Book of Common Prayer
O God, Restore Us
For the choir director. [a]El Shoshannim. [b]Eduth. Of Asaph. A Psalm.
80 O (A)Shepherd of Israel, give ear,
You who guide (B)Joseph like a flock;
You who (C)are enthroned above the cherubim, shine forth!
2 Before (D)Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, (E)stir up Your might
And come to save us!
3 O God, (F)restore us
And (G)cause Your face to shine upon us, that we would be saved.
4 O (H)Yahweh God of hosts,
(I)How long will You [c]smolder against the prayer of Your people?
5 You have fed them with the (J)bread of tears,
And You have made them to drink tears in [d]large measure.
6 You set us as [e]an object of strife (K)to our neighbors,
And our enemies mock us among themselves.
7 O God of hosts, restore us
And cause Your face to shine upon us, that we might be saved.
8 You removed a (L)vine from Egypt;
You (M)drove out the [f]nations and then You (N)planted it.
9 You (O)cleared the ground before it,
And it (P)took deep root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shadow,
And [g]the cedars of God with its (Q)boughs.
11 It sent out its branches (R)to the sea
And its shoots to the River.
12 Why have You (S)broken down its [h]hedges,
So that all who pass that way pick its fruit?
13 A boar from the forest (T)devours it
And whatever moves in the field feeds on it.
14 O God of hosts, (U)return now, we beseech You;
(V)Look down from heaven and see, and visit this vine,
15 Even the [i](W)sapling which Your right hand has planted,
And on the [j]son whom You have [k]strengthened for Yourself.
16 It is (X)burned with fire, it is cut down;
They perish at the (Y)rebuke of Your face.
17 Let (Z)Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand,
Upon the son of man whom You (AA)made strong for Yourself.
18 Then we shall not (AB)turn back from You;
(AC)Revive us, and we will call upon Your name.
19 O Yahweh God of hosts, (AD)restore us;
Cause Your face to shine upon us, that we might be saved.
In My Distress I Sought the Lord
For the choir director. According to [a]Jeduthun. Of Asaph. A Psalm.
77 My voice rises to God, and I must (A)cry aloud;
My voice rises to God, and He will hear me.
2 In the (B)day of my distress I sought the Lord;
(C)In the night my (D)hand was stretched out [b]without weariness;
My soul (E)refused to be comforted.
3 I remember God and I am (F)disturbed;
I (G)muse and (H)my spirit faints. [c]Selah.
4 You have held my eyelids open;
I am so troubled that I (I)cannot speak.
5 I give thought to the (J)days of old,
The years of long ago.
6 I remember my (K)music in the night;
I (L)am musing with my heart,
And my spirit is searching:
7 Will the Lord (M)reject evermore?
And will He (N)not be favorable again?
8 Has His (O)lovingkindness ceased forever?
Has His [d](P)word ended [e]from generation to generation?
9 Has God (Q)forgotten to be gracious,
Or has He in anger shut up His (R)compassion? Selah.
10 Then I said, “(S)It is my [f]grief,
That the (T)right hand of the Most High has changed.”
11 I shall remember the (U)deeds of Yah;
Surely I will (V)remember Your wonders of old.
12 I will (W)meditate on all Your work
And muse on Your deeds.
13 O God, Your way is (X)holy;
(Y)What god is great like God?
14 You are the (Z)God who works wonders;
You have (AA)made known Your strength among the peoples.
15 You have by Your arm (AB)redeemed Your people,
The sons of Jacob and (AC)Joseph. Selah.
16 The (AD)waters saw You, O God;
The waters saw You, they were in anguish;
The deeps also trembled.
17 The (AE)clouds poured out water;
The skies (AF)gave forth a sound;
Your (AG)arrows went here and there.
18 The (AH)sound of Your thunder was in the whirlwind;
The (AI)lightnings lit up the world;
The (AJ)earth trembled and shook.
19 Your (AK)way was in the sea
And Your paths in the mighty waters,
But Your footprints were not known.
20 You (AL)led Your people like a flock
By the hand of (AM)Moses and Aaron.
How Long, O Yahweh?
A Psalm of Asaph.
79 O God, the (A)nations have come into (B)Your inheritance;
They have defiled Your (C)holy temple;
They have (D)laid Jerusalem in ruins.
2 They have given the (E)dead bodies of Your slaves for food to the birds of the heavens,
The flesh of Your holy ones to the beasts of the earth.
3 They have poured out their blood like water round about Jerusalem;
And there was (F)no one to bury them.
4 We have become a (G)reproach to our neighbors,
A mockery and derision to those around us.
5 (H)How long, O Yahweh? Will You be angry forever?
Will Your (I)jealousy (J)burn like fire?
6 (K)Pour out Your wrath upon the nations which (L)do not know You,
And upon the kingdoms which (M)do not call upon Your name.
7 For they have (N)devoured Jacob
And (O)laid waste his [a]abode.
8 (P)Do not remember our former iniquities against us;
Let Your compassion quickly (Q)approach us,
For we are (R)brought very low.
9 (S)Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of (T)Your name;
And deliver us and (U)atone for our sins (V)for Your name’s sake.
10 (W)Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”
Let it be known among the nations before our eyes:
(X)Vengeance for the blood of Your slaves which has been poured out.
11 Let (Y)the groaning of the prisoner come before You;
According to the greatness of Your [b]power preserve [c]those who are (Z)doomed to die.
12 And return to our neighbors (AA)sevenfold (AB)into their bosom
[d]The (AC)reproach with which they have reproached You, O Lord.
13 But as for us, as Your people and the (AD)sheep of Your pasture,
We will (AE)give thanks to You forever;
From generation to generation we will (AF)recount Your praise.
4 Then Esther’s young women and her eunuchs came and told her, and the queen writhed in great anguish. And she sent garments to clothe Mordecai and to remove his sackcloth from upon him, but he did not accept them. 5 Then Esther summoned Hathach from the king’s eunuchs, whom [a]the king had appointed to attend her, and commanded him to go to Mordecai to know what this was and why it was. 6 So Hathach went out to Mordecai to the city square in front of the king’s gate. 7 And Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and (A)the exact amount of silver that Haman had promised to pay to the king’s treasuries to cause the Jews to perish. 8 He also gave him (B)a copy of the written law which had been given in Susa for their destruction, in order to show Esther and to tell her and to command her to go in to the king to implore his favor and to seek him out for her people.
9 Then Hathach came back and told Mordecai’s words to Esther. 10 Then Esther spoke to Hathach and commanded him to reply to Mordecai: 11 “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that for any man or woman who (C)comes to the king to the inner court who is not summoned, (D)he has but one law, that he be put to death, unless the king holds out (E)to him the golden scepter so that he may live. And I have not been summoned to come to the king for these thirty days.” 12 So they told Esther’s words to Mordecai.
13 Then Mordecai said for them to respond to Esther, “Do not imagine that you in the king’s [b]house can escape any more than all the Jews. 14 For if you remain silent at this time, relief and (F)deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not reached royalty for such a time as this?”
Esther and the Jews Fast
15 Then Esther said for them to respond to Mordecai, 16 “Go, gather all the Jews who are found in Susa, and fast for me; (G)do not eat or drink for (H)three days, night or day. I and my young women also will fast in the same way. And thus I will go in to the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish.” 17 So Mordecai went away and did just as Esther had commanded him.
In Corinth
18 After these things he departed (A)Athens and went to (B)Corinth. 2 And he found a Jew named (C)Aquila, a native of (D)Pontus, and his wife (E)Priscilla, who recently came from (F)Italy because (G)Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome. He came to them, 3 and because he was of the same trade, he was staying with them and (H)they were working, for by trade they were tent-makers. 4 And he was reasoning (I)in the synagogue every (J)Sabbath and trying to persuade both (K)Jews and Greeks.
5 But when (L)Silas and Timothy (M)came down from (N)Macedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the word, solemnly (O)bearing witness to the Jews that (P)Jesus is the [a]Christ. 6 But when they resisted and blasphemed, he (Q)shook out his garments and said to them, “Your (R)blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will go (S)to the Gentiles.” 7 Then he left there and went to the house of a man named [b]Titius Justus, a (T)God-fearer, whose house was next to the synagogue. 8 (U)And Crispus, (V)the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord (W)with all his household, and many of the (X)Corinthians when they heard were believing and being baptized. 9 And the Lord said to Paul in the night by (Y)a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent; 10 for I am with you, and no man will lay a hand on you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city.” 11 And he stayed there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.
Luke’s Account of Things Fulfilled
1 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things that [a](A)have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as those, who (B)from the beginning [b]were (C)eyewitnesses and [c](D)servants of (E)the [d]word, handed them down to us, 3 it seemed fitting for me as well, (F)having [e]investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you (G)in orderly sequence, (H)most excellent (I)Theophilus, 4 so that you may know the certainty about the things you have been [f](J)taught.
The Preaching of John the Baptist
3 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when (A)Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and (B)Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, 2 during the high priesthood of (C)Annas and (D)Caiaphas, (E)the word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness. 3 And he came into all (F)the district around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins; 4 as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,
“(G)The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
‘Make ready the way of the [a]Lord,
Make His paths straight.
5 (H)Every ravine will be filled,
And every mountain and hill will be [b]brought low;
The crooked will be straight,
And the rough roads smooth.
6 (I)And all [c]flesh will (J)see the salvation of God.’”
7 So he was saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him, “(K)You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and (L)do not begin to say [d]to yourselves, ‘(M)We have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. 9 But indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore, (N)every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
10 And the crowds were questioning him, saying, “(O)Then what should we do?” 11 And he would answer and say to them, “The man who has two [e]tunics is to (P)share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise.” 12 And (Q)tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what should we do?” 13 And he said to them, “[f]Collect no more than what you have been ordered to.” 14 And soldiers were also questioning him, saying, “What should we also do?” And he said to them, “Do not take money from anyone by force, or (R)extort anyone, and (S)be content with your wages.”
Legacy Standard Bible Copyright ©2021 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org For Permission to Quote Information visit https://www.LSBible.org.