Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 102
A prayer by someone who is suffering, when he is weary and pours out his troubles in Yahweh’s presence.
1 O Yahweh, hear my prayer,
and let my cry for help come to you.
2 Do not hide your face from me when I am in trouble.
Turn your ear toward me.
Answer me quickly when I call.
3 My days disappear like smoke.
My bones burn like hot coals.
4 My heart is beaten down and withered like grass
because I have forgotten about eating.
5 I am nothing but skin and bones
because of my loud groans.
6 I am like a desert owl,
like an owl living in the ruins.
7 I lie awake.
I am like a lonely bird on a rooftop.
8 All day long my enemies insult me.
Those who ridicule me use my name as a curse.
9 I eat ashes like bread
and my tears are mixed with my drink
10 because of your hostility and anger,
because you have picked me up and thrown me away.
11 My days are like a shadow that is getting longer,
and I wither away like grass.
12 But you, O Yahweh, remain forever.
You are remembered throughout every generation.
13 You will rise and have compassion on Zion,
because it is time to grant a favor to it.
Indeed, the appointed time has come.
14 Your servants value Zion’s stones,
and they pity its rubble.
15 The nations will fear Yahweh’s name.
All the kings of the earth will fear your glory.
16 When Yahweh builds Zion,
he will appear in his glory.
17 He will turn his attention to the prayers
of those who have been abandoned.
He will not despise their prayers.
18 This will be written down for a future generation
so that a people yet to be created may praise Yah:
19 “Yahweh looked down from his holy place high above.
From heaven he looked at the earth.
20 He heard the groans of the prisoners
and set free those who were condemned to death.
21 Yahweh’s name is announced in Zion
and his praise in Jerusalem
22 when nations and kingdoms gather
to worship Yahweh.”
23 He has weakened my strength along the way.
He has reduced the number of my days.
24 I said, “My El, don’t take me now in the middle of my life.
Your years continue on throughout every generation.
25 Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth.
Even the heavens are the works of your hands.
26 They will come to an end, but you will still go on.
They will all wear out like clothing.
You will change them like clothes,
and they will be thrown away.
27 But you remain the same, and your life will never end.
28 The children of your servants will go on living here.
Their descendants will be secure in your presence.”
BOOK FIVE
(Psalms 107–150)
Psalm 107
1 Give thanks to Yahweh because he is good,
because his mercy endures forever.
2 Let the people Yahweh defended repeat these words.
They are the people he defended from the power of their enemies
3 and gathered from other countries,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south.
4 They wandered around the desert on a deserted road
without finding an inhabited city.
5 They were hungry and thirsty.
They began to lose hope.
6 In their distress they cried out to Yahweh.
He rescued them from their troubles.
7 He led them on a road that went straight to an inhabited city.
8 Let them give thanks to Yahweh because of his mercy.
He performed his miracles for Adam’s descendants.
9 He gave plenty to drink to those who were thirsty.
He filled those who were hungry with good food.
10 Those who lived in the dark, in death’s shadow
were prisoners in misery.
They were held in iron chains
11 because they had rebelled against El’s words
and had despised the advice given by Elyon.
12 So he humbled them with hard work.
They fell down, but no one was there to help them.
13 In their distress they cried out to Yahweh.
He saved them from their troubles.
14 He brought them out of the dark, out of death’s shadow.
He broke apart their chains.
15 Let them give thanks to Yahweh because of his mercy.
He performed his miracles for Adam’s descendants.
16 He shattered bronze gates
and cut iron bars in two.
17 Fools suffered because of their disobedience
and because of their crimes.
18 All food was disgusting to them,
and they came near death’s gates.
19 In their distress they cried out to Yahweh.
He saved them from their troubles.
20 He sent his message and healed them.
He rescued them from the grave.
21 Let them give thanks to Yahweh because of his mercy.
He performed his miracles for Adam’s descendants.
22 Let them bring songs of thanksgiving as their sacrifice.
Let them tell in joyful songs what he has done.
23 Those who sail on the sea in ships,
who do business on the high seas,
24 have seen what Yahweh can do,
the miracles he performed in the depths of the sea.
25 He spoke, and a storm began to blow,
and it made the waves rise high.
26 The sailors aboard ship rose toward the sky.
They plunged into the depths.
Their courage melted in the face of disaster.
27 They reeled and staggered like drunks,
and all their skills as sailors became useless.
28 In their distress they cried out to Yahweh.
He led them from their troubles.
29 He made the storm calm down,
and the waves became still.
30 The sailors were glad that the storm was quiet.
He guided them to the harbor they had longed for.
31 Let them give thanks to Yahweh because of his mercy.
He performed his miracles for Adam’s descendants.
32 Let them glorify him when the people are gathered for worship.
Let them praise him in the company of respected leaders.
Water from the Rock
20 In the first month the whole community of Israel came into the Desert of Zin, and they stayed at Kadesh. Miriam died and was buried there.
2 Since the community was without water, they came together to confront Moses and Aaron. 3 The people complained to Moses and said, “If only we had died when the other Israelites died in Yahweh’s presence! 4 Did you bring Yahweh’s assembly into this desert just to have us and our animals die here? 5 Why did you make us leave Egypt and bring us into this terrible place? This is no place to plant crops. Even figs, grapes, and pomegranates won’t grow here. And there’s no water to drink!”
6 Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting. Immediately, they bowed with their faces touching the ground, and the glory of Yahweh appeared to them.
7 Yahweh said to Moses, 8 “Take your staff, then you and your brother Aaron gather the community. Right before their eyes, tell the rock to give up its water. In this way you will give the community water from the rock for them and their animals to drink.”
9 Moses took his staff out of the tent in Yahweh’s presence as he had been commanded. 10 Then Moses and Aaron assembled the community in front of the rock and said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring water out of this rock for you?” 11 Moses raised his hand and hit the rock twice with the staff. Water came pouring out, and all the people and their animals drank.
12 But Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, “You didn’t trust me! You didn’t show the Israelites how holy I am! So you will not bring this congregation into the land I’m giving them.”
13 This was the oasis of Meribah [Complaining], where the Israelites complained about Yahweh and where he showed them he was holy.
A Comparison between Adam and Christ
12 Sin came into the world through one person, and death came through sin. So death spread to everyone, because everyone sinned. 13 Sin was in the world before there were any laws. But no record of sin can be kept when there are no laws. 14 Yet, death ruled from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin in the same way Adam did when he disobeyed. Adam is an image of the one who would come.
15 There is no comparison between God’s gift and Adam’s failure. If humanity died as the result of one person’s failure, it is certainly true that God’s kindness[a] and the gift given through the kindness of one person, Yeshua Christ, have been showered on humanity.
16 There is also no comparison between God’s gift and the one who sinned. The verdict which followed one person’s failure condemned everyone. But, even after many failures, the gift brought God’s approval. 17 It is certain that death ruled because of one person’s failure. It’s even more certain that those who receive God’s overflowing kindness and the gift of his approval will rule in life because of one person, Yeshua Christ.
18 Therefore, everyone was condemned through one failure, and everyone received God’s life-giving approval through one verdict. 19 Clearly, through one person’s disobedience humanity became sinful, and through one person’s obedience humanity will receive God’s approval. 20 The laws in Moses’ Teachings were added to increase the failure. But where sin increased, God’s kindness increased even more. 21 As sin ruled by bringing death, God’s kindness would rule by bringing us his approval. This results in our living forever because of Yeshua Christ our Lord.
Jesus Gives Two Blind Men Their Sight(A)
29 As they were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed Yeshua. 30 Two blind men were sitting by the road. When they heard that Yeshua was passing by, they shouted, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”
31 The crowd told them to be quiet. But they shouted even louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”
32 Yeshua stopped and called them. “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.
33 They told him, “Lord, we want you to give us our eyesight back.”
34 Yeshua felt sorry for them, so he touched their eyes. Their sight was restored at once, and they followed him.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.