Book of Common Prayer
ZAYIN ז
49 Remember the word to Your servant,
on which You have made me hope.
50 My comfort in my affliction is this:
Your word has kept me alive.
51 The arrogant have viciously ridiculed me,
yet I did not turn away from Your Torah.
52 I remember Your judgments from of old,
Adonai, and comfort myself.
53 Burning indignation grips me,
because of the wicked who forsake Your Torah.
54 Your decrees have become my songs
in the house where I dwell.
55 In the night I remember Your Name, Adonai,
and keep watching over Your Torah.
56 This is my own:
that I keep Your precepts.
CHET ח
57 Adonai is my portion.
I promised to guard Your words.
58 I have entreated Your favor with all my heart.
Be gracious to me according to Your word.
59 I have considered my ways
and turned my feet back to Your testimonies.
60 I hasten and do not delay
to obey Your mitzvot.
61 The ropes of the wicked are coiled around me,
but I did not forget Your Torah.
62 At midnight I rise to praise You,
because of Your righteous rulings.
63 I am a companion of all who fear You,
of those who observe Your precepts.
64 The earth is full of Your lovingkindness.
Adonai—teach me Your decrees.
TET ט
65 You do good to Your servant,
Adonai, according to Your word.
66 Teach me good sense and knowledge,
for I trusted in Your mitzvot.
67 Before I was afflicted I went astray,
but now I keep Your word.
68 You are good and keep doing good—
teach me Your decrees.
69 Though the proud smeared a lie on me,
with all my heart I keep Your precepts.
70 Their minds are insensible,
but Your Torah is my delight.
71 It is good for me that I was afflicted,
so that I may learn Your decrees.
72 The Torah from Your mouth is better to me
than thousands of gold and silver pieces.
Rich and Poor Alike
Psalm 49
1 For the music director: a psalm of the sons of Korah.
2 Hear this, all you peoples.
Give ear, all you inhabitants of the world,
3 both low and high,
rich and poor together.
4 My mouth speaks wisdom,
My heart’s meditation is understanding.
5 I will turn my ear to a proverb.
I will utter my riddle on the harp:
6 Why should I fear in evil days?
when the iniquity of my deceivers surrounds me?
7 Or those trusting in their wealth,
boasting about their great riches?
8 No man can redeem his brother,
or give to God a ransom for him.
9 For the redemption of a soul is costly—
so, one should stop trying forever.
10 Will he live forever—
and never see the Pit?
11 Surely he must see, even wise men die.
The fool and the brutish will alike perish,
leaving their wealth to others.[a]
12 Their inward thought is:
Their houses are eternal,
their dwellings for generation after generation.
They name their lands after themselves.
13 But the pompous man will not endure—
he is like the beasts that perish.
14 Such is the way of the self-confident,
and their followers who approve their sayings. Selah
15 Like sheep they are destined for Sheol.
Death will be their shepherd
and the upright will rule over them in the morning.
Their image will decay in Sheol—
far from its lofty place.
16 But God redeems my soul from the power of Sheol—
for He receives me. Selah
17 Do not be afraid when a man gets rich,
when his house’s splendor increases.
18 For when he dies he takes nothing away.
His splendor will not follow him down.
19 Though during his life he congratulates himself,
and men praise you when you do well for yourself—
20 He will still join his fathers’ company,
who will never see the light.
21 A pompous man, without understanding—
he is like the beasts that perish.
A Fool Denies God
Psalm 53
1 For the music director: on Mahalath, a contemplative song of David.
2 The fool says in his heart:
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt, commit vile injustice.
There is no one who does good.
3 God looks down from the heavens
on the children of men,
to see if anyone understands,
who seeks after God.
4 All have turned aside—
together they have become corrupt.
There is no one who does good—
no, not even one!
5 Will the evildoers never learn?
They consume My people as they would eat bread,
and never call upon God.
6 There they are in great dread—
where there is nothing to fear.
For God has scattered the bones of those besieging you.
You have put them to shame,
for God has rejected them.
7 Who will give salvation for Israel out of Zion?
When God restores His captive people,
let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad!
Elijah Proclaims Famine
17 Now Elijah the Tishbite, one of the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab: “As Adonai God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall be no dew or rain these years, except at my word.”[a]
2 Then the word of Adonai came to him saying: 3 “Leave this place, turn eastward, and hide yourself by the Wadi Cherith, east of the Jordan. 4 It will come about that you will drink from the wadi. I have also commanded the ravens to feed you there.”
5 So he went and did according to the word of Adonai—he went and lived by the Wadi Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. 6 The ravens kept bringing him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the wadi. 7 Then it came to pass after a while that the wadi dried up, because there was no rain in the land.
8 Then the word of Adonai came to him saying: 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have just commanded a widow there to provide for you.”
Miracle of Flour and Oil
10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. Now when he came to the town gate, to his surprise, a widow was there gathering sticks. So he called her and said, “Please bring a little water in a jar that I may drink.” 11 As she was going to fetch it, he called her and said, “Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.”
12 So she said, “As Adonai your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in the jar, and a little oil in the jug. Now look, I am gathering a couple of sticks, so that I may go in and prepare it for me and my son, that we may eat it and die.”
13 Elijah said to her, “Fear not! Go and do as you said, but first make me a little cake from what you have there. Bring it out to me and afterwards, make some for you and for your son. 14 For thus says Adonai God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be exhausted nor shall the jug of oil be empty until the day Adonai sends rain on the land.’”
15 So she went and did according to the word of Elijah—and she and he, and her household ate for many days. 16 The jar of flour was not exhausted, nor did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of Adonai which He spoke through Elijah.
Resurrection of a Boy
17 After these things, it came to pass that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house fell sick, and his sickness was getting much worse until he had no breath left in him. 18 So she said to Elijah, “What do I have to do with you, man of God? Have you come to me to remind me of my sin and kill my son?”
19 He said to her, “Give me your son.” Then he took him from her arms, carried him up to the upper room where he was staying and laid him on his own bed. 20 He cried out to Adonai and said, “Adonai my God, have You brought such evil even on the widow with whom I am staying, by causing her son to die?” 21 Then he stretched himself upon the child three times. He cried out to Adonai and said, “Adonai my God, please let this child’s soul come back into his body!”
22 Adonai listened to the cry of Elijah, so the soul of the child came back into his body and he was revived. 23 Then Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house, and gave him to his mother. Elijah said, “See! Your son is alive.”[b]
24 Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word in your mouth is truth.”
Messiah’s Example of Humility
2 Therefore if there is any encouragement in Messiah, if there is any comfort of love, if there is any fellowship of the Ruach, if there is any mercy and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being of the same mind, having the same love, united in spirit, with one purpose. 3 Do nothing out of selfishness or conceit, but with humility consider others as more important than yourselves, 4 looking out not only for your own interests but also for the interests of others. 5 Have this attitude in yourselves, which also was in Messiah Yeshua,
6 Who, though existing in the form of God,
did not consider being equal to God a thing to be grasped.
7 But He emptied Himself—
taking on the form of a slave,
becoming the likeness of men
and being found in appearance as a man.
8 He humbled Himself—
becoming obedient to the point of death,
even death on a cross.
9 For this reason God highly exalted Him
and gave Him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Yeshua every knee should bow,[a]
in heaven and on the earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue profess that Yeshua the Messiah is Lord—
to the glory of God the Father.
Wise Men Follow His Star
2 Now after Yeshua was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of King Herod, magi from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is the One who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”[a]
3 When King Herod heard, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 And when he had called together all the ruling kohanim and Torah scholars, he began to inquire of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 So they told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it has been written by the prophet:
6 ‘And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
For out of you shall come a ruler
who will shepherd My people Israel.’”[b]
7 Then Herod secretly called the magi and determined from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the Child. And when you have found Him, bring word back to me so that I may come and worship Him as well.”
9 After listening to the king, they went their way. And behold, the star they had seen in the east went on before them, until it came to rest over the place where the Child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great gladness. 11 And when they came into the house, they saw the Child with His mother Miriam; and they fell down and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. [c] 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their own country by another way.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.