Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 78
Lessons from Israel’s Past
A Maskil of Asaph.(A)
1 My people, hear my instruction;
listen to the words from my mouth.(B)
2 I will declare wise sayings;
I will speak mysteries from the past(C)—
3 things we have heard and known
and that our ancestors have passed down to us.(D)
4 We will not hide them from their children,
but will tell a future generation
the praiseworthy acts of the Lord,
his might, and the wondrous works
he has performed.(E)
5 He established a testimony in Jacob
and set up a law in Israel,
which he commanded our ancestors
to teach to their children(F)
6 so that a future generation—
children yet to be born—might know.
They were to rise and tell their children(G)
7 so that they might put their confidence in God
and not forget God’s works,
but keep his commands.(H)
8 Then they would not be like their ancestors,
a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation whose heart was not loyal
and whose spirit was not faithful to God.(I)
9 The Ephraimite archers turned back
on the day of battle.(J)
10 They did not keep God’s covenant
and refused to live by his law.(K)
11 They forgot what he had done,
the wondrous works he had shown them.(L)
12 He worked wonders in the sight of their ancestors
in the land of Egypt, the territory of Zoan.(M)
13 He split the sea and brought them across;
the water stood firm like a wall.(N)
14 He led them with a cloud by day
and with a fiery light throughout the night.(O)
15 He split rocks in the wilderness
and gave them drink as abundant as the depths.(P)
16 He brought streams out of the stone
and made water flow down like rivers.(Q)
17 But they continued to sin against him,
rebelling in the desert against the Most High.(R)
18 They deliberately[a] tested God,
demanding the food they craved.(S)
19 They spoke against God, saying,
“Is God able to provide food in the wilderness?
20 Look! He struck the rock and water gushed out;
torrents overflowed.(T)
But can he also provide bread
or furnish meat for his people?” (U)
21 Therefore, the Lord heard and became furious;
then fire broke out against Jacob,
and anger flared up against Israel(V)
22 because they did not believe God
or rely on his salvation.(W)
23 He gave a command to the clouds above
and opened the doors of heaven.(X)
24 He rained manna for them to eat;
he gave them grain from heaven.(Y)
25 People[b] ate the bread of angels.[c]
He sent them an abundant supply of food.(Z)
26 He made the east wind blow in the skies
and drove the south wind by his might.(AA)
27 He rained meat on them like dust,
and winged birds like the sand of the seas.
28 He made them fall in the camp,
all around the tents.(AB)
29 The people ate and were completely satisfied,
for he gave them what they craved.(AC)
30 Before they had turned from what they craved,
while the food was still in their mouths,
31 God’s anger flared up against them,
and he killed some of their best men.
He struck down Israel’s fit young men.(AD)
32 Despite all this, they kept sinning
and did not believe his wondrous works.(AE)
33 He made their days end in futility,
their years in sudden disaster.(AF)
34 When he killed some of them,
the rest began to seek him;
they repented and searched for God.(AG)
35 They remembered that God was their rock,
the Most High God, their Redeemer.(AH)
36 But they deceived him with their mouths,
they lied to him with their tongues,(AI)
37 their hearts were insincere toward him,
and they were unfaithful to his covenant.(AJ)
38 Yet he was compassionate;
he atoned for their iniquity
and did not destroy them.
He often turned his anger aside
and did not unleash[d] all his wrath.(AK)
39 He remembered that they were only flesh,
a wind that passes and does not return.(AL)
40 How often they rebelled against him
in the wilderness
and grieved him in the desert.
41 They constantly tested God(AM)
and provoked the Holy One of Israel.(AN)
42 They did not remember his power shown
on the day he redeemed them from the foe,(AO)
43 when he performed his miraculous signs in Egypt
and his wonders in the territory of Zoan.(AP)
44 He turned their rivers into blood,
and they could not drink from their streams.(AQ)
45 He sent among them swarms of flies,(AR)
which fed on them,
and frogs, which devastated them.(AS)
46 He gave their crops to the caterpillar
and the fruit of their labor to the locust.(AT)
47 He killed their vines with hail
and their sycamore fig trees with a flood.
48 He handed over their livestock to hail
and their cattle to lightning bolts.(AU)
49 He sent his burning anger against them:
fury, indignation, and calamity—
a band of deadly messengers.[e](AV)
50 He cleared a path for his anger.
He did not spare them from death
but delivered their lives to the plague.(AW)
51 He struck all the firstborn(AX) in Egypt,
the first progeny of the tents of Ham.(AY)
52 He led his people out like sheep
and guided them like a flock in the wilderness.(AZ)
53 He led them safely, and they were not afraid;
but the sea covered their enemies.(BA)
54 He brought them to his holy territory,
to the mountain his right hand acquired.(BB)
55 He drove out nations before them.(BC)
He apportioned their inheritance by lot
and settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.(BD)
56 But they rebelliously tested the Most High God,
for they did not keep his decrees.(BE)
57 They treacherously turned away like their ancestors;
they became warped like a faulty bow.(BF)
58 They enraged him with their high places
and provoked his jealousy with their carved images.(BG)
59 God heard and became furious;
he completely rejected Israel.(BH)
60 He abandoned the tabernacle at Shiloh,
the tent where he resided among mankind.(BI)
61 He gave up his strength to captivity
and his splendor to the hand of a foe.(BJ)
62 He surrendered his people to the sword
because he was enraged with his heritage.(BK)
63 Fire consumed his chosen young men,
and his young women had no wedding songs.[f](BL)
64 His priests fell by the sword,
and the widows could not lament.(BM)
65 The Lord awoke as if from sleep,
like a warrior from the effects of wine.(BN)
66 He beat back his foes;
he gave them lasting disgrace.(BO)
67 He rejected the tent of Joseph
and did not choose the tribe of Ephraim.
68 He chose instead the tribe of Judah,
Mount Zion, which he loved.(BP)
69 He built his sanctuary like the heights,
like the earth that he established forever.(BQ)
70 He chose David his servant
and took him from the sheep pens;(BR)
71 he brought him from tending ewes
to be shepherd over his people Jacob—
over Israel, his inheritance.(BS)
72 He shepherded them with a pure heart
and guided them with his skillful hands.(BT)
The Day of the Lord
15 Woe because of that day!(A)
For the day of the Lord is near
and will come as devastation from the Almighty.(B)
16 Hasn’t the food been cut off
before our eyes,(C)
joy and gladness(D)
from the house of our God?
17 The seeds lie shriveled in their casings.[a](E)
The storehouses are in ruin,
and the granaries are broken down,
because the grain has withered away.
18 How the animals groan!(F)
The herds of cattle wander in confusion
since they have no pasture.
Even the flocks of sheep and goats suffer punishment.
19 I call to you, Lord,(G)
for fire has consumed
the pastures of the wilderness,(H)
and flames have devoured
all the trees of the orchard.
20 Even the wild animals cry out to[b] you,(I)
for the river beds are dried up,(J)
and fire has consumed
the pastures of the wilderness.
2 Blow the ram’s horn in Zion;(K)
sound the alarm on my holy mountain!
Let all the residents of the land tremble,
for the day of the Lord is coming;(L)
in fact, it is near—
2 a day of darkness and gloom,(M)
a day of clouds and total darkness,(N)
like the dawn spreading over the mountains;
a great and strong people(O) appears,
such as never existed in ages past(P)
and never will again
in all the generations to come.(Q)
3 A fire devours in front of them,(R)
and behind them a flame blazes.
The land in front of them
is like the garden of Eden,(S)
but behind them,
it is like a desert wasteland;(T)
there is no escape from them.
4 Their appearance is like that of horses,(U)
and they gallop like war horses.
5 They bound on the tops of the mountains.
Their sound is like the sound of chariots,(V)
like the sound of fiery flames consuming stubble,(W)
like a mighty army deployed for war.
6 Nations writhe in horror before them;(X)
all faces turn pale.
7 They attack as warriors attack;
they scale walls as men of war do.
Each goes on his own path,(Y)
and they do not change their course.
8 They do not push each other;
each proceeds on his own path.
They dodge the arrows, never stopping.
9 They storm the city;
they run on the wall;
they climb into the houses;(Z)
they enter through the windows like thieves.(AA)
10 The earth quakes before them;(AB)
the sky shakes.
The sun and moon grow dark,(AC)
and the stars cease their shining.(AD)
11 The Lord makes his voice heard(AE)
in the presence of his army.(AF)
His camp is very large;
those who carry out his command are powerful.(AG)
Indeed, the day of the Lord is terrible and dreadful(AH)—
who can endure it?(AI)
Celebration in Heaven
19 After this I heard something like the loud voice of a vast multitude(A) in heaven, saying,
Hallelujah!(B)
Salvation, glory, and power belong to our God,(C)
2 because his judgments are true[a] and righteous,(D)
because he has judged the notorious prostitute(E)
who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality;
and he has avenged the blood of his servants
that was on her hands.(F)
3 A second time they said,
Hallelujah!
Her smoke ascends forever and ever!(G)
4 Then the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God,(H) who is seated on the throne, saying,
Amen! Hallelujah!(I)
5 A voice came from the throne, saying,
Praise our God,
all his servants, and the ones who fear him,
both small and great!(J)
6 Then I heard something like the voice of a vast multitude, like the sound of cascading waters,(K) and like the rumbling of loud thunder, saying,
Hallelujah, because our Lord God, the Almighty,
reigns!(L)
7 Let us be glad, rejoice, and give him glory,(M)
because the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has prepared herself.(N)
8 She was given fine linen to wear, bright and pure.(O)
For the fine linen represents the righteous acts of the saints.(P)
9 Then he[b] said to me,(Q) “Write: Blessed are those invited to the marriage feast(R) of the Lamb!” He also said to me, “These words of God are true.”(S) 10 Then I fell at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “Don’t do that!(T) I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers and sisters who hold firmly to the testimony of Jesus.(U) Worship God, because the testimony of Jesus is the spirit[c] of prophecy.”
The Cost of Following Jesus
25 Now(A) great crowds were traveling with him. So he turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to me(B) and does not hate(C) his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, and even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross(D) and come after me cannot be my disciple.
28 “For which of you, wanting to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and calculate the cost(E) to see if he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, after he has laid the foundation and cannot finish it, all the onlookers will begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This man started to build and wasn’t able to finish.’
31 “Or what king, going to war against another king, will not first sit down and decide if he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 If not, while the other is still far off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 33 In the same way, therefore, every one of you who does not renounce[a] all his possessions(F) cannot be my disciple.
34 “Now,(G) salt(H) is good, but if salt should lose its taste, how will it be made salty? 35 It isn’t fit for the soil or for the manure pile; they throw it out. Let anyone who has ears to hear listen.”(I)
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