Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 137
1 By the rivers of Babylon, we sat down and cried
as we remembered Zion.
2 We hung our lyres on willow trees.
3 It was there that those who had captured us demanded that we sing.
Those who guarded us wanted us to entertain them.
They said, “Sing a song from Zion for us!”
4 How could we sing Yahweh’s song in a foreign land?
5 If I forget you, Jerusalem,
let my right hand forget how to play the lyre.
6 Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth
if I don’t remember you,
if I don’t consider Jerusalem my highest joy.
7 O Yahweh, remember the people of Edom.
Remember what they did the day Jerusalem was captured.
They said, “Tear it down! Tear it down to its foundation.”
8 You destructive people of Babylon,
blessed is the one who pays you back
with the same treatment you gave us.
9 Blessed is the one who grabs your little children
and smashes them against a rock.
Psalm 144
By David.
1 Thank Yahweh, my Tsur,
who trained my hands to fight
and my fingers to do battle,
2 my merciful one, my Metsuda,
my stronghold, and my savior,
my Magen, the one in whom I take refuge,
and the one who brings people under my authority.
3 O Yahweh, what are humans that you should care about them?
What are mere mortals that you should think about them?
4 Humans are like a breath of air.
Their life span is like a fleeting shadow.
5 O Yahweh, bend your heaven low, and come down.
Touch the mountains, and they will smoke.
6 Hurl bolts of lightning, and scatter them.
Shoot your arrows, and throw them into confusion.
7 Stretch out your hands from above.
Snatch me, and rescue me from raging waters
and from foreigners’ hands.
8 Their mouths speak lies.
Their right hands take false pledges.
9 O Elohim, I will sing a new song to you.
I will sing a psalm to you on a ten-stringed harp.
10 You are the one who gives victory to kings.
You are the one who snatches your servant David
away from a deadly sword.
11 Snatch me, and rescue me from foreigners’ hands.
Their mouths speak lies.
Their right hands take false pledges.
12 May our sons be like full-grown, young plants.
May our daughters be like stately columns
that adorn the corners of a palace.
13 May our barns be filled with all kinds of crops.
May our sheep give birth to thousands of lambs,
tens of thousands in our fields.
14 May our cattle have many calves.[a]
May no one break in, and may no one be dragged out.
May there be no cries of distress in our streets.
15 Blessed are the people who have these blessings!
Blessed are the people whose Elohim is Yahweh!
BOOK TWO
(Psalms 42–72)
Psalm 42
For the choir director; a maskil[a] by Korah’s descendants.
1 As a deer longs for flowing streams,
so my soul longs for you, O Elohim.
2 My soul thirsts for Elohim, for El Chay.
When may I come to see Elohim’s face?
3 My tears are my food day and night.
People ask me all day long, “Where is your Elohim?”
4 I will remember these things as I pour out my soul:
how I used to walk with the crowd
and lead it in a procession to Elohim’s house.
I sang songs of joy and thanksgiving
while crowds of people celebrated a festival.
5 Why are you discouraged, my soul?
Why are you so restless?
Put your hope in Elohim,
because I will still praise him.
He is my savior and my Elohim.
6 My soul is discouraged.
That is why I will remember you
in the land of Jordan, on the peaks of Hermon, on Mount Mizar.
7 One deep sea calls to another at the roar of your waterspouts.
All the whitecaps on your waves have swept over me.[b]
8 Yahweh commands his mercy during the day,
and at night his song is with me—
a prayer to the El of my life.
9 I will ask Elohim, my rock,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I walk around in mourning
while the enemy oppresses me?”
10 With a shattering blow to my bones,
my enemies taunt me.
They ask me all day long, “Where is your Elohim?”
11 Why are you discouraged, my soul?
Why are you so restless?
Put your hope in Elohim,
because I will still praise him.
He is my savior and my Elohim.
Psalm 43
1 Judge me, O Elohim,
and plead my case against an ungodly nation.
Rescue me from deceitful and unjust people.
2 You are my fortress, O Elohim!
Why have you rejected me?
Why must I walk around in mourning
while the enemy oppresses me?
3 Send your light and your truth.
Let them guide me.
Let them bring me to your holy mountain
and to your dwelling place.
4 Then let me go to the altar of Elohim, to God my highest joy,
and I will give thanks to you on the lyre, O Elohim, my Elohim.
5 Why are you discouraged, my soul?
Why are you so restless?
Put your hope in Elohim,
because I will still praise him.
He is my savior and my Elohim.
The Ninth Plague—Darkness
21 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Lift your hand toward the sky, and a darkness so thick that it can be felt will come over Egypt.” 22 Moses lifted his hand toward the sky, and throughout Egypt there was total darkness for three days. 23 People couldn’t see each other, and no one went anywhere for three days. But all the Israelites had light where they were living.
24 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and said, “Go, worship Yahweh! Even your women and children may go with you, but your flocks and herds must stay behind.”
25 But Moses said, “You must allow us to take our animals for the sacrifices and burnt offerings we have to make to Yahweh our Elohim. 26 All our livestock must go with us. Not one animal must be left behind. We’ll have to use some of them for worshiping Yahweh our Elohim, and we won’t know what we’ll need until we get there.”
27 But Yahweh made Pharaoh stubborn, so he refused to let them go. 28 Pharaoh said to Moses, “Get out of my sight! Don’t ever let me see your face again. The day I do, you will die.”
29 “You’re right!” Moses answered. “You’ll never see my face again.”
The Tenth Plague—The Death of the Firstborn
11 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and Egypt. After that he will let you go. When he does, he will be certain to force all of you out of here. 2 Now announce to the people of Israel that each man and woman must ask the Egyptians for silver and gold jewelry.”
3 Yahweh made the Egyptians kind to the people. And Moses was highly respected by Pharaoh’s officials and all the Egyptians.
4 Moses said, “This is what Yahweh says: About midnight I will go out among the Egyptians. 5 Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who rules the land, to the firstborn children of female slaves who use their handmills, including every firstborn domestic animal. 6 There will be loud crying throughout Egypt, such as there has never been or ever will be again. 7 But where the Israelites are, not even a dog will be startled by any person or animal. This is how you will see that Yahweh shows the distinction between Egypt and Israel. 8 Then all these officials of yours will come, bow down to me, and say, ‘You and all the people who follow you, get out!’ After that I will leave.” Burning with anger, Moses left Pharaoh.
13 The following is written, “I believed; therefore, I spoke.” We have that same spirit of faith. We also believe; therefore, we also speak. 14 We know that the one who brought the Lord Yeshua back to life will also bring us back to life through Yeshua. He will present us to God together with you.
15 All this is for your sake so that, as God’s kindness[a] overflows in the lives of many people, it will produce even more thanksgiving to the glory of God. 16 That is why we are not discouraged. Though outwardly we are wearing out, inwardly we are renewed day by day. 17 Our suffering is light and temporary and is producing for us an eternal glory that is greater than anything we can imagine. 18 We don’t look for things that can be seen but for things that can’t be seen. Things that can be seen are only temporary. But things that can’t be seen last forever.
Jesus Gives Sight to Bartimaeus(A)
46 Then they came to Jericho. As Yeshua, his disciples, and many people were leaving Jericho, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road. 47 When he heard that Yeshua from Nazareth was passing by, he began to shout, “Yeshua, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
48 The people told him to be quiet. But he shouted even louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
49 Yeshua stopped and said, “Call him!” They called the blind man and told him, “Cheer up! Get up! He’s calling you.” 50 The blind man threw off his coat, jumped up, and went to Yeshua.
51 Yeshua asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?”
The blind man said, “Teacher, I want to see again.”
52 Yeshua told him, “Go, your faith has made you well.”
At once he could see again, and he followed Yeshua on the road.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.