Book of Common Prayer

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.