Book of Common Prayer
Adonai lives! Blessed Be My Rock
Psalm 18
1 For the music director: a psalm of David the servant of Adonai. He chanted the words of this song to Adonai on the day Adonai delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul.
2 He said, I love You, Adonai my strength!
3 Adonai is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer.
My God is my rock, in Him I take refuge,
my shield, my horn of salvation, my stronghold.
4 I called upon Adonai, worthy of praise,
and I was rescued from my enemies.
5 Cords of death entangled me.
Torrents of Belial overwhelmed me.
6 Cords of Sheol coiled around me.
Snares of death came before me.
7 In my distress I called on Adonai,
and cried to my God for help.
From His Temple He heard my voice,
my cry before Him came into His ears.
8 Then the earth rocked and quaked.
The foundations of mountains trembled.
They reeled because He was angry.
9 Smoke rose from His nostrils
and consuming fire from His mouth.
Coals blazed from Him.
10 He parted the heavens and came down,
with thick darkness under His feet.
11 He rode upon a cheruv and flew.
He soared on the wings of the wind.
12 He made darkness His cover,
His sukkah all around Him—
dark waters, thick clouds.
13 Out of the brilliance before Him
passed His thick clouds, hail and fiery coals.
14 Adonai also thundered in the heavens,
and Elyon gave forth His voice, hail and fiery coals.
15 He shot His arrows and scattered them,
hurled lightning bolts and routed them.
16 Then ravines of water appeared.
The foundations of earth were exposed,
at Your rebuke, Adonai,
at a blast of breath from Your nostrils.
17 He reached down from on high
and took hold of me.
He drew me out of mighty waters.
18 He saved me from my powerful enemy,
from those who hated me—
for they were much stronger than me.
19 They came against me in my day of calamity,
but Adonai was my support.
20 He brought me out to a wide-open place.
He rescued me since He delighted in me.
21 Adonai rewarded me for my righteousness.
For the cleanness of my hands He repaid me.
22 For I kept the ways of Adonai,
and did not turn wickedly from my God.
23 For all His judgments are before me.
I do not put His rulings away from me.
24 I also had integrity with Him,
and kept myself from my sin.
25 So Adonai rewarded me for my righteousness,
for the cleanness of my hands in His eyes.
26 With the loyal You deal loyally.
With the blameless You are blameless.
27 With the pure You are pure,
and with the crooked You are shrewd.
28 For You save lowly people,
but haughty eyes You humble.
29 For You light up my lamp.
Adonai my God shines in my darkness.
30 For with You I rush on a troop,
with my God I scale a wall.
31 As for God, His way is perfect.
The word of Adonai is pure.
He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.
32 For who is God, except Adonai?
And who is a Rock, except our God?
33 God girds me with strength
and makes my way straight.
34 He makes my feet like those of deer
and makes me stand on my heights.
35 He trains my hands for battle,
so my arms can bend a bronze bow.
36 You gave me the shield of Your salvation.
Your right hand upholds me,
Your gentleness makes me great.
37 You broaden my steps beneath me,
so my ankles have not slipped.
38 I pursue my enemies and overtake them,
and will not return till they are wiped out.
39 I will crush them till they cannot rise,
till they fall beneath my feet.
40 For You girded me with strength for battle.
You made those who rose up against me bow down before me.
41 You also made my enemies turn their backs to me.
I cut off those who hate me.
42 They cry out, but there is none to save
—even to Adonai, but He did not answer them.
43 Then I beat them as fine as dust before the wind.
I pour them out like mud in the streets.
44 You free me from strifes of the people.
You set me as head of the nations—
people I did not know are serving me.
45 As soon as they hear, they obey me.
Children of foreigners cringe before me.
46 Children of foreigners lose heart
and come trembling from their hideouts.
47 Adonai lives! And blessed be my Rock!
Exalted be God my salvation!
48 God—He gives me vengeance
and subdues peoples under me.
49 He delivers me from my enemies.
Indeed You lift me up above those who rise up against me.
You deliver me from the violent man.
50 Therefore I praise You among the nations,
Adonai, and sing praises to Your Name.[a]
51 Great victories He gives to His king.
He shows loyal love to His anointed—
to David and his seed, forever.
Naomi the Matchmaker
3 Naomi her mother-in-law said to her “My daughter, should I not be seeking a resting place for you, so it may go well for you? 2 Now, is Boaz, with whose female workers you have been, not our relative? Look, he will be winnowing barley tonight at the threshing floor. 3 So bathe and perfume yourself, put on your cloak and go down to the threshing floor. But do not make yourself known to the man until he has finished eating and drinking. 4 Let it be that when he lies down and you know the place where he lies down, go uncover his feet and lie down there. He will tell you what to do.”
5 Ruth answered her, “I will do everything you say.” 6 So she went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law had said.
7 After Boaz ate, drank, and was in a good mood, he went to lie down at the far side of the grain pile. So she came to the grain pile quietly, uncovered his feet, and lay down. 8 Now in the middle of the night, the man was startled and pulled back—and to his surprise, a woman was lying at his feet!
9 “Who are you?” he asked.
“I am Ruth, your handmaid,” she answered. “Spread the corner of your garment over your handmaid, for you are a goel.”
10 “May you be blessed by Adonai, my daughter!” he replied. “You have made the latter act of loyalty greater than the first, by not running after the young men, whether rich or poor. 11 Now my daughter, do not be afraid! Everything you propose, I will do for you, for everyone in town knows that you are a woman of valor. 12 Although it is true that I am a goel, there is one who is a closer goel than me. 13 Stay here tonight, and in the morning, if he will be your goel—good! Let him do so. But if he is not willing to be your goel, then I will be your goel myself, as surely as Adonai lives. Lie down until morning.”
14 So she lay at his feet until morning, but got up before one person could be distinguished from another, for he said, “Do not let it be known that the woman came to the threshing floor.” 15 Then he said, “Bring the cloak you are wearing and hold it out.” She held it out and he poured six measures of barley into it and put it on her. Then he returned to town.
16 When Ruth came back to her mother-in-law, Naomi asked, “How did it go, my daughter?”
So Ruth told her all that the man had done for her. 17 She said “He gave me six measures of barley, for he said, ‘You shouldn’t go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’”
18 “Wait, my daughter,” Naomi said, “until you find out how the matter turns out, for he will not rest until he has settled the matter today.”
Advice to a Young Leader
4 Now the Ruach clearly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, following deceitful spirits and teachings of demons 2 through the hypocrisy of false speakers—whose own conscience has been seared. 3 They forbid people to marry; they command people to abstain from foods that God created for the faithful to share with thanksgiving, having come to know the truth. 4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving; 5 for it is sanctified through the word of God and prayer.
6 In pointing out these things to the brothers and sisters, you will be a good servant of Messiah Yeshua, nourished in the words of the faith and the sound teaching that you have been following. 7 But avoid godless myths and old wives’ tales; instead, train yourself in godliness. 8 For physical exercise has some benefit; but godliness is beneficial for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the one to come. 9 Trustworthy is the saying and deserving of complete acceptance 10 (for to this end we work hard and strive): “We have set our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially those who trust.” 11 Insist on these things and teach them.
12 Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but become an example of the faithful—in speech, in conduct, in love, in faithfulness, and in purity. 13 Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to encouragement, and to teaching. 14 Do not neglect the spiritual gift[a] within you, which was given to you through prophecy with the laying on of hands of the elders. 15 Practice these things—be absorbed in them, so that your progress may be clear to all. 16 Give attention to yourself and your teaching. Persevere in these things, for in doing so you will save yourself[b] and those who hear you.
A Warning to Move On
31 In that hour, some Pharisees came up and said to Yeshua, “Get out and leave from here, because Herod wants to kill You!”
32 But Yeshua said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Indeed, I’m driving out demons and performing healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach My goal.’ 33 But I must keep going today and tomorrow because it just can’t be that a prophet would perish outside Jerusalem.
34 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. 35 Look, your house is left to you desolate![a] For I tell you, you will never see Me until you say, ‘Baruch ha-ba b’shem Adonai. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’[b]”
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.