Book of Common Prayer
(A special psalm by Asaph.)
What God Has Done for His People
1 My friends, I beg you
to listen as I teach.
2 (A) I will give instruction
and explain the mystery
of what happened long ago.
3 These are things we learned
from our ancestors,
4 and we will tell them
to the next generation.
We won't keep secret
the glorious deeds
and the mighty miracles
of the Lord.
5 God gave his Law
to Jacob's descendants,
the people of Israel.
And he told our ancestors
to teach their children,
6 so that each new generation
would know his Law
and tell it to the next.
7 Then they would trust God
and obey his teachings,
without forgetting anything
God had done.
8 They would be different
from their ancestors,
who were stubborn, rebellious,
and unfaithful to God.
9 The warriors from Ephraim
were armed with arrows,
but they ran away
when the battle began.
10 They broke their agreement
with God,
and they turned their backs
on his teaching.
11 They forgot all he had done,
even the mighty miracles
12 (B)(C) he did for their ancestors
near Zoan[a] in Egypt.
13 (D) God made a path in the sea
and piled up the water
as he led them across.
14 (E) He guided them during the day
with a cloud,
and each night he led them
with a flaming fire.
15 (F) God made water flow
from rocks he split open
in the desert,
and his people drank freely,
as though from a lake.
16 He made streams gush out
like rivers from rocks.
17 But in the desert,
the people of God Most High
kept sinning and rebelling.
18 (G) They stubbornly tested God
and demanded from him
what they wanted to eat.
19 They challenged God by saying,
“Can God provide food
out here in the desert?
20 It's true God struck the rock
and water gushed out
like a river,
but can he give his people
bread and meat?”
21 When the Lord heard this,
he was angry and furious
with Jacob's descendants,
the people of Israel.
22 They had refused to trust him,
and they had doubted
his saving power.
23 But God gave a command
to the clouds,
and he opened the doors
in the skies.
24 (H) From heaven he sent grain
that they called manna.[b]
25 He gave them more than enough,
and each one of them ate
this special food.
26 God's mighty power
sent a strong wind
from the southeast,
27 and it brought birds
that covered the ground,
like sand on the beach.
28 Then God made the birds fall
in the camp of his people
near their tents.
29 God gave his people
all they wanted,
and each of them ate
until they were full.
30 But before they had swallowed
the last bite,
31 God became angry and killed
the strongest and best
from the families of Israel.
32 But the rest kept on sinning
and would not trust
God's miracles.
33 So he cut their lives short
and made them terrified.
34 After he killed some of them,
the others turned to him
with all their hearts.
35 They remembered God Most High,
the mighty rock[c]
that kept them safe.
36 But they tried to flatter God,
and they told him lies;
37 (I) they were unfaithful
and broke their promises.
38 Yet God was kind.
He kept forgiving their sins
and didn't destroy them.
He often became angry,
but never lost his temper.
39 God remembered that they
were made of flesh
and were like a wind
that blows once
and then dies down.
40 While they were in the desert,
they often rebelled
and made God sad.
41 They kept testing him
and caused terrible pain
for the Holy One of Israel.
42 They forgot about his power
and how he had rescued them
from their enemies.
43 God showed them all kinds
of wonderful miracles
near Zoan[d] in Egypt.
44 (J) He turned the rivers of Egypt
into blood,
and no one could drink
from the streams.
45 (K) He sent swarms of flies
to pester the Egyptians,
and he sent frogs
to cause them trouble.
46 (L) God let worms and grasshoppers
eat their crops.
47 (M) He destroyed their grapevines
and their fig trees
with hail and floods.[e]
48 Then he killed their cattle
with hail
and their other animals
with lightning.
49 God was so angry and furious
that he went into a rage
and caused them great trouble
by sending swarms
of destroying angels.
50 God released his anger
and slaughtered them
in a terrible way.
51 (N) He killed the first-born son
of each Egyptian family.
52 (O) Then God led his people
out of Egypt
and guided them in the desert
like a flock of sheep.
53 (P) He led them safely along,
and they were not afraid,
but their enemies drowned
in the sea.
54 (Q) God brought his people
to the sacred mountain
that he had taken
by his own power.
55 (R) He made nations run
from the tribes of Israel,
and he let the tribes
take over their land.
56 (S) But the people tested
God Most High,
and they refused
to obey his laws.
57 They were as unfaithful
as their ancestors,
and they were as crooked
as a twisted arrow.
58 God demanded all their love,
but they made him angry
by worshiping idols.
59 So God became furious
and completely rejected
the people of Israel.
60 (T) Then he deserted his home
at Shiloh, where he lived
here on earth.
61 (U) He let enemies capture
the sacred chest[f]
and let them dishonor him.
62 God took out his anger
on his chosen ones
and let them be killed
by enemy swords.
63 Fire destroyed the young men,
and the young women were left
with no one to marry.
64 Priests died violent deaths,
but their widows
were not allowed to mourn.
65 Finally the Lord woke up,
like a soldier
startled from a drunken sleep.
66 God scattered his enemies
and made them ashamed
forever.
67 Then the Lord decided
not to make his home
with Joseph's descendants
in Ephraim.[g]
68 Instead he chose the tribe
of Judah,
and he chose Mount Zion,
the place he loves.
69 There he built his temple
as lofty as the mountains
and as solid as the earth
he made to last forever.
70 (V) The Lord God chose David
to be his servant and took him
from tending sheep
71 and from caring for lambs.
Then God made him the leader
of Israel, his own nation.
72 David treated the people fairly
and guided them with wisdom.
Isaac and Abimelech
26 Once during Abraham's lifetime, the fields had not produced enough grain, and now the same thing happened. So Isaac went to King Abimelech of the Philistines in the land of Gerar, 2 because the Lord had appeared to Isaac and said:
Isaac, stay away from Egypt! I will show you where I want you to go. 3 (A) You will live there as a foreigner, but I will be with you and bless you. I will keep my promise to your father Abraham by giving this land to you and your descendants.
4 I will give you as many descendants as there are stars in the sky, and I will give your descendants all of this land. They will be a blessing to every nation on earth,[a] 5 because Abraham did everything I told him to do.
6 Isaac moved to Gerar
12 Isaac planted grain and had a good harvest that same year. The Lord blessed him, 13 and Isaac was so successful that he became very rich. 14 In fact, the Philistines were jealous of the large number of sheep, goats, and slaves that Isaac owned, 15 and they stopped up the wells that Abraham's servants had dug before his death. 16 Finally, Abimelech said, “Isaac, I want you to leave our country. You have become too powerful to stay here.”
17 Isaac left and settled in Gerar Valley, 18 where he cleaned out those wells that the Philistines had stopped up. Isaac also gave each of the wells the same name[a] that Abraham had given to them. 19 While his servants were digging in the valley, they found a spring-fed well. 20 But the shepherds of Gerar Valley quarreled with Isaac's shepherds and claimed the water belonged to them. So this well was named “Quarrel,” because they had quarreled with Isaac.
21 Isaac's servants dug another well, and the shepherds also quarreled about it. So that well was named “Jealous.” 22 Finally, they dug one more well. There was no quarreling this time, and the well was named “Lots of Room,” because the Lord had given them room and would make them very successful.
23 Isaac went on to Beersheba, 24 where the Lord appeared to him that night and told him, “Don't be afraid! I am the God who was worshiped by your father Abraham, my servant. I will be with you and bless you, and because of Abraham I will give you many descendants.” 25 Isaac built an altar there and worshiped the Lord. Then he set up camp, and his servants started digging a well.
26 (A) Meanwhile, Abimelech had left Gerar and was taking his advisor Ahuzzath and his army commander Phicol to see Isaac. 27 When they arrived, Isaac asked, “Why are you here? Didn't you send me away because you hated me?”
28 They answered, “We now know for certain that the Lord is with you, and we have decided there needs to be a peace treaty between you and us. So let's make a solemn agreement 29 not to harm each other. Remember, we have never hurt you, and when we sent you away, we let you go in peace. The Lord has truly blessed you.”
30 Isaac gave a big feast for them, and everyone ate and drank. 31 Early the next morning Isaac and the others made a solemn agreement, then he let them go in peace.
32 Later that same day Isaac's servants came and said, “We've struck water!” 33 So Isaac named the well Shibah,[b] and the town is still called Beersheba.[c]
17 Obey your leaders and do what they say. They are watching over you, and they must answer to God. So don't make them sad as they do their work. Make them happy. Otherwise, they won't be able to help you at all.
18 Pray for us. Our consciences are clear, and we always try to live right. 19 I especially want you to pray that I can visit you again soon.
Final Prayers and Greetings
20 God gives peace, and he raised our Lord Jesus Christ from death. Now Jesus is like a Great Shepherd whose blood was used to make God's eternal agreement with his flock.[a] 21 (A) I pray God will make you ready to obey him and that you will always be eager to do right. May Jesus help you do what pleases God. To Jesus Christ be glory forever and ever! Amen.
22 My friends, I have written only a short letter to encourage you, and I beg you to pay close attention to what I have said.
23 By now you surely must know that our friend Timothy is out of jail. If he gets here in time, I will bring him with me when I come to visit you.
24 Please give my greetings to your leaders and to the rest of the Lord's people.
His followers from Italy send you their greetings.
25 I pray that God will be kind to all of you![b]
A Woman Caught in Sin
53 Everyone else went home, 8 1 but Jesus walked out to the Mount of Olives. 2 Then early the next morning he went to the temple. The people came to him, and he sat down[a] and started teaching them.
3 The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law of Moses brought in a woman who had been caught in bed with a man who wasn't her husband. They made her stand in the middle of the crowd. 4 Then they said, “Teacher, this woman was caught sleeping with a man who isn't her husband. 5 (A) The Law of Moses teaches that a woman like this should be stoned to death! What do you say?”
6 They asked Jesus this question, because they wanted to test him and bring some charge against him. But Jesus simply bent over and started writing on the ground with his finger.
7 (B) They kept on asking Jesus about the woman. Finally, he stood up and said, “If any of you have never sinned, then go ahead and throw the first stone at her!” 8 Once again he bent over and began writing on the ground. 9 The people left one by one, beginning with the oldest. Finally, Jesus and the woman were there alone.
10 Jesus stood up and asked her, “Where is everyone? Isn't there anyone left to accuse you?”
11 “No sir,” the woman answered.
Then Jesus told her, “I am not going to accuse you either. You may go now, but don't sin anymore.”[b]
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