Book of Common Prayer
ק (Kuf)
145 Wholeheartedly I am calling on you;
answer me, Adonai; I will keep your laws.
146 I am calling on you; save me;
and I will observe your instruction.
147 I rise before dawn and cry for help;
I put my hope in your word.
148 My eyes are open before the night watches,
so that I can meditate on your promise.
149 In your grace, hear my voice;
Adonai, in keeping with your justice, revive me.
150 The pursuers of carnality are getting close;
they are distancing themselves from your Torah.
151 You are close by, Adonai;
and all your mitzvot are truth.
152 Long ago I learned from your instruction
that you established it forever.
ר (Resh)
153 Look at my distress, and rescue me,
for I do not forget your Torah.
154 Plead my cause, and redeem me;
in keeping with your promise, revive me.
155 Salvation is far away from the wicked,
because they don’t seek your laws.
156 Great is your compassion, Adonai;
in keeping with your rulings, revive me.
157 Although my persecutors and foes are many,
I have not turned away from your instruction.
158 I look at traitors with disgust,
because they don’t keep your word.
159 See how I love your precepts, Adonai;
in keeping with your grace, revive me.
160 The main thing about your word is that it’s true;
and all your just rulings last forever.
ש (Shin)
161 Princes persecute me for no reason,
but my heart stands in awe of your words.
162 I take joy in your promise,
like someone who finds much booty.
163 I hate falsehood, I detest it;
but I love your Torah.
164 I praise you seven times a day
because of your righteous rulings.
165 Those who love your Torah have great peace;
nothing makes them stumble.
166 I hope for your deliverance, Adonai;
I obey your mitzvot.
167 My soul observes your instruction,
and I love it so much!
168 I observe your precepts and instruction,
for all my ways lie open before you.
ת (Tav)
169 Let my cry come before you, Adonai;
in keeping with your word, give me understanding.
170 Let my prayer come before you;
in keeping with your promise, rescue me.
171 Let my lips speak praise,
because you teach me your laws.
172 Let my tongue sing of your promise,
because all your mitzvot are righteous.
173 Let your hand be ready to help me,
because I choose your precepts.
174 I long for your deliverance, Adonai;
and your Torah is my delight.
175 Let me live, and I will praise you;
let your rulings help me.
176 I strayed like a lost sheep; seek out your servant;
for I do not forget your mitzvot.
128 (0) A song of ascents:
(1) How happy is everyone who fears Adonai,
who lives by his ways.
2 You will eat what your hands have produced;
you will be happy and prosperous.
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
in the inner parts of your house.
Your children around the table will be
like shoots from an olive tree.
4 This is the kind of blessing that will fall
on him who fears Adonai.
5 May Adonai bless you from Tziyon!
May you see Yerushalayim prosper
all the days of your life,
6 and may you live to see your children’s children!
Shalom on Isra’el.
129 (0) A song of ascents:
(1) Since I was young they have often attacked me —
let Isra’el repeat it —
2 since I was young they have often attacked me,
but they haven’t overcome me.
3 The plowmen plowed on my back;
wounding me with long furrows.
4 But Adonai is righteous;
he cuts me free from the yoke of the wicked.
5 Let all who hate Tziyon
be thrown back in confusion.
6 Let them be like grass on the roof,
which dries out before it grows up
7 and never fills the reaper’s hands
or the arms of the one who binds sheaves,
8 so that no passer-by says,
“Adonai’s blessing on you!
We bless you in the name of Adonai!”
130 (0) A song of ascents. By David:
(1) Adonai, I call to you from the depths;
2 hear my cry, Adonai!
Let your ears pay attention
to the sound of my pleading.
3 Yah, if you kept a record of sins,
who, Adonai, could stand?
4 But with you there is forgiveness,
so that you will be feared.
5 I wait longingly for Adonai;
I put my hope in his word.
6 Everything in me waits for Adonai
more than guards on watch wait for morning,
more than guards on watch wait for morning.
7 Isra’el, put your hope in Adonai!
For grace is found with Adonai,
and with him is unlimited redemption.
8 He will redeem Isra’el
from all their wrongdoings.
19 Then Achima‘atz the son of Tzadok said, “Let me run now and bring news to the king that Adonai has judged in his favor by releasing him from his enemies.” 20 Yo’av said to him, “You are not to be the one to bring the news today; you can convey news another day; but today you will not bring news, because the king’s son is dead.” 21 Then Yo’av said to the Ethiopian, “Go, tell the king what you saw.” The Ethiopian bowed to Yo’av, then ran off. 22 But Achima‘atz the son of Tzadok said again to Yo’av, “Come what may, please let me also run after the Ethiopian.” Yo’av answered, “Why do you want to run, my son? You won’t receive any reward for bringing the news.” 23 “I don’t care — whatever happens, I want to run.” So he said to him, “Run.” Then Achima‘atz ran by the road through the desert flats and outran the Ethiopian.
23 Then he summoned two of the captains and said, “Get two hundred infantry soldiers ready to leave for Caesarea at nine o’clock tonight, and seventy mounted cavalry and two hundred spearmen; 24 also provide replacements for Sha’ul’s horse when it gets tired; and bring him through safely to Felix the governor.” 25 And the commander wrote the following letter:
26 From: Claudius Lysias
To: His Excellency, Governor Felix:
Greetings!
27 This man was seized by the Judeans and was about to be killed by them, when I came on the scene with my troops and rescued him. After learning that he was a Roman citizen, 28 I wanted to understand exactly what they were charging him with; so I brought him down to their “Sanhedrin.”
29 I found that he was charged in connection with questions of their “Torah” but that there was no charge deserving death or prison.
30 But when I was informed of a plot against the man, I immediately sent him to you and also ordered his accusers to state their case against him before you.
31 So the soldiers, following their orders, took Sha’ul during the night and brought him to Antipatris, 32 then returned to the barracks after leaving the cavalry to go on with him. 33 The cavalry took him to Caesarea, delivered the letter to the governor, and handed Sha’ul over to him. 34 The governor read the letter and asked what province he was from. On learning he was from Cilicia, 35 he said, “I will give you a full hearing after your accusers have also arrived,” and ordered him to be kept under guard in Herod’s headquarters.
13 Next they sent some P’rushim and some members of Herod’s party to him in order to trap him with a sh’eilah. 14 They came and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you tell the truth and are not concerned with what people think about you, since you pay no attention to a person’s status but really teach what God’s way is. Does Torah say that taxes are to be paid to the Roman Emperor, or not?” 15 But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said to them, “Why are you trying to trap me? Bring me a denarius so I can look at it.” 16 They brought one; and he asked them, “Whose name and picture are these?” “The Emperor’s,” they replied. 17 Yeshua said, “Give the Emperor what belongs to the Emperor. And give to God what belongs to God!” And they were amazed at him.
18 Then some Tz’dukim came to him. They are the ones who say there is no such thing as resurrection, so they put to him a sh’eilah: 19 “Rabbi, Moshe wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no child, his brother must take the wife and have children to preserve the man’s family line.[a] 20 There were seven brothers. The first one took a wife, and when he died, he left no children. 21 Then the second one took her and died without leaving children, and the third likewise, 22 and none of the seven left children. Last of all, the woman also died. 23 In the Resurrection, whose wife will she be? For all seven had her as wife.”
24 Yeshua said to them, “Isn’t this the reason that you go astray? because you are ignorant both of the Tanakh and of the power of God? 25 For when people rise from the dead, neither men nor women marry — they are like angels in heaven. 26 And as for the dead being raised, haven’t you read in the book of Moshe, in the passage about the bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Avraham, the God of Yitz’chak and the God of Ya‘akov’?[b] 27 He is God not of the dead, but of the living! You are going far astray!”
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.