Book of Common Prayer
God’s guidance of his people in spite of their unfaithfulness.
Maschil of Asaph.
78 Give ear, O my people, to my [a]law:
Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings of old,
3 Which we have heard and known,
And our fathers have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their children,
Telling to the generation to come the praises of Jehovah,
And his strength, and his wondrous works that he hath done.
5 For he established a testimony in Jacob,
And appointed a law in Israel,
Which he commanded our fathers,
That they should make them known to their children;
6 That the generation to come might know them, even the children that should be born;
Who should arise and tell them to their children,
7 That they might set their hope in God,
And not forget the works of God,
But keep his commandments,
8 And might not be as their fathers,
A stubborn and rebellious generation,
A generation [b]that set not their heart aright,
And whose spirit was not stedfast with God.
9 The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows,
Turned back in the day of battle.
10 They kept not the covenant of God,
And refused to walk in his law;
11 And they forgat his doings,
And his wondrous works that he had showed them.
12 Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers,
In the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
13 He clave the sea, and caused them to pass through;
And he made the waters to stand as a heap.
14 In the day-time also he led them with a cloud,
And all the night with a light of fire.
15 He clave rocks in the wilderness,
And gave them drink abundantly as out of the depths.
16 He brought streams also out of the rock,
And caused waters to run down like rivers.
17 Yet went they on still to sin against him,
To rebel against the Most High in [c]the desert.
18 And they tempted God in their heart
By asking food [d]according to their desire.
19 Yea, they spake against God;
They said, Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?
20 Behold, he smote the rock, so that waters gushed out,
And streams overflowed;
Can he give bread also?
Will he provide flesh for his people?
21 Therefore Jehovah heard, and was wroth;
And a fire was kindled against Jacob,
And anger also went up against Israel;
22 Because they believed not in God,
And trusted not in his salvation.
23 Yet he commanded the skies above,
And opened the doors of heaven;
24 And he rained down manna upon them to eat,
And gave them [e]food from heaven.
25 [f]Man did eat the bread of the mighty:
He sent them food to the full.
26 He [g]caused the east wind to blow in the heavens;
And by his power he guided the south wind.
27 He rained flesh also upon them as the dust,
And winged birds as the sand of the seas:
28 And he let it fall in the midst of their camp,
Round about their habitations.
29 So they did eat, and were well filled;
And he gave them their own desire.
30 They were not estranged from that which they desired,
Their food was yet in their mouths,
31 When the anger of God went up against them,
And slew of the fattest of them,
And smote down the young men of Israel.
32 For all this they sinned still,
And believed not in his wondrous works.
33 Therefore their days did he consume in vanity,
And their years in terror.
34 When he slew them, then they inquired after him;
And they returned and sought God earnestly.
35 And they remembered that God was their rock,
And the Most High God their redeemer.
36 But they flattered him with their mouth,
And lied unto him with their tongue.
37 For their heart was not [h]right with him,
Neither were they faithful in his covenant.
38 But he, being merciful, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not:
Yea, many a time turned he his anger away,
And did not stir up all his wrath.
39 And he remembered that they were but flesh,
A wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.
40 How oft did they rebel against him in the wilderness,
And grieve him in the desert!
41 And they turned again and tempted God,
And [i]provoked the Holy One of Israel.
42 They remembered not his hand,
Nor the day when he redeemed them from the adversary;
43 How he set his signs in Egypt,
And his wonders in the field of Zoan,
44 And turned their rivers into blood,
And their streams, so that they could not drink.
45 He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them;
And frogs, which destroyed them.
46 He gave also their increase unto the caterpillar,
And their labor unto the locust.
47 He [j]destroyed their vines with hail,
And their sycomore-trees with [k]frost.
48 He gave over their cattle also to the hail,
And their flocks to hot thunderbolts.
49 He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger,
Wrath, and indignation, and trouble,
[l]A band of angels of evil.
50 He [m]made a path for his anger;
He spared not their soul from death,
But gave [n]their life over to the pestilence,
51 And smote all the first-born in Egypt,
The [o]chief of their strength in the tents of Ham.
52 But he led forth his own people like sheep,
And guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
53 And he led them safely, so that they feared not;
But the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
54 And he brought them to [p]the border of his sanctuary,
To this [q]mountain, which his right hand had gotten.
55 He drove out the nations also before them,
And allotted them for an inheritance by line,
And made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.
56 Yet they tempted and rebelled against the Most High God,
And kept not his testimonies;
57 But turned back, and dealt treacherously like their fathers:
They were turned aside like a deceitful bow.
58 For they provoked him to anger with their high places,
And moved him to jealousy with their graven images.
59 When God heard this, he was wroth,
And greatly abhorred Israel;
60 So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh,
The tent which he placed among men;
61 And delivered his strength into captivity,
And his glory into the adversary’s hand.
62 He gave his people over also unto the sword,
And was wroth with his inheritance.
63 Fire devoured their young men;
And their virgins had no marriage-song.
64 Their priests fell by the sword;
And their widows made no lamentation.
65 Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep,
Like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine.
66 And he smote his adversaries backward:
He put them to a perpetual reproach.
67 Moreover he refused the tent of Joseph,
And chose not the tribe of Ephraim,
68 But chose the tribe of Judah,
The mount Zion which he loved.
69 And he built his sanctuary like the heights,
Like the earth which he hath established for ever.
70 He chose David also his servant,
And took him from the sheepfolds:
71 From following the ewes that have their young he brought him,
To be the shepherd of Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.
72 So he was their shepherd according to the integrity of his heart,
And guided them by the skilfulness of his hands.
11 And the people were as murmurers, [a]speaking evil in the ears of Jehovah: and when Jehovah heard it, his anger was kindled; and the fire of Jehovah burnt among them, and devoured in the uttermost part of the camp. 2 And the people cried unto Moses; and Moses prayed unto Jehovah, and the fire abated. 3 And the name of that place was called [b]Taberah, because the fire of Jehovah burnt among them.
4 And the mixed multitude that was among them lusted exceedingly: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat? 5 We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt for nought; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic: 6 but now our soul is dried away; there is nothing at all save this manna to look upon. 7 And the manna was like coriander seed, and the [c]appearance thereof as the appearance of bdellium. 8 The people went about, and gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in mortars, and boiled it in pots, and made cakes of it: and the taste of it was as the taste of [d]fresh oil. 9 And when the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell [e]upon it. 10 And Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, every man at the door of his tent: and the anger of Jehovah was kindled greatly; and Moses was displeased. 11 And Moses said unto Jehovah, Wherefore hast thou dealt ill with thy servant? and wherefore have I not found favor in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me? 12 Have I conceived all this people? have I brought them forth, that thou shouldest say unto me, Carry them in thy bosom, as a nursing-father carrieth the sucking child, unto the land which thou swarest unto their fathers? 13 Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people? for they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh, that we may eat. 14 I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me. 15 And if thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favor in thy sight; and let me not see my wretchedness.
16 And Jehovah said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them unto the tent of meeting, that they may stand there with thee. 17 And I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the Spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone. 18 And say thou unto the people, Sanctify yourselves against to-morrow, and ye shall eat flesh; for ye have wept in the ears of Jehovah, saying, Who shall give us flesh to eat? for it was well with us in Egypt: therefore Jehovah will give you flesh, and ye shall eat. 19 Ye shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days, 20 but a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it be loathsome unto you; because that ye have rejected Jehovah who is among you, and have wept before him, saying, Why came we forth out of Egypt? 21 And Moses said, The people, among whom I am, are six hundred thousand footmen; and thou hast said, I will give them flesh, that they may eat a whole month. 22 Shall flocks and herds be slain for them, to suffice them? or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to suffice them? 23 And Jehovah said unto Moses, Is Jehovah’s hand waxed short? now shalt thou see whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not.
16 For I am not ashamed of the [a]gospel: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 17 For therein is revealed a righteousness of God from faith unto faith: as it is written, [b]But the righteous shall live [c]by faith.
18 For [d]the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who [e]hinder the truth in unrighteousness; 19 because that which is known of God is manifest in them; for God manifested it unto them. 20 For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity; [f]that they may be without excuse: 21 because that, knowing God, they glorified him not as God, neither gave thanks; but became vain in their reasonings, and their senseless heart was darkened. 22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things.
24 Wherefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts unto uncleanness, that their bodies should be dishonored among themselves: 25 for that they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed [g]for ever. Amen.
22 And while they [a]abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be [b]delivered up into the hands of men; 23 and they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised up. And they were exceeding sorry.
24 And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received the [c]half-shekel came to Peter, and said, Doth not your teacher pay the [d]half-shekel? 25 He saith, Yea. And when he came into the house, Jesus spake first to him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? the kings of the earth, from whom do they receive toll or tribute? from their sons, or from strangers? 26 And when he said, From strangers, Jesus said unto him, Therefore the sons are free. 27 But, lest we cause them to stumble, go thou to the sea, and cast a hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a [e]shekel: that take, and give unto them for me and thee.
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