Book of Common Prayer
Prayer for Israel’s Restoration
To the Chief Musician. (A)Set to [a]“The Lilies.” A [b]Testimony of Asaph. A Psalm.
80 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
(B)You who lead Joseph (C)like a flock;
You who dwell between the cherubim, (D)shine forth!
2 Before (E)Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh,
Stir up Your strength,
And come and save us!
4 O Lord God of hosts,
(H)How long will You be angry
Against the prayer of Your people?
5 (I)You have fed them with the bread of tears,
And given them tears to drink in great measure.
6 You have made us a strife to our neighbors,
And our enemies laugh among themselves.
7 Restore us, O God of hosts;
Cause Your face to shine,
And we shall be saved!
8 You have brought (J)a vine out of Egypt;
(K)You have cast out the [c]nations, and planted it.
9 You prepared room for it,
And caused it to take deep root,
And it filled the land.
10 The hills were covered with its shadow,
And the [d]mighty cedars with its (L)boughs.
11 She sent out her boughs to [e]the Sea,
And her branches to [f]the River.
12 Why have You (M)broken down her [g]hedges,
So that all who pass by the way pluck her fruit?
13 The boar out of the woods uproots it,
And the wild beast of the field devours it.
14 Return, we beseech You, O God of hosts;
(N)Look down from heaven and see,
And visit this vine
15 And the vineyard which Your right hand has planted,
And the branch that You made strong (O)for Yourself.
16 It is burned with fire, it is cut down;
(P)They perish at the rebuke of Your countenance.
17 (Q)Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand,
Upon the son of man whom You made strong for Yourself.
18 Then we will not turn back from You;
Revive us, and we will call upon Your name.
19 Restore us, O Lord God of hosts;
Cause Your face to shine,
And we shall be saved!
The Consoling Memory of God’s Redemptive Works
To the Chief Musician. (A)To Jeduthun. A Psalm of Asaph.
77 I cried out to God with my voice—
To God with my voice;
And He gave ear to me.
2 In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord;
My hand was stretched out in the night without ceasing;
My soul refused to be comforted.
3 I remembered God, and was troubled;
I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah
4 You hold my eyelids open;
I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
5 I have considered the days of old,
The years of ancient times.
6 I call to remembrance my song in the night;
I meditate within my heart,
And my spirit [a]makes diligent search.
7 Will the Lord cast off forever?
And will He be favorable no more?
8 Has His mercy ceased forever?
Has His (B)promise failed [b]forevermore?
9 Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Has He in anger shut up His tender mercies? Selah
10 And I said, “This is my [c]anguish;
But I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High.”
11 I will remember the works of the Lord;
Surely I will remember Your wonders of old.
12 I will also meditate on all Your work,
And talk of Your deeds.
13 Your way, O God, is in [d]the (C)sanctuary;
Who is so great a God as our God?
14 You are the God who does wonders;
You have declared Your strength among the peoples.
15 You have with Your arm redeemed Your people,
The sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah
16 The waters saw You, O God;
The waters saw You, they were (D)afraid;
The depths also trembled.
17 The clouds poured out water;
The skies sent out a sound;
Your arrows also flashed about.
18 The voice of Your thunder was in the whirlwind;
The lightnings lit up the world;
The earth trembled and shook.
19 Your way was in the sea,
Your path in the great waters,
And Your footsteps were not known.
20 You led Your people like a flock
By the hand of Moses and Aaron.
A Dirge and a Prayer for Israel, Destroyed by Enemies
A Psalm of Asaph.
79 O God, the [a]nations have come into (A)Your inheritance;
Your holy temple they have defiled;
(B)They have laid Jerusalem [b]in heaps.
2 (C)The dead bodies of Your servants
They have given as food for the birds of the heavens,
The flesh of Your saints to the beasts of the earth.
3 Their blood they have shed like water all around Jerusalem,
And there was no one to bury them.
4 We have become a reproach to our (D)neighbors,
A scorn and derision to those who are around us.
5 (E)How long, Lord?
Will You be angry forever?
Will Your (F)jealousy burn like fire?
6 (G)Pour out Your wrath on the [c]nations that (H)do not know You,
And on the kingdoms that (I)do not call on Your name.
7 For they have devoured Jacob,
And laid waste his dwelling place.
8 (J)Oh, do not remember [d]former iniquities against us!
Let Your tender mercies come speedily to meet us,
For we have been brought very low.
9 Help us, O God of our salvation,
For the glory of Your name;
And deliver us, and provide atonement for our sins,
(K)For Your name’s sake!
10 (L)Why should the [e]nations say,
“Where is their God?”
Let there be known among the nations in our sight
The avenging of the blood of Your servants which has been shed.
The Family of Elkanah
1 Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim Zophim, of the (A)mountains of Ephraim, and his name was (B)Elkanah the son of Jeroham, the son of [a]Elihu, the son of [b]Tohu, the son of Zuph, (C)an Ephraimite. 2 And he had (D)two wives: the name of one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. 3 This man went up from his city (E)yearly (F)to worship and sacrifice to the Lord of hosts in (G)Shiloh. Also the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the Lord, were there. 4 And whenever the time came for Elkanah to make an (H)offering, he would give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and daughters. 5 But to Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved Hannah, (I)although the Lord had closed her womb. 6 And her rival also (J)provoked her severely, to make her miserable, because the Lord had closed her womb. 7 So it was, year by year, when she went up to the house of the Lord, that she provoked her; therefore she wept and did not eat.
Hannah’s Vow
8 Then Elkanah her husband said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? And why is your heart grieved? Am I not (K)better to you than ten sons?”
9 So Hannah arose after they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat by the doorpost of (L)the [c]tabernacle of the Lord. 10 (M)And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed to the Lord and [d]wept in anguish. 11 Then she (N)made a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed (O)look on the affliction of Your maidservant and (P)remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and (Q)no razor shall come upon his head.”
12 And it happened, as she continued praying before the Lord, that Eli watched her mouth. 13 Now Hannah spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought she was drunk. 14 So Eli said to her, “How long will you be drunk? Put your wine away from you!”
15 But Hannah answered and said, “No, my lord, I am a woman of sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor intoxicating drink, but have (R)poured out my soul before the Lord. 16 Do not consider your maidservant a (S)wicked[e] woman, for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief I have spoken until now.”
17 Then Eli answered and said, (T)“Go in peace, and (U)the God of Israel grant your petition which you have asked of Him.”
18 And she said, (V)“Let your maidservant find favor in your sight.” So the woman (W)went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.
Samuel Is Born and Dedicated
19 Then they rose early in the morning and worshiped before the Lord, and returned and came to their house at Ramah. And Elkanah (X)knew Hannah his wife, and the Lord (Y)remembered her. 20 So it came to pass in the process of time that Hannah conceived and bore a son, and called his name [f]Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked for him from the Lord.”
Prologue
1 The former account I made, O (A)Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, 2 (B)until the day in which [a]He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit (C)had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, 3 (D)to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many [b]infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.
The Holy Spirit Promised
4 (E)And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have (F)heard from Me; 5 (G)for John truly baptized with water, (H)but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 And He said to them, (I)“It is not for you to (J)know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 (K)But you shall receive power (L)when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and (M)you shall be [c]witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and (N)Samaria, and to the (O)end of the earth.”
Jesus Ascends to Heaven(P)
9 (Q)Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, (R)He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them (S)in white apparel, 11 who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, (T)will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”
The Upper Room Prayer Meeting
12 (U)Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey. 13 And when they had entered, they went up (V)into the upper room where they were staying: (W)Peter, James, John, and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; James the son of Alphaeus and (X)Simon the Zealot; and (Y)Judas the son of James. 14 (Z)These all continued with one [d]accord in prayer [e]and supplication, with (AA)the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with (AB)His brothers.
The Parable of the Wicked Vinedressers(A)
9 Then He began to tell the people this parable: (B)“A certain man planted a vineyard, leased it to [a]vinedressers, and went into a far country for a long time. 10 Now at [b]vintage-time he (C)sent a servant to the vinedressers, that they might give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the vinedressers beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 11 Again he sent another servant; and they beat him also, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. 12 And again he sent a third; and they wounded him also and cast him out.
13 “Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son. Probably they will respect him when they see him.’ 14 But when the vinedressers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, ‘This is the (D)heir. Come, (E)let us kill him, that the inheritance may be (F)ours.’ 15 So they cast him out of the vineyard and (G)killed him. Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16 He will come and destroy those vinedressers and give the vineyard to (H)others.”
And when they heard it they said, “Certainly not!”
17 Then He looked at them and said, “What then is this that is written:
(I)‘The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone’?
18 Whoever falls on that stone will be (J)broken; but (K)on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.”
19 And the chief priests and the scribes that very hour sought to lay hands on Him, but they [c]feared the people—for they knew He had spoken this parable against them.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.