Book of Common Prayer
Prayer in Affliction
Psalm 102
1 A prayer of the afflicted one, when he is faint and pours out his lament before Adonai:
2 Adonai, hear my prayer,
let my cry come to You.
3 Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my distress.
Turn Your ear to me—in the day I call,
answer me quickly.
4 For my days vanished like smoke,
and my bones were burned like coals.
5 My heart is stricken and withered like grass,
so that I even forget to eat my bread.
6 Because of the sound of my groaning,
my bones cling to my flesh.
7 I am like a pelican of the desert,
like an owl of the waste places.
8 I lie awake, like a lonely bird on a roof.
9 My enemies taunt me all day.
My deriders use my name to curse.
10 For I have eaten ashes like bread,
and mixed my drink with tears—
11 because of Your indignation and wrath,
for You have picked me up and tossed me aside.
12 My days are like a lengthening shadow,
and I wither away like grass.
13 But You, Adonai, sit enthroned forever.
Your renown is from generation to generation.
14 You will arise and have compassion on Zion,
for it is time to show favor to her,
for the appointed time has come,
15 for her stones are dear to Your servants,
and they cherish her dust.
16 So the nations will fear Adonai’s Name
and all the kings of the earth Your glory.
17 For Adonai has rebuilt Zion.
He has appeared in His glory.
18 He has turned to the prayer of the destitute,
and has not despised their prayer.
19 Let it be written for a generation to come,
that a people to be created may praise Adonai.
20 For He looks down from His holy height,
from heaven Adonai gazes on the earth,
21 to hear the groaning of the prisoner,
to set free those condemned to death,
22 to declare the Name of Adonai in Zion
and His praise in Jerusalem,
23 when the peoples and the kingdoms
assemble to worship Adonai.
24 He brought down my strength in midcourse.
He shortened my days.
25 I say, “My God,
do not take me up in the middle of my days.
Your years endure through all generations!
26 Long ago You founded the earth,
the heavens are the work of Your hands.
27 They will perish, but You will remain.
All of them will wear out like a garment.
Like clothing You change them, so they change.
28 But You are the same,
and Your years will never end.
29 The children of Your servants will live.
Their descendants will be established before You.”
His Chesed and His Wonders
Psalm 107
1 Praise Adonai, for He is good,
for His lovingkindness endures forever.
2 Let the redeemed of Adonai say so—
whom He redeemed from the hand of the foe,
3 whom He gathered out of the lands,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the sea.
4 Some wandered in a desert, a wasteland.
They found no way to an inhabited city.
5 Hungry and thirsty,
their souls ebbed away.
6 So they cried out to Adonai in their distress,
and He delivered them out of their troubles.
7 Then He led them by a straight way
to go to a city where they could live.
8 Let them praise Adonai for His mercy
and His wonders for the children of men,
9 for He satisfies the thirsty soul
and fills the hungry soul with goodness.
10 Some sat in darkness and deep gloom,
prisoners in misery and iron chains,
11 for they had defied God’s words,
and spurned the counsel of Elyon.
12 So He humbled their heart with trouble.
They stumbled, and no one was helping.
13 So they cried out to Adonai in their distress,
and He delivered them out of their troubles.
14 He brought them out of darkness
and deep gloom, breaking their chains.
15 Let them praise Adonai for His mercy,
and His wonders for the children of men,
16 for He shattered bronze gates,
and broke into pieces iron bars.
17 Some became fools because of their rebellious ways,
and were afflicted due to their iniquities.
18 Their soul abhorred all food,
and they drew near the gates of death.
19 So they cried out to Adonai in their distress,
and He delivered them out of their troubles.
20 He sent His word and healed them,
and rescued them from their pits.
21 Let them praise Adonai for His mercy,
and His wonders for the children of men.
22 Let them sacrifice thank offerings
and tell of His works with joyful singing.
23 Some go out to the sea in ships,
doing business on the mighty waters.
24 They saw the works of Adonai,
and His wonders in the deep.
25 For He spoke and raised a stormy wind,
lifting up towering waves.
26 They mounted up to the sky
and plunged down to the depths.
In their peril their souls melted away.
27 They reeled and staggered like a drunk,
and all their skill was bewildered.
28 So they cried out to Adonai in their distress,
and He brought them out of their troubles.
29 He stilled the storm to a whisper—
the waves were hushed.[a]
30 They were glad when it became calm,
and He led them to their desired haven.
31 Let them praise Adonai for His mercy,
and His wonders to the children of men.
32 Let them exalt Him in the congregation of the people,
and praise Him at the assembly of elders.
My Messenger is Coming
3 “Behold, I am sending My messenger[a],
and he will clear the way before Me.[b]
Suddenly He will come to His Temple
—the Lord whom you seek—
and the Messenger of the covenant
—the One whom you desire—
behold, He is coming,”
says Adonai-Tzva’ot.
2 But who can endure the day of His coming?
Or who can stand when He appears?[c]
For He will be like a refiner’s fire,[d]
and like soap for cleaning raw wool.
3 And He will sit as a smelter or a purifier of silver,
and He will cleanse the sons of Levi,
and purify them like gold or silver.
Then they will become for Adonai
those who present an offering in righteousness.
4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to Adonai,
as in days of antiquity and years of old.
5 “Then I will draw near to you in judgment,
and I will be a swift witness against sorcerers, adulterers, perjurers
those who extort a worker’s wage,
or oppress the widow or an orphan,
those who mislead a stranger.
They do not fear Me,”
says Adonai-Tzva’ot.
6 “For I am Adonai. I do not change,
So you, children of Jacob, are not consumed.
Bring the Whole Tithe
7 “From the days of your ancestors you have turned aside from My statutes, and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” says Adonai-Tzva’ot.
Yet you say: “How should we return?”
8 “Will a man rob[e] God? For you are robbing Me!”
But you say: “How have we robbed You?”
“In the tithe and the offering. 9 You have been cursed with the curse, yet you keep robbing Me—the whole nation! 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse. Then there will be food in My House. Now test Me in this”—says Adonai-Tzva’ot—“if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and pour out blessing for you, until no one is without enough. 11 I will rebuke the devouring pest for you, so it will not destroy the fruit of your land, nor will your vine be barren in the field,” Adonai-Tzva’ot says. 12 “All the nations will call you blessed. For you will be a land of delight,” says Adonai-Tzva’ot.
Be Patient for His Coming
7 So be patient, brothers and sisters, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient for it until it receives the early and late rain. [a] 8 You also be patient. Strengthen your hearts because the coming of the Lord is near. 9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be judged. Behold, the judge is standing at the doors. 10 As an example of suffering and patience, brothers and sisters, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
11 Behold, we consider blessed those who showed endurance. You have heard of the endurance of Job,[b] and you have seen the outcome of Adonai—that Adonai is full of compassion and mercy.[c]
12 But above all, my dear brothers and sisters, do not swear—either by heaven, or by the earth, or by any other oath. But let your “yes” be “yes,” and your “no,” be “no”—so that you may not fall under judgment.
18 Then Yeshua told them a parable to show that they should always pray and not be discouraged, 2 He said, “There was a judge in a certain city who neither feared God nor respected people. 3 And there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me justice against my opponent.’
4 “He was unwilling at the time. But afterward he said to himself, ‘Although I don’t fear God or respect people, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice so she won’t wear me out by her incessant coming.’”
6 Then the Lord said, “Hear what the unjust judge is saying. 7 Won’t God do justice for His chosen ones, who cry out to Him day and night? Will He be slow to help them? 8 I tell you, He will quickly give them justice. But when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.