Book of Common Prayer
The Path of Eternal Life
Psalm 16
1 A Michtam of David.
Keep me safe, O God, for in You I have found shelter.
2 I said to Adonai: “You are my Lord—
I have no good apart from You.”
3 As for the kedoshim who are in the land,
they are noble—in them is all my delight.
4 As for those who run after another god,
may their sorrows multiply.
I will not pour out their drink offerings of blood,
nor lift up their names with my lips.
5 Adonai is my portion and my cup.
You cast my lot.
6 My boundary lines fall in pleasant places
—surely my heritage is beautiful.
7 I will bless Adonai, who counsels me.
Even at night my heart instructs me.
8 I have set Adonai always before me.
Since He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
9 So my heart is glad and my soul rejoices.
My body also rests secure.
10 For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol
nor let Your faithful one see the Pit.[a]
11 You make known to me the path of life.
Abundance of joys are in Your presence,
eternal pleasures at Your right hand.[b]
A Plea for Vindication
Psalm 17
1 A prayer of David.
Hear, Adonai, a just plea, listen to my cry!
Give ear to my prayer—from lips with no deceit.
2 From Your presence comes my vindication.
Your eyes see what is right.
3 You have examined my heart.
You searched me at night.
Though You test me, You find nothing.
I resolved that my mouth will not sin.
4 As for the deeds of mankind—
by the word of Your lips
I have kept out of the ways of the violent.
5 My steps have kept on Your paths.
My feet have not slipped.
6 I called upon You, O God,
for You will answer me.
Incline Your ear to me,
hear my speech.
7 Be wonderful with Your lovingkindness,
O Savior of those taking refuge at Your right hand
from those rising up against them.
8 Protect me like the pupil of the eye.
Hide me in the shadow of Your wings,
9 from the wicked who attack me—
my enemies, who surround me.
10 Their callous heart they shut tight.
With their mouth they speak proudly.
11 Our steps are now surrounded.
They set their eyes to throw us down to the ground,
12 like a lion eager to tear to pieces,
like a young lion crouching in cover.
13 Arise, Adonai! Confront him!
Make him bow down!
Deliver my soul from the wicked with Your sword,
14 from men, with Your hand, Adonai,
from men of the world whose portion is in this life.
You fill their belly with Your treasure
—with plenty of children—
and leave their surplus to their babes.
15 I in righteousness will behold Your face!
When I awake,
I will be satisfied with Your likeness.
Suffering Servant
Psalm 22
1 For the music director, on “The Doe of the Dawn,” a psalm of David.
2 My God, my God,
why have You forsaken me?
Distant from my salvation
are the words of my groaning.[a]
3 O my God, I cried out by day, but You did not answer,
by night, but there was no rest for me.
4 Yet You are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
5 In You our fathers put their trust.
They trusted, and You delivered them.
6 They cried to you and were delivered.
In You they trusted, and were not disappointed.
7 Am I a worm, and not a man?
Am I a scorn of men, despised by people?
8 All who see me mock me.
They curl their lips, shaking their heads:
9 “Rely on Adonai! Let Him deliver him!
Let Him rescue him—since he delights in Him!”[b]
10 Yet You brought me out of the womb,
made me secure at my mother’s breasts.
11 From the womb I was cast on You—
from my mother’s womb You have been my God.
12 Be not far from me!
For trouble is near—
there is no one to help.
13 Many bulls have surrounded me.
Strong bulls of Bashan encircled me.
14 They open wide their mouths against me,
like a tearing, roaring lion.
15 I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are disjointed.
My heart is like wax—
melting within my innards.
16 My strength is dried up like a clay pot,
my tongue clings to my jaws.
You lay me in the dust of death.
17 For dogs have surrounded me.
A band of evildoers has closed in on me.
They pierced[c] my hands and my feet.
18 I can count all my bones.
They stare, they gape at me.
19 They divide my clothes among them,
and cast lots for my garment.[d]
20 But You, Adonai, be not far off!
O my strength! Come quickly to my aid!
21 Deliver my soul from the sword—
my only one from the power of the dog.
22 Save me from the lion’s mouth.
From the horns of the wild oxen rescue me.
23 I will declare Your Name to my brothers.
I will praise You amid the congregation.[e]
24 You who fear Adonai, praise Him!
All Jacob’s descendants, glorify Him!
Revere Him, all you seed of Israel.
25 For He has not despised or disdained the suffering of the lowly one.
Nor has He hidden His face from him,
but when he cried to Him, He heard.
26 From You is my praise in the great assembly.
I will fulfill my vows before those who fear Him.
27 Let the poor eat and be satisfied.
Let them who seek after Him praise Adonai.
May your hearts live forever!
28 All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to Adonai.
All the families of the nations will bow down before You.
29 For the kingdom belongs to Adonai,
and He rules over the nations.
30 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship.
Everyone who goes down to the dust will kneel before Him—
even the one who could not keep his own soul alive.
31 His posterity will serve him, telling
the next generation about my Lord.
32 They will come and declare His righteousness
to a people yet to be born—
because He has done it!
7 Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong! Be courageous! For you are to go with this people into the land Adonai has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you are to enable them to inherit it. 8 Adonai—He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you. He will not fail you or abandon you. Do not fear or be discouraged.”
Public Torah Readings
9 Moses wrote down this Torah and gave it to the kohanim, the sons of Levi who carry the Ark of the Covenant of Adonai, and to all the elders of Israel.
10 Then Moses commanded them saying, “At the end of every seven years, in the set time of the year of cancelling debts, during the feast of Sukkot, 11 when all Israel comes to appear before Adonai your God in the place He chooses, you are to read this Torah before them in their hearing. 12 Gather the people—the men and women and little ones, and the outsider within your town gates—so they may hear and so they may learn, and they will fear Adonai your God and take care to do all the words of this Torah. 13 So their children, who have not known, will hear and learn to fear Adonai your God—all the days you live on the land you are about to cross over the Jordan to possess.”
24 Now when Moses had finished writing the words of this Torah on a scroll, right to the end . . . 25 Moses commanded the Levites, carriers of the Ark of the Covenant of Adonai saying, 26 “Take this scroll of the Torah, and place it beside the Ark of the Covenant of Adonai your God. It will remain there as a witness against you, 27 for I know your rebellion and your stiff neck. Indeed, while I am still alive with you today, you have been rebellious against Adonai—how much more then after my death? 28 Gather to me all the elders of your tribes and your officials, so that I may speak these words in their ears and call heaven and earth to witness against them. 29 For I know that after my death you will certainly act corruptly and turn aside from the way I have commanded you. So evil will fall upon you in the latter days, because you will do what is evil in the sight of Adonai, provoking Him to anger by the work of your hands.”
30 Moses spoke in the hearing of the whole community of Israel the words of this song, right to the end:
Parashat Haazinu
The Song of Moses
32 “Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak!
Let the earth hear the words of my mouth.
2 May my teaching trickle like rain,
my speech distill like dew—
like gentle rain on new grass,
like showers on tender plants.
3 For I will proclaim Adonai’s Name,
ascribe greatness to our God!
4 The Rock—blameless is His work.
Indeed, all His ways are just.
God of faithfulness without iniquity,
righteous and upright is He.
Misdirected Zeal
10 Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for Israel is for their salvation. 2 For I testify about them that they have zeal for God—but not based on knowledge. 3 For being ignorant of God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit themselves to the righteousness of God. 4 For Messiah is the goal[a] of the Torah as a means to righteousness for everyone who keeps trusting.
5 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on Torah, “The man who does these things shall live by them.” [b] 6 But the righteousness based on faith speaks in this way:
“Do not say in your heart,[c]
‘Who will go up into heaven?’[d]
(that is, to bring Messiah down),
7 or, ‘Who will go down into the abyss?’[e]
(that is, to bring Messiah up from the dead).”
8 But what does it say?
“The word is near you,
in your mouth and in your heart”[f]
—that is, the word of faith
that we are proclaiming:
9 For if you confess with your mouth
that Yeshua is Lord,
and believe in your heart
that God raised Him from the dead,
you will be saved.
10 For with the heart it is believed for righteousness,
and with the mouth it is confessed for salvation.
11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever trusts in Him will not be put to shame.” [g] 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all—richly generous to all who call on Him. 13 For “Everyone who calls upon the name of Adonai shall be saved.”[h]
15 “So when you see ‘the abomination of desolation,’[a] which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the Holy Place (let the reader understand), 16 then those in Judea must flee to the mountains. 17 The one on the roof must not go down to take what is in his house, 18 and the one in the field must not turn back to get his coat. 19 Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 Pray that your escape will not happen in winter, or on Shabbat. 21 For then there will be great trouble,[b] such as has not happened since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. 22 And unless those days were cut short, no one would be delivered. But for the sake of the chosen, those days will be cut short.
23 “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here’s the Messiah,’ or ‘There He is,’ do not believe it. 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up[c] and show great signs and wonders so as to lead astray, if possible, even the chosen. 25 See, I have told you beforehand.
26 “So if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. Or, ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27 For just as lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so also will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 For wherever the carcass is, there the vultures will gather.
29 “But immediately after the trouble of those days,
‘the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light
and the stars will fall from heaven
and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.’[d]
30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the land will mourn, and they will see ‘the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven’[e] with power and great glory. 31 He will send out His angels with a great shofar, and they will gather together His chosen from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”[f]
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.