Book of Common Prayer
Triumphal Procession up to the Temple
Psalm 68
1 For the music director, a psalm of David, a song.
2 Let God arise!
Let His enemies be scattered!
Let those who hate Him flee before Him.
3 As smoke is blown away,
may You blow them away.
As wax melts before the fire,
may the wicked perish before God.
4 But let the righteous be glad.
Let them exult before God.
Let them rejoice with gladness.
5 Sing to God, sing praises to His Name.
Prepare the road for Him who rides through the deserts,
whose Name is Adonai—
and rejoice before Him.
6 A father of orphans, defender of widows,
is God in His holy dwelling.
7 God settles the lonely in a home.
He leads prisoners out to prosperity.
But the rebellious live in a parched land.
8 O God, when You went out before Your people,
when You marched through the desert—Selah—
9 the earth shook, the heavens rained
at the presence of God—the One of Sinai—
at the presence of God, God of Israel.
10 You poured down abundant rain, O God.
You sustained Your weary inheritance.
11 Your community settled in it.
In Your goodness, O God, You provided for the poor.
12 The Lord gives the word—
a great company of women proclaims the good news.
13 “Kings of armies, flee, flee!”
She who stays at home divides the spoil.
14 When you lie among the campfires,
wings of a dove were covered with silver
and her feathers with shimmering gold.
15 When Shaddai scattered kings there,
it was snowing on Zalmon.
16 Mount Bashan is a mountain of God.
Mount Bashan is a mountain of peaks.
17 Why do you gaze with envy, you mountain peaks,
at the mountain God desired for His dwelling?
Yes, Adonai will dwell there forever!
18 The chariots of God are thousands and thousands
—my Lord is among them as at Sinai, in holiness.
19 You went up on high.
You led captivity captive.
You received gifts from humanity,[a]
even from the rebellious—
so that God might dwell there.
20 Blessed be my Lord!
Day by day He bears our burdens—
the God of our salvation! Selah
21 God is for us—a God of deliverance.
Adonai my Lord has escapes from death.
22 Surely God crushes the head of His foes,
the hairy scalp of one walking in his guilt.
23 My Lord said:
“I will bring them back from Bashan,
I will bring them back from the depths of the sea.
24 So your foot may wade in blood,
and your dogs’ tongue may have their share of your enemies’ blood.”
25 They have seen Your processions, O God—
the processions of my God, my King, into the Sanctuary:
26 The singers go before, the musicians last,
between maidens beating tambourines.
27 “Bless God in the congregations—
Adonai, from the fountain of Israel.”
28 There Benjamin, the youngest, is leading them,
there the throng of Judah’s princes,
there the princes of Zebulun,
there the princes of Naphtali.
29 Your God commanded your strength.
Strengthen, O God,
You who have acted for us.
30 From Your Temple above Jerusalem,
kings bring You tribute.
31 Rebuke the beast of the reeds,
the herd of bulls with the calves,
peoples trampling down pieces of silver.
He has scattered the peoples who delight in war!
32 Nobles come from Egypt.
Cush runs to stretch her hands to God.
33 Sing to God, kingdoms of the earth,
sing praises to the Lord—Selah—
34 to Him who rides upon the ancient heavens of heavens.
Look, He utters His voice, a mighty voice!
35 Ascribe strength to God—
His majesty is over Israel
and His strength is in the skies.
36 O God, You are awesome from Your holy places.
The God of Israel gives strength and power to the people.
Blessed be God!
A Powerful King for the Poor
Psalm 72
1 Of Solomon.
Give the king Your judgments, O God,
and Your righteousness to the king’s son.
2 May he judge Your people with righteousness,
and Your poor ones with justice.
3 Let the mountains bring shalom to the people,
and the hills righteousness.
4 May he vindicate the poor of the people,
save the children of the needy,
and crush the oppressor.
5 Let them fear You while the sun endures,
and while the moon lasts, throughout all generations.
6 May he be like rain falling on a mown field,
like showers watering the ground.
7 Let the righteous flourish in his days.
Let shalom abound till the moon is no more.
8 May he have dominion from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
9 Let desert dwellers bow before him,
and his enemies lick the dust.
10 May kings of Tarshish and the islands bring tribute,
kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts.
11 So let all kings bow down before him,
and all nations serve him.
12 For he rescues the needy crying for help,
also the poor and the one with no helper.
13 He will take pity on the poor and needy,
and the souls of the needy he will save.
14 From oppression and violence he redeems their soul,
for precious is their blood in his sight.
15 Long may he live!
May gold from Sheba be given to him.
May he pray for him continually,
and bless him all day.
16 Let there be abundance of grain in the land.
Let it sway on the top of the hills,
let its fruit be like Lebanon,
and let people of the city flourish like grass of the field.
17 May his name endure forever.
May his name increase before the sun,
and may all nations be blessed by him
and call him blessed.
18 Blessed be Adonai Elohim, God of Israel,
who alone does wonders.
19 Blessed be His glorious Name forever.
May all the earth be filled with His glory!
Amen and Amen!
20 The prayers of David son of Jesse are complete.
Parashat Vayetze
Jacob’s Ladder From Heaven
10 Then Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. 11 He happened upon a certain place and spent the night there, for the sun had set. So he took one of the stones from the place and put it by his head and lay down in that place. 12 He dreamed: All of a sudden, there was a stairway set up on the earth and its top reaching to the heavens—and behold, angels of God going up and down on it! 13 Surprisingly, Adonai was standing on top of it[a] and He said, “I am Adonai, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your seed. 14 Your seed will be as the dust of the land, and you will burst forth to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed—and in your seed. 15 Behold, I am with you, and I will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land, for I will not forsake you until I have done what I promised you.”
16 Jacob woke up from his sleep and said, “Undoubtedly, Adonai is in this place—and I was unaware.” 17 So he was afraid and said, “How fearsome this place is! This is none other than the House of God—this must be the gate of heaven!”
18 Early in the morning Jacob got up and took the stone, which he had placed by his head, and set it up as a memorial stone and poured oil on top of it. 19 He called the name of that place Beth-El (though originally the city’s name was Luz). 20 Then Jacob made a vow saying, “If God will be with me and watch over me on this way that I am going, and provide me food to eat and clothes to wear, 21 and I return in shalom to my father’s house, then Adonai will be my God. 22 So this stone which I set up as a memorial stone will become God’s House, and of everything You provide me I will definitely give a tenth of it to You.”
13 These all died in faith without receiving the things promised—but they saw them and welcomed them from afar, and they confessed that they were strangers and sojourners on the earth. [a] 14 For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If indeed they had been thinking about where they had come from, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they yearn for a better land—that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.
17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. Yes, he who had received the promises was offering up his one and only son— 18 the one about whom it was said, “Through Isaac offspring shall be named for you.” [b] 19 He reasoned that God was able to raise him up even from the dead—and in a sense, he did receive him back from there.
20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even concerning things to come. 21 By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and he bowed in worship while leaning on the top of his staff. 22 By faith Joseph, when his end was near, made mention of the exodus of Bnei-Yisrael and gave instructions about his bones.
7 So Yeshua said again, “Amen, amen I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All those who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the gate![a] If anyone comes in through Me, he will be saved. He will come and go and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal, slaughter, and destroy. I have come that they might have life, and have it abundantly!
11 “I am the Good Shepherd.[b] The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. 12 The hired worker is not the shepherd, and the sheep are not his own. He sees the wolf coming and abandons the sheep and flees. Then the wolf snatches and scatters the sheep. 13 The man is only a hired hand and does not care about the sheep.
14 “I am the Good Shepherd. I know My own and My own know Me, 15 just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father. And I lay down My life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not from this fold; those also I must lead, and they will listen to My voice. So there shall be one flock, one Shepherd.
17 “For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life, so that I may take it up again.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.