Book of Common Prayer
ZAYIN ז
49 Remember the word to Your servant,
on which You have made me hope.
50 My comfort in my affliction is this:
Your word has kept me alive.
51 The arrogant have viciously ridiculed me,
yet I did not turn away from Your Torah.
52 I remember Your judgments from of old,
Adonai, and comfort myself.
53 Burning indignation grips me,
because of the wicked who forsake Your Torah.
54 Your decrees have become my songs
in the house where I dwell.
55 In the night I remember Your Name, Adonai,
and keep watching over Your Torah.
56 This is my own:
that I keep Your precepts.
CHET ח
57 Adonai is my portion.
I promised to guard Your words.
58 I have entreated Your favor with all my heart.
Be gracious to me according to Your word.
59 I have considered my ways
and turned my feet back to Your testimonies.
60 I hasten and do not delay
to obey Your mitzvot.
61 The ropes of the wicked are coiled around me,
but I did not forget Your Torah.
62 At midnight I rise to praise You,
because of Your righteous rulings.
63 I am a companion of all who fear You,
of those who observe Your precepts.
64 The earth is full of Your lovingkindness.
Adonai—teach me Your decrees.
TET ט
65 You do good to Your servant,
Adonai, according to Your word.
66 Teach me good sense and knowledge,
for I trusted in Your mitzvot.
67 Before I was afflicted I went astray,
but now I keep Your word.
68 You are good and keep doing good—
teach me Your decrees.
69 Though the proud smeared a lie on me,
with all my heart I keep Your precepts.
70 Their minds are insensible,
but Your Torah is my delight.
71 It is good for me that I was afflicted,
so that I may learn Your decrees.
72 The Torah from Your mouth is better to me
than thousands of gold and silver pieces.
Rich and Poor Alike
Psalm 49
1 For the music director: a psalm of the sons of Korah.
2 Hear this, all you peoples.
Give ear, all you inhabitants of the world,
3 both low and high,
rich and poor together.
4 My mouth speaks wisdom,
My heart’s meditation is understanding.
5 I will turn my ear to a proverb.
I will utter my riddle on the harp:
6 Why should I fear in evil days?
when the iniquity of my deceivers surrounds me?
7 Or those trusting in their wealth,
boasting about their great riches?
8 No man can redeem his brother,
or give to God a ransom for him.
9 For the redemption of a soul is costly—
so, one should stop trying forever.
10 Will he live forever—
and never see the Pit?
11 Surely he must see, even wise men die.
The fool and the brutish will alike perish,
leaving their wealth to others.[a]
12 Their inward thought is:
Their houses are eternal,
their dwellings for generation after generation.
They name their lands after themselves.
13 But the pompous man will not endure—
he is like the beasts that perish.
14 Such is the way of the self-confident,
and their followers who approve their sayings. Selah
15 Like sheep they are destined for Sheol.
Death will be their shepherd
and the upright will rule over them in the morning.
Their image will decay in Sheol—
far from its lofty place.
16 But God redeems my soul from the power of Sheol—
for He receives me. Selah
17 Do not be afraid when a man gets rich,
when his house’s splendor increases.
18 For when he dies he takes nothing away.
His splendor will not follow him down.
19 Though during his life he congratulates himself,
and men praise you when you do well for yourself—
20 He will still join his fathers’ company,
who will never see the light.
21 A pompous man, without understanding—
he is like the beasts that perish.
A Fool Denies God
Psalm 53
1 For the music director: on Mahalath, a contemplative song of David.
2 The fool says in his heart:
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt, commit vile injustice.
There is no one who does good.
3 God looks down from the heavens
on the children of men,
to see if anyone understands,
who seeks after God.
4 All have turned aside—
together they have become corrupt.
There is no one who does good—
no, not even one!
5 Will the evildoers never learn?
They consume My people as they would eat bread,
and never call upon God.
6 There they are in great dread—
where there is nothing to fear.
For God has scattered the bones of those besieging you.
You have put them to shame,
for God has rejected them.
7 Who will give salvation for Israel out of Zion?
When God restores His captive people,
let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad!
Mother, Child, Dragon, and War
12 A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. [a] 2 She is pregnant—crying out in birth pains, in agony to give birth.[b]
3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: a great fiery red dragon that had seven heads and ten horns, and seven royal crowns on his heads. [c] 4 His tail sweeps away a third of the stars of heaven—it hurled them to the earth.[d] Now the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that whenever she gave birth he might devour her child.
5 And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with an iron rod.[e] And her child was snatched away to God and to His throne. 6 Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God so they might take care of her for 1,260 days.
Dinner with a Pharisee
37 As He spoke, a Pharisee asked Yeshua to eat with him, so He entered and sat down. 38 But the Pharisee was surprised when he saw that Yeshua did not do the ritual handwashing before the meal. 39 But the Lord said to him, “You Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and plate, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 40 Fools! Didn’t He who created the outside also create the inside? 41 But give as tzedakah those things that are within, and indeed everything is pure to you.
42 “But woe to you Pharisees, for you tithe mint, rue, and every garden herb,[a] yet bypass justice and the love of God. It is necessary to do these things without neglecting the others. 43 Woe to you Pharisees, for you love the best seats in the synagogues and the greetings in the marketplaces. 44 Woe to you, for you are like unmarked tombs, and people walk over them without knowing.”
45 But answering, one of the Torah lawyers says to Him, “Teacher, when You say these things, You insult us too.”
46 Then Yeshua said, “Woe to you Torah lawyers as well, for you weigh the people down with burdens hard to carry, yet you yourselves will not touch the burdens with even a finger.
47 “Woe to you, for you build the tombs of the prophets whom your own fathers killed! 48 So you are witnesses and approve the deeds of your fathers, for indeed they killed them and you are building their tombs.
49 “For this reason also the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and emissaries, and some of them they will kill and persecute, 50 so that the blood of the prophets shed since the foundation of the world might be required from this generation— 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the one who perished between the altar and the house of God.[b] Yes, I tell you, it will be required from this generation.’
52 “Woe to you, Torah lawyers, for you have taken away the key of knowledge. You yourselves did not enter, and you stood in the way of those entering.”
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.