Book of Common Prayer
A Powerful King for the Poor
Psalm 72
1 Of Solomon.
Give the king Your judgments, O God,
and Your righteousness to the king’s son.
2 May he judge Your people with righteousness,
and Your poor ones with justice.
3 Let the mountains bring shalom to the people,
and the hills righteousness.
4 May he vindicate the poor of the people,
save the children of the needy,
and crush the oppressor.
5 Let them fear You while the sun endures,
and while the moon lasts, throughout all generations.
6 May he be like rain falling on a mown field,
like showers watering the ground.
7 Let the righteous flourish in his days.
Let shalom abound till the moon is no more.
8 May he have dominion from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
9 Let desert dwellers bow before him,
and his enemies lick the dust.
10 May kings of Tarshish and the islands bring tribute,
kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts.
11 So let all kings bow down before him,
and all nations serve him.
12 For he rescues the needy crying for help,
also the poor and the one with no helper.
13 He will take pity on the poor and needy,
and the souls of the needy he will save.
14 From oppression and violence he redeems their soul,
for precious is their blood in his sight.
15 Long may he live!
May gold from Sheba be given to him.
May he pray for him continually,
and bless him all day.
16 Let there be abundance of grain in the land.
Let it sway on the top of the hills,
let its fruit be like Lebanon,
and let people of the city flourish like grass of the field.
17 May his name endure forever.
May his name increase before the sun,
and may all nations be blessed by him
and call him blessed.
18 Blessed be Adonai Elohim, God of Israel,
who alone does wonders.
19 Blessed be His glorious Name forever.
May all the earth be filled with His glory!
Amen and Amen!
20 The prayers of David son of Jesse are complete.
YOD י
73 Your hands have made me and formed me.
Give me understanding that I may learn Your mitzvot.
74 Those in awe of You see me and rejoice,
because I put my hope in Your word.
75 I know, Adonai, Your judgments are just.
In faithfulness You have afflicted me.
76 May Your lovingkindness comfort me,
according to Your promise to Your servant.
77 Let Your tender mercies reach me,
Let me live, for Your Torah is my delight.
78 May the proud be put to shame
for wronging me with a lie,
but I will meditate on Your precepts.
79 Let those in awe of You return to me—
those who know Your testimonies.
80 My heart will have integrity in following Your decrees,
so that I would not be ashamed.
KAF כ
81 My soul faints with longing for Your salvation,
but I still hope in Your word.
82 My eyes are worn out longing for Your promise,
saying, “When will You comfort me?”
83 Though I became like a wineskin dried in smoke,
I do not forget Your decrees.
84 How many are the days of Your servant?
When will You execute judgment on my persecutors?
85 The proud have dug pits for me—
that is not in accord with Your Torah!
86 All Your mitzvot are faithful.
They persecute me with a lie—help me!
87 They almost finished me off on earth.
But I—I will not forsake Your precepts.
88 Revive me with Your lovingkindness,
so I may keep Your mouth’s testimony.
LAMED ל
89 Forever, Adonai,
Your word stands firm in the heavens.
90 Your faithfulness endures from generation to generation.
You established the earth, and it stands.
91 Your judgments stand today,
for all things are Your servants.
92 If Your Torah had not been my delight,
I would have perished in my affliction.
93 I will never forget Your precepts.
For with them You have kept me alive.
94 I am Yours, save me!
For I have sought out Your precepts.
95 The wicked wait for me to destroy me.
But I will study Your testimonies.
96 I have seen a limit to all perfection,
yet Your commandment is boundless.
11 I further observed under the sun:
The race is not to the swift
nor the battle to the mighty,
nor does bread come to the wise,
or wealth to the discerning,
or favor to the skillful;
for time and chance befall them all.
12 Moreover, no man knows his time:
like fish caught in a fatal net
or birds caught in a snare,
so people are trapped in a time of calamity,
that falls upon them suddenly.
13 I also observed this as wisdom under the sun, and it greatly impressed me. 14 There was a little city with a few people in it and a mighty king came against it, surrounded it, and built great siege works against it. 15 Now a poor, wise man was found in it, and he delivered the city by his shrewdness. Yet nobody remembered that poor man! 16 So I said: “Wisdom is better than strength.” But the poor man’s wisdom is despised and his words are not heeded.
17 The words of the wise heard in quiet
are better than a ruler’s shout among fools.
18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war,
but one sinner destroys much good.
Freedom Based on Favor
5 For freedom, Messiah set us free—so stand firm, and do not be burdened by a yoke of slavery again. 2 Listen—I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Messiah will be of no benefit to you. 3 Again I testify to every man who lets himself be circumcised, that he is obligated to keep the whole Torah. 4 You who are trying to be justified by Torah[a] have been cut off from Messiah; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Ruach, by faith, we eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Messiah Yeshua, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any meaning—but only trust and faithfulness expressing itself through love.
7 You were running a great race! Who blocked you from following the truth? 8 This detour doesn’t come from the One who calls you. 9 A little hametz works its way through the whole batch of dough! 10 I am confident in the Lord that you will not think otherwise. But the one who is confusing you will pay the penalty, whoever he is. 11 As for me, brothers and sisters, if I still proclaim circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case, the stumbling block of the cross has been eliminated. 12 I only wish those who are agitating you would castrate themselves![b]
Walking by the Ruach
13 Brothers and sisters, you were called to freedom—only do not let your freedom become an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole Torah can be summed up in a single saying: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” [c] 15 But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not destroyed by one another.
Religious Leaders Demand Signs
16 Now the Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and testing Yeshua, they asked Him to show them a sign from heaven. 2 But He replied to them, “When evening comes, you say, ‘Fair weather coming, for the sky is red,’ 3 and in the morning, ‘Stormy weather today, for the sky is red and gloomy.’ You know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times! 4 An evil and adulterous generation clamors for a sign, yet no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.”[a] And leaving them behind, He went away.
5 Now when the disciples came to the other side of the sea, they had forgotten to take bread. 6 “Watch out,” Yeshua said to them, “and beware of the hametz of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
7 And they began to discuss among themselves, saying, “We didn’t bring any bread.”
8 But knowing this, Yeshua said, “O you of little faith, why do you discuss among yourselves that you have no bread? 9 You still don’t get it? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets of leftovers you gathered? 10 Or how about the seven loaves for the four thousand and all the baskets of leftovers you gathered? 11 How is it that you don’t understand that I wasn’t talking to you about bread? Now beware of the hametz of the Pharisees and Sadducees!” 12 Then they understood that He wasn’t talking about the hametz in the bread, but about the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.