Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 78
A maskil[a] of Asaph.
78 Listen, my people, to my teaching;
tilt your ears toward the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth with a proverb.
I’ll declare riddles from days long gone—
3 ones that we’ve heard and learned about,
ones that our ancestors told us.
4 We won’t hide them from their descendants;
we’ll tell the next generation
all about the praise due the Lord and his strength—
the wondrous works God has done.
5 He established a law for Jacob
and set up Instruction for Israel,
ordering our ancestors
to teach them to their children.
6 This is so that the next generation
and children not yet born will know these things,
and so they can rise up and tell their children
7 to put their hope in God—
never forgetting God’s deeds,
but keeping God’s commandments—
8 and so that they won’t become like their ancestors:
a rebellious, stubborn generation,
a generation whose heart wasn’t set firm
and whose spirit wasn’t faithful to God.
9 The children of Ephraim, armed with bows,
retreated on the day of battle.
10 They didn’t keep God’s covenant;
they refused to walk in his Instruction.
11 They forgot God’s deeds
as well as the wondrous works he showed them.
12 But God performed wonders in their ancestors’ presence—
in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
13 God split the sea and led them through,
making the waters stand up like a wall.
14 God led them with the cloud by day;
by the lightning all through the night.
15 God split rocks open in the wilderness,
gave them plenty to drink—
as if from the deep itself!
16 God made streams flow from the rock,
made water run like rivers.
17 But they continued to sin against God,
rebelling against the Most High in the desert.
18 They tested God in their hearts,
demanded food for their stomachs.
19 They spoke against God!
“Can God set a dinner table in the wilderness?” they asked.
20 “True, God struck the rock
and water gushed and streams flowed,
but can he give bread too?
Can he provide meat for his people?”
21 When the Lord heard this, he became furious.
A fire was ignited against Jacob;
wrath also burned against Israel
22 because they had no faith in God,
because they didn’t trust his saving power.
23 God gave orders to the skies above,
opened heaven’s doors,
24 and rained manna on them so they could eat.
He gave them the very grain of heaven!
25 Each person ate the bread of the powerful ones;[b]
God sent provisions to satisfy them.
26 God set the east wind moving across the skies
and drove the south wind by his strength.
27 He rained meat on them as if it were dust in the air;
he rained as many birds as the sand on the seashore!
28 God brought the birds down in the center of their camp,
all around their dwellings.
29 So they ate and were completely satisfied;
God gave them exactly what they had craved.
30 But they didn’t stop craving—
even with the food still in their mouths!
31 So God’s anger came up against them:
he killed the most hearty of them;
he cut down Israel’s youth in their prime.
32 But in spite of all that, they kept sinning
and had no faith in God’s wondrous works.
33 So God brought their days to an end,
like a puff of air,
and their years in total ruin.
34 But whenever God killed them, they went after him!
They would turn and earnestly search for God.
35 They would remember that God was their rock,
that the Most High was their redeemer.
36 But they were just flattering him with lip service.
They were lying to him with their tongues.
37 Their hearts weren’t firmly set on him;
they weren’t faithful to his covenant.
38 But God, being compassionate,
kept forgiving their sins,
kept avoiding destruction;
he took back his anger so many times,
wouldn’t stir up all his wrath!
39 God kept remembering that they were just flesh,
just breath that passes and doesn’t come back.
40 How often they rebelled against God in the wilderness
and distressed him in the desert!
41 Time and time again they tested God,
provoking the holy one of Israel.
42 They didn’t remember God’s power—
the day when he saved them from the enemy;
43 how God performed his signs in Egypt,
his marvelous works in the field of Zoan.
44 God turned their rivers into blood;
they couldn’t drink from their own streams.
45 God sent swarms against them to eat them up,
frogs to destroy them.
46 God handed over their crops to caterpillars,
their land’s produce to locusts.
47 God killed their vines with hail,
their sycamore trees with frost.
48 God delivered their cattle over to disease,[c]
their herds to plagues.
49 God unleashed his burning anger against them—
fury, indignation, distress,
a troop of evil messengers.
50 God blazed a path for his wrath.
He didn’t save them from death,
but delivered their lives over to disease.
51 God struck down all of Egypt’s oldest males;
in Ham’s tents, he struck their pride and joy.
52 God led his own people out like sheep,
guiding them like a flock in the wilderness.
53 God led them in safety—they were not afraid!
But the sea engulfed their enemies!
54 God brought them to his holy territory,
to the mountain that his own strong hand had acquired.
55 God drove out the nations before them
and apportioned property for them;
he settled Israel’s tribes in their tents.
56 But they tested and defied the Most High God;
they didn’t pay attention to his warnings.
57 They turned away, became faithless just like their ancestors;
they twisted away like a defective bow.
58 They angered God with their many shrines;
they angered him with their idols.
59 God heard and became enraged;
he rejected Israel utterly.
60 God abandoned the sanctuary at Shiloh,
the tent where he had lived with humans.
61 God let his power be held captive,
let his glory go to the enemy’s hand.
62 God delivered his people up to the sword;
he was enraged at his own possession.
63 Fire devoured his young men,
and his young women had no wedding songs.
64 God’s priests were killed by the sword,
and his widows couldn’t even cry.
65 But then my Lord woke up—
as if he’d been sleeping!
Like a warrior shaking off wine,
66 God beat back his foes;
he made them an everlasting disgrace.
67 God rejected the tent of Joseph
and didn’t choose the tribe of Ephraim.
68 Instead, he chose the tribe of Judah,
the mountain of Zion, which he loves.
69 God built his sanctuary like the highest heaven
and like the earth, which he established forever.
70 And God chose David, his servant,
taking him from the sheepfolds.
71 God brought him from shepherding nursing ewes
to shepherd his people Jacob,
to shepherd his inheritance, Israel.
72 David shepherded them with a heart of integrity;
he led them with the skill of his hands.
Esther acts
5 Three days later, Esther put on royal clothes and stood in the inner courtyard of the palace, facing the palace itself. At that moment the king was inside sitting on his royal throne and facing the palace doorway. 2 When the king noticed Queen Esther standing in the entry court, he was pleased. The king held out to Esther the gold scepter in his hand, and she came forward and touched the scepter’s tip.
3 Then the king said to her, “What is it, Queen Esther? What do you want? I’ll give you anything—even half the kingdom.”
4 Esther answered, “If the king wishes, please come today with Haman for the feast that I have prepared for him.”
5 “Hurry, get Haman,” the king ordered, “so we can do what Esther says.” So the king and Haman came to the feast that Esther had prepared. 6 As they sipped wine, the king asked, “Now what is it you wish? I’ll give it to you. What do you want? I’ll do anything—even give you half the kingdom.”
7 Esther answered, “This is my wish and this is what I want: 8 If I please the king, and if the king wishes to grant my wish and my desire, I’d like the king and Haman to come to another feast that I will prepare for them. Tomorrow I will answer the king’s questions.”
Haman boasts, complains, and acts
9 That day Haman left Esther’s place happy, his spirits high, but then he saw Mordecai in the King’s Gate. Mordecai neither stood up nor seemed the least bit nervous around him, so Haman suddenly felt great rage toward Mordecai. 10 But Haman held himself back and went on home. He sent word that his friends and his wife Zeresh should join him there. 11 Haman boasted to them about his great wealth and his many sons. He told all about how the king had honored him by promoting him over the officials and high royal workers. 12 “Best of all,” Haman said, “Queen Esther has invited no one else but me to join the king for food and drinks that she has prepared. In fact, I’ve been called to join the king at her place tomorrow! 13 But all this loses its meaning every time I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the King’s Gate.”
14 So his wife Zeresh and all his friends told him: “Have people prepare a pointed pole seventy-five feet high. In the morning, tell the king to have Mordecai impaled on it. Then you can go with the king to the feast in a happy mood.” Haman liked the idea and had the pole prepared.
12 Now when Gallio was the governor of the province of Achaia, the Jews united in their opposition against Paul and brought him before the court. 13 “This man is persuading others to worship God unlawfully,” they declared.
14 Just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to the Jews, “If there had been some sort of injury or criminal behavior, I would have reason to accept your complaint. 15 However, since these are squabbles about a message, names, and your own Law, deal with them yourselves. I have no desire to sit in judgment over such things.” 16 He expelled them from the court, 17 but everyone seized Sosthenes, the synagogue leader, and gave him a beating in the presence of the governor. None of this mattered to Gallio.
18 After Paul stayed in Corinth for some time, he said good-bye to the brothers and sisters. At the Corinthian seaport of Cenchreae he had his head shaved, since he had made a solemn promise. Then, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila, he sailed away to Syria. 19 After they arrived in Ephesus, he left Priscilla and Aquila and entered the synagogue and interacted with the Jews. 20 They asked him to stay longer, but he declined. 21 As he said farewell to them, though, he added, “God willing, I will return.” Then he sailed off from Ephesus. 22 He arrived in Caesarea, went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church, and then went down to Antioch.
23 After some time there he left and traveled from place to place in the region of Galatia and the district of Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.
Apollos and his ministry
24 Meanwhile, a certain Jew named Apollos arrived in Ephesus. He was a native of Alexandria and was well-educated and effective in his use of the scriptures. 25 He had been instructed in the way of the Lord and spoke as one stirred up by the Spirit. He taught accurately the things about Jesus, even though he was aware only of the baptism John proclaimed and practiced. 26 He began speaking with confidence in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they received him into their circle of friends and explained to him God’s way more accurately. 27 When he wanted to travel to Achaia, the brothers and sisters encouraged him and wrote to the disciples so they would open their homes to him. Once he arrived, he was of great help to those who had come to believe through grace. 28 He would vigorously defeat Jewish arguments in public debate, using the scriptures to prove that Jesus was the Christ.
Responses to John
15 The people were filled with expectation, and everyone wondered whether John might be the Christ. 16 John replied to them all, “I baptize you with water, but the one who is more powerful than me is coming. I’m not worthy to loosen the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 The shovel he uses to sift the wheat from the husks is in his hands. He will clean out his threshing area and bring the wheat into his barn. But he will burn the husks with a fire that can’t be put out.” 18 With many other words John appealed to them, proclaiming good news to the people.
19 But Herod the ruler had been criticized harshly by John because of Herodias, Herod’s brother’s wife, and because of all the evil he had done. 20 He added this to the list of his evil deeds: he locked John up in prison.
Jesus’ baptism
21 When everyone was being baptized, Jesus also was baptized. While he was praying, heaven was opened 22 and the Holy Spirit came down on him in bodily form like a dove. And there was a voice from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I dearly love; in you I find happiness.”
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible