Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 80[a]
For the director of music. To the tune of “The Lilies of the Covenant.” Of Asaph. A psalm.
1 Hear us, Shepherd of Israel,
you who lead Joseph like a flock.(A)
You who sit enthroned between the cherubim,(B)
shine forth 2 before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.(C)
Awaken(D) your might;
come and save us.(E)
4 How long,(I) Lord God Almighty,
will your anger smolder(J)
against the prayers of your people?
5 You have fed them with the bread of tears;(K)
you have made them drink tears by the bowlful.(L)
6 You have made us an object of derision[b] to our neighbors,
and our enemies mock us.(M)
7 Restore us, God Almighty;
make your face shine on us,
that we may be saved.(N)
8 You transplanted a vine(O) from Egypt;
you drove out(P) the nations and planted(Q) it.
9 You cleared the ground for it,
and it took root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shade,
the mighty cedars with its branches.
11 Its branches reached as far as the Sea,[c]
its shoots as far as the River.[d](R)
12 Why have you broken down its walls(S)
so that all who pass by pick its grapes?
13 Boars from the forest ravage(T) it,
and insects from the fields feed on it.
14 Return to us, God Almighty!
Look down from heaven and see!(U)
Watch over this vine,
15 the root your right hand has planted,
the son[e] you have raised up for yourself.
16 Your vine is cut down, it is burned with fire;(V)
at your rebuke(W) your people perish.
17 Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand,
the son of man(X) you have raised up for yourself.
18 Then we will not turn away from you;
revive(Y) us, and we will call on your name.
19 Restore us, Lord God Almighty;
make your face shine on us,
that we may be saved.
Psalm 77[a]
For the director of music. For Jeduthun. Of Asaph. A psalm.
1 I cried out to God(A) for help;
I cried out to God to hear me.
2 When I was in distress,(B) I sought the Lord;
at night(C) I stretched out untiring hands,(D)
and I would not be comforted.(E)
3 I remembered(F) you, God, and I groaned;(G)
I meditated, and my spirit grew faint.[b](H)
4 You kept my eyes from closing;
I was too troubled to speak.(I)
5 I thought about the former days,(J)
the years of long ago;
6 I remembered my songs in the night.
My heart meditated and my spirit asked:
7 “Will the Lord reject forever?(K)
Will he never show his favor(L) again?
8 Has his unfailing love(M) vanished forever?
Has his promise(N) failed for all time?
9 Has God forgotten to be merciful?(O)
Has he in anger withheld his compassion?(P)”
10 Then I thought, “To this I will appeal:
the years when the Most High stretched out his right hand.(Q)
11 I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
yes, I will remember your miracles(R) of long ago.
12 I will consider(S) all your works
and meditate on all your mighty deeds.”(T)
13 Your ways, God, are holy.
What god is as great as our God?(U)
14 You are the God who performs miracles;(V)
you display your power among the peoples.
15 With your mighty arm you redeemed your people,(W)
the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.
16 The waters(X) saw you, God,
the waters saw you and writhed;(Y)
the very depths were convulsed.
17 The clouds poured down water,(Z)
the heavens resounded with thunder;(AA)
your arrows(AB) flashed back and forth.
18 Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind,(AC)
your lightning(AD) lit up the world;
the earth trembled and quaked.(AE)
19 Your path(AF) led through the sea,(AG)
your way through the mighty waters,
though your footprints were not seen.
Psalm 79
A psalm of Asaph.
1 O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance;(A)
they have defiled(B) your holy temple,
they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble.(C)
2 They have left the dead bodies of your servants
as food for the birds of the sky,(D)
the flesh of your own people for the animals of the wild.(E)
3 They have poured out blood like water
all around Jerusalem,
and there is no one to bury(F) the dead.(G)
4 We are objects of contempt to our neighbors,
of scorn(H) and derision to those around us.(I)
5 How long,(J) Lord? Will you be angry(K) forever?
How long will your jealousy burn like fire?(L)
6 Pour out your wrath(M) on the nations
that do not acknowledge(N) you,
on the kingdoms
that do not call on your name;(O)
7 for they have devoured(P) Jacob
and devastated his homeland.
8 Do not hold against us the sins of past generations;(Q)
may your mercy come quickly to meet us,
for we are in desperate need.(R)
9 Help us,(S) God our Savior,
for the glory of your name;
deliver us and forgive our sins
for your name’s sake.(T)
10 Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”(U)
Before our eyes, make known among the nations
that you avenge(V) the outpoured blood(W) of your servants.
11 May the groans of the prisoners come before you;
with your strong arm preserve those condemned to die.
12 Pay back into the laps(X) of our neighbors seven times(Y)
the contempt they have hurled at you, Lord.
13 Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture,(Z)
will praise you forever;(AA)
from generation to generation
we will proclaim your praise.
The Israelites Confess Their Sins
9 On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth and putting dust on their heads.(A) 2 Those of Israelite descent had separated themselves from all foreigners.(B) They stood in their places and confessed their sins and the sins of their ancestors.(C) 3 They stood where they were and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day, and spent another quarter in confession and in worshiping the Lord their God. 4 Standing on the stairs of the Levites(D) were Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani and Kenani. They cried out with loud voices to the Lord their God. 5 And the Levites—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah and Pethahiah—said: “Stand up and praise the Lord your God,(E) who is from everlasting to everlasting.[a]”
“Blessed be your glorious name,(F) and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise. 6 You alone are the Lord.(G) You made the heavens,(H) even the highest heavens, and all their starry host,(I) the earth(J) and all that is on it, the seas(K) and all that is in them.(L) You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven(M) worship you.
7 “You are the Lord God, who chose Abram(N) and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans(O) and named him Abraham.(P) 8 You found his heart faithful to you, and you made a covenant with him to give to his descendants the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Jebusites and Girgashites.(Q) You have kept your promise(R) because you are righteous.(S)
9 “You saw the suffering of our ancestors in Egypt;(T) you heard their cry at the Red Sea.[b](U) 10 You sent signs(V) and wonders(W) against Pharaoh, against all his officials and all the people of his land, for you knew how arrogantly the Egyptians treated them. You made a name(X) for yourself,(Y) which remains to this day. 11 You divided the sea before them,(Z) so that they passed through it on dry ground, but you hurled their pursuers into the depths,(AA) like a stone into mighty waters.(AB) 12 By day(AC) you led(AD) them with a pillar of cloud,(AE) and by night with a pillar of fire to give them light on the way they were to take.
13 “You came down on Mount Sinai;(AF) you spoke(AG) to them from heaven.(AH) You gave them regulations and laws that are just(AI) and right, and decrees and commands that are good.(AJ) 14 You made known to them your holy Sabbath(AK) and gave them commands, decrees and laws through your servant Moses. 15 In their hunger you gave them bread from heaven(AL) and in their thirst you brought them water from the rock;(AM) you told them to go in and take possession of the land you had sworn with uplifted hand(AN) to give them.(AO)
16 “But they, our ancestors, became arrogant and stiff-necked,(AP) and they did not obey your commands.(AQ) 17 They refused to listen and failed to remember(AR) the miracles(AS) you performed among them. They became stiff-necked(AT) and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery.(AU) But you are a forgiving God,(AV) gracious and compassionate,(AW) slow to anger(AX) and abounding in love.(AY) Therefore you did not desert them,(AZ) 18 even when they cast for themselves an image of a calf(BA) and said, ‘This is your god, who brought you up out of Egypt,’ or when they committed awful blasphemies.(BB)
19 “Because of your great compassion you did not abandon(BC) them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud(BD) did not fail to guide them on their path, nor the pillar of fire by night to shine on the way they were to take. 20 You gave your good Spirit(BE) to instruct(BF) them. You did not withhold your manna(BG) from their mouths, and you gave them water(BH) for their thirst. 21 For forty years(BI) you sustained them in the wilderness; they lacked nothing,(BJ) their clothes did not wear out nor did their feet become swollen.(BK)
22 “You gave them kingdoms and nations, allotting to them even the remotest frontiers. They took over the country of Sihon[c](BL) king of Heshbon and the country of Og king of Bashan.(BM) 23 You made their children as numerous as the stars in the sky,(BN) and you brought them into the land that you told their parents to enter and possess. 24 Their children went in and took possession of the land.(BO) You subdued(BP) before them the Canaanites, who lived in the land; you gave the Canaanites into their hands, along with their kings and the peoples of the land, to deal with them as they pleased. 25 They captured fortified cities and fertile land;(BQ) they took possession of houses filled with all kinds of good things,(BR) wells already dug, vineyards, olive groves and fruit trees in abundance. They ate to the full and were well-nourished;(BS) they reveled in your great goodness.(BT)
Lament Over Fallen Babylon
18 After this I saw another angel(A) coming down from heaven.(B) He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor.(C) 2 With a mighty voice he shouted:
“‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!’[a](D)
She has become a dwelling for demons
and a haunt for every impure spirit,(E)
a haunt for every unclean bird,
a haunt for every unclean and detestable animal.(F)
3 For all the nations have drunk
the maddening wine of her adulteries.(G)
The kings of the earth committed adultery with her,(H)
and the merchants of the earth grew rich(I) from her excessive luxuries.”(J)
Warning to Escape Babylon’s Judgment
4 Then I heard another voice from heaven say:
“‘Come out of her, my people,’[b](K)
so that you will not share in her sins,
so that you will not receive any of her plagues;(L)
5 for her sins are piled up to heaven,(M)
and God has remembered(N) her crimes.
6 Give back to her as she has given;
pay her back(O) double(P) for what she has done.
Pour her a double portion from her own cup.(Q)
7 Give her as much torment and grief
as the glory and luxury she gave herself.(R)
In her heart she boasts,
‘I sit enthroned as queen.
I am not a widow;[c]
I will never mourn.’(S)
8 Therefore in one day(T) her plagues will overtake her:
death, mourning and famine.
She will be consumed by fire,(U)
for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.
That Which Defiles(A)
15 Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!”(B)
3 Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’[a](C) and ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’[b](D) 5 But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is ‘devoted to God,’ 6 they are not to ‘honor their father or mother’ with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:
8 “‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
9 They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.(E)’[c](F)”
10 Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. 11 What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them,(G) but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”(H)
12 Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”
13 He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted(I) will be pulled up by the roots. 14 Leave them; they are blind guides.[d](J) If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”(K)
15 Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.”(L)
16 “Are you still so dull?”(M) Jesus asked them. 17 “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? 18 But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart,(N) and these defile them. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.(O) 20 These are what defile a person;(P) but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”
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