Book of Common Prayer
26 (0) By David:
(1) Vindicate me, Adonai,
for I have lived a blameless life;
unwaveringly I trust in Adonai.
2 Examine me, Adonai, test me,
search my mind and heart.
3 For your grace is there before my eyes,
and I live my life by your truth.
4 I have not sat with worthless folks,
I won’t consort with hypocrites,
5 I hate the company of evildoers,
I will not sit with the wicked.
6 I will wash my hands in innocence
and walk around your altar, Adonai,
7 lifting my voice in thanks
and proclaiming all your wonders.
8 Adonai, I love the house where you live,
the place where your glory abides.
9 Don’t include me with sinners
or my life with the bloodthirsty.
10 In their hands are evil schemes;
their right hands are full of bribes.
11 As for me, I will live a blameless life.
Redeem me and show me favor.
12 My feet are planted on level ground;
in the assemblies I will bless Adonai.
28 (0) By David:
(1) Adonai, I am calling to you;
my Rock, don’t be deaf to my cry.
For if you answer me with silence,
I will be like those who fall in a pit.
2 Hear the sound of my prayers
when I cry to you,
when I lift my hands
toward your holy sanctuary.
3 Don’t drag me off with the wicked,
with those whose deeds are evil;
they speak words of peace to their fellowmen,
but evil is in their hearts.
4 Pay them back for their deeds,
as befits their evil acts;
repay them for what they have done,
give them what they deserve.
5 For they don’t understand the deeds of Adonai
or what he has done.
He will break them down;
he will not build them up.
6 Blessed be Adonai,
for he heard my voice as I prayed for mercy.
7 Adonai is my strength and shield;
in him my heart trusted, and I have been helped.
Therefore my heart is filled with joy,
and I will sing praises to him.
8 Adonai is strength for [his people],
a stronghold of salvation to his anointed.
9 Save your people! Bless your heritage!
Shepherd them, and carry them forever!
36 (0) For the leader. By David, the servant of Adonai:
2 (1) Crime speaks to the wicked.
I perceive this in my heart;
before his eyes there is no fear
of God.
3 (2) For, the way he sees it,
crime makes his life easy —
that is, until his wrongs are discovered;
then, he is hated.
4 (3) His words are wrong and deceitful;
he has stopped being wise and doing good.
5 (4) He devises trouble as he lies in bed;
so set is he on his own bad way
that he doesn’t hate evil.
6 (5) Adonai, in the heavens is your grace;
your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
7 (6) Your righteousness is like the mountains of God,
your judgments are like the great deep.
You save man and beast, Adonai.
8 (7) How precious, God, is your grace!
People take refuge in the shadow of your wings,
9 (8) they feast on the rich bounty of your house,
and you have them drink from the stream of your delights.
10 (9) For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light we see light.
11 (10) Continue your grace to those who know you
and your righteousness to the upright in heart.
12 (11) Don’t let the foot of the proud tread on me
or the hands of the wicked drive me away.
13 (12) There they lie fallen, those evildoers,
flung down and unable to rise.
39 (0) For the leader. Set in the style of Y’dutun. A psalm of David:
2 (1) I said, “I will watch how I behave,
so that I won’t sin with my tongue;
I will put a muzzle on my mouth
whenever the wicked confront me.”
3 (2) I was silent, said nothing, not even good;
but my pain kept being stirred up.
4 (3) My heart grew hot within me;
whenever I thought of it, the fire burned.
Then, [at last,] I let my tongue speak:
5 (4) “Make me grasp, Adonai, what my end must be,
what it means that my days are numbered;
let me know what a transient creature I am.
6 (5) You have made my days like handbreadths;
for you, the length of my life is like nothing.”
Yes, everyone, no matter how firmly he stands,
is merely a puff of wind. (Selah)
7 (6) Humans go about like shadows;
their turmoil is all for nothing.
They accumulate wealth, not knowing
who will enjoy its benefits.
8 (7) Now, Adonai, what am I waiting for?
You are my only hope.
9 (8) Rescue me from all my transgressions;
don’t make me the butt of fools.
10 (9) I am silent, I keep my mouth shut,
because it is you who have done it.
11 (10) Stop raining blows on me;
the pounding of your fist is wearing me down.
12 (11) With rebukes you discipline people for their guilt;
like a moth, you destroy what makes them attractive;
yes, everyone is merely a puff of wind. (Selah)
13 (12) Hear my prayer, Adonai, listen to my cry,
don’t be deaf to my weeping;
for with you, I am just a traveler
passing through, like all my ancestors.
14 (13) Turn your gaze from me, so I can smile again
before I depart and cease to exist.
28 (31) No sooner had the king spoken these words when a voice came down from heaven: ‘King N’vukhadnetzar! These words are for you:
‘“The kingdom has left you.
29 (32) You will be driven from human society
to live with the wild animals.
You will be made to eat grass like an ox
and be drenched with dew from the sky,
as seven seasons pass over you,
until you learn that the Most High
rules in the human kingdom
and gives it to whomever he pleases.’
30 (33) “Within the hour the word was fulfilled. N’vukhadnetzar was driven from human society, he ate grass like an ox, and his body was drenched with dew from the sky, until his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.
31 (34) “When this period was over, I, N’vukhadnetzar, lifted my eyes toward heaven, and my understanding came back to me. I blessed the Most High, I praised and gave honor to him who lives forever.
“‘For his rulership is everlasting,
his kingdom endures through all generations.
32 (35) All who live on earth are counted as nothing.
He does what he wishes with the army of heaven
and with those living on earth.
No one can hold back his hand
or ask him, “What are you doing?”’
33 (36) “It was at that moment that my understanding came back to me; and for the sake of the glory of my kingdom, my majesty and splendor also came back to me. My advisers and lords sought me out, I was re-established in my kingdom, and to my previous greatness even more was added. 34 (37) So now I, N’vukhadnetzar, praise, exalt and honor the King of heaven:
“‘For all his works are truth,
and his ways are just;
and he can humble those who walk in pride.’”
7 Beloved friends, let us love one another; because love is from God; and everyone who loves has God as his Father and knows God. 8 Those who do not love, do not know God; because God is love. 9 Here is how God showed his love among us: God sent his only Son into the world, so that through him we might have life. 10 Here is what love is: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the kapparah for our sins.
11 Beloved friends, if this is how God loved us, we likewise ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God remains united with us, and our love for him has been brought to its goal in us. 13 Here is how we know that we remain united with him and he with us: he has given to us from his own Spirit. 14 Moreover, we have seen and we testify that the Father has sent his Son as Deliverer of the world. 15 If someone acknowledges that Yeshua is the Son of God, God remains united with him, and he with God. 16 Also we have come to know and trust the love that God has for us. God is love; and those who remain in this love remain united with God, and God remains united with them.
17 Here is how love has been brought to maturity with us: as the Messiah is, so are we in the world. This gives us confidence for the Day of Judgment. 18 There is no fear in love. On the contrary, love that has achieved its goal gets rid of fear, because fear has to do with punishment; the person who keeps fearing has not been brought to maturity in regard to love.
19 We ourselves love now because he loved us first. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar. For if a person does not love his brother, whom he has seen, then he cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21 Yes, this is the command we have from him: whoever loves God must love his brother too.
31 He went down to K’far-Nachum, a town in the Galil, and made a practice of teaching them on Shabbat. 32 They were amazed at the way he taught, because his word carried the ring of authority.
33 In the synagogue there was a man who had an unclean demonic spirit, who shouted in a loud voice, 34 “Yaah! What do you want with us, Yeshua from Natzeret? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are — the Holy One of God!” 35 But Yeshua rebuked it: “Be quiet, and come out of him!” The demonic spirit threw the man down in the middle of the crowd and came out of him, having done him no harm. 36 They were all astounded and said to one another, “What kind of teaching is this? Why, he gives orders with power and authority to the unclean spirits, and they come out!” 37 And reports about him went out through the whole surrounding district.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.