Book of Common Prayer
33 He changes rivers into a desert,
springs into thirsty ground,
34 and fertile ground into a layer of salt
because of the wickedness of the people living there.
35 He changes deserts into lakes
and dry ground into springs.
36 There he settles those who are hungry,
and they build cities to live in.
37 They plant in fields and vineyards
that produce crops.
38 He blesses them, and their numbers multiply,
and he does not allow a shortage of cattle.
39 They became few in number and were humiliated
because of oppression, disaster, and sorrow.
40 He poured contempt on their influential people
and made them stumble around in a pathless desert.
41 But now he lifts needy people high above suffering
and makes their families like flocks.
42 Decent people will see this and rejoice,
but all the wicked people will shut their mouths.
43 Let those who think they are wise
pay attention to these things
so that they may understand Yahweh’s blessings.
Psalm 108[a]
A song; a psalm by David.
1 My heart is confident, O Elohim.
I want to sing and make music even with my soul.[b]
2 Wake up, harp and lyre!
I want to wake up at dawn.
3 I want to give thanks to you among the people, O Yahweh.
I want to make music to praise you among the nations
4 because your mercy is higher than the heavens.
Your truth reaches the skies.
5 May you be honored above the heavens, O Elohim.
Let your glory extend over the whole earth.
6 Save us with your powerful hand, and answer us
so that those who are dear to you may be rescued.
7 Elohim has promised the following through his holiness:
“I will triumph!
I will divide Shechem.
I will measure the valley of Succoth.
8 Gilead is mine.
Manasseh is mine.
Ephraim is the helmet on my head.
Judah is my scepter.
9 Moab is my washtub.
I will throw my shoe over Edom.
I will shout in triumph over Philistia.”
10 Who will bring me into the fortified city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
11 Isn’t it you, O Elohim, who rejected us?
Isn’t it you, O Elohim, who refused to accompany our armies?
12 Give us help against the enemy
because human assistance is worthless.
13 With Elohim we will display great strength.
He will trample our enemies.
Psalm 33
1 Joyfully sing to Yahweh, you righteous people.
Praising the Lord is proper for decent people.
2 Give thanks with a lyre to Yahweh.
Make music for him on a ten-stringed harp.
3 Sing a new song to him.
Play beautifully and joyfully on stringed instruments.
4 The word of Yahweh is correct,
and everything he does is trustworthy.
5 Yahweh loves righteousness and justice.
His mercy fills the earth.
6 The heavens were made by the word of Yahweh
and all the stars by the breath of his mouth.
7 He gathers the water in the sea like a dam
and puts the oceans in his storehouses.
8 Let all the earth fear Yahweh.
Let all who live in the world stand in awe of him.
9 He spoke, and it came into being.
He gave the order, and there it stood.
10 Yahweh blocks the plans of the nations.
He frustrates the schemes of the people of the world.
11 Yahweh’s plan stands firm forever.
His thoughts stand firm in every generation.
12 Blessed is the nation whose Elohim is Yahweh.
Blessed are the people he has chosen as his own.
13 Yahweh looks down from heaven.
He sees all of Adam’s descendants.
14 From the place where he sits enthroned,
he looks down upon all who live on earth.
15 The one who formed their hearts
understands everything they do.
16 No king achieves a victory with a large army.
No warrior rescues himself by his own great strength.
17 Horses are not a guarantee for victory.
Their great strength cannot help someone escape.
18 Yahweh’s eyes are on those who fear him,
on those who wait with hope for his mercy
19 to rescue their souls from death
and keep them alive during a famine.
20 We wait for Yahweh.
He is our help and our Magen.
21 In him our hearts find joy.
In his holy name we trust.
22 Let your mercy rest on us, O Yahweh,
since we wait with hope for you.
Jacob’s Fifth Encounter with God
35 Then Elohim said to Jacob, “Go to Bethel and live there. Make an altar there. I am the El who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.”
2 So Jacob said to his family and those who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods which you have, wash yourselves until you are ritually clean,[a] and change your clothes. 3 Then let’s go to Bethel. I will make an altar there to El, who answered me when I was troubled and who has been with me wherever I’ve gone.” 4 So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods that they had in their possession as well as the earrings that they had on. Jacob buried these things under the oak tree near Shechem.
5 As they moved on, Elohim made the people of the cities that were all around them terrified so that no one pursued them. 6 Jacob and all the people who were with him came to Luz (that is, Bethel) in the land of Canaan. 7 He built an altar there and called that place El Bethel [God of the House of God]. That’s where Elohim had revealed himself to Jacob when he was fleeing from his brother. 8 Rebekah’s nurse Deborah died and was buried under the oak tree outside Bethel. So Jacob called it the Tree of Crying.
Jacob’s Sixth Encounter with God—His Name Changed to Israel
9 Then Elohim appeared once more to Jacob after he came back from Paddan Aram, and he blessed him. 10 Elohim said to him, “Your name is Jacob. You will no longer be called Jacob, but your name will be Israel.” So he named him Israel.
11 Elohim also said to him, “I am El Shadday. Be fertile, and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will come from you. 12 I will give you the land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac. I will also give this land to your descendants.” 13 Then Elohim went up from him at the place where he had spoken with him. 14 So Jacob set up a memorial, a stone marker, to mark the place where Elohim had spoken with him. He poured a wine offering and olive oil on it. 15 Jacob named the place where Elohim had spoken with him Bethel [House of God].
Jacob’s [Israel’s] Sons(A)
16 Then they moved on from Bethel. When they were still some distance from Ephrath, Rachel went into labor and was having severe labor pains. 17 During one of her pains, the midwife said to her, “Don’t be afraid! You’re having another son!” 18 Rachel was dying. As she took her last breath, she named her son Benoni [Son of My Sorrow], but his father named him Benjamin [Son of My Right Hand].
19 Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). 20 Then Jacob set up a stone as a marker for her grave. The same marker is at Rachel’s grave today.
Love One Another
11 The message that you have heard from the beginning is to love each other. 12 Don’t be like Cain. He was a child of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did Cain murder his brother? Because the things Cain did were evil and the things his brother did had God’s approval. 13 Brothers and sisters, don’t be surprised if the world hates you.
14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love other believers. The person who doesn’t grow in love remains in death. 15 Everyone who hates another believer is a murderer, and you know that a murderer doesn’t have eternal life.
16 We understand what love is when we realize that Christ gave his life for us. That means we must give our lives for other believers. 17 Now, suppose a person has enough to live on and notices another believer in need. How can God’s love be in that person if he doesn’t bother to help the other believer? 18 Dear children, we must show love through actions that are sincere, not through empty words.
Jesus Brings Lazarus Back to Life
11 Lazarus, who lived in Bethany, the village where Mary and her sister Martha lived, was sick. 2 (Mary was the woman who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair. Her brother Lazarus was the one who was sick.)
3 So the sisters sent a messenger to tell Yeshua, “Lord, your close friend is sick.”
4 When Yeshua heard the message, he said, “His sickness won’t result in death. Instead, this sickness will bring glory to God so that the Son of God will receive glory through it.”
5 Yeshua loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus. 6 Yet, when Yeshua heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was for two more days.
7 Then, after the two days, Yeshua said to his disciples, “Let’s go back to Judea.”
8 The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, not long ago the Jews wanted to stone you to death. Do you really want to go back there?”
9 Yeshua answered, “Aren’t there twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day don’t stumble, because they see the light of this world. 10 However, those who walk at night stumble because they have no light in themselves.”
11 After Yeshua said this, he told his disciples, “Our friend Lazarus is sleeping, and I’m going to Bethany to wake him.”
12 His disciples said to him, “Lord, if he’s sleeping, he’ll get well.”
13 Yeshua meant that Lazarus was dead, but the disciples thought Yeshua meant that Lazarus was only sleeping. 14 Then Yeshua told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, 15 but I’m glad that I wasn’t there so that you can grow in faith. Let’s go to Lazarus.”
16 Thomas, who was called Didymus, said to the rest of the disciples, “Let’s go so that we, too, can die with Yeshua.”
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.