Book of Common Prayer
105 Give thanks to Adonai! Call on his name!
Make his deeds known among the peoples.
2 Sing to him, sing praises to him,
talk about all his wonders.
3 Glory in his holy name;
let those seeking Adonai have joyful hearts.
4 Seek Adonai and his strength;
always seek his presence.
5 Remember the wonders he has done,
his signs and his spoken rulings.
6 You descendants of Avraham his servant,
you offspring of Ya‘akov, his chosen ones,
7 he is Adonai our God!
His rulings are everywhere on earth.
8 He remembers his covenant forever,
the word he commanded to a thousand generations,
9 the covenant he made with Avraham,
the oath he swore to Yitz’chak,
10 and established as a law for Ya‘akov,
for Isra’el as an everlasting covenant:
11 “To you I will give the land of Kena‘an
as your allotted heritage.”
12 When they were but few in number,
and not only few, but aliens there too,
13 wandering from nation to nation,
from this kingdom to that people,
14 he allowed no one to oppress them.
Yes, for their sakes he rebuked even kings:
15 “Don’t touch my anointed ones
or do my prophets harm!”
16 He called down famine on the land,
broke off all their food supply,
17 but sent a man ahead of them —
Yosef, who was sold as a slave.
18 They shackled his feet with chains,
and they bound him in irons;
19 until the time when his word proved true,
God’s utterance kept testing him.
20 The king sent and had him released,
the ruler of peoples set him free;
21 he made him lord of his household,
in charge of all he owned,
22 correcting his officers as he saw fit
and teaching his counselors wisdom.
23 Then Isra’el too came into Egypt,
Ya‘akov lived as an alien in the land of Ham.
24 There God made his people very fruitful,
made them too numerous for their foes,
25 whose hearts he turned to hate his people,
and treat his servants unfairly.
26 He sent his servant Moshe
and Aharon, whom he had chosen.
27 They worked his signs among them,
his wonders in the land of Ham.
28 He sent darkness, and the land grew dark;
they did not defy his word.
29 He turned their water into blood
and caused their fish to die.
30 Their land swarmed with frogs,
even in the royal chambers.
31 He spoke, and there came swarms of insects
and lice throughout their land.
32 He gave them hail instead of rain,
with fiery [lightning] throughout their land.
33 He struck their vines and fig trees,
shattering trees all over their country.
34 He spoke, and locusts came,
also grasshoppers without number;
35 they ate up everything green in their land,
devoured the fruit of their ground.
36 He struck down all the firstborn in their land,
the firstfruits of all their strength.
37 Then he led his people out,
laden with silver and gold;
among his tribes not one stumbled.
38 Egypt was happy to have them leave,
because fear of [Isra’el] had seized them.
39 He spread out a cloud to screen them off
and fire to give them light at night.
40 When they asked, he brought them quails
and satisfied them with food from heaven.
41 He split a rock, and water gushed out,
flowing as a river over the dry ground,
42 for he remembered his holy promise
to his servant Avraham.
43 He led out his people with joy,
his chosen ones with singing.
44 Then he gave them the lands of the nations,
and they possessed what peoples had toiled to produce,
45 in order to obey his laws
and follow his teachings.
Halleluyah!
4 Then the angel that had been speaking with me returned and roused me, as if he were waking someone up from being asleep, 2 and asked me, “What do you see?” I answered, “I’ve been looking at a menorah; it’s all of gold, with a bowl at its top, seven lamps on it, and seven tubes leading to the lamps at its top. 3 Next to it are two olive trees, one on the right side of the bowl and the other on its left.” 4 I then asked the angel speaking with me, “What are these, my Lord?” The angel speaking with me said, 5 “Don’t you know what these are?” I said, “No, my Lord.” 6 Then he answered me, “This is the word of Adonai to Z’rubavel: ‘Not by force, and not by power, but by my Spirit,’ says Adonai-Tzva’ot. 7 ‘What are you, you big mountain? Before Z’rubavel you will become a plain; and he will put the capstone in place, as everyone shouts, “It’s beautiful! Beautiful!”’ 8 This message from Adonai came to me: 9 ‘The hands of Z’rubavel have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands will also finish it.’ Then you will know that Adonai-Tzva’ot sent me to you. 10 For even someone who doesn’t think much of a day when such minor events take place will rejoice at seeing the plumbline in the hand of Z’rubavel. So these seven are the eyes of Adonai that range about over all the earth.”
11 I replied by asking him, “What are those two olive trees on the right and left sides of the menorah?” 12 Then I asked the question again: “What are those two olive branches discharging gold[-colored oil] through the two gold spouts?” 13 He replied, “Don’t you know what they are?” I answered, “No, my Lord.” 14 He said, “Those are the two who have been anointed with oil; they are standing with the Lord of all the land.”
17 Therefore I say this — indeed, in union with the Lord I insist on it: do not live any longer as the pagans live, with their sterile ways of thinking. 18 Their intelligence has been shrouded in darkness, and they are estranged from the life of God, because of the ignorance in them, which in turn comes from resisting God’s will. 19 They have lost all feeling, so they have abandoned themselves to sensuality, practicing any kind of impurity and always greedy for more. 20 But this is not the lesson you learned from the Messiah! 21 If you really listened to him and were instructed about him, then you learned that since what is in Yeshua is truth, 22 then, so far as your former way of life is concerned, you must strip off your old nature, because your old nature is thoroughly rotted by its deceptive desires; 23 and you must let your spirits and minds keep being renewed, 24 and clothe yourselves with the new nature created to be godly, which expresses itself in the righteousness and holiness that flow from the truth.
25 Therefore, stripping off falsehood, let everyone speak truth with his neighbor,[a] because we are intimately related to each other as parts of a body. 26 Be angry, but don’t sin[b] — don’t let the sun go down before you have dealt with the cause of your anger; 27 otherwise you leave room for the Adversary.
28 The thief must stop stealing; instead, he should make an honest living by his own efforts. This way he will be able to share with those in need.
29 Let no harmful language come from your mouth, only good words that are helpful in meeting the need, words that will benefit those who hear them. 30 Don’t cause grief to God’s Ruach HaKodesh, for he has stamped you as his property until the day of final redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, violent assertiveness and slander, along with all spitefulness. 32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted; and forgive each other, just as in the Messiah God has also forgiven you.
9 So he stepped into a boat, crossed the lake again and came to his own town. 2 Some people brought him a paralyzed man lying on a mattress. When Yeshua saw their trust, he said to the paralyzed man, “Courage, son! Your sins are forgiven.” 3 On seeing this, some of the Torah-teachers said among themselves, “This man is blaspheming!” 4 Yeshua, knowing what they were thinking, said, “Why are you entertaining evil thoughts in your hearts? 5 Tell me, which is easier to say — ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or ‘Get up and walk’? 6 But look! I will prove to you that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” He then said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, pick up your mattress, and go home!” 7 And the man got up and went home. 8 When the crowds saw this, they were awestruck and said a b’rakhah to God the Giver of such authority to human beings.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.