Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer to Bring Israel Back
For the director of music. To the tune of “Lilies of the Agreement.” A psalm of Asaph.
80 Shepherd of Israel, listen to us.
You lead the people of Joseph like a flock.
You sit on your throne between the gold creatures with wings.
Show your greatness 2 to the people of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh.
Use your strength,
and come to save us.
3 God, take us back.
Show us your kindness so we can be saved.
4 Lord God All-Powerful,
how long will you be angry
at the prayers of your people?
5 You have fed your people with tears;
you have made them drink many tears.
6 You made those around us fight over us,
and our enemies make fun of us.
7 God All-Powerful, take us back.
Show us your kindness so we can be saved.
8 You brought us out of Egypt as if we were a vine.
You forced out other nations and planted us in the land.
9 You cleared the ground for us.
Like a vine, we took root and filled the land.
10 We covered the mountains with our shade.
We had limbs like the mighty cedar tree.
11 Our branches reached the Mediterranean Sea,
and our shoots went to the Euphrates River.
12 So why did you pull down our walls?
Now everyone who passes by steals from us.
13 Like wild pigs they walk over us;
like wild animals they feed on us.
14 God All-Powerful, come back.
Look down from heaven and see.
Take care of us, your vine.
15 You planted this shoot with your own hands
and strengthened this child.
16 Now it is cut down and burned with fire;
you destroyed us by your angry looks.
17 With your hand,
strengthen the one you have chosen for yourself.
18 Then we will not turn away from you.
Give us life again, and we will call to you for help.
19 Lord God All-Powerful, take us back.
Show us your kindness so we can be saved.
Remembering God’s Help
For the director of music. For Jeduthun. A psalm of Asaph.
77 I cry out to God;
I call to God, and he will hear me.
2 I look for the Lord on the day of trouble.
All night long I reach out my hands,
but I cannot be comforted.
3 When I remember God, I become upset;
when I think, I become afraid. Selah
4 You keep my eyes from closing.
I am too upset to say anything.
5 I keep thinking about the old days,
the years of long ago.
6 At night I remember my songs.
I think and I ask myself:
7 “Will the Lord reject us forever?
Will he never be kind to us again?
8 Is his love gone forever?
Has he stopped speaking for all time?
9 Has God forgotten mercy?
Is he too angry to pity us?” Selah
10 Then I say, “This is what makes me sad:
For years the power of God Most High was with us.”
11 I remember what the Lord did;
I remember the miracles you did long ago.
12 I think about all the things you did
and consider your deeds.
13 God, your ways are holy.
No god is as great as our God.
14 You are the God who does miracles;
you have shown people your power.
15 By your power you have saved your people,
the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. Selah
16 God, the waters saw you;
they saw you and became afraid;
the deep waters shook with fear.
17 The clouds poured down their rain.
The sky thundered.
Your lightning flashed back and forth like arrows.
18 Your thunder sounded in the whirlwind.
Lightning lit up the world.
The earth trembled and shook.
19 You made a way through the sea
and paths through the deep waters,
but your footprints were not seen.
20 You led your people like a flock
by using Moses and Aaron.
The Nation Cries for Jerusalem
A psalm of Asaph.
79 God, nations have come against your chosen people.
They have ruined your holy Temple.
They have turned Jerusalem into ruins.
2 They have given the bodies of your servants as food to the wild birds.
They have given the bodies of those who worship you to the wild animals.
3 They have spilled blood like water all around Jerusalem.
No one was left to bury the dead.
4 We are a joke to the other nations;
they laugh and make fun of us.
5 Lord, how long will this last?
Will you be angry forever?
How long will your jealousy burn like a fire?
6 Be angry with the nations that do not know you
and with the kingdoms that do not honor you.
7 They have gobbled up the people of Jacob
and destroyed their land.
8 Don’t punish us for our past sins.
Show your mercy to us soon,
because we are helpless!
9 God our Savior, help us
so people will praise you.
Save us and forgive our sins
so people will honor you.
10 Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
Tell the other nations in our presence
that you punish those who kill your servants.
11 Hear the moans of the prisoners.
Use your great power
to save those sentenced to die.
12 Repay those around us seven times over
for their insults to you, Lord.
13 We are your people, the sheep of your flock.
We will thank you always;
forever and ever we will praise you.
Naaman Is Healed
5 Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was honored by his master, and he had much respect because the Lord used him to give victory to Aram. He was a mighty and brave man, but he had a skin disease.
2 The Arameans had gone out to raid the Israelites and had taken a little girl as a captive. This little girl served Naaman’s wife. 3 She said to her mistress, “I wish my master would meet the prophet who lives in Samaria. He would cure him of his disease.”
4 Naaman went to the king and told him what the girl from Israel had said. 5 The king of Aram said, “Go ahead, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman left and took with him about seven hundred fifty pounds of silver, as well as one hundred fifty pounds of gold and ten changes of clothes. 6 He brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, “I am sending my servant Naaman to you so you can heal him of his skin disease.”
7 When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes to show how upset he was. He said, “I’m not God! I can’t kill and make alive again! Why does this man send someone with a skin disease for me to heal? You can see that the king of Aram is trying to start trouble with me.”
8 When Elisha, the man of God, heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent the king this message: “Why have you torn your clothes? Let Naaman come to me. Then he will know there is a prophet in Israel.” 9 So Naaman went with his horses and chariots to Elisha’s house and stood outside the door.
10 Elisha sent Naaman a messenger who said, “Go and wash in the Jordan River seven times. Then your skin will be healed, and you will be clean.”
11 Naaman became angry and left. He said, “I thought Elisha would surely come out and stand before me and call on the name of the Lord his God. I thought he would wave his hand over the place and heal the disease. 12 The Abana and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, are better than all the waters of Israel. Why can’t I wash in them and become clean?” So Naaman went away very angry.
13 Naaman’s servants came near and said to him, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, wouldn’t you have done it? Doesn’t it make more sense just to do it? After all, he only told you, ‘Wash, and you will be clean.’” 14 So Naaman went down and dipped in the Jordan seven times, just as Elisha had said. Then his skin became new again, like the skin of a child. And he was clean.
15 Naaman and all his group returned to Elisha. He stood before Elisha and said, “Look, I now know there is no God in all the earth except in Israel. Now please accept a gift from me.”
16 But Elisha said, “As surely as the Lord lives whom I serve, I won’t accept anything.” Naaman urged him to take the gift, but he refused.
17 Then Naaman said, “If you won’t take the gift, then please give me some soil—as much as two of my mules can carry. From now on I’ll not offer any burnt offering or sacrifice to any other gods but the Lord. 18 But let the Lord pardon me for this: When my master goes into the temple of Rimmon[a] to worship, he leans on my arm. Then I must bow in that temple. May the Lord pardon me when I do that.”
19 Elisha said to him, “Go in peace.”
Naaman left Elisha and went a short way.
8 You think you already have everything you need. You think you are rich. You think you have become kings without us. I wish you really were kings so we could be kings together with you. 9 But it seems to me that God has put us apostles in last place, like those sentenced to die. We are like a show for the whole world to see—angels and people. 10 We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are very wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You receive honor, but we are shamed. 11 Even to this very hour we do not have enough to eat or drink or to wear. We are often beaten, and we have no homes in which to live. 12 We work hard with our own hands for our food. When people curse us, we bless them. When they hurt us, we put up with it. 13 When they tell evil lies about us, we speak nice words about them. Even today, we are treated as though we were the garbage of the world—the filth of the earth.
14 I am not trying to make you feel ashamed. I am writing this to give you a warning as my own dear children. 15 For though you may have ten thousand teachers in Christ, you do not have many fathers. Through the Good News I became your father in Christ Jesus, 16 so I beg you, please follow my example. 17 That is why I am sending to you Timothy, my son in the Lord. I love Timothy, and he is faithful. He will help you remember my way of life in Christ Jesus, just as I teach it in all the churches everywhere.
18 Some of you have become proud, thinking that I will not come to you again. 19 But I will come to you very soon if the Lord wishes. Then I will know what the proud ones do, not what they say, 20 because the kingdom of God is present not in talk but in power. 21 Which do you want: that I come to you with punishment or with love and gentleness?
Jesus Teaches About Anger
21 “You have heard that it was said to our people long ago, ‘You must not murder anyone.[a] Anyone who murders another will be judged.’ 22 But I tell you, if you are angry with a brother or sister,[b] you will be judged. If you say bad things to a brother or sister, you will be judged by the council. And if you call someone a fool, you will be in danger of the fire of hell.
23 “So when you offer your gift to God at the altar, and you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there at the altar. Go and make peace with that person, and then come and offer your gift.
25 “If your enemy is taking you to court, become friends quickly, before you go to court. Otherwise, your enemy might turn you over to the judge, and the judge might give you to a guard to put you in jail. 26 I tell you the truth, you will not leave there until you have paid everything you owe.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.