Book of Common Prayer
The Joy of Living in Zion
A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. A Song.
87 On the holy mount stands the city he founded;
2 the Lord loves the gates of Zion
more than all the dwelling places of Jacob.
3 Glorious things are spoken of you,
O city of God.Selah
4 Among those who know me I mention Rahab and Babylon;
behold, Philistia and Tyre, with Ethiopia—
“This one was born there,” they say.
5 And of Zion it shall be said,
“This one and that one were born in her”;
for the Most High himself will establish her.
6 The Lord records as he registers the peoples,
“This one was born there.”Selah
7 Singers and dancers alike say,
“All my springs are in you.”
BOOK IV
God’s Eternity and Human Frailty
A Prayer of Moses, the man of God.
90 Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place[a]
in all generations.
2 Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting thou art God.
3 Thou turnest man back to the dust,
and sayest, “Turn back, O children of men!”
4 For a thousand years in thy sight
are but as yesterday when it is past,
or as a watch in the night.
5 Thou dost sweep men away; they are like a dream,
like grass which is renewed in the morning:
6 in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;
in the evening it fades and withers.
7 For we are consumed by thy anger;
by thy wrath we are overwhelmed.
8 Thou hast set our iniquities before thee,
our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.
9 For all our days pass away under thy wrath,
our years come to an end[b] like a sigh.
10 The years of our life are threescore and ten,
or even by reason of strength fourscore;
yet their span[c] is but toil and trouble;
they are soon gone, and we fly away.
11 Who considers the power of thy anger,
and thy wrath according to the fear of thee?
12 So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.
13 Return, O Lord! How long?
Have pity on thy servants!
14 Satisfy us in the morning with thy steadfast love,
that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad as many days as thou hast afflicted us,
and as many years as we have seen evil.
16 Let thy work be manifest to thy servants,
and thy glorious power to their children.
17 Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,
and establish thou the work of our hands upon us,
yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.
God’s Work in Creation and in History
136 O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures for ever.
2 O give thanks to the God of gods,
for his steadfast love endures for ever.
3 O give thanks to the Lord of lords,
for his steadfast love endures for ever;
4 to him who alone does great wonders,
for his steadfast love endures for ever;
5 to him who by understanding made the heavens,
for his steadfast love endures for ever;
6 to him who spread out the earth upon the waters,
for his steadfast love endures for ever;
7 to him who made the great lights,
for his steadfast love endures for ever;
8 the sun to rule over the day,
for his steadfast love endures for ever;
9 the moon and stars to rule over the night,
for his steadfast love endures for ever;
10 to him who smote the first-born of Egypt,
for his steadfast love endures for ever;
11 and brought Israel out from among them,
for his steadfast love endures for ever;
12 with a strong hand and an outstretched arm,
for his steadfast love endures for ever;
13 to him who divided the Red Sea in sunder,
for his steadfast love endures for ever;
14 and made Israel pass through the midst of it,
for his steadfast love endures for ever;
15 but overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea,
for his steadfast love endures for ever;
16 to him who led his people through the wilderness,
for his steadfast love endures for ever;
17 to him who smote great kings,
for his steadfast love endures for ever;
18 and slew famous kings,
for his steadfast love endures for ever;
19 Sihon, king of the Amorites,
for his steadfast love endures for ever;
20 and Og, king of Bashan,
for his steadfast love endures for ever;
21 and gave their land as a heritage,
for his steadfast love endures for ever;
22 a heritage to Israel his servant,
for his steadfast love endures for ever.
23 It is he who remembered us in our low estate,
for his steadfast love endures for ever;
24 and rescued us from our foes,
for his steadfast love endures for ever;
25 he who gives food to all flesh,
for his steadfast love endures for ever.
26 O give thanks to the God of heaven,
for his steadfast love endures for ever.
31 Then the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.” 32 So they brought to the people of Israel an evil report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature. 33 And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim); and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.”
The People Rebel
14 Then all the congregation raised a loud cry; and the people wept that night. 2 And all the people of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron; the whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! 3 Why does the Lord bring us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey; would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?”
4 And they said to one another, “Let us choose a captain, and go back to Egypt.” 5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the people of Israel. 6 And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephun′neh, who were among those who had spied out the land, rent their clothes, 7 and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. 8 If the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land which flows with milk and honey. 9 Only, do not rebel against the Lord; and do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us; their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them.” 10 But all the congregation said to stone them with stones.
Then the glory of the Lord appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel. 11 And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs which I have wrought among them? 12 I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.”
Moses Intercedes for the People
13 But Moses said to the Lord, “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for thou didst bring up this people in thy might from among them, 14 and they will tell the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that thou, O Lord, art in the midst of this people; for thou, O Lord, art seen face to face, and thy cloud stands over them and thou goest before them, in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. 15 Now if thou dost kill this people as one man, then the nations who have heard thy fame will say, 16 ‘Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land which he swore to give to them, therefore he has slain them in the wilderness.’ 17 And now, I pray thee, let the power of the Lord be great as thou has promised, saying, 18 ‘The Lord is slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of fathers upon children, upon the third and upon the fourth generation.’ 19 Pardon the iniquity of this people, I pray thee, according to the greatness of thy steadfast love, and according as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.”
20 Then the Lord said, “I have pardoned, according to your word; 21 but truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord, 22 none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs which I wrought in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the proof these ten times and have not hearkened to my voice, 23 shall see the land which I swore to give to their fathers; and none of those who despised me shall see it. 24 But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it. 25 Now, since the Amal′ekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valleys, turn tomorrow and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.”
None Is Righteous
9 What then? Are we Jews any better off?[a] No, not at all; for I[b] have already charged that all men, both Jews and Greeks, are under the power of sin, 10 as it is written:
“None is righteous, no, not one;
11 no one understands, no one seeks for God.
12 All have turned aside, together they have gone wrong;
no one does good, not even one.”
13 “Their throat is an open grave,
they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood,
16 in their paths are ruin and misery,
17 and the way of peace they do not know.”
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For no human being will be justified in his sight by works of the law, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
Teaching about Divorce
19 Now when Jesus had finished these sayings, he went away from Galilee and entered the region of Judea beyond the Jordan; 2 and large crowds followed him, and he healed them there.
3 And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” 4 He answered, “Have you not read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one’?[a] 6 So they are no longer two but one.[b] What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder.” 7 They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?” 8 He said to them, “For your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 9 And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity,[c] and marries another, commits adultery; and he who marries a divorced woman, commits adultery.”[d][e]
10 The disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is not expedient to marry.” 11 But he said to them, “Not all men can receive this precept, but only those to whom it is given. 12 For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to receive this, let him receive it.”[f]
The Revised Standard Version of the Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1965, 1966 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.