Book of Common Prayer
By the Rivers of Babylon
Psalm 137
1 By the rivers of Babylon,
we sat down and wept,
when we remembered Zion.
2 On the willows there
we hung up our harps.
3 For there our captors demanded songs
and our tormentors asked for joy:
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”
4 How can we sing a song of Adonai in a foreign land?
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
let my right hand wither.
6 May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
if I cease to remember you,
if I do not set Jerusalem above my chief joy.
7 Remember, Adonai, the children of Edom,
what they said on the day Jerusalem fell:
“Strip her, strip her to her very foundation!”
8 O daughter of Babylon, the devastated one,
happy is the one who repays you
as you have paid us.
9 Happy is the one who seizes your little ones
and dashes them upon the rock.
Rescue from Battle
Psalm 144
1 Of David.
Blessed be Adonai my Rock—
who trains my hands for war,
my fingers for battle.
2 He is my lovingkindness, my fortress,
my strong tower, and my deliverer,
my shield, in whom I take refuge,
who subdues my people under me.
3 Adonai, what is man, that You take note of him?
Or the son of man, that You consider him?[a]
4 Man is like a breath—
his days are like a passing shadow.
5 Adonai, part Your heavens and come down.
Touch the mountains, so they smoke.
6 Flash forth lightning and scatter them.
Send out Your arrows and confuse them.
7 Stretch forth Your hands from on high.
Snatch me, deliver me out of deep waters,
out of the hand of foreigners,
8 whose mouth speaks falsehood,
whose right hand is a right hand of deceit.
9 God, I sing a new song to You, on a ten-string harp
I sing praises to You—
10 who gives salvation to kings,
who rescues Your servant David from the evil sword.
11 Snatch me, deliver me
out of the hand of foreigners,
whose mouth speaks falsehood,
whose right hand is a right hand of deceit.
12 Then our sons will be like plants nurtured in their youth,
our daughters like corner pillars carved for the construction of a palace.
13 Our storehouses are full,
supplying every kind of produce.
Our flocks increase by thousands
and ten thousands in our fields.
14 Our oxen bear a heavy load.
There is no breach,
no going into captivity,
no outcry in our streets.
15 Happy are such a people!
Blessed are the people whose God is Adonai!
Adonai Rejoices in His Works!
Psalm 104
1 Bless Adonai, O my soul.
Adonai my God, You are very great!
You are clothed with splendor and majesty—
2 wrapping Yourself in light as a robe,
stretching out heaven like a curtain,
3 laying beams for His upper rooms in waters,
making the clouds His chariot,
walking on the wings of the wind,
4 making His angels spirits,
His servants a flaming fire.
5 He set the earth upon its foundations,
so it should not totter forever and ever.
6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment—
the waters standing above the mountains.
7 At Your rebuke the waters fled.
At the sound of Your thunder they hurried away.
8 The waters go up the mountains,
then down to the valleys—
to the place that You assigned to them.
9 You set a boundary to the waters
that they may not cross over,
so they may not return to cover the earth.
10 You make springs gush into the valleys.
They run between the mountains.
11 They give drink to all the beasts of the field—
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 Beside them the birds of the sky dwell—
they sing among the branches.
13 He waters mountains from His upper rooms.
The earth is full of the fruit of Your labors.
14 He causes grass to spring up for the cattle,
and vegetation for man to cultivate,
to bring forth bread out of the earth,
15 wine that makes man’s heart glad,
oil to make his face shine,
and bread that sustains man’s heart.
16 The trees of Adonai are satisfied,
the cedars of Lebanon that He planted,
17 where birds make their nests,
and the stork—her home is the fir trees.
18 The high mountains are for wild goats,
the cliffs a refuge for rock badgers.
19 He made the moon for appointed times,
the sun knows its going down.
20 You bring darkness, so it becomes night,
when all the beasts of the forest prowl.
21 The young lions roar for prey,
seeking their food from God.
22 But when the sun rises, they gather
and lie down in their dens.
23 Man goes out to his work,
and to his labor until the evening.
24 Adonai, how countless are Your works!
In wisdom You made them all—
the earth is full of Your creatures.
25 There is the sea, vast and wide,
teeming with gliding things innumerable,
living creatures, both small and large.
26 There, ships go to and fro.
Leviathan—You formed to frolic there.
27 They all look to You to give them
their food at the right time.
28 When You give it to them, they gather it up.
When You open Your hand, they are satisfied with good.
29 But when You hide Your face—they are dismayed.
You take away their breath—they perish,
and return to their dust.
30 You send forth Your Ruach—they are created,
and You renew the face of the earth.
31 May the glory of Adonai endure forever!
May Adonai rejoice in His works!
32 He looks at the earth, and it trembles.
He touches the mountains, and they smoke.
33 I will sing to Adonai as long as I live!
I will sing praise to my God yet again!
34 Let my meditation be sweet to Him.
I—I will rejoice in Adonai.
35 Let sinners vanish from the earth
and let the wicked be no more.
Bless Adonai, O my soul. Halleluyah!
Obedience of Rechabites
35 The word that came to Jeremiah from Adonai in the days of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying: 2 “Go to the house of the Rechabites, speak to them, and bring them into one of the chambers of the House of Adonai, and give them wine to drink.”
3 So I took Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah, his brothers and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites, 4 and I brought them into the House of Adonai to the chamber of the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah the man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah son of Shallum, the doorkeeper. 5 I set jars full of wine and cups before the sons of the house of the Rechabites, and said to them: “Drink wine!”
6 But they said: “We drink no wine, for Jonadab son of Rechab our father commanded us: ‘You will drink no wine, not you nor your sons, forever. 7 Also you are not to build a house, or sow seed, or plant a vineyard or own one. Instead all your days you are to dwell in tents, so that you may live many days in the land where you sojourn.’ 8 So we obeyed the voice of Jonadab son of Rechab our father in all that he charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, nor our daughters, 9 nor to build houses for us to dwell in, nor to own a vineyard, field or seed, 10 and we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us. 11 But when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came up against the land, we said: ‘Come, let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans and for fear of the army of the Arameans. So we are dwelling in Jerusalem.”
12 Then came the word of Adonai to Jeremiah, saying, 13 thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel: “Go, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, ‘Will you not receive instruction by listening to My words?’” says Adonai. 14 “The words of Jonadab son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons, not to drink wine, are observed, and to this day they drink none, for they listen to their father’s commandment. Yet I have spoken to you, early and often, and you have not obeyed Me.
15 “I have sent also to you all My servants the prophets, sending them early and often, saying: ‘Return you now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go not after other gods to serve them, and you will dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers; but you have not inclined your ear, nor listened to Me. 16 For the sons of Jonadab son of Rechab have kept the commandment of their father which he commanded them, but this people have not obeyed Me.’”
17 Therefore thus says Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel: “I am about to bring on Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them, because I spoke to them but they have not heard, and I have called to them but they have not answered.”
18 Now Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel: “Because you have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according to all that he commanded you,” 19 therefore thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel: “There will never be cut off for Jonadab son of Rechab a man to stand before Me forever.”
27 Now you are the body of Messiah, and members individually. 28 God has put into His community first emissaries, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then healings, helps, leadership, various kinds of tongues. 29 All are not emissaries, are they? All are not prophets, are they? All are not teachers, are they? All do not work miracles, do they? 30 All do not have gifts of healing, do they? All do not speak in tongues, do they? All do not interpret, do they? 31 But earnestly desire the greater gifts. And still I show you a far better way:
The Superior Way of Love
13 If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels
but have not love,
I have become a noisy gong
or a clanging cymbal.
2 If I have the gift of prophecy
and know all mysteries and all knowledge,
and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains
but have not love,
I am nothing.
3 If I give away all that I own
and if I hand over my body so I might boast[a]
but have not love,
I gain nothing.
35 Now Yeshua was going around all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and sickness. 36 When He saw the crowds, He felt compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. [a] 37 Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. 38 Therefore pray to the Lord of the harvest that He may send out workers into His harvest field.”
Instructions to the Twelve
10 Yeshua summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, so they could drive them out and heal every kind of disease and sickness. 2 Now these are the names of the twelve emissaries: first, Simon, called Peter, and his brother Andrew; Jacob the son of Zebedee and John his brother; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; Jacob, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot,[b] and Judah the man from Kriot,[c] the one who also betrayed Him.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.