Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 31
For the choir director; a psalm by David.
1 I have taken refuge in you, O Yahweh.
Never let me be put to shame.
Save me because of your righteousness.
2 Turn your ear toward me.
Rescue me quickly.
Be a rock of refuge for me,
a strong Metsuda to save me.
3 Indeed, you are my rock and my Metsuda.
For the sake of your name, lead me and guide me.
4 You are my refuge,
so pull me out of the net that they have secretly laid for me.
5 Into your hands I entrust my spirit.
You have rescued me, O Yahweh, El of truth.
6 I hate those who cling to false gods, but I trust Yahweh.
7 I will rejoice and be glad because of your mercy.
You have seen my misery.
You have known the troubles in my soul.
8 You have not handed me over to the enemy.
You have set my feet in a place where I can move freely.
9 Have pity on me, O Yahweh, because I am in distress.
My eyes, my soul, and my body waste away from grief.
10 My life is exhausted from sorrow,
my years from groaning.
My strength staggers under the weight of my guilt,
and my bones waste away.
11 I have become a disgrace because of all my opponents.
I have become someone dreaded by my friends,
even by my neighbors.
Those who see me on the street run away from me.
12 I have faded from memory as if I were dead
and have become like a piece of broken pottery.
13 I have heard the whispering of many people—
terror on every side—
while they made plans together against me.
They were plotting to take my life.
14 I trust you, O Yahweh.
I said, “You are my Elohim.”
15 My future is in your hands.
Rescue me from my enemies, from those who persecute me.
16 Smile on me.
Save me with your mercy.
17 O Yahweh, I have called on you, so do not let me be put to shame.
Let wicked people be put to shame.
Let them be silent in the grave.
18 Let their lying lips be speechless,
since they speak against righteous people with arrogance and contempt.
19 Your kindness is so great!
You reserve it for those who fear you.
Adam’s descendants watch
as you show it to those who take refuge in you.
20 You hide them in the secret place of your presence
from those who scheme against them.
You keep them in a shelter,
safe from quarrelsome tongues.
21 Thank Yahweh!
He has shown me the miracle of his mercy
in a city under attack.
22 When I was panic-stricken, I said,
“I have been cut off from your sight.”
But you heard my pleas for mercy when I cried out to you for help.
23 Love Yahweh, all you godly ones!
Yahweh protects faithful people,
but he pays back in full those who act arrogantly.
24 Be strong, all who wait with hope for Yahweh,
and let your heart be courageous.
Psalm 35
By David.
1 O Yahweh, attack those who attack me.
Fight against those who fight against me.
2 Use your shields, both small and large.
Arise to help me.
3 Hold your spear to block the way of those who pursue me.
Say to my soul, “I am your savior.”
4 Let those who seek my life be put to shame and disgraced.
Let those who plan my downfall be turned back in confusion.
5 Let them be like husks blown by the wind
as the Messenger of Yahweh chases them.
6 Let their path be dark and slippery
as the Messenger of Yahweh pursues them.
7 For no reason they hid their net in a pit.
For no reason they dug the pit to trap me.
8 Let destruction surprise them.
Let the net that they hid catch them.
Let them fall into their own pit and be destroyed.
9 My soul will find joy in Yahweh
and be joyful about his salvation.
10 All my bones will say, “O Yahweh, who can compare with you?
You rescue the weak person from the one who is too strong for him
and weak and needy people from the one who robs them.”
11 Malicious people bring charges against me.
They ask me things I know nothing about.
12 I am devastated
because they pay me back with evil instead of good.
13 But when they were sick, I wore sackcloth.
I humbled myself with fasting.
When my prayer returned unanswered,
14 I walked around as if I were mourning for my friend or my brother.
I was bent over as if I were mourning for my mother.
15 Yet, when I stumbled,
they rejoiced and gathered together.
They gathered together against me.
Unknown attackers tore me apart without stopping.
16 With crude and abusive mockers,
they grit their teeth at me.
17 O Adonay, how long will you look on?
Rescue me from their attacks.
Rescue my precious life from the lions.
18 I will give you thanks in a large gathering.
I will praise you in a crowd of worshipers.
19 Do not let my treacherous enemies gloat over me.
Do not let those who hate me for no reason wink at me.
20 They do not talk about peace.
Instead, they scheme against the peaceful people in the land.
21 They open their big mouths and say about me,
“Aha! Aha! Our own eyes have seen it.”
22 You have seen it, O Yahweh.
Do not remain silent.
O Adonay, do not be so far away from me.
23 Wake up, and rise to my defense.
Plead my case, O my Elohim and my Adonay.
24 Judge me by your righteousness, O Yahweh my Elohim.
Do not let them gloat over me
25 or think, “Aha, just what we wanted!”
Do not let them say, “We have swallowed him up.”
26 Let those who gloat over my downfall
be thoroughly put to shame and confused.
Let those who promote themselves at my expense
be clothed with shame and disgrace.
27 Let those who are happy when I am declared innocent
joyfully sing and rejoice.
Let them continually say, “Yahweh is great.
He is happy when his servant has peace.”
28 Then my tongue will tell about your righteousness,
about your praise all day long.
10 Moses said to Yahweh, “Please, Adonay, I’m not a good speaker. I’ve never been a good speaker, and I’m not now, even though you’ve spoken to me. I speak slowly, and I become tongue-tied easily.”
11 Yahweh asked him, “Who gave humans their mouths? Who makes humans unable to talk or hear? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? It is I, Yahweh! 12 Now go, and I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”
13 But Moses said, “Please, Adonay, send someone else.”
14 Then Yahweh became angry with Moses and asked, “What about your brother Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He’s already on his way to meet you, and he will be very glad to see you. 15 You will speak to him and tell him what to say. I will help both of you speak, and I will teach you both what to do. 16 Aaron will speak to the people for you. He will be your spokesman, and you will be like Elohim. 17 Take that shepherd’s staff with you, and use it to do the miraculous signs.”
Moses Returns to Egypt
18 Then Moses went back to his father-in-law Jethro. Moses said to him, “Please let me go back to my own people in Egypt. I would like to see if they’re still alive.”
Jethro said to Moses, “You may go.”
19 Now, Yahweh had said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, because all the men who wanted to kill you are dead.”
20 So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and started out for Egypt. He also brought with him the staff Elohim had told him to take.
21 Yahweh said to Moses, “When you get back to Egypt, see that you show Pharaoh all the amazing things that I have given you the power to do. But I will make him stubborn so that he will not let the people go. 22 Then tell Pharaoh, ‘This is what Yahweh says: Israel is my firstborn son. 23 I told you to let my son go so that he may worship me. But you refused to let him go. So now I’m going to kill your firstborn son.’”
24 Along the way they stopped for the night. Yahweh met Moses and tried to kill him. 25 Then Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin, and touched Moses’ feet with it. She said, “You are a bridegroom of blood to me!” 26 So Yahweh let him alone. It was because of the circumcision that she said at that time, “You are a bridegroom of blood!”
Moses and Aaron Tell the People What the Lord Said
27 Meanwhile, Yahweh had told Aaron to meet Moses in the desert.
When Aaron met Moses at the mountain of Elohim, he kissed him. 28 Moses told Aaron everything Yahweh had sent him to say and all the miraculous signs Yahweh had commanded him to do.
29 Then Moses and Aaron went to Egypt and assembled all the leaders of the people of Israel. 30 Aaron told them everything Yahweh had said to Moses. He also did the miraculous signs for the people, 31 and the people believed them. When they heard that Yahweh was concerned about the people of Israel and that he had seen their misery, they knelt, bowing with their faces touching the ground.
Speak in Ways That Can Be Understood
14 Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially the gift of speaking what God has revealed. 2 When a person speaks in another language, he doesn’t speak to people but to God. No one understands him. His spirit is speaking mysteries. 3 But when a person speaks what God has revealed, he speaks to people to help them grow, to encourage them, and to comfort them. 4 When a person speaks in another language, he helps himself grow. But when a person speaks what God has revealed, he helps the church grow. 5 I wish that all of you could speak in other languages, but especially that you could speak what God has revealed. The person who speaks what God has revealed is more important than the person who speaks in other languages. This is true unless he can interpret what he says to help the church grow. 6 Brothers and sisters, it wouldn’t do you any good if I came to you speaking in other languages, unless I explained revelation, knowledge, prophecy, or doctrine to you.
7 Musical instruments like the flute or harp produce sounds. If there is no difference in the notes, how can a person tell what tune is being played? 8 For example, if the trumpet doesn’t sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle? 9 In the same way, if you don’t speak in a way that can be understood, how will anyone know what you’re saying? You will be talking into thin air.
10 No matter how many different languages there are in the world, not one of them is without meaning. 11 If I don’t know what a language means, I will be a foreigner to the person who speaks it and that person will be a foreigner to me. 12 In the same way, since you’re eager to have spiritual gifts, try to excel in them so that you help the church grow. 13 So the person who speaks in another language should pray for an interpretation of what he says.
14 If I pray in another language, my spirit prays, but my mind is not productive. 15 So what does this mean? It means that I will pray with my spirit, and I will pray with my mind. I will sing psalms with my spirit, and I will sing psalms with my mind. 16 Otherwise, if you praise God only with your spirit, how can outsiders say “Amen!” to your prayer of thanksgiving? They don’t know what you’re saying. 17 Your prayer of thanksgiving may be very good, but it doesn’t help other people grow. 18 I thank God that I speak in other languages more than any of you. 19 Yet, in order to teach others in church, I would rather say five words that can be understood than ten thousand words in another language.
Jesus Again Foretells That He Will Die and Come Back to Life(A)
30 They left that place and were passing through Galilee. Yeshua did not want anyone to know where he was 31 because he was teaching his disciples. He taught them, “The Son of Man will be betrayed and handed over to people. They will kill him, but on the third day he will come back to life.”
32 The disciples didn’t understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him.
Greatness in the Kingdom(B)
33 Then they came to Capernaum. While Yeshua was at home, he asked the disciples, “What were you arguing about on the road?” 34 They were silent. On the road they had argued about who was the greatest.
35 He sat down and called the twelve apostles. He told them, “Whoever wants to be the most important person must take the last place and be a servant to everyone else.” 36 Then he took a little child and had him stand among them. He put his arms around the child and said to them, 37 “Whoever welcomes a child like this in my name welcomes me. Whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.”
Using the Name of Jesus(C)
38 John said to Yeshua, “Teacher, we saw someone forcing demons out of a person by using the power and authority of your name. We tried to stop him because he was not one of us.”
39 Yeshua said, “Don’t stop him! No one who works a miracle in my name can turn around and speak evil of me. 40 Whoever isn’t against us is for us. 41 I can guarantee this truth: Whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward.”
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.