Book of Common Prayer
55 (0) For the leader. With stringed instruments. A maskil of David:
2 (1) Listen, God, to my prayer!
Don’t hide yourself from my plea!
3 (2) Pay attention to me, and answer me!
I am panic-stricken as I make my complaint,
I shudder 4 (3) at how the enemy shouts,
at how the wicked oppress;
for they keep heaping trouble on me
and angrily tormenting me.
5 (4) My heart within me is pounding in anguish,
the terrors of death press down on me,
6 (5) fear and trembling overwhelm me,
horror covers me.
7 (6) I said, “I wish I had wings like a dove!
Then I could fly away and be at rest.
8 (7) Yes, I would flee to a place far off,
I would stay in the desert. (Selah)
9 (8) I would quickly find me a shelter
from the raging wind and storm.”
10 (9) Confuse, Adonai, confound their speech!
For I see violence and fighting in the city.
11 (10) Day and night they go about its walls;
within are malice and mischief.
12 (11) Ruin is rife within it,
oppression and fraud never leave its streets.
13 (12) For it was not an enemy who insulted me;
if it had been, I could have borne it.
It was not my adversary who treated me with scorn;
if it had been, I could have hidden myself.
14 (13) But it was you, a man of my own kind,
my companion, whom I knew well.
15 (14) We used to share our hearts with each other;
in the house of God we walked with the crowd.
16 (15) May he put death on them;
let them go down alive to Sh’ol;
for evil is in their homes
and also in their hearts.
17 (16) But I will call on God,
and Adonai will save me.
18 (17) Evening, morning and noon I complain
and moan; but he hears my voice.
19 (18) He redeems me and gives me peace,
so that no one can come near me.
For there were many who fought me.
20 (19) God will hear and will humble them,
yes, he who has sat on his throne from the start. (Selah)
For they never change,
and they don’t fear God.
21 (20) [My companion] attacked those
who were at peace with him;
he broke his solemn word.
22 (21) What he said sounded smoother than butter,
but his heart was at war.
His words seemed more soothing than oil,
but in fact they were sharp swords.
23 (22) Unload your burden on Adonai,
and he will sustain you.
He will never permit
the righteous to be moved.
24 (23) But you will bring them down, God,
into the deepest pit.
Those men, so bloodthirsty and treacherous,
will not live out half their days.
But for my part, [Adonai,]
I put my trust in you.
138 (0) By David:
(1) I give you thanks with all my heart.
Not to idols, but to you I sing praise.
2 I bow down toward your holy temple
and give thanks to your name for your grace and truth;
for you have made your word [even] greater
than the whole of your reputation.
3 When I called, you answered me,
you made me bold and strong.
4 All the kings of the earth will thank you, Adonai,
when they hear the words you have spoken.
5 They will sing about Adonai’s ways,
“Great is the glory of Adonai!”
6 For though Adonai is high, he cares for the lowly;
while the proud he perceives from afar.
7 You keep me alive when surrounded by danger;
you put out your hand when my enemies rage;
with your right hand you save me.
8 Adonai will fulfill his purpose for me.
Your grace, Adonai, continues forever.
Don’t abandon the work of your hands!
139 (0) For the leader. A psalm of David:
(1) Adonai, you have probed me, and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I stand up,
you discern my inclinations from afar,
3 you scrutinize my daily activities.
You are so familiar with all my ways
4 that before I speak even a word, Adonai,
you know all about it already.
5 You have hemmed me in both behind and in front
and laid your hand on me.
6 Such wonderful knowledge is beyond me,
far too high for me to reach.
7 Where can I go to escape your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I climb up to heaven, you are there;
if I lie down in Sh’ol, you are there.
9 If I fly away with the wings of the dawn
and land beyond the sea,
10 even there your hand would lead me,
your right hand would hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Let darkness surround me,
let the light around me be night,”
12 even darkness like this
is not too dark for you;
rather, night is as clear as day,
darkness and light are the same.
13 For you fashioned my inmost being,
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I thank you because I am awesomely made,
wonderfully; your works are wonders —
I know this very well.
15 My bones were not hidden from you
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes could see me as an embryo,
but in your book all my days were already written;
my days had been shaped
before any of them existed.
17 God, how I prize your thoughts!
How many of them there are!
18 If I count them, there are more than grains of sand;
if I finish the count, I am still with you.
19 God, if only you would kill off the wicked!
Men of blood, get away from me!
20 They invoke your name for their crafty schemes;
yes, your enemies misuse it.
21 Adonai, how I hate those who hate you!
I feel such disgust with those who defy you!
22 I hate them with unlimited hatred!
They have become my enemies too.
23 Examine me, God, and know my heart;
test me, and know my thoughts.
1 Sha’ul had died, and David had been two days in Ziklag after returning from the slaughter of the ‘Amaleki. 2 On the third day, there came a man from Sha’ul’s camp with his clothes torn and earth on his head. He approached David, fell to the ground and prostrated himself. 3 David said to him, “Where are you coming from?” “I escaped from the camp of Isra’el,” he replied. 4 “Tell me, please, how did things go?” asked David. “The people have fled the battle,” he answered, “and many of them are wounded or dead. Sha’ul and Y’honatan his son are dead too.” 5 David asked the young man who had told him this, “How do you know that Sha’ul and Y’honatan his son are dead?” 6 The young man who had told him said, “I happened to be on Mount Gilboa when I saw Sha’ul leaning on his spear. The chariots and cavalry were bearing down on him. 7 He looked behind him, saw me and called to me. I answered, ‘Here I am.’ 8 He said to me, ‘Who are you?’ and I answered, ‘I’m an ‘Amaleki’ 9 He said to me, ‘I’m in agony, and I’m going to die, but I’m still alive. So please, stand next to me; and kill me.’ 10 So I stood next to him and killed him, because I was sure he was so badly wounded that he couldn’t live. I took the crown that was on his head and the bracelet on his arm and have brought them here to my lord.”
11 Then David took hold of his clothes and tore them, and likewise all the men who were with him. 12 They wailed and cried, and they fasted until evening for Sha’ul, for Y’honatan his son, for Adonai’s people and for the house of Isra’el; because they had fallen by the sword.
13 David said to the young man who had told him, “Where are you from?” He answered, “I’m the son of a [resident] foreigner, an ‘Amaleki.” 14 David asked him, “How is it that you weren’t afraid to raise your hand to destroy Adonai’s anointed?” 15 David called one of his young men and said, “Go over to him, and kill him.” The man struck him down, and he died. 16 David said to him, “Your blood is on your own head. Your own mouth convicted you when you said, ‘I killed Adonai’s anointed.’”
22 Then the emissaries and the elders, together with the whole Messianic community, decided to select men from among themselves to send to Antioch with Sha’ul and Bar-Nabba. They sent Y’hudah, called Bar-Sabba, and Sila, both leading men among the brothers, 23 with the following letter:
From: The emissaries and the elders, your brothers
To: The brothers from among the Gentiles throughout Antioch, Syria and Cilicia
Greetings!
24 We have heard that some people went out from among us without our authorization, and that they have upset you with their talk, unsettling your minds. 25 So we have decided unanimously to select men and send them to you with our dear friends Bar-Nabba and Sha’ul, 26 who have dedicated their lives to upholding the name of our Lord, Yeshua the Messiah. 27 So we have sent Y’hudah and Sila, and they will confirm in person what we are writing.
28 For it seemed good to the Ruach HaKodesh and to us not to lay any heavier burden on you than the following requirements: 29 to abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from fornication. If you keep yourselves from these, you will be doing the right thing.
Shalom!
30 The messengers were sent off and went to Antioch, where they gathered the group together and delivered the letter. 31 After reading it, the people were delighted by its encouragement. 32 Y’hudah and Sila, who were also prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the brothers. 33 After they had spent some time there, they were sent off with a greeting of “Shalom!” from the brothers to those who had sent them. 34 [a] 35 But Sha’ul and Bar-Nabba stayed in Antioch, where they and many others taught and proclaimed the Good News of the message about the Lord.
6 Then Yeshua left and went to his home town, and his talmidim followed him. 2 On Shabbat he started to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They asked, “Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom he has been given? What are these miracles worked through him? 3 Isn’t he just the carpenter? the son of Miryam? the brother of Ya‘akov and Yosi and Y’hudah and Shim‘on? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. 4 But Yeshua said to them. “The only place people don’t respect a prophet is in his home town, among his own relatives, and in his own house.” 5 So he could do no miracles there, other than lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 He was amazed at their lack of trust.
Then he went through the surrounding towns and villages, teaching.
7 Yeshua summoned the Twelve and started sending them out in pairs, giving them authority over the unclean spirits. 8 He instructed them, “Take nothing for your trip except a walking stick — no bread, no pack, no money in your belt. 9 Wear shoes but not an extra shirt. 10 Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place; 11 and if the people of some place will not welcome you, and they refuse to hear you, then, as you leave, shake the dust off your feet as a warning to them.”
12 So they set out and preached that people should turn from sin to God, 13 they expelled many demons, and they anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.