Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 80[a]
Prayer to Restore God’s Vineyard
1 For the leader; according to “Lilies.” Eduth.[b] A psalm of Asaph.
I
2 O Shepherd of Israel, lend an ear,
you who guide Joseph like a flock!
Seated upon the cherubim, shine forth(A)
3 upon Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh.
Stir up your power, and come to save us.
4 (B)O God, restore us;
light up your face and we shall be saved.
II
5 Lord of hosts,
how long will you smolder in anger
while your people pray?(C)
6 You have fed them the bread of tears,
made them drink tears in great measure.[c](D)
7 You have left us to be fought over by our neighbors;
our enemies deride us.(E)
8 O God of hosts, restore us;
light up your face and we shall be saved.
III
9 You brought a vine[d] out of Egypt;
you drove out nations and planted it.
10 You cleared out what was before it;
it took deep root and filled the land.
11 The mountains were covered by its shadow,
the cedars of God by its branches.
12 It sent out its boughs as far as the sea,[e]
its shoots as far as the river.
13 Why have you broken down its walls,
so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?(F)
14 The boar from the forest strips the vine;
the beast of the field feeds upon it.(G)
15 Turn back again, God of hosts;
look down from heaven and see;
Visit this vine,
16 the stock your right hand has planted,
and the son[f] whom you made strong for yourself.
17 Those who would burn or cut it down—
may they perish at your rebuke.
18 May your hand be with the man on your right,[g]
with the son of man whom you made strong for yourself.
19 Then we will not withdraw from you;
revive us, and we will call on your name.
20 Lord God of hosts, restore us;
light up your face and we shall be saved.
Psalm 77[a]
Confidence in God During National Distress
1 For the leader; According to Jeduthun. A psalm of Asaph.
I
2 I cry aloud to God,
I cry to God to hear me.
3 On the day of my distress I seek the Lord;
by night my hands are stretched out unceasingly;(A)
I refuse to be consoled.
4 When I think of God, I groan;
as I meditate, my spirit grows faint.(B)
Selah
5 You have kept me from closing my eyes in sleep;
I am troubled and cannot speak.
6 I consider the days of old;
the years long past 7 I remember.(C)
At night I ponder in my heart;
and as I meditate, my spirit probes:
8 “Will the Lord reject us forever,(D)
never again show favor?
9 Has God’s mercy ceased forever?
The promise to go unfulfilled for future ages?
10 Has God forgotten how to show mercy,
in anger withheld his compassion?”
Selah
11 [b]I conclude: “My sorrow is this,
the right hand of the Most High has abandoned us.”(E)
II
12 [c]I will recall the deeds of the Lord;
yes, recall your wonders of old.(F)
13 I will ponder all your works;
on your exploits I will meditate.
14 Your way, God, is holy;
what god is as great as our God?(G)
15 You are the God who does wonders;
among the peoples you have revealed your might.(H)
16 With your mighty arm you redeemed your people,
the children of Jacob and Joseph.(I)
Selah
17 The waters saw you, God;
the waters saw you and lashed about,
even the deeps of the sea[d] trembled.(J)
18 The clouds poured down their rains;
the thunderheads rumbled;
your arrows flashed back and forth.(K)
19 The thunder of your chariot wheels resounded;
your lightning lit up the world;
the earth trembled and quaked.(L)
20 Through the sea was your way;
your path, through the mighty waters,
though your footsteps were unseen.(M)
21 You led your people like a flock
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.(N)
Psalm 79[a]
A Prayer for Jerusalem
1 A psalm of Asaph.
I
O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance;
they have defiled your holy temple;
they have laid Jerusalem in ruins.(A)
2 They have left the corpses of your servants
as food for the birds of the sky,
the flesh of those devoted to you for the beasts of the earth.(B)
3 They have poured out their blood like water
all around Jerusalem,
and no one is left to do the burying.(C)
4 We have become the reproach of our neighbors,
the scorn and derision of those around us.(D)
II
5 How long, Lord? Will you be angry forever?
Will your jealous anger keep burning like fire?(E)
6 Pour out your wrath on nations that do not recognize you,
on kingdoms that do not call on your name,(F)
7 For they have devoured Jacob,
laid waste his dwelling place.
8 Do not remember against us the iniquities of our forefathers;
let your compassion move quickly ahead of us,
for we have been brought very low.(G)
III
9 Help us, God our savior,
on account of the glory of your name.
Deliver us, pardon our sins
for your name’s sake.(H)
10 Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”(I)
Before our eyes make known to the nations
that you avenge the blood of your servants which has been poured out.(J)
IV
11 Let the groaning of the imprisoned come in before you;
in accord with the greatness of your arm
preserve those doomed to die.(K)
12 Turn back sevenfold into the bosom of our neighbors
the insult with which they insulted you, Lord.(L)
13 Then we, your people, the sheep of your pasture,
will give thanks to you forever;
from generation to generation
we will recount your praise.
Chapter 8
God’s Care. 1 Be careful to observe this whole commandment(A) that I enjoin on you today, that you may live and increase, and may enter in and possess the land which the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors. 2 Remember how for these forty years the Lord, your God, has directed all your journeying in the wilderness,(B) so as to test you by affliction, to know what was in your heart: to keep his commandments, or not. 3 He therefore let you be afflicted with hunger, and then fed you with manna,(C) a food unknown to you and your ancestors, so you might know that it is not by bread alone[a] that people live, but by all that comes forth from the mouth of the Lord. 4 The clothing did not fall from you in tatters, nor did your feet swell these forty years.(D) 5 So you must know in your heart that, even as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord, your God, disciplines you.(E) 6 Therefore, keep the commandments of the Lord, your God, by walking in his ways and fearing him.
Cautions About Prosperity. 7 (F)For the Lord, your God, is bringing you into a good country, a land with streams of water, with springs and fountains welling up in the hills and valleys, 8 a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, of olive trees and of honey, 9 a land where you will always have bread and where you will lack nothing, a land whose stones contain iron and in whose hills you can mine copper. 10 But when you have eaten and are satisfied, you must bless the Lord, your God, for the good land he has given you.
I. Address
Chapter 1
1 [a]James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes in the dispersion, greetings.(A)
II. The Value of Trials and Temptation
Perseverance in Trial. 2 (B)Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials,[b] 3 for you know that the testing[c] of your faith produces perseverance. 4 And let perseverance be perfect, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 5 But if any of you lacks wisdom,[d] he should ask God who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and he will be given it.(C) 6 But he should ask in faith, not doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed about by the wind.(D) 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord, 8 since he is a man of two minds, unstable in all his ways.
9 The brother in lowly circumstances[e] should take pride in his high standing,(E) 10 and the rich one in his lowliness, for he will pass away “like the flower of the field.”(F) 11 For the sun comes up with its scorching heat and dries up the grass, its flower droops, and the beauty of its appearance vanishes. So will the rich person fade away in the midst of his pursuits.
Temptation. 12 (G)Blessed is the man who perseveres in temptation,[f] for when he has been proved he will receive the crown of life that he promised to those who love him. 13 [g]No one experiencing temptation should say, “I am being tempted by God”; for God is not subject to temptation to evil, and he himself tempts no one.(H) 14 Rather, each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire conceives and brings forth sin, and when sin reaches maturity it gives birth to death.
18 (A)Once when Jesus was praying in solitude,[a] and the disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” 19 They said in reply, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, ‘One of the ancient prophets has arisen.’”(B) 20 Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter said in reply, “The Messiah of God.”[b] 21 He rebuked them and directed them not to tell this to anyone.
The First Prediction of the Passion. 22 He said, “The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.”(C)
The Conditions of Discipleship.(D) 23 Then he said to all, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily[c] and follow me.(E) 24 For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.(F) 25 What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself? 26 Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.(G) 27 Truly I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”
The Transfiguration of Jesus.[d]
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