Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 80[a]
For the music director, according to the shushan-eduth style;[b] a psalm of Asaph.
80 O Shepherd of Israel, pay attention,
you who lead Joseph like a flock of sheep.
You who sit enthroned above the cherubim,[c] reveal your splendor.[d]
2 In the sight of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh reveal[e] your power.
Come and deliver us.[f]
3 O God, restore us.
Smile on us.[g] Then we will be delivered.[h]
4 O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies,[i]
how long will you remain angry at your people while they pray to you?[j]
5 You have given them tears as food;[k]
you have made them drink tears by the measure.[l]
6 You have made our neighbors dislike us,[m]
and our enemies insult us.
7 O God of Heaven’s Armies,[n] restore us.
Smile on us.[o] Then we will be delivered.[p]
8 You uprooted a vine[q] from Egypt;
you drove out nations and transplanted it.
9 You cleared the ground for it;[r]
it took root,[s]
and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered by its shadow,
the highest cedars[t] by its branches.
11 Its branches reached the Mediterranean Sea,[u]
and its shoots the Euphrates River.[v]
12 Why did you break down its walls,[w]
so that all who pass by pluck its fruit?[x]
13 The wild boars of the forest ruin it;[y]
the insects[z] of the field feed on it.
14 O God of Heaven’s Armies,[aa] come back.
Look down from heaven and take notice.
Take care of this vine,
15 the root[ab] your right hand planted,
the shoot you made to grow.[ac]
16 It is burned[ad] and cut down.
May those who did this die because you are displeased with them.[ae]
17 May you give support to the one you have chosen,[af]
to the one whom you raised up for yourself.[ag]
18 Then we will not turn away from you.
Revive us and we will pray to you.[ah]
19 O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies,[ai] restore us.
Smile on us.[aj] Then we will be delivered.[ak]
Psalm 77[a]
For the music director, Jeduthun; a psalm of Asaph.
77 I will cry out to God[b] and call for help.
I will cry out to God and he will pay attention[c] to me.
2 In my time of trouble I sought[d] the Lord.
I kept my hand raised in prayer throughout the night.[e]
I[f] refused to be comforted.
3 I said, “I will remember God while I groan;
I will think about him while my strength leaves me.”[g] (Selah)
4 You held my eyelids open;[h]
I was troubled and could not speak.[i]
5 I thought about the days of old,
about ancient times.[j]
6 I said, “During the night I will remember the song I once sang;
I will think very carefully.”
I tried to make sense of what was happening.[k]
7 I asked,[l] “Will the Lord reject me forever?
Will he never again show me his favor?
8 Has his loyal love disappeared forever?
Has his promise[m] failed forever?
9 Has God forgotten to be merciful?
Has his anger stifled his compassion?” (Selah)
10 Then I said, “I am sickened by the thought
that the Most High[n] might become inactive.[o]
11 I will remember the works of the Lord.
Yes, I will remember the amazing things you did long ago.[p]
12 I will think about all you have done;
I will reflect upon your deeds.”
13 [q] O God, your deeds are extraordinary.[r]
What god can compare to our great God?[s]
14 You are the God who does amazing things;
you have revealed your strength among the nations.
15 You delivered[t] your people by your strength[u]—
the children of Jacob and Joseph. (Selah)
16 The waters[v] saw you, O God,
the waters saw you and trembled.[w]
Yes, the depths of the sea[x] shook with fear.[y]
17 The clouds poured down rain;[z]
the skies thundered.[aa]
Yes, your arrows[ab] flashed about.
18 Your thunderous voice was heard in the wind;
the lightning bolts lit up the world.
The earth trembled and shook.[ac]
19 You walked through the sea;[ad]
you passed through the surging waters,[ae]
but left no footprints.[af]
20 You led your people like a flock of sheep,
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
Psalm 79[a]
A psalm of Asaph.
79 O God, foreigners[b] have invaded your chosen land;[c]
they have polluted your holy temple
and turned Jerusalem into a heap of ruins.
2 They have given the corpses of your servants
to the birds of the sky,[d]
the flesh of your loyal followers
to the beasts of the earth.
3 They have made their blood flow like water
all around Jerusalem, and there is no one to bury them.[e]
4 We have become an object of disdain to our neighbors;
those who live on our borders taunt and insult us.[f]
5 How long will this go on, O Lord?[g]
Will you stay angry forever?
How long will your rage[h] burn like fire?
6 Pour out your anger on the nations that do not acknowledge you,[i]
on the kingdoms that do not pray to you.[j]
7 For they have devoured Jacob
and destroyed his home.
8 Do not hold us accountable for the sins of earlier generations.[k]
Quickly send your compassion our way,[l]
for we are in serious trouble.[m]
9 Help us, O God, our deliverer!
For the sake of your glorious reputation,[n] rescue us.
Forgive our sins for the sake of your reputation.[o]
10 Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”
Before our very eyes may the shed blood of your servants
be avenged among the nations.[p]
11 Listen to the painful cries of the prisoners.[q]
Use your great strength to set free those condemned to die.[r]
12 Pay back our neighbors in full.[s]
May they be insulted the same way they insulted you, O Lord.[t]
13 Then we, your people, the sheep of your pasture,
will continually thank you.[u]
We will tell coming generations of your praiseworthy acts.[v]
Debt and Slave Regulations
35 “‘If your brother[a] becomes impoverished and is indebted to you,[b] you must support[c] him; he must live[d] with you like a foreign resident.[e] 36 Do not take interest or profit from him,[f] but you must fear your God and your brother must live[g] with you. 37 You must not lend him your money at interest and you must not sell him food for profit.[h] 38 I am the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan—to be your God.[i]
39 “‘If your brother becomes impoverished with regard to you so that he sells himself to you, you must not subject him to slave service.[j] 40 He must be with you as a hired worker, as a resident foreigner;[k] he must serve with you until the Year of Jubilee, 41 but then[l] he may go free,[m] he and his children with him, and may return to his family and to the property of his ancestors.[n] 42 Since the Israelites[o] are my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt, they must not be sold in a slave sale.[p] 43 You must not rule over them harshly,[q] but you must fear your God.
44 “‘As for your male and female slaves[r] who may belong to you—you may buy male and female slaves from the nations all around you.[s] 45 Also, you may buy slaves[t] from the children of the foreigners who reside with you, and from their families that are[u] with you, whom they have fathered in your land; they may become your property. 46 You may give them as an inheritance to your children after you to possess as property. You may enslave them perpetually. However, as for your brothers the Israelites, no man may rule over his brother harshly.[v]
47 “‘If a resident foreigner who is with you prospers[w] and your brother becomes impoverished with regard to him so that[x] he sells himself to a resident foreigner who is with you or to a member[y] of a foreigner’s family, 48 after he has sold himself he retains a right of redemption.[z] One of his brothers may redeem him, 49 or his uncle or his cousin[aa] may redeem him, or any one of the rest of his blood relatives—his family[ab]—may redeem him, or if[ac] he prospers he may redeem himself. 50 He must calculate with the one who bought him the number of years[ad] from the year he sold himself to him until the Jubilee year, and the cost of his sale must correspond to the number of years, according to the rate of wages a hired worker would have earned while with him.[ae] 51 If there are still many years, in keeping with them[af] he must refund most of the cost of his purchase for his redemption, 52 but if only a few years remain[ag] until the Jubilee, he must calculate for himself in keeping with the remaining years and refund it for his redemption. 53 He must be with the one who bought him[ah] like a yearly hired worker.[ai] The one who bought him[aj] must not rule over him harshly in your sight. 54 If, however,[ak] he is not redeemed in these ways, he must go free[al] in the Jubilee year, he and his children with him, 55 because the Israelites are my own servants;[am] they are my servants whom I brought out from the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God.
Paul’s Prayer for the Growth of the Church
9 For this reason we also, from the day we heard about you,[a] have not ceased praying for you and asking God[b] to fill[c] you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so that you may live[d] worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects[e]—bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for the display of[f] all patience and steadfastness, joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to share[g] in the saints’[h] inheritance in the light. 13 He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son he loves,[i] 14 in whom we have redemption,[j] the forgiveness of sins.
The Parable of the Sower
13 On that day after Jesus went out of the house, he sat by the lake.[a] 2 And such a large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat[b] to sit while[c] the whole crowd stood on the shore. 3 He[d] told them many things in parables,[e] saying: “Listen![f] A sower went out to sow.[g] 4 And as he sowed, some seeds[h] fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Other[i] seeds fell on rocky ground[j] where they did not have much soil. They sprang up quickly because the soil was not deep.[k] 6 But when the sun came up, they were scorched, and because they did not have sufficient root, they withered. 7 Other seeds fell among the thorns,[l] and they grew up and choked them.[m] 8 But other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty. 9 The one who has ears had better listen!”[n]
10 Then[o] the disciples came to him and said, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11 He replied,[p] “You have been given[q] the opportunity to know[r] the secrets[s] of the kingdom of heaven, but they have not. 12 For whoever has will be given more, and will have an abundance. But whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.[t] 13 For this reason I speak to them in parables: Although they see they do not see, and although they hear they do not hear nor do they understand. 14 And concerning them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:
‘You will listen carefully[u] yet will never understand,
you will look closely[v] yet will never comprehend.
15 For the heart of this people has become dull;
they are hard of hearing,
and they have shut their eyes,
so that they would not see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.’[w]
16 “But your eyes are blessed[x] because they see, and your ears because they hear.
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