Book of Common Prayer
55 (0) For the leader. With stringed instruments. A maskil of David:
2 (1) Listen, God, to my prayer!
Don’t hide yourself from my plea!
3 (2) Pay attention to me, and answer me!
I am panic-stricken as I make my complaint,
I shudder 4 (3) at how the enemy shouts,
at how the wicked oppress;
for they keep heaping trouble on me
and angrily tormenting me.
5 (4) My heart within me is pounding in anguish,
the terrors of death press down on me,
6 (5) fear and trembling overwhelm me,
horror covers me.
7 (6) I said, “I wish I had wings like a dove!
Then I could fly away and be at rest.
8 (7) Yes, I would flee to a place far off,
I would stay in the desert. (Selah)
9 (8) I would quickly find me a shelter
from the raging wind and storm.”
10 (9) Confuse, Adonai, confound their speech!
For I see violence and fighting in the city.
11 (10) Day and night they go about its walls;
within are malice and mischief.
12 (11) Ruin is rife within it,
oppression and fraud never leave its streets.
13 (12) For it was not an enemy who insulted me;
if it had been, I could have borne it.
It was not my adversary who treated me with scorn;
if it had been, I could have hidden myself.
14 (13) But it was you, a man of my own kind,
my companion, whom I knew well.
15 (14) We used to share our hearts with each other;
in the house of God we walked with the crowd.
16 (15) May he put death on them;
let them go down alive to Sh’ol;
for evil is in their homes
and also in their hearts.
17 (16) But I will call on God,
and Adonai will save me.
18 (17) Evening, morning and noon I complain
and moan; but he hears my voice.
19 (18) He redeems me and gives me peace,
so that no one can come near me.
For there were many who fought me.
20 (19) God will hear and will humble them,
yes, he who has sat on his throne from the start. (Selah)
For they never change,
and they don’t fear God.
21 (20) [My companion] attacked those
who were at peace with him;
he broke his solemn word.
22 (21) What he said sounded smoother than butter,
but his heart was at war.
His words seemed more soothing than oil,
but in fact they were sharp swords.
23 (22) Unload your burden on Adonai,
and he will sustain you.
He will never permit
the righteous to be moved.
24 (23) But you will bring them down, God,
into the deepest pit.
Those men, so bloodthirsty and treacherous,
will not live out half their days.
But for my part, [Adonai,]
I put my trust in you.
138 (0) By David:
(1) I give you thanks with all my heart.
Not to idols, but to you I sing praise.
2 I bow down toward your holy temple
and give thanks to your name for your grace and truth;
for you have made your word [even] greater
than the whole of your reputation.
3 When I called, you answered me,
you made me bold and strong.
4 All the kings of the earth will thank you, Adonai,
when they hear the words you have spoken.
5 They will sing about Adonai’s ways,
“Great is the glory of Adonai!”
6 For though Adonai is high, he cares for the lowly;
while the proud he perceives from afar.
7 You keep me alive when surrounded by danger;
you put out your hand when my enemies rage;
with your right hand you save me.
8 Adonai will fulfill his purpose for me.
Your grace, Adonai, continues forever.
Don’t abandon the work of your hands!
139 (0) For the leader. A psalm of David:
(1) Adonai, you have probed me, and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I stand up,
you discern my inclinations from afar,
3 you scrutinize my daily activities.
You are so familiar with all my ways
4 that before I speak even a word, Adonai,
you know all about it already.
5 You have hemmed me in both behind and in front
and laid your hand on me.
6 Such wonderful knowledge is beyond me,
far too high for me to reach.
7 Where can I go to escape your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I climb up to heaven, you are there;
if I lie down in Sh’ol, you are there.
9 If I fly away with the wings of the dawn
and land beyond the sea,
10 even there your hand would lead me,
your right hand would hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Let darkness surround me,
let the light around me be night,”
12 even darkness like this
is not too dark for you;
rather, night is as clear as day,
darkness and light are the same.
13 For you fashioned my inmost being,
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I thank you because I am awesomely made,
wonderfully; your works are wonders —
I know this very well.
15 My bones were not hidden from you
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes could see me as an embryo,
but in your book all my days were already written;
my days had been shaped
before any of them existed.
17 God, how I prize your thoughts!
How many of them there are!
18 If I count them, there are more than grains of sand;
if I finish the count, I am still with you.
19 God, if only you would kill off the wicked!
Men of blood, get away from me!
20 They invoke your name for their crafty schemes;
yes, your enemies misuse it.
21 Adonai, how I hate those who hate you!
I feel such disgust with those who defy you!
22 I hate them with unlimited hatred!
They have become my enemies too.
23 Examine me, God, and know my heart;
test me, and know my thoughts.
18 Moshe erected the tabernacle, put its sockets in place, put up its planks, put in its crossbars and set up its posts. 19 He spread the tent over the tabernacle and put the covering of the tent above it, as Adonai had ordered Moshe. 20 He took and put the testimony inside the ark, put the poles on the ark, and set the ark-cover above, on the ark. 21 Then he brought the ark into the tabernacle, set up the curtain as a screen and concealed the ark for the testimony, as Adonai had ordered Moshe.
22 He put the table in the tent of meeting on the side of the tabernacle facing north, outside the curtain. 23 He arranged a row of bread on it before Adonai, as Adonai had ordered Moshe.
24 He put the menorah in the tent of meeting across from the table, on the side of the tabernacle facing south. 25 Then he lit the lamps before Adonai, as Adonai had ordered Moshe.
26 He set the gold altar in the tent of meeting in front of the curtain 27 and burned on it incense made from aromatic spices, as Adonai had ordered Moshe.
(LY: vii) 28 He set up the screen at the entrance to the tabernacle. 29 The altar for burnt offerings he placed at the entrance to the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, and offered on it the burnt offering and the grain offering, as Adonai had ordered Moshe.
30 He set the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it for washing, 31 so that Moshe and Aharon and his sons could wash their hands and feet there — 32 so that they could wash when entering the tent of meeting and when approaching the altar, as Adonai had ordered Moshe.
33 Finally, he erected the courtyard around the tabernacle and the altar and set up the screen for the entrance to the courtyard.
(Maftir) 34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of Adonai filled the tabernacle. 35 Moshe was unable to enter the tent of meeting, because the cloud remained on it, and the glory of Adonai filled the tabernacle.
36 Whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Isra’el continued with all their travels. 37 But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not travel onward until the day when it was taken up. 38 For the cloud of Adonai was above the tabernacle during the day, and fire was in [the cloud] at night, so that all the house of Isra’el could see it throughout all their travels.
Haftarah P’kudei: M’lakhim Alef (1 Kings) 7:51–8:21 (A); 7:40–50 (S)
B’rit Hadashah suggested reading for Parashah P’kudei: Revelation 15:5–8
Hazak, hazak, v’nit’chazek!
Be strong, be strong, and let us be strengthened!
4 Therefore, brothers, just as you learned from us how you had to live in order to please God, and just as you are living this way now, we ask you — indeed, united with the Lord Yeshua, we urge you — to keep doing so more and more. 2 For you know what instructions we gave you on the authority of the Lord Yeshua. 3 What God wants is that you be holy, that you keep away from sexual immorality, 4 that each of you know how to manage his sexual impulses in a holy and honorable manner, 5 without giving in to lustful desires, like the pagans who don’t know God. 6 No one should wrong his brother in this matter or take advantage of him, because the Lord punishes all who do such things — as we have explained to you before at length. 7 For God did not call us to live an unclean life but a holy one. 8 Therefore, whoever rejects this teaching is rejecting not a man but God, indeed, the One who gives you the Ruach HaKodesh, which is his.
9 Concerning love for the brothers we do not need to write you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other; 10 and you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do it even more.
11 Also, make it your ambition to live quietly, to mind your own business and to earn your living by your own efforts — just as we told you. 12 Then your daily life will gain the respect of outsiders, and you will not be dependent on anyone.
38 “You have heard that our fathers were told, ‘Eye for eye and tooth for tooth.’[a] 39 But I tell you not to stand up against someone who does you wrong. On the contrary, if someone hits you on the right cheek, let him hit you on the left cheek too! 40 If someone wants to sue you for your shirt, let him have your coat as well! 41 And if a soldier forces you to carry his pack for one mile, carry it for two! 42 When someone asks you for something, give it to him; when someone wants to borrow something from you, lend it to him.
43 “You have heard that our fathers were told, ‘Love your neighbor[b] — and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! 45 Then you will become children of your Father in heaven. For he makes his sun shine on good and bad people alike, and he sends rain to the righteous and the unrighteous alike. 46 What reward do you get if you love only those who love you? Why, even tax-collectors do that! 47 And if you are friendly only to your friends, are you doing anything out of the ordinary? Even the Goyim do that! 48 Therefore, be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.