Book of Common Prayer
Refuge, Sukkah, Shelter
Psalm 31
1 For the music director, a psalm of David.
2 In You, Adonai, have I taken refuge:
Let me never be put to shame.
In Your righteousness, deliver me.
3 Turn Your ear to me, rescue me quickly.
Be a rock of refuge for me, a stronghold for my deliverance.
4 Since You are my rock and my fortress,
You lead me and guide me for Your Name’s sake.
5 Free me from the net they hid for me,
for You are my refuge.
6 Into Your hand I commit my spirit.[a]
You have redeemed me, Adonai, God of truth.
7 I detest those who continue to watch worthless idols,
but I trust in Adonai.
8 I will be glad and rejoice in Your lovingkindness,
for You saw my affliction.
You knew the troubles of my soul.
9 You did not hand me over to the enemy.
You set my feet in a wide-open place.
10 Be gracious to me, Adonai,
for I am in distress.
My eyes waste away with grief,
my soul and my body as well.
11 For my life is consumed in sorrow
and my years in sighing.
My strength fails because of my anguish
and my bones waste away.
12 Because of all my adversaries
I am the contempt of my neighbors
and a dread to my acquaintances.
Seeing me on the street, they flee from me.
13 I am as forgotten as a dead man.
I have become like a broken vessel.
14 For I have heard the whispering of many.
There is terror on every side
as they conspire against me
and plot to take my life.
15 But I have trusted in You, Adonai.
I said: “You are my God.”
16 My times are in Your hands.
Deliver me from the hands of my foes and from those who pursue me.
17 Make Your face shine on Your servant.
Save me in Your lovingkindness.
18 Adonai, let me not be ashamed,
for I have called upon You.
Let the wicked be ashamed—
let them be silent in Sheol.
19 Let the lying lips be mute.
For they speak arrogantly against the righteous,
with pride and contempt.
20 How great is Your goodness,
which You have stored up for those who fear You,
which You have given to those who take refuge in You,
before the children of men.
21 In the shelter of Your presence
You hide them from people’s plots.
You conceal them in a sukkah
from the strife of tongues.
22 Blessed be Adonai,
for He has shown me His wonderful love
in a besieged city.
23 I said in my alarm,
“I have been cut off from Your sight!”
But You heard the sound of my pleas
when I cried out to You.
24 Love Adonai, all His kedoshim!
Adonai preserves all the faithful,
but the proud He pays back in full.
25 Chazak! Let your heart take courage,[b]
all you who wait for Adonai.
Justice for the Oppressed
Psalm 35
1 A psalm of David.
Adonai, oppose those who oppose me.
Fight those who fight me.
2 Take hold of shield and buckler,
and rise up to my help.
3 Draw out also a spear and battle-axe.
Stop those who pursue me.
Say to my soul: “I am your salvation.”
4 May those who seek my life
be ashamed and disgraced.
May they be turned back and humiliated
—those who plot evil against me.
5 May they be like chaff before the wind,
with the angel of Adonai driving them off.
6 May their way be dark and slippery,
with the angel of Adonai pursuing them.
7 For without cause they hid their net for me,
and without cause they dug a pit for my soul.
8 Let ruin come upon him by surprise.
Let the net he hid entangle himself
—into that same pit let him fall.
9 Then my soul will rejoice in Adonai
and delight in His salvation.
10 All my bones will say:
“Adonai, who is like You,
rescuing the poor from one too strong for him,
the poor and needy from one who robs him?”
11 Violent witnesses rise up.
They question me about things I know nothing about.
12 They repay me evil for good—
my soul is forlorn.
13 But as for me, when they were sick,
my clothing was sackcloth.
I afflicted my soul with fasting,
my prayer kept returning to my heart.
14 I went about mourning as though for my own friend or brother.
I bowed down dressed in black as though for my own mother.
15 But at my stumbling they gathered in glee.
Wretches gathered against me whom I did not know,
tearing at me without ceasing.
16 They mocked profanely, as if at a feast,
they gnashed at me with their teeth.
17 My Lord, how long will You look on?
Rescue my soul from their ravages—
my solitary existence from the lions.
18 I praise You in the great assembly,
acclaiming You among a throng of people.
19 Do not let my deceitful enemies gloat over me without cause,
nor let those who hate me for nothing wink an eye.[a]
20 For they never speak shalom,
but devise deceitful words against the quiet ones in the land.
21 Yes, they open their mouth wide against me, saying:
“Aha! Aha! Our own eyes have seen it!”
22 You have seen it, Adonai—be not silent!
Adonai, be not far from me.
23 Arise, awaken to my defense,
to my cause—my God and my Lord!
24 Vindicate me, Adonai my God,
according to Your justice,
and do not let them gloat over me.
25 Don’t let them say in their heart:
“Aha! Just what we wanted!”
Don’t let them say:
“We swallowed him up!”
26 May they be ashamed and humiliated,
those who rejoice over my misery.
May they who exalt themselves over me
be clothed with shame and disgrace.
27 May they shout for joy and be glad,
those who delight in my righteous cause.
May they always say:
“Exalted be Adonai, who delights in His servant’s shalom.”
28 Then my tongue will declare aloud
Your justice and Your praises all day.
Prophecy to Jeroboam
26 Then there was Jeroboam son of Nebat (the name of his mother, a widow, was Zeruah), an Ephraimite of Zereda. Though he was Solomon’s servant, he also raised a hand against the king. 27 Now the reason that he raised a hand against the king was this: Solomon built the Millo and closed the breach of the city of his father David. 28 Now the man Jeroboam was mighty of strength, and when Solomon saw that the young man was industrious, he appointed him over the entire labor force of the house of Joseph.
29 It was around that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him on the road. Now Ahijah had covered himself in a new cloak, and the two of them were alone in the field. 30 Then Ahijah seized the new cloak that was on him, tore it into twelve pieces, 31 and said to Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces for yourself, for thus says Adonai, God of Israel: ‘Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of Solomon’s hand and will give ten tribes to you. 32 But he will have one tribe, for My servant David’s sake, and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel.
33 “‘For they have abandoned Me and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon. They have not walked in My ways, nor done what is right in My eyes, nor kept My statutes and My ordinances, as his father David did. 34 Nevertheless, I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, but I will keep him as a ruler all the days of his life for the sake of My servant David whom I chose, because he kept My mitzvot and My statutes. 35 Yet I will take the kingdom out of his son’s hand, and I will give it to you—the ten tribes. 36 To his son I will give one tribe so that My servant David may have a lamp every day before Me in Jerusalem, the city that I chose for Myself to put My Name there.
37 “So I will take you and you will reign over all that your soul desires—you will be king over Israel. 38 Then it will be, if you obey everything I command you and walk in My ways, and do what is right in My eyes, keeping My statutes and My mitzvot as My servant David did, then I will be with you, and will establish for you a lasting dynasty, as I did for David—I will give Israel to you. 39 So I will for this afflict David’s seed, but not for all days.”[a]
40 Therefore Solomon sought to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam got up and fled to Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt. He remained in Egypt until the death of Solomon. 41 Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom—are they not recorded in the Book of the Acts of Solomon? 42 So the days of Solomon’s kingship in Jerusalem over all Israel was 40 years. 43 Then Solomon slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of his father David; and his son Rehoboam was king in his place.
If the Lord Wills, We Will
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” 14 Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. What is your life? For you are a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes. [a] 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” 16 But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 Therefore whoever knows the right thing to do and does not do it—for him it is sin.
Rotten Riches
5 Come now, you rich, weep and wail over the miseries that are coming upon you. 2 Your riches have rotted and your clothes have become moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and your silver have rusted and their rust will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have stored up treasure in the last days. 4 Behold, the wages of the workers who mowed your fields—which you kept back by fraud—are crying out against you. And the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of Hosts. [b] 5 You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts for a day of slaughter. [c] 6 You have condemned, you have murdered the righteous person[d]—he does not resist you.
[a] 22 They bring Yeshua to the place called Golgotha (which is translated, Place of a Skull). 23 They were offering Him wine mixed with myrrh, but He didn’t take it. 24 Then they crucify Him and divide up His clothing among themselves, casting lots for them[b] to see who should take what.
25 Now it was the third hour[c] when they nailed Him on the stake. 26 And the inscription of the charge against Him was written above: “THE KING OF THE JEWS.” 27 And with Him they execute two outlaws, one on His right and one on His left. (28 )[d]
29 Those passing by were jeering at Him, shaking their heads and saying, “Ha! You who are going to destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days, 30 save Yourself by coming down from the stake!”
31 Likewise the ruling kohanim, along with the Torah scholars, were also mocking Him among themselves. “He saved others,” they were saying, “but He can’t save Himself? 32 Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down now from the stake, so we may see and believe!” Even those executed with Him were ridiculing Him.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.