Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 80
Prayer for Israel’s Restoration
To the leader: on Lilies, a Covenant. Of Asaph. A Psalm.
1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
you who lead Joseph like a flock!
You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth(A)
2 before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh.
Stir up your might,
and come to save us!(B)
3 Restore us, O God;
let your face shine, that we may be saved.(C)
4 O Lord God of hosts,
how long will you be angry with your people’s prayers?(D)
5 You have fed them with the bread of tears
and given them tears to drink in full measure.(E)
6 You make us the scorn[a] of our neighbors;
our enemies laugh among themselves.(F)
7 Restore us, O God of hosts;
let your face shine, that we may be saved.
8 You brought a vine out of Egypt;
you drove out the nations and planted it.(G)
9 You cleared the ground for it;
it took deep root and filled the land.(H)
10 The mountains were covered with its shade,
the mighty cedars with its branches;
11 it sent out its branches to the sea
and its shoots to the River.
12 Why then have you broken down its walls,
so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?(I)
13 The boar from the forest ravages it,
and all that move in the field feed on it.(J)
14 Turn again, O God of hosts;
look down from heaven and see;
have regard for this vine,(K)
15 the stock that your right hand planted.[b]
16 It has been burned with fire; it has been cut down;
may they perish at the rebuke of your countenance.(L)
17 But let your hand be upon the one at your right hand,
the one whom you made strong for yourself.(M)
18 Then we will never turn back from you;
give us life, and we will call on your name.(N)
19 Restore us, O Lord God of hosts;
let your face shine, that we may be saved.
Psalm 77
God’s Mighty Deeds Recalled
To the leader: according to Jeduthun. Of Asaph. A Psalm.
1 I cry aloud to God,
aloud to God, that he may hear me.(A)
2 In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord;
in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying;
my soul refuses to be comforted.(B)
3 I think of God, and I moan;
I meditate, and my spirit faints. Selah(C)
4 You keep my eyelids from closing;
I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
5 I consider the days of old
and remember the years of long ago.(D)
6 I commune[a] with my heart in the night;
I meditate and search my spirit:[b](E)
7 “Will the Lord spurn forever
and never again be favorable?(F)
8 Has his steadfast love ceased forever?
Are his promises at an end for all time?(G)
9 Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Has he in anger shut up his compassion?” Selah(H)
10 And I say, “It is my grief
that the right hand of the Most High has changed.”(I)
11 I will call to mind the deeds of the Lord;
I will remember your wonders of old.(J)
12 I will meditate on all your work
and muse on your mighty deeds.
13 Your way, O God, is holy.
What god is so great as our God?(K)
14 You are the God who works wonders;
you have displayed your might among the peoples.
15 With your strong arm you redeemed your people,
the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. Selah(L)
16 When the waters saw you, O God,
when the waters saw you, they were afraid;
the very deep trembled.(M)
17 The clouds poured out water;
the skies thundered;
your arrows flashed on every side.(N)
18 The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind;
your lightnings lit up the world;
the earth trembled and shook.(O)
19 Your way was through the sea,
your path through the mighty waters,
yet your footprints were unseen.(P)
20 You led your people like a flock
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.(Q)
Psalm 79
Plea for Mercy for Jerusalem
A Psalm of Asaph.
1 O God, the nations have come into your inheritance;
they have defiled your holy temple;
they have laid Jerusalem in ruins.(A)
2 They have given the bodies of your servants
to the birds of the air for food,
the flesh of your faithful to the wild animals of the earth.(B)
3 They have poured out their blood like water
all around Jerusalem,
and there was no one to bury them.(C)
4 We have become a taunt to our neighbors,
mocked and derided by those around us.(D)
5 How long, O Lord? Will you be angry forever?
Will your jealous wrath burn like fire?(E)
6 Pour out your anger on the nations
that do not know you
and on the kingdoms
that do not call on your name.(F)
7 For they have devoured Jacob
and laid waste his habitation.
8 Do not remember against us the iniquities of our ancestors;
let your compassion come speedily to meet us,
for we are brought very low.(G)
9 Help us, O God of our salvation,
for the glory of your name;
deliver us and forgive our sins,
for your name’s sake.(H)
10 Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
Let the avenging of the outpoured blood of your servants
be known among the nations before our eyes.(I)
11 Let the groans of the prisoners come before you;
according to your great power, preserve those doomed to die.(J)
12 Return sevenfold into the bosom of our neighbors
the taunts with which they taunted you, O Lord!(K)
13 Then we your people, the flock of your pasture,
will give thanks to you forever;
from generation to generation we will recount your praise.(L)
25 That night the Lord said to him, “Take your father’s bull, the second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that belongs to your father and cut down the sacred pole[a] that is beside it(A) 26 and build an altar to the Lord your God on the top of the stronghold here, in proper order;[b] then take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the sacred pole[c] that you cut down.” 27 So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the Lord had told him, but because he was too afraid of his family and the townspeople to do it by day, he did it by night.
Gideon Destroys the Altar of Baal
28 When the townspeople rose early in the morning, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the sacred pole[d] beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built.(B) 29 So they said to one another, “Who has done this?” After searching and inquiring, they were told, “Gideon son of Joash did it.” 30 Then the townspeople said to Joash, “Bring out your son so that he may die, for he has pulled down the altar of Baal and cut down the sacred pole[e] beside it.” 31 But Joash said to all who were arrayed against him, “Will you contend for Baal? Or will you defend his cause? Whoever contends for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been pulled down.” 32 Therefore on that day Gideon[f] was called Jerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend against him,” because he pulled down his altar.(C)
33 Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the east came together, and they crossed over and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel.(D) 34 But the spirit of the Lord took possession of Gideon, and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called out to follow him.(E) 35 He sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they, too, were called out to follow him. He also sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they went up to meet them.
The Sign of the Fleece
36 Then Gideon said to God, “In order to see whether you will deliver Israel by my hand, as you have said, 37 I am going to lay a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will deliver Israel by my hand, as you have said.”(F) 38 And it was so. When he rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water. 39 Then Gideon said to God, “Do not let your anger burn against me, but let me speak one more time; let me, please, make trial with the fleece just once more; let it be dry only on the fleece, and on all the ground let there be dew.”(G) 40 And God did so that night. It was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew.
The First Converts
37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, “Brothers,[a] what should we do?”(A) 38 Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.(B) 39 For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.”(C) 40 And he testified with many other arguments and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” 41 So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added. 42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
Life among the Believers
43 Awe came upon everyone because many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.(D) 44 All who believed were together and had all things in common;(E) 45 they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds[b] to all, as any had need. 46 Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home[c] and ate their food with glad and generous[d] hearts,(F) 47 praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.(G)
The Word Became Flesh
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.(A) 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being(B) 4 in him was life,[a] and the life was the light of all people.(C) 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.
6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8 He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. 9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.[b](D)
10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him, yet the world did not know him.(E) 11 He came to what was his own,[c] and his own people did not accept him. 12 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God,(F) 13 who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.(G)
14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son,[d] full of grace and truth.(H) 15 (John testified to him and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ ”) 16 From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.[e](I) 17 The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.(J) 18 No one has ever seen God. It is the only Son, himself God, who[f] is close to the Father’s heart,[g] who has made him known.(K)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.