Book of Common Prayer
I Am for Shalom
Psalm 120
1 A Song of Ascents.
In my trouble I cried out to Adonai,
and He answered me.
2 Adonai, deliver my soul from lying lips,
from a deceitful tongue.
3 What can be given to you,
and what more can be done to you, O deceitful tongue?—
4 sharp arrows of the mighty,
with burning coals of a broom tree!
5 Woe to me, for I sojourn in Meshech,
for I dwell among the tents of Kedar!
6 My soul has too long dwelt
with those who hate shalom.
7 I am for shalom and thus I speak,
but they are for war!
He Watches Over You
Psalm 121
1 A Song of Ascents.
I will lift up my eyes to the mountains—
from where does my help come?
2 My help comes from Adonai,
Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip.
Your Keeper will not slumber.
4 Behold, the Keeper of Israel
neither slumbers nor sleeps.
5 Adonai is your Keeper.
Adonai is your shadow at your right hand.
6 The sun will not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 Adonai will protect you from all evil.
He will guard your life.
8 Adonai will watch over your coming and your going
from this time forth and forevermore.
Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem
Psalm 122
1 A Song of Ascents. Of David.
I rejoiced when they said to me,
“Let us go to the House of Adonai.”
2 Our feet are standing in your gates, Jerusalem—
3 Jerusalem, built as a city
joined together.
4 There the tribes go up,
the tribes of Adonai
—as a testimony to Israel—
to praise the Name of Adonai.
5 For there thrones for judgment are set up,
the thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem—
“May those who love you be at peace!
7 May there be shalom within your walls—
quietness within your palaces.”
8 For the sake of my brothers and friends,
I now say: “Shalom be within you.”
9 For the sake of the House of Adonai our God,
I will seek your good.
Be Gracious to Your Servants
Psalm 123
1 A Song of Ascents.
To You I lift up my eyes—
You enthroned in the heavens.
2 Behold, as the eyes of slaves to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a slave-girl to the hand of her mistress—
so our eyes look to Adonai our God, till He shows us favor.
3 Show us favor, Adonai, show us favor!
For we have endured much contempt.
4 Our soul has had enough
of the scorn of those at ease,
the contempt of the proud.
Had He Not Been on Our Side
Psalm 124
1 A Song of Ascents. Of David.
“Had Adonai not been on our side”
—let Israel now say—
2 “Had Adonai not been on our side,
when men rose up against us,
3 then they would have swallowed us alive,
when their wrath burned against us.
4 Then the waters would have engulfed us,
the torrent would have swept over our soul,
5 then the raging waters
would have swept over our soul.”
6 Blessed be Adonai, who has not given us
as prey for their teeth.
7 Our soul has escaped like a bird
out of the snare of the trappers—
the snare is broken, and we escaped!
8 Our help is in the Name of Adonai,
Maker of heaven and earth.
Like the Mountains Around Jerusalem
Psalm 125
1 A Song of Ascents.
Those who trust in Adonai are like Mount Zion—
it cannot be moved, but endures forever.
2 As the mountains are around Jerusalem,
so Adonai is all around His people,
both now and forever.
3 For a scepter of wickedness will not rest
over the land of the righteous—
lest the righteous set their hands to evil.
4 Do good, Adonai, to the good,
and to those upright in their hearts.
5 But as for those who turn aside to their crooked ways,
Adonai will lead them away with evildoers.
Shalom be upon Israel.
Joyful Restoration of Zion
Psalm 126
1 A Song of Ascents.
When Adonai restored the captives of Zion,
it was as if we were dreaming.
2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with a song of joy.
Then they said among the nations,
“Adonai has done great things for them.”
3 Adonai has done great things for us
—we are joyful!
4 Restore us from captivity, Adonai,
like streams in the Negev.
5 Those who sow in tears
will reap with a song of joy.
6 Whoever keeps going out weeping,
carrying his bag of seed,
will surely come back with a song of joy,
carrying his sheaves.
He Gives Sleep to His Children
Psalm 127
1 A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.
Unless Adonai builds the house,
the builders labor in vain.
Unless Adonai watches over the city,
the watchman stands guard in vain.
2 In vain you rise up early and stay up late,
eating the bread of toil—
for He provides for His beloved ones even in their sleep.
3 Behold, children are a heritage of Adonai
—the fruit of the womb is a reward.
4 As arrows in the hand of a mighty man,
so are the children of one’s youth.
5 Happy is the man whose quiver is full of them.
They will not be put to shame
when they speak with their enemies at the gate.
A Father’s Lesson: Get Wisdom!
4 Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction.
Pay attention, to gain understanding.
2 For I give you sound learning—
do not forsake my instruction.
3 When I was a son to my father,
tender and special to my mother,
4 he taught me and said to me:
“Lay hold of my words in your heart,
keep my commands and you will live!
5 Get wisdom! Get understanding!
Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth.
6 Do not forsake her, and she will guard you.
Love her, and she will watch over you.
7 Wisdom is supreme—acquire wisdom!
With all your acquisitions, get understanding.
8 Prize her, and she will exalt you.
She will honor you when you embrace her.
9 She will set a garland of grace on your head.
She will give you a crown of glory.”
Ways of Wisdom and Wickedness
10 Listen, my son, and accept my words,
so the years of your life will be many.
11 I instructed you in the way of wisdom.
I have guided you along straight paths.
12 When you walk, your step will not be hindered,
and when you run, you will not stumble.
13 Hold on tightly to instruction, do not let it go—
guard it, for it is your life.
14 Do not enter the path of the wicked
or walk in the way of evil people.
15 Avoid it—do not travel on it—
turn away from it and pass by.
16 For they cannot sleep until they do evil.
They are robbed of sleep until they make someone fall.
17 For they eat the bread of wickedness
and drink the wine of violence.
18 The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn,
shining brighter and brighter until the full day.
19 The way of the wicked is like darkness.
They do not know what makes them stumble.
20 My son, pay attention to my words—
incline your ear to my sayings.
21 Do not let them out of your sight,
keep them within your heart.
22 For they are life to those who find them
and health to their whole body.
23 Guard your heart diligently,
for from it flow the springs of life.
24 Put away perversity from your mouth,
and keep devious lips far from you.
25 Let your eyes look directly ahead,
and fix your gaze straight in front of you.
26 Clear a level path for your feet,
so all your ways will be firm.
27 Do not turn to the right or to the left.
Divert your foot from evil.
God’s Life-Giving Spirit of Love
7 Loved ones, let us love one another, for love is from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 The love of God was revealed among us by this—that God sent His one and only Son into the world so that we might live through Him. 10 This is love—not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atonement for our sins.
11 Loved ones, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God.[a] If we love one another, God abides in us and His love is made perfect in us. 13 We know that we abide in Him and He in us by this—because He has given us of His Spirit. 14 We have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son as Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Yeshua is Ben-Elohim, God abides in him and he abides in God. 16 So we have come to know and trust in the love that God has for us. God is love. Now whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
God’s Fulfilling Love
17 In this way, love is made perfect among us, so that we should have boldness on the Day of Judgment. For just as He is, so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and the one who fears has not been made perfect in love. 19 We love, because He first loved us.
Love God—Love God’s Family
20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar. For the one who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from Him: that the one who loves God should also love his brother.[b]
30 Now Yeshua had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met Him. 31 The Judeans, who were with Miriam in the house and comforting her, seeing how quickly she got up and went out, followed her. They thought she was going to the tomb to weep there.
32 So when Miriam came to where Yeshua was, she saw Him and fell at His feet, saying to Him, “Master, if You had been here, my brother would not have died!”
33 When Yeshua saw her weeping, and the Judeans who came with her weeping, He was deeply troubled in spirit and Himself agitated. 34 “Where have you laid him?” He asked.
“Come and see, Master,” they tell Him.
35 Yeshua wept. 36 So the Judeans said, “See how He loved him!”
37 But some of them said, “Couldn’t this One, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have also kept this man from dying?”
Yeshua’s Word Raises the Dead
38 So Yeshua, again deeply troubled within Himself, comes to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39 Yeshua says, “Roll away the stone!”
Martha, the dead man’s sister, said to Him, “Master, by this time he stinks! He’s been dead for four days!”
40 Yeshua says to her, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”
41 So they rolled away the stone. Yeshua lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard Me. 42 I knew that You always hear Me; but because of this crowd standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me.”
43 And when He had said this, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 He who had been dead came out, wrapped in burial clothes binding his hands and feet, with a cloth over his face. And Yeshua tells them, “Cut him loose, and let him go!”
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.