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!
Psalm 104
1 Praise Yahweh my soul!
O Yahweh my Elohim, you are very great.
You are clothed with splendor and majesty.
2 You cover yourself with light as though it were a robe.
You stretch out the heavens as though they were curtains.
3 You lay the beams of your home in the water.
You use the clouds for your chariot.
You move on the wings of the wind.
4 You make your angels winds
and your servants flames of fire.
5 You set the earth on its foundations
so that it can never be shaken.
6 You covered the earth with an ocean as though it were a robe.
Water stood above the mountains
7 and fled because of your threat.
Water ran away at the sound of your thunder.
8 The mountains rose and the valleys sank
to the place you appointed for them.
9 Water cannot cross the boundary you set
and cannot come back to cover the earth.
10 You make water gush from springs into valleys.
It flows between the mountains.
11 Every wild animal drinks from them.
Wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 The birds live by the streams.
They sing among the branches.
13 You water the mountains from your home above.
You fill the earth with the fruits of your labors.
14 You make grass grow for cattle
and make vegetables for humans to use
in order to get food from the ground.
15 You make wine to cheer human hearts,
olive oil to make faces shine,
and bread to strengthen human hearts.
16 Yahweh’s trees, the cedars in Lebanon which he planted,
drink their fill.
17 Birds build their nests in them.
Storks make their homes in fir trees.
18 The high mountains are for wild goats.
The rocks are a refuge for badgers.
19 He created the moon, which marks the seasons,
and the sun, which knows when to set.
20 He brings darkness, and it is nighttime,
when all the wild animals in the forest come out.
21 The young lions roar for their prey
and seek their food from God.
22 When the sun rises,
they gather and lie down in their dens.
23 Then people go to do their work,
to do their tasks until evening.
24 What a large number of things you have made, O Yahweh!
You made them all by wisdom.
The earth is filled with your creatures.
25 The sea is so big and wide with countless creatures,
living things both large and small.
26 Ships sail on it,
and Leviathan,[a] which you made, plays in it.
27 All of them look to you to give them their food at the right time.
28 You give it to them, and they gather it up.
You open your hand, and they are filled with blessings.
29 You hide your face, and they are terrified.
You take away their breath, and they die and return to dust.
30 You send out your Ruach, and they are created.
You renew the face of the earth.
31 May the glory of Yahweh endure forever.
May Yahweh find joy in what he has made.
32 He looks at the earth, and it trembles.
He touches the mountains, and they smoke.
33 I will sing to Yahweh throughout my life.
I will make music to praise my Elohim as long as I live.
34 May my thoughts be pleasing to him.
I will find joy in Yahweh.
35 May sinners vanish from the world.
May there no longer be any wicked people.
Praise Yahweh, my soul!
Hallelujah!
5 [a]Now, gather your troops, you city of troops.
We are under attack.
Enemies will strike the judge of Israel on the cheek with a stick.
The Lord’s Leader for Israel
2 You, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
are too small to be included among Judah’s cities.
Yet, from you Israel’s future ruler will come for me.
His origins go back to the distant past, to days long ago.
3 That is why Yahweh will abandon Israel
until the time a mother has a child.
Then the rest of Yahweh’s people will return to the people of Israel.
4 The child will become the shepherd of his flock.
He will lead them with the strength of Yahweh,
with the majestic name of Yahweh his Elohim.
They will live in safety
because his greatness will reach the ends of the earth.
10 “When that day comes,” declares Yahweh,
“I will destroy your horses
and demolish your chariots.
11 I will destroy the cities in your land
and tear down all your fortresses.
12 I will destroy your sorcerers,
and you will have no more fortunetellers.
13 I will destroy your idols and your sacred monuments.
You will no longer worship what your hands have made.
14 I will pull out your poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah.
I will wipe out your cities.
15 I will take revenge with great anger
on the nations that do not obey me.”
King Agrippa Meets Paul
13 Later King Agrippa and Bernice came to the city of Caesarea to welcome Festus. 14 Since they were staying there for a number of days, Festus told the king about Paul’s case.
Festus said, “Felix left a man here in prison. 15 When I went to Jerusalem, the chief priests and the Jewish leaders brought me some information about him and asked me to condemn him.
16 “I replied to them, ‘That’s not the Roman way of doing things. A person can’t be sentenced as a favor. Before he is sentenced, he must face his accusers and have a chance to defend himself against their accusation.’
17 “So the Jewish leaders came to Caesarea with me. The next day I immediately convened court and summoned the man. 18 When his accusers stood up, they didn’t accuse him of the crimes I was expecting. 19 They were disputing with him about their own religion and about some man named Yeshua who had died. But Paul claimed that Yeshua is alive. 20 Their debate about these things left me puzzled. So I asked Paul if he would like to go to Jerusalem to have his case heard there. 21 But Paul appealed his case. He asked to be held in prison and to have His Majesty the Emperor decide his case. So I ordered him to be held in prison until I could send him to the emperor.”
22 Agrippa told Festus, “I would like to hear the man.”
Festus replied, “You’ll hear him tomorrow.”
23 The next day Agrippa and Bernice entered the auditorium with a lot of fanfare. Roman army officers and the most important men of the city entered the auditorium with them. Festus gave the order, and Paul was brought into the auditorium.
24 Then Festus said, “King Agrippa and everyone who is present with us! All the Jews in Jerusalem and Caesarea have talked to me about this man you see in front of you. They shout that he must not be allowed to live any longer. 25 However, I don’t think that he has done anything to deserve the death penalty. But since he made an appeal to His Majesty the Emperor, I have decided to send him to Rome. 26 But I don’t have anything reliable to write our emperor about him. So I have brought him to all of you, and especially to you, King Agrippa. Then I’ll have something to write after he is cross-examined. 27 I find it ridiculous to send a prisoner to Rome when I can’t specify any charges against him.”
16 “No one lights a lamp and hides it under a bowl or puts it under a bed. Instead, everyone who lights a lamp puts it on a lamp stand so that those who come in will see the light. 17 There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed. There is nothing kept secret that will not come to light.
18 “So pay attention to how you listen! Those who understand these mysteries will be given more knowledge. However, some people don’t understand these mysteries. Even what they think they understand will be taken away from them.”
The True Family of Jesus(A)
19 His mother and his brothers came to see him. But they couldn’t meet with him because of the crowd. 20 Someone told Yeshua, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside. They want to see you.”
21 He answered them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear and do what God’s word says.”
Jesus Calms the Sea(B)
22 One day Yeshua and his disciples got into a boat. He said to them, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” So they started out. 23 As they were sailing along, Yeshua fell asleep.
A violent storm came across the lake. The boat was taking on water, and they were in danger. 24 They went to him, woke him up, and said, “Master! Master! We’re going to die!”
Then he got up and ordered the wind and the waves to stop. The wind stopped, and the sea became calm. 25 He asked them, “Where is your faith?”
Frightened and amazed, they asked each other, “Who is this man? He gives orders to the wind and the water, and they obey him!”
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.