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)
Sin and Redemption
59 Indeed, the Lord’s arm is not too weak to save,(A)
and his ear is not too deaf to hear.
2 But your iniquities(B) are separating you
from your God,
and your sins have hidden his face from you(C)
so that he does not listen.(D)
3 For your hands are defiled with blood
and your fingers, with iniquity;
your lips have spoken lies,
and your tongues mutter injustice.
4 No one makes claims justly;
no one pleads honestly.
They trust in empty and worthless words;
they conceive trouble and give birth to iniquity.(E)
5 They hatch viper’s eggs
and weave spider’s webs.
Whoever eats their eggs will die;
crack one open, and a viper is hatched.
6 Their webs cannot become clothing,
and they cannot cover themselves with their works.
Their works are sinful works,
and violent acts are in their hands.
7 Their feet run after evil,(F)
and they rush to shed innocent blood.(G)
Their thoughts are sinful thoughts;(H)
ruin and wretchedness are in their paths.
8 They have not known the path of peace,(I)
and there is no justice in their ways.
They have made their roads crooked;
no one who walks on them will know peace.(J)
9 Therefore justice is far from us,
and righteousness does not reach us.
We hope for light, but there is darkness;
for brightness, but we live in the night.
10 We grope along a wall like the blind;
we grope like those without eyes.(K)
We stumble at noon as though it were twilight;
we are like the dead among those who are healthy.
11 We all growl like bears
and moan like doves.(L)
We hope for justice, but there is none;
for salvation, but it is far from us.
12 For our transgressions have multiplied before you,(M)
and our sins testify against us.(N)
For our transgressions are with us,
and we know our iniquities:(O)
13 transgression and deception against the Lord,
turning away from following our God,
speaking oppression and revolt,
conceiving and uttering lying words from the heart.
14 Justice is turned back,
and righteousness stands far off.
For truth has stumbled in the public square,
and honesty cannot enter.
15 Truth is missing,
and whoever turns from evil is plundered.
The Lord saw that there was no justice,
and he was offended.
Greeting
1 Paul,(A) an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will,(B) for the sake of the promise of life(C) in Christ Jesus:
2 To Timothy, my dearly loved son.
Grace, mercy, and peace(D) from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Thanksgiving
3 I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience(E) as my ancestors did, when I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day.(F) 4 Remembering your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy. 5 I recall your sincere faith(G) that first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice(H) and now, I am convinced, is in you also.
6 Therefore, I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is in you through the laying on of my hands.(I) 7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear,(J) but one of power,[a](K) love,(L) and sound judgment.
Not Ashamed of the Gospel
8 So don’t be ashamed(M) of the testimony about our Lord,(N) or of me his prisoner.(O) Instead, share in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power(P) of God. 9 He has saved us and called us with a holy calling,(Q) not according to our works,(R) but according to his own purpose(S) and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began. 10 This has now been made evident through the appearing(T) of our Savior Christ Jesus, who has abolished death(U) and has brought life(V) and immortality to light through the gospel. 11 For this gospel I was appointed(W) a herald, apostle, and teacher,[b] 12 and that is why I suffer(X) these things. But I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to guard what has been entrusted to me[c](Y) until that day.(Z)
Be Loyal to the Faith
13 Hold on to the pattern of sound teaching(AA) that you have heard from me,(AB) in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard the good deposit through the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
Warnings from Jesus
42 “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to fall away(A) —it would be better for him if a heavy millstone(B) were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.
43 “And if your hand causes you to fall away, cut it off.(C) It is better for you to enter life maimed(D) than to have two hands and go to hell, the unquenchable fire.[a](E) 45 And if your foot causes you to fall away, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame(F) than to have two feet and be thrown into hell.[b] 47 And if your eye causes you to fall away, gouge it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God(G) with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown(H) into hell,(I) 48 where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.[c] 49 For everyone will be salted with fire.[d][e](J) 50 Salt is good, but if the salt should lose its flavor, how can you season it?(K) Have salt(L) among yourselves, and be at peace(M) with one another.”
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