Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 89
A maskil by Ethan the Ezrahite.
1 I will sing forever about the evidence of your mercy, O Yahweh.
I will tell about your faithfulness to every generation.
2 I said, “Your mercy will last forever.
Your faithfulness stands firm in the heavens.”
3 You said, “I have made a promise[a] to my chosen one.
I swore this oath to my servant David:
4 ‘I will make your dynasty continue forever.
I built your throne to last throughout every generation.’” Selah
5 O Yahweh, the heavens praise your miracles
and your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones.
6 Who in the skies can compare with Yahweh?
Who among the heavenly beings is like Yahweh?
7 El is terrifying in the council of the holy ones.
He is greater and more awe-inspiring than those who surround him.
8 O Yahweh Elohim Tsebaoth, who is like you?
Mighty Yah, even your faithfulness surrounds you.
9 You rule the raging sea.
When its waves rise, you quiet them.
10 You crushed Rahab;[b] it was like a corpse.
With your strong arm you scattered your enemies.
11 The heavens are yours.
The earth is also yours.
You made the world and everything in it.
12 You created north and south.
Mount Tabor and Mount Hermon sing your name joyfully.
13 Your arm is mighty.
Your hand is strong.
Your right hand is lifted high.
14 Righteousness and justice are the foundations of your throne.
Mercy and truth stand in front of you.
15 Blessed are the people who know how to praise you.
They walk in the light of your presence, O Yahweh.
16 They find joy in your name all day long.
They are joyful in your righteousness
17 because you are the glory of their strength.
By your favor you give us victory.[c]
18 Our shield belongs to Yahweh.
Our king belongs to Qedosh Yisrael.
19 Once in a vision you said to your faithful ones:
“I set a boy above warriors.[d]
I have raised up one chosen from the people.
20 I found my servant David.
I anointed him with my holy oil.
21 My hand is ready to help him.
My arm will also give him strength.
22 No enemy will take him by surprise.
No wicked person will mistreat him.
23 I will crush his enemies in front of him
and defeat those who hate him.
24 My faithfulness and mercy will be with him,
and in my name he will be victorious.[e]
25 I will put his left hand on the sea
and his right hand on the rivers.
26 He will call out to me,
‘You are my Ab, my El, and the rock of my salvation.’
27 Yes, I will make him the firstborn.
He will be the Most High to the kings of the earth.
28 My mercy will stay with him forever.
My promise to him is unbreakable.
29 I will make his dynasty endure forever
and his throne like the days of heaven.
30 “If his descendants abandon my teachings
and do not live by my rules,
31 if they violate my laws
and do not obey my commandments,
32 then with a rod I will punish their rebellion
and their crimes with beatings.
33 But I will not take my mercy away from him
or allow my truth to become a lie.
34 I will not dishonor my promise
or alter my own agreement.
35 On my holiness I have taken an oath once and for all:
I will not lie to David.
36 His dynasty will last forever.
His throne will be in my presence like the sun.
37 Like the moon his throne will stand firm forever.
It will be like a faithful witness in heaven.”
38 But you have despised, rejected,
and become angry with your anointed one.
39 You have refused to recognize the promise to your servant
and have thrown his crown into the dirt.
40 You have broken through all his walls
and have laid his fortified cities in ruins.
41 (Everyone who passed by robbed him.
He has become the object of his neighbors’ scorn.)
42 You held the right hand of his enemies high
and made all of his adversaries rejoice.
43 You even took his sword out of his hand
and failed to support him in battle.
44 You put an end to his splendor
and hurled his throne to the ground.
45 You cut short the days of his youth
and covered him with shame. Selah
46 How long, O Yahweh? Will you hide yourself forever?
How long will your anger continue to burn like fire?
47 Remember how short my life is!
Have you created Adam’s descendants for no reason?
48 Can a mortal go on living and never see death?
Who can set himself free from the power of the grave? Selah
49 Where is the evidence of your mercy, Adonay?
You swore an oath to David
on the basis of your faithfulness.
50 Remember, O Yahweh,[f] how your servant[g] has been insulted.
Remember how I have carried in my heart the insults from so many people.
51 Your enemies insulted me.
They insulted your Mashiach[h] every step he took.
52 Thank Yahweh forever.
Amen and amen!
30 Rachel saw that she could not have children for Jacob, and she became jealous of her sister. She said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I’ll die!”
2 Jacob became angry with Rachel and asked, “Can I take the place of Elohim, who has kept you from having children?”
3 She said, “Here’s my servant Bilhah. Sleep with her. She can have children for me, and I can build a family for myself through her.” 4 So she gave him her slave Bilhah as his wife, and Jacob slept with her. 5 Bilhah became pregnant, and she gave birth to a son for Jacob. 6 Rachel said, “Now Elohim has judged in my favor. He has heard my prayer and has given me a son.” So she named him Dan [He Judges].
7 Rachel’s slave Bilhah became pregnant again and gave birth to a second son for Jacob. 8 Rachel said, “I have had a great struggle[a] with my sister, and I have won!” So she named him Naphtali [My Struggle].
9 When Leah saw that she had stopped having children, she took her slave Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as his wife. 10 Leah’s slave Zilpah gave birth to a son for Jacob. 11 Leah said, “I’ve been lucky!” So she called him Gad [Luck].
12 Leah’s slave Zilpah gave birth to her second son for Jacob. 13 Leah said, “I’ve been blessed! Women will call me blessed.” So she named him Asher [Blessing].
14 During the wheat harvest Reuben went out into the fields and found some mandrakes.[b] He brought them to his mother Leah. Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.”
15 Leah replied, “Isn’t it enough that you took my husband? Are you also going to take my son’s mandrakes?”
Rachel said, “Very well, Jacob can go to bed with you tonight in return for your son’s mandrakes.”
16 As Jacob was coming in from the fields that evening, Leah went out to meet him. “You are to sleep with me,” she said. “You are my reward for my son’s mandrakes.” So he went to bed with her that night. 17 Elohim answered Leah’s prayer. She became pregnant and gave birth to her fifth son for Jacob. 18 Leah said, “Elohim has given me my reward because I gave my slave to my husband.” So she named him Issachar [Reward].
19 She became pregnant again and gave birth to her sixth son for Jacob. 20 Leah said, “Elohim has presented me with a beautiful present. This time my husband will honor me because I have given him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun [Honor].
21 Later she gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.
22 Then Elohim remembered Rachel. Elohim answered her prayer and made it possible for her to have children. 23 So she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. Then she said, “Elohim has taken away my disgrace.” 24 She named him Joseph [May He Give Another] and said, “May Yahweh give me another son.”
John’s Reason for Writing
1 The Word of life existed from the beginning. We have heard it. We have seen it. We observed and touched it. 2 This life was revealed to us. We have seen it, and we testify about it. We are reporting to you about this eternal life that was in the presence of the Father and was revealed to us. 3 This is the life we have seen and heard. We are reporting about it to you also so that you, too, can have a relationship with us. Our relationship is with the Father and with his Son Yeshua Christ. 4 We are writing this so that we can be completely filled with joy.
Through Jesus We Have a Relationship with God
5 This is the message we heard from Christ and are reporting to you: God is light, and there isn’t any darkness in him. 6 If we say, “We have a relationship with God” and yet live in the dark, we’re lying. We aren’t being truthful.
7 But if we live in the light in the same way that God is in the light, we have a relationship with each other. And the blood of his Son Yeshua cleanses us from every sin. 8 If we say, “We aren’t sinful” we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 God is faithful and reliable. If we confess our sins, he forgives them and cleanses us from everything we’ve done wrong. 10 If we say, “We have never sinned,” we turn God into a liar and his Word is not in us.
Jesus Gives Sight to a Blind Man
9 As Yeshua walked along, he saw a man who had been born blind. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, why was this man born blind? Did he or his parents sin?”
3 Yeshua answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned. Instead, he was born blind so that God could show what he can do for him. 4 We must do what the one who sent me wants us to do while it is day. The night when no one can do anything is coming. 5 As long as I’m in the world, I’m light for the world.”
6 After Yeshua said this, he spit on the ground and mixed the spit with dirt. Then he smeared it on the man’s eyes 7 and told him, “Wash it off in the pool of Siloam.” (Siloam means “sent.”) The blind man washed it off and returned. He was able to see.
8 His neighbors and those who had previously seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?”
9 Some of them said, “He’s the one.” Others said, “No, he isn’t, but he looks like him.” But the man himself said, “I am the one.”
10 So they asked him, “How did you receive your sight?”
11 He replied, “The man people call Yeshua mixed some spit with dirt, smeared it on my eyes, and told me, ‘Go to Siloam, and wash it off.’ So I went there, washed it off, and received my sight.”
12 They asked him, “Where is that man?”
The man answered, “I don’t know.”
13 Some people brought the man who had been blind to the Pharisees. 14 The day when Yeshua mixed the spit and dirt and gave the man sight was a day of worship. 15 So the Pharisees asked the man again how he received his sight.
The man told the Pharisees, “He put a mixture of spit and dirt on my eyes. I washed it off, and now I can see.”
16 Some of the Pharisees said, “The man who did this is not from God because he doesn’t follow the traditions for the day of worship.” Other Pharisees asked, “How can a man who is a sinner perform miracles like these?” So the Pharisees were divided in their opinions.
17 They asked the man who had been born blind another question: “What do you say about the man who gave you sight?”
The man answered, “He’s a prophet.”
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.