Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 80
A Prayer for Restoration
For the choir director: according to “The Lilies.”[a] A testimony of Asaph.(A) A psalm.
1 Listen, Shepherd of Israel,
who leads Joseph like a flock;(B)
You who sit enthroned on the cherubim,(C)
rise up(D)
2 before Ephraim,
Benjamin, and Manasseh.[b](E)
Rally Your power and come to save us.(F)
3 Restore us, God;
look on us with favor,
and we will be saved.(G)
4 Lord God of Hosts,
how long will You be angry
with Your people’s prayers?(H)
5 You fed them the bread of tears
and gave them a full measure[c]
of tears to drink.(I)
6 You make us quarrel with our neighbors;
our enemies make fun of us.(J)
7 Restore us, God of Hosts;
look on us with favor, and we will be saved.(K)
8 You uprooted a vine from Egypt;
You drove out the nations and planted it.(L)
9 You cleared a place for it;
it took root and filled the land.(M)
10 The mountains were covered by its shade,
and the mighty cedars[d] with its branches.(N)
11 It sent out sprouts toward the Sea[e]
and shoots toward the River.[f](O)
12 Why have You broken down its walls
so that all who pass by pick its fruit?(P)
13 The boar from the forest tears it
and creatures of the field feed on it.(Q)
14 Return, God of Hosts.(R)
Look down from heaven and see;
take care of this vine,
15 the root[g] Your right hand has planted,
the shoot[h] that You made strong for Yourself.(S)
16 It was cut down and burned up;[i]
they[j] perish at the rebuke of Your countenance.(T)
17 Let Your hand be with the man at Your right hand,
with the son of man
You have made strong for Yourself.(U)
18 Then we will not turn away from You;
revive us, and we will call on Your name.(V)
19 Restore us, Yahweh, the God of Hosts;(W)
look on us with favor, and we will be saved.(X)
Psalm 146
The God of Compassion
1 Hallelujah!
My soul, praise the Lord.(A)
2 I will praise the Lord all my life;
I will sing to my God as long as I live.(B)
3 Do not trust in nobles,
in man, who cannot save.(C)
4 When his breath[a] leaves him,
he returns to the ground;
on that day his plans die.(D)
5 Happy is the one whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,(E)
6 the Maker of heaven and earth,
the sea and everything in them.(F)
He remains faithful forever,(G)
7 executing justice for the exploited
and giving food to the hungry.(H)
The Lord frees prisoners.(I)
8 The Lord opens the eyes of the blind.(J)
The Lord raises up those who are oppressed.[b](K)
The Lord loves the righteous.(L)
9 The Lord protects foreigners
and helps the fatherless and the widow,(M)
but He frustrates the ways of the wicked.(N)
10 The Lord reigns forever;
Zion, your God reigns for all generations.(O)
Hallelujah!
Psalm 147
God Restores Jerusalem
1 Hallelujah!
How good it is to sing to our God,
for praise is pleasant and lovely.(P)
2 The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem;(Q)
He gathers Israel’s exiled people.(R)
3 He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.(S)
4 He counts the number of the stars;
He gives names to all of them.(T)
5 Our Lord is great, vast in power;
His understanding is infinite.[c](U)
6 The Lord helps the afflicted
but brings the wicked to the ground.(V)
7 Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
play the lyre to our God,(W)
8 who covers the sky with clouds,
prepares rain for the earth,
and causes grass to grow on the hills.(X)
9 He provides the animals with their food,
and the young ravens, what they cry for.(Y)
10 He is not impressed by the strength of a horse;
He does not value the power[d] of a man.(Z)
11 The Lord values those who fear Him,
those who put their hope in His faithful love.(AA)
12 Exalt the Lord, Jerusalem;
praise your God, Zion!(AB)
13 For He strengthens the bars of your gates
and blesses your children within you.(AC)
14 He endows your territory with prosperity;[e](AD)
He satisfies you with the finest wheat.(AE)
13 The Lord said:
Because these people approach Me with their mouths(A)
to honor Me with lip-service[a]—
yet their hearts are far from Me,
and their worship consists of man-made rules
learned by rote—
14 therefore I will again confound these people
with wonder after wonder.(B)
The wisdom of their wise men will vanish,(C)
and the understanding of the perceptive will be hidden.
15 Woe to those who go to great lengths
to hide their plans from the Lord.(D)
They do their works in darkness,
and say, “Who sees us? Who knows us?”(E)
16 You have turned things around,
as if the potter were the same as the clay.
How can what is made say about its maker,
“He didn’t make me”?(F)
How can what is formed
say about the one who formed it,
“He doesn’t understand what he’s doing”?
17 Isn’t it true that in just a little while
Lebanon will become an orchard,
and the orchard will seem like a forest?(G)
18 On that day the deaf will hear(H)
the words of a document,
and out of a deep darkness
the eyes of the blind will see.
19 The humble will have joy
after joy in the Lord,
and the poor people will rejoice(I)
in the Holy One of Israel.(J)
20 For the ruthless one will vanish,
the scorner will disappear,(K)
and all those who lie in wait with evil intent
will be killed—
21 those who, with their speech,
accuse a person of wrongdoing,
who set a trap at the gate for the mediator,
and without cause deprive the righteous of justice.(L)
22 Therefore, the Lord who redeemed Abraham(M) says this about the house of Jacob:
Jacob will no longer be ashamed
and his face will no longer be pale.
23 For when he sees his children,
the work of My hands within his nation,
they will honor My name,
they will honor the Holy One of Jacob(N)
and stand in awe of the God of Israel.(O)
24 Those who are confused will gain understanding,
and those who grumble will accept instruction.
22 I did not see a sanctuary in it, because the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its sanctuary. 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because God’s glory illuminates it, and its lamp is the Lamb.(A) 24 The nations[a] will walk in its light,(B) and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.[b](C) 25 Each day its gates will never close because it will never be night there. 26 They will bring the glory and honor of the nations into it.[c](D) 27 Nothing profane will ever enter it:(E) no one who does what is vile or false, but only those written in the Lamb’s book of life.(F)
The Source of Life
22 Then he showed me the river[d] of living water, sparkling like crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb(G) 2 down the middle of the broad street of the city. The tree of life[e] was on both sides of the river, bearing 12 kinds of fruit, producing its fruit every month.(H) The leaves of the tree are for healing the nations, 3 and there will no longer be any curse.(I) The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city,[f] and His slaves will serve Him. 4 They will see His face,(J) and His name will be on their foreheads.(K) 5 Night will no longer exist,(L) and people will not need lamplight or sunlight, because the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign forever and ever.
Mary’s Visit to Elizabeth
39 In those days Mary set out and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judah 40 where she entered Zechariah’s house and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped inside her,[a] and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.(A) 42 Then she exclaimed with a loud cry:
“You are the most blessed of women,
and your child will be blessed![b]
43 How could this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For you see, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped for joy inside me![c] 45 She who has believed is blessed because what was spoken to her by the Lord will be fulfilled!”
Mary’s Praise
46 And Mary said:
48 because He has looked with favor
on the humble condition of His slave.
Surely, from now on all generations
will call me blessed,(A)
49 because the Mighty One(B)
has done great things for me,(C)
and His name(D) is holy.
50 His mercy is from generation to generation(E)
on those who fear Him.
51 He has done a mighty deed with His arm;(F)
He has scattered the proud
because of the thoughts of their hearts;
52 He has toppled the mighty from their thrones
and exalted the lowly.
53 He has satisfied the hungry with good things(G)
and sent the rich away empty.
54 He has helped His servant Israel,
mindful of His mercy,[a]
55 just as He spoke to our ancestors,
to Abraham and his descendants[b] forever.
56 And Mary stayed with her about three months; then she returned to her home.
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