Book of Common Prayer
70 (0) For the leader. By David. As a reminder:
2 (1) God, rescue me!
Adonai, hurry and help me!
3 (2) May those who seek my life
be disgraced and humiliated.
May those who take pleasure in doing me harm
be turned back and put to confusion.
4 (3) May those who jeer, “Aha! Aha!”
withdraw because of their shame.
5 (4) But may all those who seek you
be glad and take joy in you.
May those who love your salvation say always,
“God is great and glorious!”
6 (5) But I am poor and needy;
God, hurry for me.
You are my helper and rescuer;
Adonai, don’t delay!
71 In you, Adonai, I have taken refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
2 In your righteousness, rescue me;
and help me to escape.
Turn your ear toward me,
and deliver me.
3 Be for me a sheltering rock,
where I can always come.
You have determined to save me,
because you are my bedrock and stronghold.
4 My God, help me escape from the power of the wicked,
from the grasp of the unjust and ruthless.
5 For you are my hope, Adonai Elohim,
in whom I have trusted since I was young.
6 From birth I have relied on you;
it was you who took me from my mother’s womb.
7 To many, I am an amazing example;
but you are strong protection for me.
8 My mouth is full of praise for you,
filled with your glory all day long.
9 Don’t reject me when I grow old;
when my strength fails, don’t abandon me.
10 For my enemies are talking about me,
those seeking my life are plotting together.
11 They say, “God has abandoned him;
go after him, and seize him,
because no one will save him.”
12 God, don’t distance yourself from me!
My God, hurry to help me!
13 May those who are opposed to me
be put to shame and ruin;
may those who seek to harm me
be covered with scorn and disgrace.
14 But I, I will always hope
and keep adding to your praise.
15 All day long my mouth will tell
of your righteous deeds and acts of salvation,
though their number is past my knowing.
16 I will come in the power of Adonai Elohim
and recall your righteousness, yours alone.
17 God, you have taught me since I was young,
and I still proclaim your wonderful works.
18 So now that I’m old, and my hair is gray,
don’t abandon me, God, till I have proclaimed
your strength to the next generation,
your power to all who will come,
19 your righteousness too, God,
which reaches to the heights.
God, you have done great things;
who is there like you?
20 You have made me see much trouble and hardship,
but you will revive me again
and bring me up from the depths of the earth.
21 You will increase my honor;
turn and comfort me.
22 As for me, I will praise you with a lyre
for your faithfulness, my God.
I will sing praises to you with a lute,
Holy One of Isra’el.
23 My lips will shout for joy;
I will sing your praise, because you have redeemed me.
24 All day long my tongue
will speak of your righteousness.
For those who are seeking to harm me
will be put to shame and disgraced.
74 (0) A maskil of Asaf:
(1) Why have you rejected us forever, God,
with your anger smoking against the sheep you once pastured?
2 Remember your community, which you acquired long ago,
the tribe you redeemed to be your very own.
Remember Mount Tziyon, where you came to live.
3 Hurry your steps to these endless ruins,
to the sanctuary devastated by the enemy.
4 The roar of your foes filled your meeting-place;
they raised their own banners as a sign of their conquest.
5 The place seemed like a thicket of trees
when lumbermen hack away with their axes.
6 With hatchet and hammer they banged away,
smashing all the carved woodwork.
7 They set your sanctuary on fire,
tore down and profaned the abode of your name.
8 They said to themselves, “We will oppress them completely.”
They have burned down all God’s meeting-places in the land.
9 We see no signs, there is no prophet any more;
none of us knows how long it will last.
10 How much longer, God, will the foe jeer at us?
Will the enemy insult your name forever?
11 Why do you hold back your hand?
Draw your right hand from your coat, and finish them off!
12 God has been my king from earliest times,
acting to save throughout all the earth.
13 By your strength you split the sea in two,
in the water you smashed sea monsters’ heads,
14 you crushed the heads of Livyatan
and gave it as food to the creatures of the desert.
15 You cut channels for springs and streams,
you dried up rivers that had never failed.
16 The day is yours, and the night is yours;
it was you who established light and sun.
17 It was you who fixed all the limits of the earth,
you made summer and winter.
18 Remember how the enemy scoffs at Adonai,
how a brutish people insults your name.
19 Don’t hand over the soul of your dove to wild beasts,
don’t forget forever the life of your poor.
20 Look to the covenant, for the land’s dark places
are full of the haunts of violence.
21 Don’t let the oppressed retreat in confusion;
let the poor and needy praise your name.
22 Arise, God, and defend your cause;
remember how brutish men insult you all day.
23 Don’t forget what your foes are saying,
the ever-rising uproar of your adversaries.
7 After these events, during the reign of Artach’shashta king of Persia, ‘Ezra the son of S’rayah, the son of ‘Azaryah, the son of Hilkiyah, 2 the son of Shalum, the son of Tzadok, the son of Achituv, 3 the son of Amaryah, the son of ‘Azaryah, the son of M’rayot, 4 the son of Z’rachyah, the son of ‘Uzi, the son of Buki, 5 the son of Avishua, the son of Pinchas, the son of Eli‘ezer, the son of Aharon the cohen hagadol — 6 this ‘Ezra went up from Bavel. He was a scribe, expert in the Torah of Moshe, which Adonai the God of Isra’el had given; and the king granted him everything he asked for, since the hand of Adonai his God was on him.
7 In the seventh year of Artach’shashta the king, some of the people of Isra’el, and some of the cohanim, L’vi’im, singers, gatekeepers and temple servants went up to Yerushalayim. 8 [‘Ezra] arrived at Yerushalayim in the fifth month of the seventh year of the king. 9 He began going up to Yerushalayim from Bavel on the first day of the first month and arrived on the first day of the fifth month, since the good hand of his God was on him. 10 For ‘Ezra had set his heart on studying and practicing the Torah of Adonai and teaching Isra’el the laws and rulings.
11 Here is the letter that King Artach’shashta gave ‘Ezra the cohen and Torah-teacher, the student of matters relating to Adonai’s mitzvot and his laws for Isra’el:
12 “From: Artach’shashta, king of kings
“To: ‘Ezra the cohen, scribe of the law of the God of heaven, etc.:
“Herewith 13 I decree that everyone in my realm who belongs to the people of Isra’el, including their cohanim and L’vi’im, who, of his own free will, chooses to go with you to Yerushalayim, should go. 14 You are being sent by the king and his seven counselors to inquire how the law of your God, of which you have expert knowledge, is being applied in Y’hudah and Yerushalayim. 15 You are also to bring with you the silver and gold which the king and his counselors have voluntarily offered to the God of Isra’el, whose dwelling is in Yerushalayim; 16 together with all the silver and gold you receive throughout the province of Bavel and the voluntary offerings of the people and the cohanim that have been offered willingly for the house of their God in Yerushalayim.
17 “You are to spend this money carefully on young bulls, rams, and lambs, with their grain offerings and drink offerings; and offer them on the altar of the house of your God in Yerushalayim. 18 Whatever seems good to you and your kinsmen to do with the rest of the silver and gold, do it according to the will of your God.
19 “The articles given to you for the service of the house of your God, deliver to the God of Yerushalayim.
20 “Whatever else may be needed for the house of your God that you have to supply, you may supply from the royal treasury.
21 “I, Artach’shashta the king, herewith order all the treasurers in the territory beyond the [Euphrates] River to do carefully anything ‘Ezra the cohen, scribe of the law of the God of heaven, requires of you, 22 up to three-and-a-third tons of silver, 500 bushels of wheat, 500 gallons of wine, 500 gallons of olive oil and unlimited amounts of salt. 23 Whatever is ordered by the God of heaven is to be performed exactly for the house of the God of heaven; for why should wrath come against the realm of the king and his sons? 24 Moreover, we herewith proclaim to you that it will be illegal to impose tribute, taxes or tolls on any of the cohanim, L’vi’im, singers, gatekeepers, servants or laborers in this house of God.
25 “And you, ‘Ezra, making use of the wisdom you have from your God, are to appoint magistrates and judges to judge all the people in the territory beyond the River, that is, all who know the laws of your God; and you are to teach those who don’t know them. 26 Whoever refuses to obey the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgment be executed on him swiftly, whether it be death, banishment, confiscation of goods or imprisonment.”
14 Then I looked, and there was the Lamb standing on Mount Tziyon; and with him were 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. 2 I heard a sound from heaven like the sound of rushing waters and like the sound of pealing thunder; the sound I heard was also like that of harpists playing on their harps. 3 They were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living beings and the elders, and no one could learn the song except the 144,000 who have been ransomed from the world. 4 These are the ones who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins; they follow the Lamb wherever he goes; they have been ransomed from among humanity as firstfruits for God and the Lamb; 5 on their lips no lie was found — they are without defect.
6 Next I saw another angel flying in mid-heaven with everlasting Good News to proclaim to those living on the earth — to every nation, tribe, language and people. 7 In a loud voice he said,
“Fear God, give him glory,
for the hour has come when he will pass judgment!
Worship the One who made heaven and earth,
the sea and the springs of water!”
8 Another angel, a second one, followed, saying,
“She has fallen! She has fallen!
Bavel the Great![a]
She made all the nations drink the wine
of God’s fury caused by her whoring!”
9 Another angel, a third one, followed them and said in a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives the mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he will indeed drink the wine of God’s fury poured undiluted into the cup of his rage. He will be tormented by fire and sulfur before the holy angels and before the Lamb, 11 and the smoke from their tormenting goes up forever and ever. They have no rest, day or night, those who worship the beast and its image and those who receive the mark of its name.” 12 This is when perseverance is needed on the part of God’s people, those who observe his commands and exercise Yeshua’s faithfulness.
13 Next I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write: ‘How blessed are the dead who die united with the Lord, from now on!’ ‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘now they may rest from their efforts, for the things they have accomplished follow along with them.’”
14 Around that time, Herod, the regional governor, heard of the fame of Yeshua 2 and said to his attendants, “This must be Yochanan the Immerser. He has been raised from the dead; that is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.”
3 For Herod had arrested Yochanan, put him in chains and thrown him in prison because of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip; 4 since Yochanan had told Herod, “It violates the Torah for you to have her as your wife.” 5 Herod had wanted to put Yochanan to death; but he was afraid of the people, in whose eyes Yochanan was a prophet. 6 However, at Herod’s birthday celebration, Herodias’ daughter danced before the company and pleased Herod so much 7 that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. 8 Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of Yochanan the Immerser.” 9 The king became deeply upset; but out of regard for the oaths he had sworn before his dinner guests, he ordered that her wish be granted, 10 and sent and had Yochanan beheaded in prison. 11 The head was brought on a platter to the girl, and she gave it to her mother. 12 Yochanan’s talmidim came, took the body and buried it; then they went and told Yeshua.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.