Book of Common Prayer
Protection from the Wicked
Psalm 140
1 For the music director: a psalm of David.
2 Rescue me, Adonai, from the evil man.
Protect me from the violent men—
3 who devise evil in their heart—
every day they stir up wars.
4 They sharpen their tongue like a serpent’s
—viper’s venom is under their lips.[a] Selah
5 Keep me safe, Adonai, from the clutches of the wicked.
Protect me from the man of violence who planned to push me off my feet.
6 The proud have hidden a trap and cords for me.
They spread out a net by the path.
They set snares for me. Selah
7 I said to Adonai: “You are my God!”
Hear, Adonai, the sound of my supplications.
8 God my Lord, the strength of my deliverance,
You shield my head in the day of battle.
9 Grant not, Adonai, the desires of the wicked.
Do not let their evil plan succeed,
or they will exalt themselves. Selah
10 As for the head of those surrounding me,
may the mischief of their lips overwhelm them.
11 Let burning coals fall upon them.
May they be cast into the fire, into deep pits,
never to rise again.[b]
12 May a slanderer not endure in the land.
May calamity hunt down a violent man.
13 I know Adonai will vindicate the poor,
and secure justice for the needy.
14 Surely, the righteous ones will praise Your name.
The upright will dwell in Your presence.
A Refuge from Trouble
Psalm 142
1 A contemplative poem of David, when he was in the cave, a prayer.
2 I cry aloud with my voice to Adonai.
With my voice I seek favor from Adonai.
3 I pour out my complaint before Him,
before Him I tell my trouble.
4 When my spirit grows faint within me,
You know my path.
In the way where I walk they have hidden a trap for me.
5 Look at my right hand and see,
for no one cares about me.
I have no refuge—
no one cares for my soul.
6 I have cried out to You, Adonai.
I said: “You are my refuge,
my portion in the land of the living.”
7 Listen to my cry,
for I am brought very low.
Rescue me from my persecutors,
for they are too strong for me.
8 Bring my soul out of prison,
so I may praise Your Name.
The righteous will triumph through me,
for You will reward me.
Evening Petition for Protection
Psalm 141
1 A psalm of David.
Adonai, I call to You—come quickly to me!
Hear my voice when I call to You.
2 May my prayer be set before You like incense.
May the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.
3 Set a guard, Adonai, over my mouth.
Keep watch over the door of my lips.
4 Let not my heart turn to any evil thing,
to practice deeds of wickedness
with men that work iniquity,
nor let me eat of their delicacies.
5 Let the righteous strike me—it is kindness.
Let him correct me—it is oil on my head
—my head will not refuse it.
Yet still my prayer is against their wickedness.
6 Their judges are thrown down from a cliff.
Then they will hear my words, since they are sweet.
7 As when one plows and breaks open the earth,
so our bones are scattered at the mouth of Sheol.
8 For my eyes are toward You, God my Lord.
In You I have taken refuge—do not expose my soul.
9 Keep me from the jaws of the trap they have laid for me,
and from the snares of the evildoers.
10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets,
while I pass by safely.
Hide Not Your Face from Me
Psalm 143
1 A psalm of David.
Hear my prayer, Adonai,
give ear to my petitions.
In Your faithfulness and Your righteousness,
answer me!
2 Do not bring Your servant into judgment,
for in Your eyes no one living is righteous.
3 For an enemy pursues my soul.
He crushes my life down to the ground.
He makes me dwell in darkness, like those long dead.
4 So my spirit grows faint within me.
My heart is shocked within me.
5 I remember the days of old.
I meditate on all You have done.
I ponder the work of Your hands.
6 I spread forth my hands to You.
My soul longs for You as a parched land. Selah
7 Answer me speedily, Adonai—my spirit fails.
Hide not Your face from me,
lest I become like those who go down into the Pit.
8 Make me hear Your lovingkindness in the morning,
for in You I trust.
Show me the way I should go,
for to You I lift up my soul.
9 Deliver me from my enemies, Adonai.
I hide myself in You.
10 Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God.
Let Your good Ruach lead me on level ground.
11 For Your Name’s sake, Adonai, revive me.
In Your justice bring my soul out of trouble.
12 In Your mercy cut off my enemies
and destroy all who harass my soul,
for I am Your servant.
Israel Will Know Adonai
21 “I will put My glory among the nations. All the nations will see My judgment that I will execute and My hand that I will lay on them. 22 The house of Israel will know that I am Adonai their God, from that day onward. 23 The nations will know that the house of Israel went into exile for their iniquity, because they broke faith with Me. So I hid My face from them and gave them into the hand of their enemies. All of them fell by the sword. 24 I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and their transgressions. I hid My face from them.”
25 Therefore thus says Adonai Elohim: “Now I will restore Jacob from exile, when I have compassion on the whole house of Israel. I will be zealous for My holy Name. 26 They will bear their shame and all their disloyalty by which they broke faith with Me, when they were living securely in their land, with no one making them afraid. 27 When I have brought them back from the peoples and have gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, I will be sanctified in them in the eyes of many nations. 28 Then they will know that I am Adonai their God, since it was I who caused them to go into exile among the nations and I who will gather them back to their own land. I will never again leave them there. 29 I will never again hide My face from them. For I have poured out My Ruach upon the house of Israel.” It is a declaration of Adonai.
3 See how glorious a love the Father has given us, that we should be called God’s children—and so we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. 2 Loved ones, now we are God’s children; and it has not yet been revealed what we will be. But we do know that when it’s revealed, we shall be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. 3 Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
4 Everyone practicing sin also practices lawlessness—indeed, sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that Yeshua appeared in order to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in Him keeps on sinning; no one who sins has seen Him or known Him. 7 Children, let no one mislead you! The one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as Yeshua is righteous. 8 The one who practices sin is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. Ben-Elohim appeared for this purpose—to destroy the works of the devil. 9 No one born of God practices sin, because God’s seed remains in him. He cannot sin, because he is born of God.
Loving Children Emulate His Actions
10 It is clear who are the children of God and who are the children of the devil by this—anyone who does not act righteously or love his brother is not of God.
24 “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. 25 It is enough for the disciple to become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!
26 “So do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed and nothing hidden that will not be made known. 27 What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear in your ear, proclaim from the housetops! 28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the One who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.[a]
29 “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?[b] Yet not one of them shall fall to the ground apart from your Father’s consent. 30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So do not fear; you are worth more than many sparrows.
32 “Therefore whoever acknowledges Me before men, I will also acknowledge him before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.