Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 70[a]
For the choir director; by David; to be kept in mind.
1 Come quickly to rescue me, O Elohim!
Come quickly to help me, O Yahweh!
2 Let those who seek my life
be confused and put to shame.
Let those who want my downfall
be turned back and disgraced.
3 Let those who say, “Aha! Aha!”
be turned back because of their own shame.
4 Let all who seek you rejoice and be glad because of you.
Let those who love your salvation continually say,
“Elohim is great!”
5 But I am oppressed and needy.
O Elohim, come to me quickly.
You are my help and my savior.
O Yahweh, do not delay!
Psalm 71
1 I have taken refuge in you, O Yahweh.
Never let me be put to shame.
2 Rescue me and free me because of your righteousness.
Turn your ear toward me, and save me.
3 Be a rock on which I may live,
a Maon where I may always go.
You gave the order to save me!
Indeed, you are my rock and my Metsuda.
4 My Elohim, free me from the hands of a wicked person,
from the grasp of one who is cruel and unjust.
5 You are my hope, O Adonay Yahweh.
You have been my confidence ever since I was young.
6 I depended on you before I was born.
You took me from my mother’s womb.
My songs of praise constantly speak about you.
7 I have become an example to many people,
but you are my strong Machseh.
8 My mouth is filled with your praise,
with your glory all day long.
9 Do not reject me when I am old
or abandon me when I lose my strength.
10 My enemies talk about me.
They watch me as they plot to take my life.
11 They say, “Elohim has abandoned him.
Pursue him and grab him because there is no one to rescue him.”
12 O Elohim, do not be so distant from me.
O my Elohim, come quickly to help me.
13 Let those who accuse me come to a shameful end.
Let those who want my downfall be covered
with disgrace and humiliation.
14 But I will always have hope.
I will praise you more and more.
15 My mouth will tell about your righteousness,
about your salvation all day long.
Even then, it is more than I can understand.
16 I will come with the mighty deeds of Adonay Yahweh.
I will praise your righteousness, yours alone.
17 O Elohim, you have taught me ever since I was young,
and I still talk about the miracles you have done.
18 Even when I am old and gray, do not abandon me, O Elohim.
Let me live to tell the people of this age
what your strength has accomplished,
to tell about your power to all who will come.
19 Your righteousness reaches to the heavens, O Elohim.
You have done great things.
O Elohim, who is like you?
20 You have made me endure many terrible troubles.
You restore me to life again.
You bring me back from the depths of the earth.
21 You comfort me and make me greater than ever.
22 Because of your faithfulness, O my Elohim,
even I will give thanks to you as I play on a lyre.
I will make music with a harp to praise you, O Qedosh Yisrael.
23 My lips will sing with joy when I make music to praise you.
My soul, which you have rescued, also will sing joyfully.
24 My tongue will tell about your righteousness all day long,
because those who wanted my downfall
have been disgraced and put to shame.
Psalm 74
A maskil[a] by Asaph.
1 Why, O Elohim, have you rejected us forever?
Why does your anger
smolder against the sheep in your care?
2 Remember your congregation.
Long ago you made it your own.
You bought this tribe to be your possession.
This tribe is Mount Zion, where you have made your home.
3 Turn your steps toward[b] these pathetic ruins.
The enemy has destroyed everything in the holy temple.
4 Your opponents have roared inside your meeting place.
They have set up their own emblems as symbols.
5 Starting from its entrance, they hacked away
like a woodcutter in a forest.[c]
6 They smashed all its carved paneling with axes and hatchets.
7 They burned your holy place to the ground.
They dishonored the place where you live among us.
8 They said to themselves, “We will crush them.”
They burned every meeting place of El in the land.
9 We no longer see miraculous signs.
There are no prophets anymore.
No one knows how long this will last.
10 How long, O Elohim, will the enemy insult us?
Will the enemy despise you forever?
11 Why do you hold back your hand, especially your right hand?
Take your hands out of your pockets.
Destroy your enemies![d]
12 And yet, from long ago Elohim has been my Melek,
the one who has been victorious throughout the earth.
13 You stirred up the sea with your own strength.
You smashed the heads of sea monsters in the water.
14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan[e]
and gave them to the creatures of the desert for food.
15 You opened the springs and brooks.
You dried up the ever-flowing rivers.
16 The day and the night are yours.
You set the moon and the sun in their places.
17 You determined all the boundaries of the earth.
You created summer and winter.
18 Remember how the enemy insulted you, O Yahweh.
Remember how an entire nation of godless fools despised your name.
19 Do not hand over the soul of your dove to wild animals.
Do not forget the life of your oppressed people forever.
20 Consider your promise[f]
because every dark corner of the land is filled with violence.
21 Do not let oppressed people come back in disgrace.
Let weak and needy people praise your name.
22 Arise, O Elohim!
Fight for your own cause!
Remember how godless fools insult you all day long.
23 Do not forget the shouting of your opponents.
Do not forget the uproar made by those who attack you.
Sarah’s Death
23 Sarah lived to be 127 years old. This was the length of her life. 2 She died in Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in Canaan. Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to cry about her death.
3 Then Abraham left the side of his dead wife and spoke to the Hittites, 4 “I’m a stranger with no permanent home. Let me have some of your property for a tomb so that I can bury my dead wife.”
5 The Hittites answered Abraham, 6 “Listen to us, sir. You are a mighty leader among us. Bury your dead in one of our best tombs. Not one of us will withhold from you his tomb for burying your dead.”
7 Abraham got up in front of the Hittites, the people of that region, and bowed with his face touching the ground. 8 He said to them, “If you are willing to let me bury my wife, listen to me. Encourage Ephron, son of Zohar, 9 to let me have the cave of Machpelah that he owns at the end of his field. He should sell it to me for its full price as my property to be used as a tomb among you.”
10 Ephron was sitting among the Hittites. He answered Abraham so that everyone who was entering the city gate could hear him. He said, 11 “No, sir, listen to me. I’m giving you the field together with the cave that is in it. My people are witnesses that I’m giving it to you. Bury your wife!”
12 Abraham bowed down again in front of the people of that region. 13 He spoke to Ephron so that the people of that region could hear him. He said, “If you would only listen to me. I will pay you the price of the field. Take it from me so that I can bury my wife there.”
14 Ephron answered Abraham, 15 “Sir, listen to me. The land is worth ten pounds of silver. What is that between us? Bury your wife!”
16 Abraham agreed to Ephron’s terms. So he weighed out for Ephron the amount stated in front of the Hittites: ten pounds of silver at the current merchants’ exchange rate.
17 So Ephron’s field at Machpelah, east of Mamre, was sold 18 to Abraham. His property included the field with the cave in it as well as all the trees inside the boundaries of the field.[a] The Hittites together with all who had entered the city gate were the official witnesses for the agreement.
19 After this, Abraham buried his wife Sarah in the cave in the field of Machpelah, east of Mamre (that is, Hebron). 20 So the field and its cave were sold by the Hittites to Abraham as his property to be used as a tomb.
32 What more should I say? I don’t have enough time to tell you about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets. 33 Through faith they conquered kingdoms, did what God approved, and received what God had promised. They shut the mouths of lions, 34 put out raging fires, and escaped death. They found strength when they were weak. They were powerful in battle and defeated other armies. 35 Women received their loved ones back from the dead. Other believers were brutally tortured but refused to be released so that they might gain eternal life. 36 Some were made fun of and whipped, and some were chained and put in prison. 37 Some were stoned to death, sawed in half, and killed with swords. Some wore the skins of sheep and goats. Some were poor, abused, and mistreated. 38 The world didn’t deserve these good people. Some wandered around in deserts and mountains and lived in caves and holes in the ground.
39 All these people were known for their faith, but none of them received what God had promised. 40 God planned to give us something very special so that we would gain eternal life with them.
Faith Directs Our Lives
12 Since we are surrounded by so many examples of faith, we must get rid of everything that slows us down, especially sin that distracts us. We must run the race that lies ahead of us and never give up. 2 We must focus on Yeshua, the source and goal of our faith. He saw the joy ahead of him, so he endured death on the cross and ignored the disgrace it brought him. Then he received the highest position in heaven, the one next to the throne of God.
60 When many of Yeshua’s disciples heard him, they said, “What he says is hard to accept. Who wants to listen to him anymore?”
61 Yeshua was aware that his disciples were criticizing his message. So Yeshua asked them, “Did what I say make you lose faith? 62 What if you see the Son of Man go where he was before? 63 Life is spiritual. Your physical existence doesn’t contribute to that life. The words that I have spoken to you are spiritual. They are life. 64 But some of you don’t believe.” Yeshua knew from the beginning those who wouldn’t believe and the one who would betray him. 65 So he added, “That is why I told you that people cannot come to me unless the Father provides the way.”
66 Yeshua’s speech made many of his disciples go back to the lives they had led before they followed Yeshua. 67 So Yeshua asked the twelve apostles, “Do you want to leave me too?”
68 Simon Peter answered Yeshua, “Lord, to what person could we go? Your words give eternal life. 69 Besides, we believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”
70 Yeshua replied, “I chose all twelve of you. Yet, one of you is a devil.” 71 Yeshua meant Judas, son of Simon Iscariot. Judas, who was one of the twelve apostles, would later betray Yeshua.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.