Book of Common Prayer
72 (0) By Shlomo:
(1) God, give the king your fairness in judgment,
endow this son of kings with your righteousness,
2 so that he can govern your people rightly
and your poor with justice.
3 May mountains and hills provide your people
with peace through righteousness.
4 May he defend the oppressed among the people,
save the needy and crush the oppressor.
5 May they fear you as long as the sun endures
and as long as the moon, through all generations.
6 May he be like rain falling on mown grass,
like showers watering the land.
7 In his days, let the righteous flourish
and peace abound, till the moon is no more.
8 May his empire stretch from sea to sea,
from the [Euphrates] River to the ends of the earth.
9 May desert-dwellers bow before him;
may his enemies lick the dust.
10 The kings of Tarshish and the coasts will pay him tribute;
the kings of Sh’va and S’va will offer gifts.
11 Yes, all kings will prostrate themselves before him;
all nations will serve him.
12 For he will rescue the needy when they cry,
the poor too and those with none to help them.
13 He will have pity on the poor and needy;
and the lives of the needy he will save.
14 He will redeem them from oppression and violence;
their blood will be precious in his view.
15 May [the king] live long!
May they give him gold from the land of Sh’va!
May they pray for him continually;
yes, bless him all day long.
16 May there be an abundance of grain in the land,
all the way to the tops of the mountains.
May its crops rustle like the L’vanon.
May people blossom in the city like the grasses in the fields.
17 May his name endure forever,
his name, Yinnon, as long as the sun.[a]
May people bless themselves in him,
may all nations call him happy.
18 Blessed be Adonai, God,
the God of Isra’el,
who alone works wonders.
19 Blessed be his glorious name forever,
and may the whole earth be filled with his glory.
Amen. Amen.
20 This completes the prayers of David the son of Yishai.
י (Yud)
73 Your hands made and formed me;
give me understanding, so I can learn your mitzvot.
74 Those who fear you rejoice at the sight of me,
because I put my hope in your word.
75 I know, Adonai, that your rulings are righteous,
that even when you humble me you are faithful.
76 Let your grace comfort me,
in keeping with your promise to your servant.
77 Show me pity, and I will live,
for your Torah is my delight.
78 Let the proud be ashamed, because they wrong me with lies;
as for me, I will meditate on your precepts.
79 Let those who fear you turn to me,
along with those who know your instruction.
80 Let my heart be pure in your laws,
so that I won’t be put to shame.
כ (Kaf)
81 I am dying to know your salvation;
my hope is in your word.
82 My eyes fail from watching for your promise;
I ask, “When will you comfort me?”
83 For I have shriveled like a wineskin in a smoky room;
still, I don’t forget your laws.
84 How long can your servant stay alive?
When will you bring judgment on my persecutors?
85 The arrogant have dug pits for me to fall in;
this is not in keeping with your Torah!
86 All your mitzvot [show your] faithfulness;
they are hounding me with lies; help me!
87 They have nearly ended my life on earth,
but I have not abandoned your precepts.
88 In keeping with your grace, revive me;
and I will observe your spoken instructions.
ל (Lamed)
89 Your word continues forever, Adonai,
firmly fixed in heaven;
90 your faithfulness through all generations;
you established the earth, and it stands.
91 Yes, it stands today, in keeping with your rulings;
for all things are your servants.
92 If your Torah had not been my delight,
I would have perished in my distress.
93 I will never forget your precepts,
for with them you have made me alive.
94 I am yours; save me
because I seek your precepts.
95 The wicked hope to destroy me,
but I focus on your instruction.
96 I see the limits of all perfection,
but your mitzvah has no bounds.
12 But the people of Isra’el again did what was evil from Adonai’s perspective, so Adonai strengthened ‘Eglon the king of Mo’av against Isra’el, because they had done what was evil from Adonai’s perspective. 13 In confederation with the people of ‘Amon and ‘Amalek, ‘Eglon went out and defeated Isra’el, capturing the City of Date-Palms; 14 and the people of Isra’el served ‘Eglon the king of Mo’av eighteen years.
15 But when the people of Isra’el cried out to Adonai, Adonai raised up for them a savior, Ehud the son of Gera, from the tribe of Binyamin, a left-handed man. The people of Isra’el appointed him to take their tribute to ‘Eglon the king of Mo’av. 16 Ehud made himself a double-edged sword eighteen inches long and strapped it to his right thigh under his clothes. 17 Then he presented the tribute to ‘Eglon king of Mo’av. Now ‘Eglon was a very fat man. 18 When he had finished presenting the tribute, he dismissed the people who had brought it. 19 But he himself, after reaching the quarries at Gilgal, went back and said, “King, I have a secret message for you.” The king commanded silence, and all his attendants withdrew. 20 Ehud came to him; he was sitting alone by himself in his upstairs room, where it was cool. Ehud said: “I have a message from God for you.” As the king arose from his seat, 21 Ehud reached out with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into the king’s belly. 22 The hilt too went in after the blade, and the fat closed around the blade, for he did not draw the sword out of his belly, so that it came out behind. 23 Then Ehud went out onto the porch, shut the doors of the upstairs room behind him and locked them. 24 After Ehud had left, the king’s servants came. Seeing that the doors of the upper room were locked, they said, “He must be relieving himself in the inner part of the cool room.” 25 They waited until they became embarrassed, but he still didn’t open the doors of the upstairs room. So they took the key and opened them; and there before them lay their master, dead on the ground.
26 But while they were delaying, Ehud escaped — he passed beyond the quarries and arrived safely in Se‘irah. 27 Upon arrival in the hills of Efrayim, he began sounding the call on the shofar; and the people of Isra’el went down with him from the hill-country; he himself took the lead. 28 He said to them: “Follow me, because Adonai has given your enemy Mo’av into your hands. They went down after him, seized the fords of the Yarden opposite Mo’av and permitted no one to cross. 29 On that occasion they defeated Mo’av, some ten thousand men, all tough, experienced soldiers; not one of them escaped. 30 Thus was Mo’av subdued that day under the power of Isra’el. Then the land had rest for eighty years.
1 Dear Theophilos:
In the first book, I wrote about everything Yeshua set out to do and teach, 2 until the day when, after giving instructions through the Ruach HaKodesh to the emissaries whom he had chosen, he was taken up into heaven.
3 After his death he showed himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. During a period of forty days they saw him, and he spoke with them about the Kingdom of God.
4 At one of these gatherings, he instructed them not to leave Yerushalayim but to wait for “what the Father promised, which you heard about from me. 5 For Yochanan used to immerse people in water; but in a few days, you will be immersed in the Ruach HaKodesh!”
6 When they were together, they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore self-rule to Isra’el?” 7 He answered, “You don’t need to know the dates or the times; the Father has kept these under his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Ruach HaKodesh comes upon you; you will be my witnesses both in Yerushalayim and in all Y’hudah and Shomron, indeed to the ends of the earth!”
9 After saying this, he was taken up before their eyes; and a cloud hid him from their sight. 10 As they were staring into the sky after him, suddenly they saw two men dressed in white standing next to them. 11 The men said, “You Galileans! Why are you standing, staring into space? This Yeshua, who has been taken away from you into heaven, will come back to you in just the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
12 Then they returned the Shabbat-walk distance from the Mount of Olives to Yerushalayim. 13 After entering the city, they went to the upstairs room where they were staying. The names of the emissaries were Kefa, Ya‘akov, Yochanan, Andrew, Philip, T’oma, Bar-Talmai, Mattityahu, Ya‘akov Ben-Halfai, Shim‘on “the Zealot,” and Y’hudah Ben-Ya‘akov. 14 These all devoted themselves single-mindedly to prayer, along with some women, including Miryam (Yeshua’s mother), and his brothers.
45 From noon until three o’clock in the afternoon, all the Land was covered with darkness. 46 At about three, Yeshua uttered a loud cry, “Eli! Eli! L’mah sh’vaktani? (My God! My God! Why have you deserted me?)”[a] 47 On hearing this, some of the bystanders said, “He’s calling for Eliyahu.” 48 Immediately one of them ran and took a sponge, soaked it in vinegar, put it on a stick and gave it to him to drink.[b] 49 The rest said, “Wait! Let’s see if Eliyahu comes and rescues him.” 50 But Yeshua, again crying out in a loud voice, yielded up his spirit.
51 At that moment the parokhet in the Temple was ripped in two from top to bottom; and there was an earthquake, with rocks splitting apart. 52 Also the graves were opened, and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life; 53 and after Yeshua rose, they came out of the graves and went into the holy city, where many people saw them. 54 When the Roman officer and those with him who were keeping watch over Yeshua saw the earthquake and what was happening, they were awestruck and said, “He really was a son of God.”
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.