Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 102
A prayer by someone who is suffering, when he is weary and pours out his troubles in Yahweh’s presence.
1 O Yahweh, hear my prayer,
and let my cry for help come to you.
2 Do not hide your face from me when I am in trouble.
Turn your ear toward me.
Answer me quickly when I call.
3 My days disappear like smoke.
My bones burn like hot coals.
4 My heart is beaten down and withered like grass
because I have forgotten about eating.
5 I am nothing but skin and bones
because of my loud groans.
6 I am like a desert owl,
like an owl living in the ruins.
7 I lie awake.
I am like a lonely bird on a rooftop.
8 All day long my enemies insult me.
Those who ridicule me use my name as a curse.
9 I eat ashes like bread
and my tears are mixed with my drink
10 because of your hostility and anger,
because you have picked me up and thrown me away.
11 My days are like a shadow that is getting longer,
and I wither away like grass.
12 But you, O Yahweh, remain forever.
You are remembered throughout every generation.
13 You will rise and have compassion on Zion,
because it is time to grant a favor to it.
Indeed, the appointed time has come.
14 Your servants value Zion’s stones,
and they pity its rubble.
15 The nations will fear Yahweh’s name.
All the kings of the earth will fear your glory.
16 When Yahweh builds Zion,
he will appear in his glory.
17 He will turn his attention to the prayers
of those who have been abandoned.
He will not despise their prayers.
18 This will be written down for a future generation
so that a people yet to be created may praise Yah:
19 “Yahweh looked down from his holy place high above.
From heaven he looked at the earth.
20 He heard the groans of the prisoners
and set free those who were condemned to death.
21 Yahweh’s name is announced in Zion
and his praise in Jerusalem
22 when nations and kingdoms gather
to worship Yahweh.”
23 He has weakened my strength along the way.
He has reduced the number of my days.
24 I said, “My El, don’t take me now in the middle of my life.
Your years continue on throughout every generation.
25 Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth.
Even the heavens are the works of your hands.
26 They will come to an end, but you will still go on.
They will all wear out like clothing.
You will change them like clothes,
and they will be thrown away.
27 But you remain the same, and your life will never end.
28 The children of your servants will go on living here.
Their descendants will be secure in your presence.”
BOOK FIVE
(Psalms 107–150)
Psalm 107
1 Give thanks to Yahweh because he is good,
because his mercy endures forever.
2 Let the people Yahweh defended repeat these words.
They are the people he defended from the power of their enemies
3 and gathered from other countries,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south.
4 They wandered around the desert on a deserted road
without finding an inhabited city.
5 They were hungry and thirsty.
They began to lose hope.
6 In their distress they cried out to Yahweh.
He rescued them from their troubles.
7 He led them on a road that went straight to an inhabited city.
8 Let them give thanks to Yahweh because of his mercy.
He performed his miracles for Adam’s descendants.
9 He gave plenty to drink to those who were thirsty.
He filled those who were hungry with good food.
10 Those who lived in the dark, in death’s shadow
were prisoners in misery.
They were held in iron chains
11 because they had rebelled against El’s words
and had despised the advice given by Elyon.
12 So he humbled them with hard work.
They fell down, but no one was there to help them.
13 In their distress they cried out to Yahweh.
He saved them from their troubles.
14 He brought them out of the dark, out of death’s shadow.
He broke apart their chains.
15 Let them give thanks to Yahweh because of his mercy.
He performed his miracles for Adam’s descendants.
16 He shattered bronze gates
and cut iron bars in two.
17 Fools suffered because of their disobedience
and because of their crimes.
18 All food was disgusting to them,
and they came near death’s gates.
19 In their distress they cried out to Yahweh.
He saved them from their troubles.
20 He sent his message and healed them.
He rescued them from the grave.
21 Let them give thanks to Yahweh because of his mercy.
He performed his miracles for Adam’s descendants.
22 Let them bring songs of thanksgiving as their sacrifice.
Let them tell in joyful songs what he has done.
23 Those who sail on the sea in ships,
who do business on the high seas,
24 have seen what Yahweh can do,
the miracles he performed in the depths of the sea.
25 He spoke, and a storm began to blow,
and it made the waves rise high.
26 The sailors aboard ship rose toward the sky.
They plunged into the depths.
Their courage melted in the face of disaster.
27 They reeled and staggered like drunks,
and all their skills as sailors became useless.
28 In their distress they cried out to Yahweh.
He led them from their troubles.
29 He made the storm calm down,
and the waves became still.
30 The sailors were glad that the storm was quiet.
He guided them to the harbor they had longed for.
31 Let them give thanks to Yahweh because of his mercy.
He performed his miracles for Adam’s descendants.
32 Let them glorify him when the people are gathered for worship.
Let them praise him in the company of respected leaders.
27 “The days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when I will plant the nations of Israel and Judah with people and animals. 28 Once I watched over them to uproot them, to tear them down, and to wreck, ruin, and hurt them. Now I will watch over them to build them up and to plant them,” declares Yahweh. 29 “When those days come, people will no longer say, ‘Fathers have eaten sour grapes, and their children’s teeth are set on edge.’ 30 But each person will die for his own sin. Whoever eats sour grapes will have his own teeth set on edge.
The New Promise
31 “The days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when I will make a new promise[a] to Israel and Judah. 32 It will not be like the promise that I made to their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of Egypt. They rejected that promise, although I was a husband to them,” declares Yahweh. 33 “But this is the promise that I will make to Israel after those days,” declares Yahweh: “I will put my teachings inside them, and I will write those teachings on their hearts. I will be their Elohim, and they will be my people. 34 No longer will each person teach his neighbors or his relatives by saying, ‘Know Yahweh.’ All of them, from the least important to the most important, will know me,” declares Yahweh, “because I will forgive their wickedness and I will no longer hold their sins against them.”
Imitate God
5 Imitate God, since you are the children he loves. 2 Live in love as Christ also loved us. He gave his life for us as an offering and sacrifice, a soothing aroma to God.
3 Don’t let sexual sin, perversion of any kind, or greed even be mentioned among you. This is not appropriate behavior for God’s holy people. 4 It’s not right that dirty stories, foolish talk, or obscene jokes should be mentioned among you either. Instead, give thanks to God. 5 You know very well that no person who is involved in sexual sin, perversion, or greed (which means worshiping wealth) can have any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 6 Don’t let anyone deceive you with meaningless words. It is because of sins like these that God’s anger comes to those who refuse to obey him. 7 Don’t be partners with them.
8 Once you lived in the dark, but now the Lord has filled you with light. Live as children who have light. 9 Light produces everything that is good, that has God’s approval, and that is true. 10 Determine which things please the Lord. 11 Have nothing to do with the useless works that darkness produces. Instead, expose them for what they are. 12 It is shameful to talk about what some people do in secret. 13 Light exposes the true character of everything 14 because light makes everything easy to see. That’s why it says:
“Wake up, sleeper!
Rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”[a]
15 So then, be very careful how you live. Don’t live like foolish people but like wise people. 16 Make the most of your opportunities because these are evil days. 17 So don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord wants. 18 Don’t get drunk on wine, which leads to wild living. Instead, be filled with the Spirit[b] 19 by reciting psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs for your own good. Sing and make music to the Lord with your hearts. 20 Always thank God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Yeshua Christ.
Jesus Chooses Matthew to Be a Disciple(A)
9 When Yeshua was leaving that place, he saw a man sitting in a tax office. The man’s name was Matthew. Yeshua said to him, “Follow me!” So Matthew got up and followed him.
10 Later Yeshua was having dinner at Matthew’s house. Many tax collectors and sinners came to eat with Yeshua and his disciples. 11 The Pharisees saw this and asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
12 When Yeshua heard that, he said, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor; those who are sick do. 13 Learn what this means: ‘I want mercy, not sacrifices.’ I’ve come to call sinners, not people who think they have God’s approval.”
Jesus Is Questioned about Fasting(B)
14 Then John’s disciples came to Yeshua. They said, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often but your disciples never do?”
15 Yeshua replied, “Can wedding guests be sad while the groom is still with them? The time will come when the groom will be taken away from them. Then they will fast.
16 “No one patches an old coat with a new piece of cloth that will shrink. When the patch shrinks, it will rip away from the coat, and the tear will become worse. 17 Nor do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins burst, the wine runs out, and the skins are ruined. Rather, people pour new wine into fresh skins, and both are saved.”
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.