Book of Common Prayer
Scorn and Disgrace, Gall and Vinegar
Psalm 69
1 For the music director, on “Lilies,” of David.
2 Save me, O God,
for the waters
have reached my soul.
3 I have sunk in deep mud,
and there is no footing,
I have come into deep waters,
and a flood sweeps over me.
4 I am worn out by my crying,
my throat is parched,
my eyes fail, waiting for my God.
5 Those who hate me without a cause[a] outnumber the hairs of my head.
Powerful are my enemies who would destroy me with lies.
What I did not steal, must I restore?
6 O God, You know my folly,
nor are my trespasses hidden from You.
7 May those who hope in You
not be ashamed because of me,
my Lord, Adonai-Tzva’ot.
May those who seek You
not be disgraced because of me,
O God of Israel.
8 For I have endured scorn for Your sake.
Disgrace has covered my face.
9 I have become a stranger to my brothers,
a foreigner to my mother’s children.
10 For zeal for Your House consumed me—
the insults of those who insulted You have fallen on me.[b]
11 When I wept and fasted—
that became a reproach to me.
12 When I put on sackcloth,
I became a joke to them.
13 Those who sit at the gate chatter about me,
and I am the song of the drunkards.
14 But as for me, my prayer to You, Adonai, is for a time of favor.
O God, in Your great love, answer me with the truth of Your salvation.
15 Deliver me from the mire—
do not let me sink.
Deliver me from those who hate me,
out of the deep waters.
16 Do not let floodwaters sweep over me,
nor the deep swallow me up,
nor the Pit shut its mouth over me.
17 Answer me, Adonai, for good is Your mercy.
With Your great compassion, turn to me.
18 Hide not Your face from Your servant.
For I am in distress—answer me quickly.
19 Draw near to my soul and redeem it.
Ransom me because of my foes.
20 You know my reproach, my shame, my disgrace.
All my adversaries are before You.
21 Scorn has broken my heart, so I am sick.
I looked for sympathy, but there was none,
for comforters, but found none.
22 They put gall in my food,
and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.[c]
23 Let their table before them be a snare,
and what should have been for their well-being,
let it be a trap.
24 Let their eyes be darkened so they cannot see
and their backs be bent forever.[d]
25 Pour out Your indignation on them.
Let Your fierce anger overtake them.
26 Let their encampment be deserted.
Let none dwell in their tents.
27 For they persecute the one You have smitten,
so they tell of the pain
of those You have wounded.
28 Add guilt to their guilt—
may they not come into Your righteousness.
29 May they be wiped out of the book of life
and not be recorded with the righteous.[e]
30 But I—I am afflicted and in pain.
Let Your salvation, O God, set me up on high.
31 I will praise God’s Name with a song,
and magnify Him with praise.
32 It will please Adonai better than an ox
or a bull with horns and hoofs.
33 The humble will see it and be glad.
You who seek God, let your hearts revive.
34 For Adonai hears the needy
and does not despise His captive people.
35 Let heaven and earth praise Him,
the seas and everything moving in them.
36 For God will save Zion,
and rebuild the cities of Judah.
Then they will dwell there and possess it.
37 The children of His servants will inherit it
and those who love His Name will dwell there.
God Is the Strength of My Heart
Psalm 73
1 A psalm of Asaph.
Surely God is good to Israel,
to the pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet almost slipped.
My steps nearly slid out from under me.
3 For I envied the arrogant,
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4 For there are no pains at their death,
their body is healthy.
5 They have none of humanity’s trouble,
nor are they plagued like others.
6 Therefore, they put on pride as a necklace,
and violence wraps around them like a garment.
7 Their eyes bulge out from fatness.
The imaginations of their hearts run wild.
8 They scoff and wickedly plan evil.
From on high they threaten.
9 They set their mouth against heaven.
Their tongue struts through the earth.
10 Therefore His people return here,
while they drink their fill.
11 So they say: “How does God know?
And does Elyon have knowledge?”
12 Behold, such are the wicked—
always at ease and amassing wealth.
13 Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure,
and washed my hands in innocence.
14 For all day I have been stricken,
my chastisement comes every morning.
15 If I had said: “I will speak thus,”
surely I would have betrayed a generation of Your children.
16 But when I tried to make sense of this,
it was troubling in my eyes—
17 until I entered the Sanctuary of God,
and perceived their end.
18 Surely You put them in slippery places.
You hurled them down to destruction.
19 How suddenly they became a ruin—
terminated, consumed by terrors.
20 Like a dream when one awakes,
thus when You arise, my Lord,
You will despise their form.
21 When my heart was embittered
and I was pierced in my heart,
22 I was brutish and ignorant.
I was like a beast before You.
23 Yet I am continually with You.
You hold my right hand.
24 You guide me with Your counsel,
and afterward You will take me into glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but You?
On earth there is none I desire besides You.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.
27 For behold, those far from You will perish.
You put an end to all who like a harlot are unfaithful to You.
28 But for me, it is good to be near God.
I have made my Lord Adonai my refuge.
So I will tell of all Your works.
All Israel Anoints David King
5 Then all the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and spoke saying, “Here we are, your own flesh and blood. 2 Even before, when Saul was king over us, it was you who led Israel out and back. Also Adonai said to you, ‘You will shepherd My people Israel and be ruler over Israel.’” 3 So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and King David cut a covenant with them at Hebron before Adonai. Then they anointed David king over Israel. 4 David was 30 years old when he began to reign and he reigned 40 years. 5 In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned 33 years over all Israel and Judah.
Securing Jerusalem
6 Now the king and his soldiers marched to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the region. But they said to David, “You’ll never get in here! Even the blind and the lame could ward you off,” thinking, “David can’t get in here.” 7 Nevertheless, David did capture the stronghold of Zion (that is, the City of David). 8 On that day David said, “Whoever would conquer the Jebusites must strike through the water shaft to those ‘lame and blind’ whom David’s soul despises.” That is why they used to say, “The blind or lame couldn’t get into the house.” 9 So David occupied the stronghold and renamed it the City of David. Then David fortified it all round from the Millo inward. 10 David continued to grow stronger, for Adonai Elohim-Tzva’ot was with him.
11 Then King Hiram of Tyre sent envoys to David with cedar logs, carpenters and masons; and they built a palace for David. 12 David then realized that Adonai had established him as king over Israel, and that He had exalted his kingdom for the sake of His people Israel.
Synagogue Responses Vary
17 After passing through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2 As was his custom, Paul went to the Jewish people; and for three Shabbatot, he debated the Scriptures with them. 3 He opened them and gave evidence that Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead, saying, “This Yeshua, whom I declare to you, is the Messiah.” 4 Some of them were convinced and became attached to Paul and Silas, as were a large number of the God-fearing Greeks and no small number of the leading women.
5 But some of the Jewish people became jealous. Taking some wicked fellows of the marketplace and gathering a crowd, they stirred the city into an uproar. They attacked Jason’s house, trying to bring Paul and Silas out to the mob. 6 When they did not find them, they instead began dragging Jason and some of the brethren before the city officials, shouting, “These men who have upset the world have come here too, 7 and Jason has welcomed them! They are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying there is another king, Yeshua.” 8 Hearing these things, the crowd and the city officials were confused. 9 But after receiving bail from Jason and the rest, they released them.
10 As soon as it was night, the brothers sent Paul and Silas to Berea. Upon arrival, they made their way to the Jewish synagogue. 11 Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, because they received the message with goodwill, searching the Scriptures each day to see whether these things were true. 12 Therefore many of them believed, as well as quite a few prominent Greek women and men.
13 But when the Jewish people of Thessalonica learned that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul in Berea, they came there too, agitating and inciting the people. 14 Then the brothers immediately sent Paul away to the sea, but Silas and Timothy remained there. 15 Those escorting Paul brought him as far as Athens. After receiving an order for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they left.
Miracles Touch Gentile Lives
24 Yeshua got up and left from there to the region of Tyre. When He had entered a house, He didn’t want anyone to know; but He couldn’t escape notice. 25 A woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard about Him. She came immediately and fell at His feet. 26 The woman was a Greek, from Syrophoenicia. And she kept begging Yeshua to drive the demon out of her daughter.
27 He was telling her, “First let the children get their fill, for it’s not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”
28 “Yes, Master,” she said to Him, “but even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”
29 Then He said to her, “Because of this word, go your way! The demon has left your daughter.” 30 She went home and found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
31 Again He left the region of Tyre and came through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, within the region of the Decapolis. 32 They bring Him a deaf man who had a speech impediment, and they beg Him to lay His hand on him. 33 Yeshua took him aside from the crowd to a private place, and He put His fingers in the man’s ears. After spitting, He touched the man’s tongue. 34 Looking up to heaven, He says to the man, “Ephphatha,”[a] which means “Be opened!”
35 Immediately the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened, and he began to speak plainly. 36 Yeshua ordered them not to tell anyone. But the more He ordered them, the more they continued proclaiming it. 37 People were completely astounded, saying, “He has done all things well. He makes even the deaf hear and the mute speak!”
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.