Book of Common Prayer
Justice of the Kingdom
Psalm 146
1 Halleluyah! Praise Adonai, O my soul!
2 I will praise Adonai all my life.
I will praise my God yet again.
3 Do not put your trust in princes—
in man, in whom there is no salvation.
4 His breath departs,
he returns to his dust.
In that very day his plans perish.
5 Happy is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in Adonai his God,
6 who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them,
who keeps truth forever,
7 who executes justice for the oppressed,
who gives bread to the hungry.
Adonai sets the prisoners free.
8 Adonai opens the eyes of the blind.[a]
Adonai raises up those who are bowed down.
Adonai loves the righteous.
9 Adonai protects outsiders,
upholds the fatherless and the widow,
but thwarts the way of the wicked.
10 Adonai will reign forever,
your God, O Zion, from generation to generation.
Halleluyah!
He Builds Up Jerusalem
Psalm 147
1 Halleluyah!
How good it is to sing praises to our God.
How pleasant and fitting is praise.
2 Adonai builds up Jerusalem.
He gathers together the exiles of Israel.
3 He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.
4 He determines the number of the stars.
He gives them all their names.
5 Great is our Lord and mighty in power—
His understanding is infinite!
6 Adonai upholds the humble.
He brings the wicked to the ground.
7 Sing to Adonai with thanksgiving.
Sing praises to our God on the harp.
8 He covers the sky with clouds.
He provides rain for the earth.
He makes grass sprout on the hills.
9 He gives food to the cattle
and to the young ravens which cry.
10 He delights not in the horse’s strength,
nor takes pleasure in a man’s legs.
11 Adonai delights in those who revere Him,
in those who trust in His lovingkindness.
12 Exalt Adonai, O Jerusalem!
Praise your God, O Zion!
13 For He strengthens the bars of your gates.
He blesses your children within you.
14 He puts shalom within your borders.
He satisfies you with the finest wheat.
15 He sends earth His command—
His word runs swiftly.
16 He gives snow like wool.
He scatters frost like ashes.
17 He hurls down His hail like pebbles—
who can stand before His cold?
18 He sends forth His word and melts them.
He makes His wind blow and waters flow.
19 He declares His word to Jacob,
His decrees and His rulings to Israel.
20 He has not done so with any other nation.
They have not known His judgments.
Halleluyah!
The Beginning of Wisdom
Psalm 111
1 Halleluyah! I praise Adonai with all my heart
in the company and congregation of the upright.
2 Great are the works of Adonai—
searched out by all who delight in them.
3 Glorious and majestic is His work,
and His righteousness endures forever.
4 He made His wonders memorable.
Adonai is gracious and full of compassion.
5 He gives food to those who fear Him.
He remembers His covenant forever.
6 He shows His people His powerful deeds,
giving them the heritage of the nations.
7 The works of His hands are truth and justice.
All His precepts are trustworthy—
8 they are upheld forever and ever,
made in truth and uprightness.
9 He has sent redemption to His people.
He has ordained His covenant forever.
Holy and awesome is His Name.
10 The fear of Adonai is the beginning of wisdom.
All who follow His precepts have good understanding.
His praise endures forever!
Blessed is the Righteous Man
Psalm 112
1 Halleluyah! Happy is the man who fears Adonai,
who delights greatly in His mitzvot.
2 His offspring will be mighty in the land.
The generation of the upright will be blessed.
3 Wealth and riches are in his house,
and his righteousness endures forever.
4 Light shines in the darkness for the upright.
Gracious, compassionate and just is he.
5 Good comes to a man who is gracious and lends.
He will order his affairs with fairness.
6 Surely he will never be shaken.
The righteous are remembered forever.
7 He is not afraid of bad news—
his heart is steadfast, trusting in Adonai.
8 His heart is secure, he will not fear—
until he gazes on his foes.
9 He gives freely to the poor.
His righteousness endures forever.
His horn is lifted high in honor.
10 The wicked will see it and be indignant.
He will gnash with his teeth and waste away.
The desire of the wicked will perish.
From the Rising of the Sun
Psalm 113
1 Halleluyah! Praise, O servants of Adonai,
praise the Name of Adonai.
2 Blessed be the Name of Adonai
from now and forever.
3 From the rising of the sun to its going down
the Name of Adonai is to be praised.
4 Adonai is high above all nations,
His glory is above the heavens.
5 Who is like Adonai our God,
enthroned on high,
6 who brings Himself down to look
upon heaven and upon earth?
7 He raises the poor from the dust,
lifts up the needy out of the dunghill,
8 to seat him with princes,
with the princes of His people.
9 He settles the barren woman in her home
as a joyful mother of children.
Halleluyah!
1 The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah:
A Nation Sick With Sin
2 Listen! Heavens, and hear, earth,
for Adonai has spoken:
“Sons I have raised and brought up,
but they have rebelled against Me.
3 The ox knows its owner,
and the donkey its manger,
but Israel does not know,
My people do not understand.”
4 Oy, a sinful nation,
a people weighed down with iniquity,
offspring of evildoers,
sons dealing corruptly!
They have abandoned Adonai.
They have despised Israel’s Holy One.
They have turned backwards.
5 Where will you be struck again,
as you stray away more and more?
The whole head is sick,
the whole heart faint.
6 From the foot to the head
there is no soundness.
Wounds, bruises and raw sores:
not pressed, nor bandaged,
nor softened with oil.
7 Your land is desolate;
your cities are burned with fire;
your fields,
strangers devour it in your presence—
a desolation,
overthrown by strangers.
8 So the Daughter of Zion is left
as a sukkah in a vineyard,
as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers,
as a besieged city.
9 Unless Adonai-Tzva’ot
had left us a small remnant,[a]
we would have been as Sodom,
we would have been as Gomorrah.
The Day of the Lord Is Coming
3 Loved ones, this is now the second letter that I am writing to you. In both I am trying to stir you up by way of a reminder to wholesome thinking— 2 to remember the words previously proclaimed by the holy prophets and the commandment of our Lord and Savior through your emissaries. [a] 3 First of all, understand that in the last days, scoffers will come scoffing, following after their own desires [b] 4 and saying, “Where is this promise of His coming?[c] Ever since the fathers died,[d] everything goes on just as it has from the beginning of creation.” 5 For in holding to this idea, it escapes their notice that the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God. [e] 6 Through these, the world of that time was destroyed by being flooded with water. [f] 7 But by the same word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire—kept until the Day of Judgment and the destruction of ungodly people.[g]
8 But don’t forget this one thing, loved ones, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. [h] 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some consider slowness.[i] Rather, He is being patient toward you—not wanting anyone to perish, but for all to come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief.[j] On that day the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the elements will melt and disintegrate, and the earth and everything done on it shall be exposed.
Parable of the Ten Virgins
25 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. [a] 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 For when the foolish ones took their lamps, they took no oil with them. 4 But the wise ones took oil in jars along with their lamps.
5 “Now while the bridegroom was taking a long time, they all got drowsy and started falling asleep. 6 But in the middle of the night there was a shout, ‘Look, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ 7 Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. 8 Now the foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, since our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise ones replied, ‘No, there won’t be enough for us and for you. Instead, go to those who sell, and buy some for yourselves.’
10 “But while they were going off to buy, the bridegroom came. And those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast, and the door was shut. 11 Now later, the other virgins came, saying, ‘Sir, Sir, open up for us!’
12 “But he replied, ‘Amen, I tell you, I do not know you.’ 13 Therefore stay alert, for you know neither the day nor the hour.”
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.