles He had revealed to them.
12 He did miraculous things in the presence of their ancestors
as they made their way out of Egypt, through the fields of Zoan.
13 He split the sea and made them pass through it;
He made the waters to rise, forming a wall of water.
14 Every day He led them with a cloud;
every night, with a fiery light.
15 He cracked open rocks in the wilderness
and provided them with all the water they needed, as plentiful as the depths of the ocean.
16 He caused streams to burst forth from the rock,
waters to rush in like a river.
17 Even after witnessing all of these miracles, they still chose to sin against God,
to act against the will of the Most High in the desert!
18 They tested God in their stubborn hearts
by demanding whatever food they happened to be craving.
19 Then they challenged God:
“Can God fill a table with food in the middle of the desert?
20 He split open the rock, and water gushed out;
streams and rivers were overflowing!
But can He also provide us with bread?
Can He supply meat to His sons and daughters?”
21 When the Eternal heard these words, He was furious;
His fiery anger erupted against Jacob;
His wrath grew against Israel.
22 This all happened because they did not trust God;
they did not have faith in His power to save them.
23 Nevertheless, He gave instructions to the clouds in the sky
and swung open heaven’s doors;
24 He showered them with manna to soothe their hungry bellies
and provided them with the bread of heaven.
25 (In that day mortals ate the bread of heavenly messengers.)
God provided them with plenty of food.
26 He stirred up the east wind and blew it through the sky.
With His might, He whipped the south wind into a storm;
27 Like dust from the sky, He caused meat to fall on them.
Birds, like sand on the seashore, fell to the earth.
28 They landed all about the camp,
all around their tents.
29 God’s people feasted on the food-blessings, and their stomachs were filled;
He gave them exactly what they desired.
30 But before their bellies were soothed,
while their mouths were still full of food,
31 God’s wrath came at them like a tidal wave
and swallowed some of the bravest, strongest among them
and quieted the youth of Israel.
32 Even after all this, they continued to sin
and still did not trust in Him
or in the incredible things He did.
33 So He abruptly ended their time; they vanished like a breath;
He ended their years suddenly, with terror.
34 After He took some of their lives,
those left turned back and sought God wholeheartedly.
35 After all they had endured, they remembered that God, the Most High,
was their Rock, their Redeemer,
36 But even then they tried to deceive Him with their words
and fool Him with a web of lies.
37 They were not consistently faithful to Him,
and they were untrue to their covenant with Him.
38 Yet by His great compassion,
He forgave them
and decided not to put an end to them.
Most of the time, He held back His anger
and did not unleash His wrath against them.
39 He was mindful that they were human, frail and fleeting,
like a wind that touches one’s skin for a moment, then vanishes.
40 Oh, how often they disobeyed Him in the wilderness
and frustrated Him during their time in the desert!
41 Over and over again, they tested God’s patience
and caused great pain for Israel’s Holy One.
42 They failed to be mindful of His great strength.
They forgot all about the day He saved them from the enemy,
43 When He displayed all sorts of signs and wonders in Egypt,
and all the amazing things He did in the region of Zoan[b]
44 When He transformed their rivers into blood
so that they could not drink from their streams.
45 He sent armies of flies to bite and torment them
and hordes of frogs to ruin and devastate them;
46 He handed over all of their crops to grasshoppers
and the fruit of all their labor to locusts;
47 He sent violent hailstorms, which smashed all their vines,
and ruined their sycamore-fig trees with biting frost.
48 He handed over all of their cattle to the hailstorms as well
and struck all their herds with lightning.
49 He poured His burning wrath upon them—
anger, resentment, and trouble—
sending a company of heavenly warriors to destroy them.
50 He carved out a road for His wrath;
He did not spare any from the sting of death
but handed them over to the fangs of the plague.
51 He killed all the firstborn of Egypt,
the first products of their manhood in the tents of Ham, the Egyptians’ ancestor.
52 But then He guided His people like sheep to safety
and led them like a flock into the desert to freedom;
53 He took them on a safe route so that they would not be afraid,
and He allowed the hungry sea to swallow all of their enemies.
54 He led them to His sacred land—
to this holy hill, which He had won by the power of His right hand.
55 He forced out the other nations which were living there before them,
and He redistributed the lands as an inheritance to His people;
He settled the tribes and families of Israel peaceably in their tents.
56 Even after all this, they disobeyed the Most High God
and tested His patience
and did not live by His commands.
57 Rather, they regressed to their fathers’ ways and lived faithlessly—disloyal traitors!
They were as undependable and untrustworthy as a defective bow,
58 For they triggered His wrath by setting up high places,
altars to strange gods in His land;
they aroused His jealousy by bowing down to idols in the shadow of His presence.
59 God boiled with wrath when He witnessed what they were doing;
He totally rejected Israel.
60 He deserted His own sanctuary at Shiloh,
the tent where He had lived in the midst of His people.
61 He handed His strength over to captivity;
He put His splendor under the enemy’s control.
62 He handed His people over to the sword,
and He was filled with anger toward His chosen ones;
He was burning with wrath!
63 A great fire consumed all the young men,
and the virgin girls were without the joy of their wedding songs.
64 Priests met their doom by the blade of a sword,
and widows had no tears to cry;
they could not weep.
65 Then the Lord awoke like a man who has been asleep,
like a warrior who has been overcome with wine.
66 He forced all His enemies back;
He defeated them, weighing them down with everlasting disgrace.
67 He even rejected the tent of Joseph as His home
and showed no favor toward the tribe of Ephraim.
68 Instead, He favored the tribe of Judah—
Mount Zion, the place He adored.
69 He built His sanctuary like the mountain heights;
like the earth, He created it to last forever.
70 He chose His servant David,
and called Him out of the sheep pastures.
71 From caring for the ewes, who gently nurse their young,
He called him to shepherd His people Jacob
and to look after Israel, His inheritance.
72 David shepherded them with the honor and integrity of his heart;
he led them in wisdom with strong and skillful hands.
18 Then King David was strongly moved and went into the presence of the Eternal.
David: Who am I, O Eternal Lord, and what is my family that You have raised me so high? 19 You have spoken of this as though it were a tiny thing, simple, O Eternal Lord. You have also talked about the future of Your servant’s family and kingdom, a great future stretching off into the distance. This, O Eternal Lord, is Your instruction for humanity. 20 What can I say to You? You know Your servant inside and out, O Eternal Lord. 21 Because You promised it and it pleased You, You have made these amazing things happen, so that Your servant might know You are behind it. 22 So You are great, O Eternal Lord. No one else like You exists, and there is no god greater than You, as we should know from everything we have heard.
23 And who is like Your people, Israel? Is there another nation on the earth where God went to redeem them from Egypt and to distinguish Himself with awe-inspiring deeds of power by driving other nations and their false gods out of their path? 24 You chose to take Israel as Your people perpetually; and You, Eternal One, chose to be their God.
25 So yes, Eternal God, take the words You have spoken about me, Your servant, and my family and kingdom, and make them true perpetually. Do what You have promised. 26 Then Your name will be revered forever in the words, “The Eternal One, the Commander of heavenly armies, is the God over Israel,” and the dynasty of Your servant David will be established before You. 27 For You, O Eternal God, the Commander of heavenly armies, the God of Israel, have shown me what You intend, saying, “I will establish your dynasty,” and that is why I have found the courage to pray this prayer in Your presence. 28 O Eternal Lord, You are the True God, and Your words are always true, and You have made this good promise to me, Your servant. 29 So may it please You to continue to bless me, my family, and my kingdom so that my dynasty may be continually before Your sight. For You, O Eternal Lord, have spoken; and with Your blessing, my descendants and kingdom will always be blessed.
Paul is no machine. He needs encouragement to faithfully pursue his calling in the face of persecution. While God allows Paul to experience serious persecution in many other cities, He spares him that trouble in Corinth even though the Jewish leaders still try to stir up the government officials against him. Paul knows that the greatest joys in life are found in passionately pursuing the dangerous mission of Jesus, and that God sustains His followers in good times and bad.
12 During this time, some Jews organized an attack on Paul and made formal charges against him to Gallio, the proconsul of Achaia.
Jews: 13 This man is convincing people to worship God in ways that contradict our Hebrew Scriptures.
Paul was about to speak, but Gallio spoke first.
Gallio: 14 Look, if this were some serious crime, I would accept your complaint as a legitimate legal case, 15 but this is just more of your typical Jewish squabbling about trivialities in your sacred literature. I have no interest in getting dragged into this kind of thing.
16 So he threw out their case and drove them away from his bench. 17 They were furious and seized Sosthenes, the synagogue official; then they beat him in front of the tribunal. Gallio just ignored them.
18 At the end of 18 months, Paul said good-bye to the believers in Corinth. He wanted to travel to the east and south to Syria by ship; so, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila, he went to the nearby port city of Cenchrea, where he fulfilled a vow he had made by cutting his hair. 19 The three of them sailed east to Ephesus where Paul would leave Priscilla and Aquila. Paul again went to the synagogue where he dialogued with the Jews. 20 They were receptive and invited him to stay longer. But he politely declined.
Paul: 21-22 If God wills, I’ll return at some point.
He caught a ship bound south and east for Caesarea by the sea. There he went up for a brief visit with the believers in the church at Jerusalem; then he headed north to Antioch. 23 He spent considerable time there and then left again, visiting city after city throughout Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening the disciples in each place.
24 Meanwhile, back in Ephesus, a Jew named Apollos made contact with the community of believers. He had been raised in Alexandria.
In Alexandria, Egyptian Jews such as Philo are known for seeking to integrate Greek philosophy with their faith.
Apollos was eloquent and well educated in the Hebrew Scriptures. 25 He was partially instructed in the way of the Lord, and he added to his native eloquence a burning enthusiasm to teach about Jesus. He taught accurately what he knew; but he had only understood part of the good news, specifically the ritual cleansing through baptism[a] preached by John, the forerunner of Jesus. 26 So, when Priscilla and Aquila heard him speak boldly in the synagogue, they discerned both his gift and his lack of full understanding. They took him aside and in private explained the way of God to him more accurately and fully. 27 He wanted to head west into Achaia, where Paul had recently been, to preach there. The believers encouraged him to do so and sent a letter instructing the Greek disciples to welcome him. Upon his arrival, he was of great help to all in Achaia who had, by the grace of God, become believers. 28 This gifted speaker publicly demonstrated, based on the Hebrew Scriptures, that the promised Anointed One is Jesus. Then, when the Jews there raised counterarguments, he refuted them with great power.
22 When they came into Bethsaida, a group brought a blind man to Jesus, and they begged Him to touch the man and heal him. 23 So Jesus guided the man out of the village, away from the crowd; and He spat on the man’s eyes and touched them.
Jesus: What do you see?
Blind Man (opening his eyes): 24 I see people, but they look like trees—walking trees.
25 Jesus touched his eyes again; and when the man looked up, he could see everything clearly.
26 Jesus sent him away to his house.
Jesus (to the healed man): Don’t go into town yet. [And don’t tell anybody in town what happened here.][a]
Bethsaida is the hometown of at least three of Jesus’ emissaries—Peter, Andrew, and Philip—and possibly James and John as well. Jesus performs many miracles there, most notably the feeding of the 5,000. However, this miracle—the healing of the blind man—is the only miracle in all the Gospels that is done in stages instead of instantly.
Of course, there’s no way to know for sure why Jesus chooses to heal this man partly before He heals him entirely. Jesus frequently links faith, or lack of faith, with the healings. Bethsaida is a town He criticizes for its lack of faith (Matthew 11:21–22). So it’s likely He wants to demonstrate to His disciples that their inability to see His purpose can be healed, too, even if it takes time.
27 As He traveled with His disciples into the villages of Caesarea Philippi, He posed an important question to them.
Jesus: Who do the people say that I am?
28 They told Him about the great speculation concerning His identity.
Disciples: Some of them say You are John the Baptist,[b] others say Elijah, while others say one of the prophets of old.
Jesus (pressing the question): 29 And who do you say that I am?
Peter: You are God’s Anointed, the Liberating King.
Jesus: 30 Don’t tell anyone. It is not yet time.
31 And He went on to teach them many things about Himself: how the Son of Man would suffer; how He would be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes; how He would be killed; and how, after three days, God would raise Him from the dead.
32 He said all these things in front of them all, but Peter took Jesus aside to rebuke Him.
Peter represents the best and worst in humanity. One day, Peter drops everything to become a follower of Jesus; the next, he’s busy putting his foot in his mouth. Peter is always responding to Jesus, frequently making mistakes, but never drifting far from Jesus’ side. In this passage, Peter verbalizes God’s word and Satan’s temptation—almost in the same breath. Peter thinks he understands who Jesus is, but he still has a lot to learn about what Jesus has come to do.
Jesus (seeing His disciples surrounding them): 33 Get behind Me, you tempter! You’re thinking only of human things, not of the things God has planned.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.