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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.

11 Take care that you do not forget the Lord your God, by failing to keep his commandments, his ordinances, and his statutes, which I am commanding you today. ¹²When you have eaten your fill and have built fine houses and live in them, ¹³and when your herds and flocks have multiplied, and your silver and gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied, ¹⁴then do not exalt yourself, forgetting the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, ¹⁵who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, an arid waste-land with poisonous^* snakes and scorpions. He made water flow for you from flint rock, ¹⁶and fed you in the wilderness with manna that your ancestors did not know, to humble you and to test you, and in the end to do you good. ¹⁷Do not say to yourself, ‘My power and the might of my own hand have gained me this wealth.’ ¹⁸But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, so that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your ancestors, as he is doing today. ¹⁹If you do forget the Lord your God and follow other gods to serve and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish. ²⁰Like the nations that the Lord is destroying before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God.

The Lord’s Prayer

11He was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.’ ²He said to them, ‘When you pray, say:
Father,^* hallowed be your name.
   Your kingdom come.^*
3   Give us each day our daily bread.^*
4   And forgive us our sins,
     for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.
   And do not bring us to the time of trial.’^*

Perseverance in Prayer

5 And he said to them, ‘Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, “Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; ⁶for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.” ⁷And he answers from within, “Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.” ⁸I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.

9 ‘So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. ¹⁰For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. ¹¹Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for^* a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? ¹²Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? ¹³If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit^* to those who ask him!’