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!
Job: Who is Righteous Before God?
9 Job responded and said:
2 “Truly I know it is so,
but how can one be righteous before God?[a]
3 If anyone wished to contend with Him,
he could not answer Him once in a thousand.
4 He is wise in heart and mighty in strength.
Who has resisted Him and come out whole?
5 “He who moves mountains,
yet they do not know it,
who overthrows them in His anger;
6 who shakes the earth from its place
until its pillars tremble;
7 who speaks to the sun so it does not rise,
and seals up the stars;
8 He alone spreads out the heavens,
and treads on the waves of the sea;
9 He makes the Bear, Orion and Pleiades,
and the constellations of the south;
10 He does great and unfathomable things,
wonders beyond number.
11 If He were to pass by me,
I would not see Him!
Were He to move past me,
I would not perceive Him.
12 If He were to snatch away,
who could restrain Him?
Who could say to Him,
‘What are You doing?’
13 “God does not restrain His anger;
under Him the helpers of Rahab cower.
14 How then can I answer Him
or choose my words with Him?
15 Even if I were right, I would not answer;
I would implore the mercy of my Judge.
32 For He is not a human being, like I am,
that I could answer Him,
that we could go to court together.
33 There is no arbitrator between us,
who could lay his hand on us both;
34 who could remove His rod from me,
so that His terror would not frighten me.
35 Then I would speak and not fear Him
—except it is not so with me.”
34 Then Peter opened his mouth and said, “I truly understand that God is not one to show favoritism, [a] 35 but in every nation the one who fears Him and does what is right is acceptable to Him. 36 You know the message He sent to Bnei-Yisrael, proclaiming shalom through Messiah Yeshua—He is Lord of all. 37 You know the message that has spread throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the immersion that John proclaimed. 38 You know how God anointed Yeshua of Natzeret with the Ruach ha-Kodesh and power—how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with Him. 39 We are witnesses to all He did, both in the Judean countryside and in Jerusalem. They put Him to death by hanging Him on a tree, 40 but God raised Him up on the third day and caused Him to be visible— 41 not to all the people, but to us, witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God. We ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead. 42 And He commanded us to proclaim to the people and to testify that He is the One ordained by God as Judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about Him—that everyone who puts his trust in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name.”
The Ruach Falls on the Gentiles
44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Ruach ha-Kodesh fell on all those hearing the message. 45 All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were astonished, because the gift of the Ruach ha-Kodesh had been poured out even on the Gentiles. 46 For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and magnifying God.
Then Peter answered, 47 “Can anyone refuse water for these to be immersed, who have received the Ruach ha-Kodesh just as we did?” 48 So he commanded them to be immersed in the name of Messiah Yeshua. Then they asked him to stay for a few days.
Satisfying Spiritual Thirst
37 On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Yeshua stood up and cried out loudly, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture says, ‘out of his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” [a] 39 Now He said this about the Ruach, whom those who trusted in Him were going to receive; for the Ruach[b] was not yet given, since Yeshua was not yet glorified.
40 When they heard these words, some of the crowd said, “This man really is the Prophet.” 41 Others were saying, “This is the Messiah.” Still others were saying, “The Messiah doesn’t come from the Galilee, does He? 42 Didn’t the Scripture say that the Messiah comes from the seed of David and from Bethlehem, David’s town?” [c] 43 So a division arose in the crowd because of Yeshua. 44 Some wanted to capture Him, but no one laid hands on Him.
Religious Adversaries
45 Then the guards returned to the ruling kohanim and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring Him?”
46 “Never has anyone spoken like this man,” the guards answered.
47 The Pharisees responded, “You haven’t been led astray also, have you? 48 Have any of the rulers or Pharisees believed in Him? 49 No, but this mob that doesn’t know the Torah—they are cursed!”
50 Nicodemus, the one who had come to Yeshua before and was one of them, said to them, 51 “Our Torah doesn’t judge a man unless it first hears from him and knows what he’s doing, does it?”
52 They answered him, “You aren’t from the Galilee too, are you? Search, and see that no prophet comes out of the Galilee!”[d]
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.