Book of Common Prayer
My Help and My Deliverer
Psalm 70
1 For the music director, of David, for a memorial.
2 O God, come quickly to deliver me,
Adonai, to help me.
3 May they be put to shame and disgrace
who seek my life.
May they be turned back in humiliation
who delight in my hurt.
4 May those who say, “Aha! Aha!”
be turned away because of their shame.
5 But may all who seek You
rejoice and be glad in You.
May those who love Your salvation
always say, “Let God be magnified.”
6 But I am poor and needy—
God, come quickly to me.
You are my help and my deliverer—
Adonai, do not delay.
My Hope When I Am Gray
Psalm 71
1 In You, Adonai, have I taken refuge.
Let me never be ashamed.
2 Deliver me and rescue me in Your justice.
Turn Your ear to me and save me.
3 Be to me a sheltering rock where I may always go.
Give the command to save me—
for You are my rock and my fortress.
4 My God, rescue me out of the hand of the wicked,
out of the grasp of an evil, ruthless man.
5 For You are my hope, Adonai my Lord—
my trust from my youth.
6 From my birth I have leaned on You.
You took me out of my mother’s womb.
My praise is always about You.
7 I am like an ominous sign to many,
but You are my strong refuge.
8 My mouth is filled with Your praise
and with Your glory all day.
9 Do not cast me away in the time of old age.
When my strength fails, do not forsake me.
10 For my enemies speak against me.
Those who watch for my soul conspire together,
11 saying: “God has forsaken him—
Pursue and take him, for no one will deliver.”
12 O God, be not far from me!
My God, come quickly to help me.
13 Let the accusers of my soul
be disgraced and destroyed.
Let those who seek to harm me
be covered with scorn and confusion.
14 But I—I will hope continually
and will praise You more and more.
15 My mouth will recount Your justice and Your salvation all day,
though I do not know the sum of them.
16 I come because of the mighty deeds of Adonai my Lord.
I will remember Your righteousness—Yours alone.
17 God, You taught me from my youth,
and I still keep declaring Your wonders.
18 So even until I am old and gray, O God, do not forsake me,
till I tell of Your strong arm to the next generation,
Your might to all who are to come.
19 For Your righteousness, O God,
reaches to high heaven.
You have done great things—O God,
who is like You?
20 You made me see many troubles and evils
—You will revive me again—
from the depths of the earth
You will bring me up again.
21 You will increase my greatness,
and comfort me once again.
22 So I will praise You with the harp for your truth, O my God.
I will sing praises to You with the lyre O Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips will shout for joy
—when I sing praises to You—
and my soul, which You have redeemed.
24 Also my tongue will tell of Your righteousness all day.
For those who seek my hurt have been put to shame and confusion.
Intercession for Restoration of Zion
Psalm 74
1 A contemplative song of Asaph.
Why have You cast us off forever, O God?
Why does Your anger smolder against the flock of Your pasture?
2 Remember Your congregation, which You purchased of old,
redeemed as the tribe of Your inheritance,
and Mount Zion, where You dwelt.
3 Lift Your steps toward the perpetual ruins—
an enemy has done all evil to the Sanctuary!
4 Your adversaries have roared in the midst of Your meeting place.
They have set up their standards as signs.
5 It seemed like bringing up axes
into a thicket of trees—
6 and now all its carved work
they smash with hatchet and hammers!
7 They set Your Sanctuary on fire,
burning it to the ground.
They defiled the dwelling place of Your Name.
8 They said in their hearts: “Let us crush them totally!”
They burned down all the meeting places of God in the land.
9 We do not see our signs.
No longer is there any prophet—
and no one among us knows how long.
10 How long, O God, will the adversary mock?
Will the enemy revile Your Name forever?
11 Why do You hold back Your hand, Your right hand?
Draw it out of Your bosom and consume them!
12 Yet God is my King of old,
working salvation in the midst of the land.
13 You split the sea with Your power.
You smashed the monsters’ heads in the waters.
14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan,
giving him as food to the desert dwellers.
15 You opened up spring and brook.
You dried up ever-flowing rivers.
16 The day is Yours, the night also is Yours.
You provided moon and sun.
17 You set all the borders of earth.
You made summer and winter.
18 Remember how the enemy mocked, Adonai,
and how foolish people despised Your Name.
19 Do not deliver Your turtledove’s soul to the wild beast.
Do not forget the life of Your afflicted ones forever.
20 Look upon the covenant—for haunts of violence
fill the dark places of earth.
21 Do not let the oppressed turn back in shame.
But let the poor and needy praise Your Name.
22 Rise up O God, and defend Your cause.
Remember how the fool mocks You all day.
23 Do not forget the noise of Your foes,
the uproar of those rising up against You,
ascending continually.
Ezra Returns From Babylon
7 Now after these things, during the reign of Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra son of Seraiah, son of Azariah, son of Hilkiah, 2 son of Shallum, son of Zadok, son of Ahitub, 3 son of Amariah, son of Azariah, son of Meraioth, 4 son of Zerahiah, son of Uzzi, son of Bukki, 5 son of Abishua, son of Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the kohen gadol— 6 this Ezra came up from Babylon. He was a scribe skilled in the Torah of Moses that Adonai the God of Israel had given. The king granted him everything he requested, because the hand of Adonai his God was upon him. 7 Some of Bnei-Yisrael and some of the kohanim, the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the sanctuary servants also came up to Jerusalem in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes.
8 He arrived in Jerusalem in the fifth month of the seventh year of the king. 9 He began his aliyah from Babylon on the first day of the first month and entered Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month, because the good hand of his God was upon him. 10 For Ezra had set his heart to seek the Torah of Adonai, to observe and to teach its statues and ordinances in Israel.
King Artaxerxes’ Letter to Ezra
11 Now this is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the kohen, the scribe, a teacher of matters pertaining to the mitzvot of Adonai and His statutes over Israel:
12 “Artaxerxes, king of kings,
“To Ezra the kohen, a scribe of the Law of the God of heaven.
13 “I have now issued a decree that anyone in my kingdom from the people of Israel—even the kohanim and Levites—who wish to go up to Jerusalem with you may go. 14 For you are sent by the king and his seven counselors to inquire about Judah and Jerusalem with regard to the Law of your God, which is in your hand, 15 and to bring the silver and gold that the king and his counselors have freely given to the God of Israel, whose dwelling is in Jerusalem, 16 together with all the silver and gold that you find in the whole province of Babylon, as well as the freewill offerings of the people and the kohanim for the House of their God in Jerusalem. 17 Furthermore, with this silver you should be sure to buy bulls, rams and lambs, along with their grain offerings and their drink offerings and offer them on the altar of the House of your God in Jerusalem. 18 You may do whatever seems good to you and your brothers with the remaining silver and gold, according to the will of your God.
19 “The vessels that are entrusted to you for the service of the House of your God, deliver before the God of Jerusalem. 20 The rest of the needs for the House of your God that you may have occasioned to supply, you may provide from the royal treasury.
21 “I, King Artaxerxes, hereby issue a decree to all the treasurers of Trans-Euphrates to diligently provide all that Ezra the kohen, scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, may ask of you— 22 up to 100 talents of silver, 100 cors of wheat, 100 baths of wine, 100 baths of oil, and salt without limit. 23 Everything that the God of heaven has required, let it be done with diligence for the House of the God of heaven. For why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons? 24 We also notify you that you have no authority to impose tribute, tax or duty on any of the kohanim, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, sanctuary servants, or attendants at this House of God.
25 “Now you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God that is in your hand, appoint judges and magistrates who may administer justice to all the people in Trans-Euphrates—all who know the laws of your God. And you are to teach those who do not know them. 26 Let anyone who does not observe the Law of your God and the law of the king, be punished with due diligence, whether it is death or banishment, confiscation of goods or imprisonment.”
A Song for the 144,000
14 Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion,[a] and with Him were 144,000 who had His name and His Father’s name written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a voice from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and the booming of loud thunder.[b] The voice I heard was like harpists playing on their harps. 3 And they are singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders; and no one is able to learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.
4 These are the ones who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins.
These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes.
These have been redeemed from among mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb.
5 And in their mouth was found no lie—they are blameless.[c]
Three Angels with Messages
6 And then I saw another angel flying high in the sky, having a timeless message of good news to proclaim to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation and tribe and tongue and people. 7 He said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come. Worship the One who made heaven and earth and sea and springs of water.”
8 Another angel, a second one, followed, saying,
“Fallen, fallen, is Babylon the great[d]—
she who made all nations drink
of the wine of the fury of her immorality.”
9 And another angel, a third one, followed them, saying in a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he shall also drink the wine of God’s fury, poured full strength into the cup of His wrath.[e] And he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone[f] before the holy angels and before the Lamb. 11 The smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever.[g] Those who worship the beast and its image and those who receive the mark of his name have no rest day or night.”
12 Here is the perseverance of the kedoshim—those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Yeshua.
13 Then I heard a voice from heaven saying,[h]
“Write: How fortunate are the dead—those who die in the Lord from now on!”
“Yes,” says the Ruach, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them.”
Yeshua’s Cousin Beheaded
14 At that time Herod the tetrarch heard the report about Yeshua. 2 He said to his servants, “This is John the Immerser—he has risen from the dead! Because of this, these powers are at work in Him.” 3 For Herod had arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, 4 because John had been telling him, “It is not permitted for you to have her.” [a] 5 Although Herod wanted to kill John, he feared the crowd because they considered John a prophet.
6 But when Herod’s birthday celebration came, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod, 7 so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. 8 Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me the head of John the Immerser, here on a platter!” 9 The king became sorrowful; but because of his oaths and those reclining with him, he commanded it to be given. 10 And he sent and had John beheaded in the prison. 11 His head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. 12 John’s disciples came forth and took the body and buried it. Then they went and reported to Yeshua.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.