Book of Common Prayer
A Sacrifice of Thanks
Psalm 50
1 A psalm of Asaph.
God, Elohim Adonai has spoken and summoned the earth
from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God shines forth.
3 Our God comes, and does not keep silent.
A fire is devouring before Him,
and it storms around Him mightily.
4 He calls to the heavens above
and to the earth, to judge His people:
5 “Gather My kedoshim to Me,
who cut a covenant with Me with a sacrifice.”
6 The heavens declare His righteousness,
for God Himself is Judge. Selah
7 “Hear, My people, and I will speak,
O Israel, and I will testify against you:
I am God, your God.
8 I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices,
for your burnt offerings are continually before Me.
9 I have no need of a bull from your house
nor goats from your pens.
10 For every beast of the forest is Mine,
and the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know every bird of the mountains.
Everything moving in the field is Mine.
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you—
for the world is Mine and all it contains!
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of goats?
14 Offer God a sacrifice of thank offerings,
then fulfill your vows to Elyon.
15 Call upon Me in the day of trouble.
When I rescue you, you will honor Me.”
16 But to the wicked, God says:
“What are you doing, reciting My laws
and taking My covenant in your mouth?
17 For you hate discipline,
and you cast My words behind you.
18 When you see a thief, you are pleased with him,
and your portion is with adulterers.
19 You have unleashed your mouth for evil
and harnessed your tongue for deceit.
20 You sit, speaking against your brother,
slandering your own mother’s son.
21 These things you have done—Should I keep silent?
You thought I was just like you—but I reprove you,
and set the case before your eyes.
22 Now consider this, you who forget God.
Or else I will tear you in pieces with no one to rescue you.
23 A sacrifice of praise honors Me,
and to the one who orders his way,
I will show the salvation of God.”
God Is My Strong Tower
Psalm 59
1 For the music director: “Do Not Destroy,” a Michtam of David, when Saul sent men to watch the house to kill him.
2 Deliver me from my enemies, my God!
Set me on high,
away from those who rise up against me.
3 Deliver me from workers of iniquity.
Rescue me from bloodthirsty men.
4 For behold, they lie in wait for me.
Defiant men stir up strife against me—
not for my transgression or sin, Adonai.
5 For no guilt of mine, they run and set things up.
Awake! Help me! Look!
6 For You are Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot, the God of Israel!
Rouse Yourself to punish all the nations.
Show no mercy to any iniquitous traitors. Selah
7 They return at evening, snarling like a dog,
prowling about the city.
8 See, they are spewing with their mouth
—swords in their lips—
“After all, who is listening?”
9 But You, Adonai, are laughing at them.
You scoff at all the nations.
10 O my strength, I watch for You—
for God is my strong tower.
11 My God in His lovingkindness will go before me.
God will let me look down on my foes.
12 Do not slay them, lest my people forget.
With Your power shake them
and bring them down, O Lord our shield.
13 The sin of their mouth is the words of their lips.
So let them be caught in their pride,
and for uttering a curse and a lie.
14 Consume them in wrath,
consume them till they are no more.
Let them know that God rules over Jacob to the ends of the earth. Selah
15 They return at evening, snarling like a dog,
prowling about the city.
16 They wander around for food.
If they are not full, they stay up all night.
17 But I—I sing of Your strength!
Yes, in the morning I sing aloud of Your lovingkindness.
For You have been my fortress,
a refuge in the day of my trouble.
18 O my strength, to You I sing praises.
For God is my strong tower—
my God of lovingkindness.
Song of Victory Over Edom
Psalm 60
1 For the music director, on the “Lily of the Covenant,” a Michtam of David, for teaching, 2 when he fought with Aram-Naharaim and with Aram-Zobah, and Joab returned and struck down twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.
3 O God, You have spurned us.
You have broken out against us.
You have been angry. Turn back to us!
4 You made earth shake; You split it open.
Heal its fractures—for it shudders.
5 You made Your people see hardship.
You made us drink wine of staggering.
6 To those who fear You,
You gave a banner, to be unfurled before the archers. Selah
7 Save with Your right hand and answer us,
so that Your beloved may be delivered.
8 God has spoken in His holiness:
“I will exult!
I will parcel out Shechem and measure off the valley of Succoth.
9 Gilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine,
Ephraim is a helmet for my head,
Judah is my scepter.
10 Moab is my washbasin,
On Edom I toss my sandal,
Philistia, cry aloud because of me!”
11 Who will bring me into the fortified city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
12 Should it not be You, O God—
who spurned us and no longer goes out with our armies?
13 Give us aid against the adversary,
for the help of man is worthless.
14 With God we will do mighty things,
and He will trample our foes.
Glory from Heaven and Torah
Psalm 19
1 For the music director, a psalm of David.
2 The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky shows His handiwork.
3 Day to day they speak,
night to night they reveal knowledge.
4 There is no speech, no words,
where their voice goes unheard.
5 Their voice has gone out to all the earth
and their words to the end of the world.[a]
In the heavens He pitched a tent for the sun.
6 It is like a bridegroom coming out of his bridal chamber.
It is like a strong man rejoicing to run his course.
7 It rises at one end of the heavens
and makes its circuit to the other end.
Nothing is hidden from its heat.
8 The Torah of Adonai is perfect,
restoring the soul.
The testimony of Adonai is trustworthy,
making the simple wise.
9 The precepts of Adonai are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The mitzvot of Adonai are pure,
giving light to the eyes.
10 The fear of Adonai is clean,
enduring forever.
The judgments of Adonai are true
and altogether righteous.
11 They are more desirable than gold,
yes, more than much pure gold!
They are sweeter than honey
and drippings of the honeycomb.
12 Moreover by them Your servant is warned.
In keeping them there is great reward.
13 Who can discern his errors?
Cleanse me of hidden faults.
14 Also keep Your servant from willful sins.
May they not have dominion over me.
Then I will be blameless,
free from great transgression.
15 May the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable before You,
Adonai, my Rock and my Redeemer.
He Makes Wars Cease
Psalm 46
1 For the music director, of the sons of Korah, according to Alamoth, a song.
2 God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
3 Therefore we will not fear,
though the earth change,
though the mountains topple into the heart of the seas,
4 though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains quake at their swelling. Selah
5 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God—
the holy dwelling place of Elyon.[a]
6 God is in the midst of her, she will not be shaken.
God will help her when morning dawns.
7 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms totter,
He utters His voice, the earth melts!
8 Adonai-Tzva’ot is with us.
The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah
9 Come, see the works of Adonai,
who brings devastations on the earth.
10 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear.
He burns chariots with fire.
11 “Be still, and know that I am God.
I am exalted among the nations.
I am exalted in the earth.”
12 Adonai-Tzva’ot is with us.
The God of Jacob is our strong tower. Selah
Joseph Succeeds in Adversity
39 Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt. Potiphar, an official of Pharaoh, commander of the bodyguards, bought him from the hand of the Ishmaelites, who had brought him down there. 2 But Adonai was with Joseph. So he became a successful man in the house of his master, the Egyptian. 3 His master saw that Adonai was with him and that Adonai made everything he set his hand to successful. 4 Joseph found favor in his eyes, so he served him as a personal servant and he made him an overseer over his household; everything that was his he entrusted into his hand. 5 From the time that he made him an overseer in his house and over everything that belonged to him, Adonai blessed the Egyptian’s house because of Joseph; Adonai’s blessing was on everything that belonged to him, in the house and in the field. 6 So he released everything he owned into Joseph’s hand. With him in charge, he did not think about anything except the food he ate.
Now Joseph was handsome in form and handsome in appearance.
7 Now after these things, the master’s wife lifted up her eyes at Joseph and said, “Come, lie down with me!”
8 But he refused. “Look,” he said to his master’s wife, “my master doesn’t think about anything in the house with me in charge, and everything that belongs to him he’s entrusted into my hand. 9 No one in this house is greater than I, and he has withheld nothing from me—except you, because you are his wife. So how could I commit this great evil and sin against God?”
10 So whenever she spoke to Joseph, day after day, he did not listen to her invitation to lie down beside her, to be with her. 11 Now on one such day, he came into the house to do his work, and none of the people of the house were there in the house. 12 Then she grabbed him by his garment saying, “Come, lie with me!” But he left his garment in her hand, fled and went outside. 13 When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and fled outside, 14 she screamed to the men of her house and said to them, “Look! Someone brought a Hebrew man to us to fool with us. He approached me to lie with me so I screamed out loud. 15 When he heard me raise my voice and scream, he left his garment with me, fled and went outside.”
16 Then she kept the garment with her until his master came home. 17 She spoke the same words to him saying, “The Hebrew slave that you brought us approached me to fool with me. 18 When I raised my voiced and screamed, he left his garment with me and fled outside.”
19 Now when his master heard the words his wife spoke to him saying, “Such are the things your slave did to me,” his anger burned. 20 Then Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined. So there he was, in the prison.
21 But Adonai was with Joseph and extended kindness to him and gave him favor in the eyes of the commander of the prison. 22 The commander of the prison entrusted into Joseph’s hand all the prisoners who were in the prison, so that everything that was done there, he was responsible for it. 23 The commander of the prison did not concern himself with anything at all under his care, because Adonai was with him, and Adonai made whatever he did successful.
14 Now a natural man does not accept the things of the Ruach Elohim, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But the one who is spiritual discerns all things, and he himself is discerned by no one. For
16 “who has known the mind of Adonai,
that he will instruct Him?”[a]
But we have the mind of Messiah.
Building Together on God’s Foundation
3 And I, brothers and sisters, could not speak to you as Spirit-filled but as worldly[b]—as infants in Messiah. 2 I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready. Indeed, even now you are not yet ready, 3 for you are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, aren’t you worldly and walking in a human way? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere humans[c]?
5 What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you came to trust—and to each as the Lord gave. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who makes things grow. 8 Now he who plants and he who waters work as one, but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. 9 For we are God’s co-workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.
10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and another builds on it. But let each consider carefully how he builds on it. 11 For no one can lay any other foundation than what is already laid[d]—which is Yeshua the Messiah. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one’s work will become clear. For the Day will show it, because it is to be revealed by fire; and the fire itself will test each one’s work—what sort it is. 14 If anyone’s work built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss—he himself will be saved, but as through fire.
Power to Pardon the Paralyzed
2 When He returned to Capernaum after some days, it was heard that He was at the house. 2 So many were gathered that there was no longer room for them even outside the door. He kept proclaiming the word to them.
3 Some people came bringing to Him a paralyzed man, carried by four men. 4 When they couldn’t get near Yeshua because of the crowd, they removed the roof where He was. After digging through, they lowered the mat on which the paralyzed man was lying. 5 Yeshua, seeing their faith, said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
6 But some of the Torah scholars were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this fellow speak like this? He blasphemes! Who can pardon sins but God alone?”
8 Immediately Yeshua, knowing in His spirit that they were raising questions this way within themselves, said to them, “Why are you questioning these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, and take your mat and walk’? 10 But so you may know that the Son of Man has authority to pardon sins on earth. . ..” He tells the paralyzed man, 11 “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home!”
12 At once the man got up, took his mat, and walked before them all. They were all astonished and glorified God, saying, “We’ve never seen anything like this!”[a]
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.