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    Psalm 76  
     
1
  In Judah God is known; •
    his name is great in Israel.
     
2
  At Salem is his tabernacle, •
    and his dwelling place in Zion.
     
3
  There broke he the flashing arrows of the bow, •
    the shield, the sword and the weapons of war.
     
4
  In the light of splendour you appeared, •
    glorious from the eternal mountains.
     
5
  The boastful were plundered; they have slept their sleep; •
    none of the warriors can lift their hand.
     
6
  At your rebuke, O God of Jacob, •
    both horse and chariot fell stunned.
     
7
  Terrible are you in majesty: •
    who can stand before your face when you are angry?
     
8
  You caused your judgement to be heard from heaven; •
    the earth trembled and was still,
     
9
  When God arose to judgement, •
    to save all the meek upon earth.
     
10
  You crushed the wrath of the peoples •
    and bridled the wrathful remnant.
     
11
  Make a vow to the Lord your God and keep it; •
    let all who are round about him bring gifts
    to him that is worthy to be feared.
     
12
  He breaks down the spirit of princes •
    and strikes terror in the kings of the earth.
     
    Psalm77  
     
1
  I cry aloud to God; •
    I cry aloud to God and he will hear me.
     
2
  In the day of my trouble I have sought the Lord; •
    by night my hand is stretched out and does not tire;
    my soul refuses comfort.
     
3
  I think upon God and I groan; •
    I ponder, and my spirit faints.
     
4
  You will not let my eyelids close; •
    I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
     
5
  I consider the days of old; •
    I remember the years long past;
     
6
  I commune with my heart in the night; •
    my spirit searches for understanding.
     
7
  Will the Lord cast us off for ever? •
    Will he no more show us his favour?
     
8
  Has his loving mercy clean gone for ever? •
    Has his promise come to an end for evermore?
     
9
  Has God forgotten to be gracious? •
    Has he shut up his compassion in displeasure?
     
10
  And I said, 'My grief is this: •
    that the right hand of the Most High has lost its strength.'
     
     
11
  I will remember the works of the Lord •
    and call to mind your wonders of old time.
     
12
  I will meditate on all your works •
    and ponder your mighty deeds.
     
13
  Your way, O God, is holy; •
    who is so great a god as our God?
     
14
  You are the God who worked wonders •
    and declared your power among the peoples.
     
15
  With a mighty arm you redeemed your people, •
    the children of Jacob and Joseph.
     
16
  The waters saw you, O God;
    the waters saw you and were afraid; •
    the depths also were troubled.
     
17
  The clouds poured out water; the skies thundered; •
    your arrows flashed on every side;
     
18
  The voice of your thunder was in the whirlwind;
    your lightnings lit up the ground; •
    the earth trembled and shook.
     
19
  Your way was in the sea, and your paths in the great waters, •
    but your footsteps were not known.
     
20
  You led your people like sheep •
    by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
     
    Psalm 78  
     
1
  Hear my teaching, O my people; •
    incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
     
2
  I will open my mouth in a parable; •
    I will pour forth mysteries from of old,
     
3
  Such as we have heard and known, •
    which our forebears have told us.
     
4
  We will not hide from their children,
    but will recount to generations to come, •
    the praises of the Lord and his power
    and the wonderful works he has done.
     
5
  He laid a solemn charge on Jacob
    and made it a law in Israel, •
    which he commanded them to teach their children,
     
6
  That the generations to come might know,
    and the children yet unborn, •
    that they in turn might tell it to their children;
     
7
  So that they might put their trust in God •
    and not forget the deeds of God,
    but keep his commandments,
     
8
  And not be like their forebears,
    a stubborn and rebellious generation, •
    a generation whose heart was not steadfast,
    and whose spirit was not faithful to God.
     
     
9
  The people of Ephraim, armed with the bow, •
    turned back in the day of battle;
     
10
  They did not keep the covenant of God •
    and refused to walk in his law;
     
11
  They forgot what he had done •
    and the wonders he had shown them.
     
12
  For he did marvellous things in the sight of their forebears, •
    in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
     
13
  He divided the sea and let them pass through; •
    he made the waters stand still in a heap.
     
14
  He led them with a cloud by day •
    and all the night through with a blaze of fire.
     
15
  He split the hard rocks in the wilderness •
    and gave them drink as from the great deep.
     
16
  He brought streams out of the rock •
    and made water gush out like rivers.
     
     
17
  Yet for all this they sinned more against him •
    and defied the Most High in the wilderness.
     
18
  They tested God in their hearts •
    and demanded food for their craving.
     
19
  They spoke against God and said, •
    'Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?
     
20
  'He struck the rock indeed, so that the waters gushed out
    and the streams overflowed, •
    but can he give bread or provide meat for his people?'
     
21
  When the Lord heard this, he was full of wrath; •
    a fire was kindled against Jacob
    and his anger went out against Israel,
     
22
  For they had no faith in God •
    and put no trust in his saving help.
     
23
  So he commanded the clouds above •
    and opened the doors of heaven.
     
24
  He rained down upon them manna to eat •
    and gave them the grain of heaven.
     
25
  So mortals ate the bread of angels; •
    he sent them food in plenty.
     
26
  He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens •
    and led out the south wind by his might.
     
27
  He rained flesh upon them as thick as dust •
    and winged fowl like the sand of the sea.
     
28
  He let it fall in the midst of their camp •
    and round about their tents.
     
29
  So they ate and were well filled, •
    for he gave them what they desired.
     
30
  But they did not stop their craving; •
    their food was still in their mouths,
     
31
  When the anger of God rose against them, •
    and slew their strongest men
    and felled the flower of Israel.
     
     
32
  But for all this, they sinned yet more •
    and put no faith in his wonderful works.
     
33
  So he brought their days to an end like a breath •
    and their years in sudden terror.
     
34
  Whenever he slew them, they would seek him; •
    they would repent and earnestly search for God.
     
35
  They remembered that God was their rock •
    and the Most High God their redeemer.
     
36
  Yet they did but flatter him with their mouth •
    and dissembled with their tongue.
     
37
  Their heart was not steadfast towards him, •
    neither were they faithful to his covenant.
     
38
  But he was so merciful that he forgave their misdeeds
    and did not destroy them; •
    many a time he turned back his wrath
    and did not suffer his whole displeasure to be roused.
     
39
  For he remembered that they were but flesh, •
    a wind that passes by and does not return.
     
     
40
  How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness •
    and grieved him in the desert!
     
41
  Again and again they tempted God •
    and provoked the Holy One of Israel.
     
42
  They did not remember his power •
    in the day when he redeemed them from the enemy;
     
43
  How he had wrought his signs in Egypt •
    and his wonders in the field of Zoan.
     
44
  He turned their rivers into blood, •
    so that they could not drink of their streams.
     
45
  He sent swarms of flies among them, which devoured them, •
    and frogs which brought them ruin.
     
46
  He gave their produce to the caterpillar, •
    the fruit of their toil to the locust.
     
47
  He destroyed their vines with hailstones •
    and their sycamore trees with the frost.
     
48
  He delivered their cattle to hailstones •
    and their flocks to thunderbolts.
     
49
  He set loose on them his blazing anger: •
    fury, displeasure and trouble,
    a troop of destroying angels.
     
50
  He made a way for his anger
    and spared not their souls from death, •
    but gave their life over to the pestilence.
     
51
  He smote the first born of Egypt, •
    the first fruits of their strength in the tents of Ham.
     
52
  But he led out his people like sheep •
    and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
     
53
  He led them to safety and they were not afraid, •
    but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
     
54
  He brought them to his holy place, •
    the mountain which his right hand took in possession.
     
55
  He drove out the nations before them
    and shared out to them their inheritance; •
    he settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.
     
     
56
  Yet still they tested God Most High
    and rebelled against him, •
    and would not keep his commandments.
     
57
  They turned back and fell away like their forebears, •
    starting aside like an unstrung bow.
     
58
  They grieved him with their hill altars •
    and provoked him to displeasure with their idols.
     
59
  God heard and was greatly angered, •
    and utterly rejected Israel.
     
60
  He forsook the tabernacle at Shiloh, •
    the tent of his presence on earth.
     
61
  He gave the ark of his strength into captivity, •
    his splendour into the adversary's hand.
     
62
  He delivered his people to the sword •
    and raged against his inheritance.
     
63
  The fire consumed their young men; •
    there was no one to lament their maidens.
     
64
  Their priests fell by the sword, •
    and their widows made no lamentation.
     
     
65
  Then the Lord woke as out of sleep, •
    like a warrior who had been overcome with wine.
     
66
  He struck his enemies from behind •
    and put them to perpetual shame.
     
67
  He rejected the tent of Joseph •
    and chose not the tribe of Ephraim,
     
68
  But he chose the tribe of Judah •
    and the hill of Zion, which he loved.
     
69
  And there he built his sanctuary like the heights of heaven, •
    like the earth which he founded for ever.
     
70
  He chose David also, his servant, •
    and took him away from the sheepfolds.
     
71
  From following the ewes with their lambs he took him, •
    that he might shepherd Jacob his people
    and Israel his inheritance.
     
72
  So he shepherded them with a devoted heart •
    and with skilful hands he guided them.
     
    Psalm 79  
     
1
  O God, the heathen have come into your heritage; •
    your holy temple have they defiled
    and made Jerusalem a heap of stones.
     
2
  The dead bodies of your servants they have given
    to be food for the birds of the air, •
    and the flesh of your faithful to the beasts of the field.
     
3
  Their blood have they shed like water
    on every side of Jerusalem, •
    and there was no one to bury them.
     
4
  We have become the taunt of our neighbours, •
    the scorn and derision of those that are round about us.
     
5
  Lord, how long will you be angry, for ever? •
    How long will your jealous fury blaze like fire?
     
6
  Pour out your wrath upon the nations that have not known you, •
    and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon your name.
     
7
  For they have devoured Jacob •
    and laid waste his dwelling place.
     
8
  Remember not against us our former sins; •
    let your compassion make haste to meet us,
    for we are brought very low.
     
9
  Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; •
    deliver us, and wipe away our sins for your name's sake.
     
10
  Why should the heathen say, •
    'Where is now their God?'
     
11
  Let vengeance for your servants' blood that is shed •
    be known among the nations in our sight.
     
12
  Let the sorrowful sighing of the prisoners come before you, •
    and by your mighty arm
    preserve those who are condemned to die.
     
13
  May the taunts with which our neighbours taunted you, Lord, •
    return sevenfold into their bosom.
     
14
  But we that are your people and the sheep of your pasture
    will give you thanks for ever, •
    and tell of your praise from generation to generation.
     
    Psalm 80  
     
1
  Hear, O Shepherd of Israel, •
    you that led Joseph like a flock;
     
2
  Shine forth, you that are enthroned upon the cherubim, •
    before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.
     
3
  Stir up your mighty strength •
    and come to our salvation.
   
4
  Turn us again, O God;  •
    show the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved.
     
     
5
  O Lord God of hosts, •
    how long will you be angry at your people's prayer?
     
6
  You feed them with the bread of tears; •
    you give them abundance of tears to drink.
     
7
  You have made us the derision of our neighbours, •
    and our enemies laugh us to scorn.
     
8
  Turn us again, O God of hosts;  •
    show the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved.
     
     
9
  You brought a vine out of Egypt; •
    you drove out the nations and planted it.
     
10
  You made room around it, •
    and when it had taken root, it filled the land.
     
11
  The hills were covered with its shadow •
    and the cedars of God by its boughs.
     
12
  It stretched out its branches to the Sea •
    and its tendrils to the River.
     
13
  Why then have you broken down its wall, •
    so that all who pass by pluck off its grapes?
     
14
  The wild boar out of the wood tears it off, •
    and all the insects of the field devour it.
     
     
15
  Turn again, O God of hosts, •
    look down from heaven and behold;
     
16
  Cherish this vine which your right hand has planted, •
    and the branch that you made so strong for yourself.
     
17
  Let those who burnt it with fire, who cut it down, •
    perish at the rebuke of your countenance.
     
18
  Let your hand be upon the man at your right hand, •
    the son of man you made so strong for yourself.
     
19
  And so will we not go back from you; •
    give us life, and we shall call upon your name.
     
20
  Turn us again, O Lord God of hosts; •
    show the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved.
     
© The Archbishops' Council of the Church of England, 2000-2004
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