Book of Common Prayer
97 How I love your ·teachings [instructions; laws]!
I ·think about [ponder; meditate on] them all day long.
98 Your commands make me wiser than my enemies,
because they are mine forever.
99 I am ·wiser [more insightful] than all my teachers,
because I ·think about [ponder; meditate on] your ·rules [decrees; testimonies].
100 I have more understanding than the elders,
because I ·follow [protect] your ·orders [precepts].
101 I have ·avoided [L kept my feet from] every evil way
so I could ·obey [keep; guard] your word.
102 I haven’t ·walked [turned] away from your ·laws [judgments],
because you yourself are my teacher.
103 ·Your promises are sweet to me [L How sweet your words slip/slide down my palate],
sweeter than honey in my mouth!
104 Your ·orders [precepts] give me understanding,
so I hate lying ways.
105 Your word is like a lamp for my feet
and a light for my path [C it shows how life should be lived].
106 I ·will do what I have promised [L have sworn and confirmed it]
and ·obey [keep; guard] your ·fair [righteous] ·laws [judgments].
107 I have suffered ·for a long time [or greatly].
Lord, ·give me [spare my] life by your word.
108 Lord, accept my ·willing [offering of] praise
and teach me your ·laws [judgments].
109 My life is always in ·danger [L my hand],
but I haven’t forgotten your ·teachings [instructions; laws].
110 Wicked people have set a trap for me,
but I haven’t ·strayed [wandered] from your ·orders [precepts].
111 ·I will follow your rules forever [L Your rules/decrees/precepts are my inheritance forever],
because they make ·me [L my heart] happy.
112 I will ·try [L incline my heart] to do ·what you demand [L your statutes/ordinances]
forever, until the end.
113 I hate ·disloyal [or double-minded] people,
but I love your ·teachings [instructions; laws].
114 You are my hiding place and my shield;
I hope in your word.
115 Get away from me, you who do evil,
so I can ·keep [protect] my God’s commands.
116 ·Support [Uphold] me as you promised so I can live.
Don’t let me be embarrassed because of my hopes.
117 ·Help [Strengthen] me, and I will ·be saved [have victory].
I will always ·respect [care about] your ·demands [statutes; ordinances; requirements].
118 You ·reject [treat as worthless] those who ·ignore [go astray from] your ·demands [statutes; ordinances; requirements],
because their lies ·mislead them [leave them in the lurch].
119 You throw away the wicked of the world like ·trash [dross].
So I will love your ·rules [decrees; testimonies].
120 ·I [L My flesh] ·shake [shudder] in ·fear [dread] of you;
I ·respect [fear] your ·laws [judgments].
A Song for a Holiday
For the director of music. By the gittith [C perhaps a musical term or instrument]. A psalm of Asaph [C a Levitical musician, a descendant of Gershon, at the time of David; 1 Chr. 6:39; 15:17; 2 Chr. 5:12].
81 Sing for joy to God, our strength;
shout out loud to the God of Jacob [C another name for Israel].
2 ·Begin the music [Lift up a psalm]. ·Play [Sound; L Give] the tambourines [68:25; 149:3; 150:4; Ex. 15:20].
·Play pleasant music on the harps [L …the pleasant/sweet harps] and lyres.
3 Blow the ·trumpet [ram’s horn] at ·the time of the New Moon [L the month; C a monthly religious festival],
when the moon is full, when our feast begins.
4 This is the ·law [statute; ordinance; requirement] for Israel;
it is the ·command [judgment] of the God of Jacob [v. 1].
5 He ·gave [set] this ·rule [decree; testimony] to the people of Joseph [C reference to the northern tribes]
when they went out of the land of Egypt [C the exodus; Ex. 12–15].
I heard a ·language [L tongue] I did not know, saying [C God now speaks]:
6 “I ·took the load off [removed the burden from] their shoulders;
·I let them put down their baskets [L Their hands were removed from the baskets].
7 When you were in ·trouble [distress], you called, and I ·saved [rescued] you.
I answered you ·with thunder [L in the secret place of thunder; Ex. 19:18–19].
I tested you at the waters of Meribah [95:8; 106:32; Ex. 17:1–17; Num. 20:1–13]. ·
8 My people, listen. I ·am warning [bear testimony/witness against] you.
Israel, please listen to me!
9 You must not have ·foreign [strange] gods;
you must not worship any ·false [foreign] god.
10 I, the Lord, am your God,
who brought you out of Egypt.
·Open [L Widen] your mouth and I will feed you [Deut. 29:6; 32:10–14].
11 “But my people did not listen to ·me [L my voice];
Israel did not ·want [accept] me.
12 So I ·let them go their stubborn way [L threw them away because of their stubborn hearts]
and ·follow [walk according to] their own advice.
13 I wish my people would listen to me;
I wish Israel would ·live [L walk on] my way.
14 Then I would quickly ·defeat [subdue; quell] their enemies
and turn my hand against their foes.
15 Those who hate the Lord would ·bow [cringe; cower] before him.
Their ·punishment [doom] would continue forever.
16 But I would give you the finest wheat [Deut. 32:14]
and fill you with honey from the rocks [Deut. 32:13].”
A Cry for Justice
A psalm of Asaph [C a Levitical musician, a descendant of Gershon, at the time of David; 1 Chr. 6:39; 15:17; 2 Chr. 5:12].
82 God ·is in charge of the great meeting [L takes his place/presides in the great assembly/or the assembly of the gods/divine council; C the angels (powers and authorities; Eph. 6:12) are here called “gods”];
he judges among the “gods” [John 10:35–36].
2 He says, “How long will you ·defend evil people [or judge unfairly]?
How long will you show ·greater kindness [favor; preference] to the wicked? ·
3 ·Defend [Judge] the ·weak [or poor] and the orphans;
·defend the rights of [vindicate] the poor and ·suffering [needy].
4 ·Save [Rescue] the ·weak [or poor] and helpless;
·free [protect] them from the ·power [L hand] of the wicked.
5 “You know nothing. You don’t understand.
You walk in the dark,
while the ·world is falling apart [L foundations of the earth are tottering].
6 I said, ‘You are “gods.”
You are all sons of God Most High.’
7 But you will die like any other person;
you will fall like all the ·leaders [princes; C God will punish these evil angels].”
8 God, ·come [rise up] and judge the earth,
because you ·own [inherit] all the nations.
73 So these people all settled in their own towns: the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the Temple servants, and all the other people of Israel.
By the seventh month [C October-November 445 bc] the Israelites were settled in their own towns.
Ezra Reads the Teachings
8 All the people of Israel ·gathered [assembled] ·together [L like one man/person] in the square ·by [in front of] the Water Gate. They asked Ezra the ·teacher [scribe] to bring out the ·Book [scroll] of the ·Teachings [Law; L Torah] of Moses, which the Lord had ·given to [commanded/prescribed for] Israel.
2 So on the first day of the seventh month [C October 8], Ezra the priest brought out the ·Teachings [Laws; Instructions; L Torah] for the ·crowd [assembly]. Men, women, and all who could ·listen and understand [understand what they heard; C presumably older children] had ·gathered [assembled]. 3 At the square by the Water Gate Ezra read the ·Teachings [Laws; Instructions; L Torah] out loud from early morning until noon to the men, women, and everyone who could ·listen and understand [understand what they heard; C presumably older children]. All the people listened ·carefully [attentively; eagerly] to the ·Book [scroll] of the ·Teachings [Laws; Instructions; L Torah].
5 Ezra opened the ·book [scroll] ·in full view [L to the eyes] of everyone, because he was above them. As he opened it, all the people stood up [C a sign of respect; Judg. 3:20; Job 29:8; Ezek. 2:1]. 6 Ezra ·praised [blessed] the Lord, the great God, and all the people ·held up [lifted] their hands [Ezra 9:5; Ps. 28:2; 134:2] and said, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed ·down [low] and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.
7 These Levites ·explained [instructed regarding; 2 Chr. 17:7–9] the ·Teachings [Laws; Instructions; L Torah] to the people as they ·stood there [remained in place]: Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, and Pelaiah. 8 They read from the ·Book [scroll] of the ·Teachings [Laws; Instructions; L Torah] of God and ·explained [clarified; or translated] what it meant so the people understood what was being read.
9 Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and ·teacher [scribe], and the Levites who were ·teaching [instructing; interpreting] said to all the people, “This is a ·holy [sacred] day to the Lord your God. Don’t ·be sad [mourn] or ·cry [weep].” All the people had been ·crying [weeping] as they listened to the words of the ·Teachings [Laws; Instructions; L Torah].
10 Nehemiah said, “Go and ·enjoy good food [L eat of the fat] and sweet drinks [Lev. 3; 2 Sam. 6:19; 1 Chr. 12:40–41; 29:22; 2 Chr. 7:8–10; 30:21–26]. Send ·some [portions] to people who have ·none [nothing prepared], because today is a ·holy [sacred] day to the Lord. Don’t ·be sad [grieve; mourn], because the joy of the Lord ·will make you strong [is your strength].”
11 The Levites helped calm the people, saying, “Be ·quiet [still], because this is a ·holy [sacred] day. Don’t ·be sad [grieve; mourn].”
12 Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to ·send some of their food to others [share; send portions], and to ·celebrate with [L make] great joy. They finally understood ·what they had been taught [the words/matters that had been made known to them].
13 On the second day of the month [October 9, 445 bc], the ·leaders [heads] of all the families, the priests, and the Levites met with Ezra the ·teacher [scribe]. They ·gathered [assembled] to ·study [consider; gain insight into] the words of the ·Teachings [Laws; Instructions; L Torah]. 14 This is what they found written in the ·Teachings [Laws; Instructions; L Torah]: The Lord commanded through Moses that the people of Israel were to live in ·shelters [T booths; C temporary dwellings; Ex. 23:33; Deut. 16:13–15] during the feast of the seventh month. 15 The people ·were supposed to [should] ·preach this message [make/issue a proclamation] and ·spread [disseminate] it through all their towns and in Jerusalem: “Go out into the ·mountains [hills], and bring back branches from olive and wild olive trees, myrtle trees, palms, and ·shade [other leafy] trees. Make ·shelters [booths] with them, as it is written [C prescribed in the Law of Moses].”
16 So the people went out and got tree branches. They built ·shelters [T booths] on their roofs [C roofs were living space], in their courtyards, in the courtyards of the ·Temple [L house] of God, in the square by the Water Gate, and in the square next to the Gate of Ephraim. 17 The whole ·group [assembly] that had come back from ·captivity [exile] built ·shelters [T booths] and lived in them. The Israelites had not done this since the ·time [days] of Joshua son of Nun. And ·they were very happy [there was great rejoicing].
18 Ezra read to them every day from the ·Book [scroll] of the ·Teachings [Laws; Instructions; L Torah] of God, from the first day to the last [C of the festival]. The people of Israel celebrated the feast for seven days, and then on the eighth day the people ·gathered [held a solemn assembly] ·as the law said [L according to the judgment].
21 Then a ·powerful [strong; mighty] angel picked up a large stone, like ·one used for grinding grain [a millstone], and threw it into the sea [Jer. 51:63–64]. He said:
“In the same way, the great city of Babylon will be thrown down [with violence],
and it will never be found again.
22 The ·music [L sound] of ·people playing harps [harpists] and ·other instruments [musicians; singers], ·flutes [flutists], and ·trumpets [trumpeters],
will never be heard in you again.
No ·workman [craftsman] doing any ·job [trade]
will ever be found in you again.
The sound of ·grinding grain [the millstone]
will never be heard in you again.
23 The light of a lamp
will never shine in you again,
and the voices of a bridegroom and bride
will never be heard in you again.
[L For; Because] Your merchants were the world’s great people,
and all the nations were ·tricked [deceived; led astray] by your ·magic [sorcery].
24 ·You are guilty of the death of the prophets and God’s holy people [L In you was found the blood of the prophets and the saints]
and all who have been ·killed [slaughtered; slain] on earth.”
Jesus Heals Many People(A)
29 After leaving there, Jesus went along ·the shore of Lake Galilee [T the Sea of Galilee]. He went up on ·a hill [or the mountain] and sat there.
30 Great crowds came to Jesus, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, ·those who could not speak [the mute/deaf; C the word can refer to speech or hearing; v. 31 suggests it here means “mute”], and many others. They ·put [laid] them at Jesus’ feet, and he healed them. 31 The crowd was ·amazed [astonished; marveled] when they saw that ·people who could not speak before [the mute/deaf] were now able to speak. The crippled were ·made strong [well; whole]. The lame could walk, and the blind could see. And they ·praised [glorified] the God of Israel for this.
More than Four Thousand Fed(B)
32 Jesus called his ·followers [disciples] to him and said, “I ·feel sorry [have compassion] for these people, because they have already been with me three days, and they have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry. They might ·faint [collapse] while going home.”
33 His ·followers [disciples] asked him, “·How [L From where] can we get enough bread in this ·remote place [desolate place; desert] to feed ·all these people [L so great a crowd]?”
34 Jesus asked, “How many loaves of bread do you have?”
They answered, “Seven, and a few small fish.”
35 Jesus told the people to ·sit [recline] on the ground. 36 He took the seven loaves of bread and the fish and gave thanks to God. Then he ·divided the food [L broke them] and gave it to his ·followers [disciples], and they gave it to the people. 37 All the people ate and were satisfied. Then his ·followers [disciples] filled seven ·baskets [large baskets; C a different word than in the feeding of the five thousand; 14:20] with the leftover pieces of food. 38 There were about four thousand men there who ate, besides women and children. 39 After ·sending the people home [dismissing the crowds], Jesus got into the boat and went to the ·area [region] of Magadan [C an unknown place, probably on the western shore of Lake Galilee; perhaps Magdala, the hometown of Mary Magdalene].
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