Book of Common Prayer
50 (0) A psalm of Asaf:
(1) The Mighty One, God, Adonai, is speaking,
summoning the world from east to west.
2 Out of Tziyon, the perfection of beauty,
God is shining forth.
3 Our God is coming and not staying silent.
With a fire devouring ahead of him
and a great storm raging around him,
4 he calls to the heavens above and to earth,
in order to judge his people.
5 “Gather to me my faithful,
those who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”
6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness,
for God himself is judge. (Selah)
7 “Listen, my people, I am speaking:
Isra’el, I am testifying against you,
I, God, your God.
8 I am not rebuking you for your sacrifices;
your burnt offerings are always before me.
9 I have no need for a bull from your farm
or for male goats from your pens;
10 for all forest creatures are mine already,
as are the animals on a thousand hills;
11 I know all the birds in the mountains;
whatever moves in the fields is mine.
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you;
for the world is mine, and everything in it.
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of goats?
14 Offer thanksgiving as your sacrifice to God,
pay your vows to the Most High,
15 and call on me when you are in trouble;
I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”
16 But to the wicked God says:
“What right do you have to proclaim my laws
or take my covenant on your lips,
17 when you so hate to receive instruction
and fling my words behind you?
18 When you see a thief, you join up with him,
you throw in your lot with adulterers,
19 you give your mouth free rein for evil
and harness your tongue to deceit;
20 you sit and speak against your kinsman,
you slander your own mother’s son.
21 When you do such things, should I stay silent?
You may have thought I was just like you;
but I will rebuke and indict you to your face.
22 Consider this, you who forget God,
or I will tear you to pieces, with no one to save you.
23 “Whoever offers thanksgiving
as his sacrifice honors me;
and to him who goes the right way
I will show the salvation of God.”
59 (0) For the leader. Set to “Do Not Destroy.” By David; a mikhtam, when Sha’ul sent men to keep watch on David’s house in order to kill him:
2 (1) My God, rescue me from my enemies!
Lift me up, out of reach of my foes!
3 (2) Rescue me from evildoers,
save me from bloodthirsty men.
4 (3) For there they are, lying in wait to kill me.
Openly they gather themselves against me,
and not because I committed a crime
or sinned, Adonai.
5 (4) For no fault of mine, they run and prepare.
Awaken to help me, and see!
6 (5) You, Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot,
God of Isra’el,
arouse yourself to punish all the nations;
spare none of those wicked traitors. (Selah)
7 (6) They return at nightfall, snarling like dogs
as they go around the city.
8 (7) Look what pours out of their mouth,
what swords are on their lips,
[as they say to themselves,]
“No one is listening, anyway.”
9 (8) But you, Adonai, laugh at them,
you mock all the nations.
10 (9) My Strength, I will watch for you,
for God is my fortress.
11 (10) God, who gives me grace, will come to me;
God will let me gaze in triumph at my foes.
12 (11) Don’t kill them, or my people will forget;
instead, by your power, make them wander to and fro;
but bring them down, Adonai our Shield,
13 (12) for the sins their mouths make with each word from their lips.
Let them be trapped by their pride
for the curses and falsehoods they utter.
14 (13) Finish them off in wrath,
finish them off, put an end to them,
and let them know to the ends of the earth
that God is Ruler in Ya‘akov. (Selah)
15 (14) They return at nightfall, snarling like dogs
as they go around the city.
16 (15) They roam about, looking for food,
prowling all night if they don’t get their fill.
17 (16) But as for me, I will sing of your strength;
in the morning I will sing aloud of your grace.
For you are my fortress,
a refuge when I am in trouble.
18 (17) My Strength, I will sing praises to you,
for God is my fortress, God, who gives me grace.
60 (0) For the leader. Set to “Lily of Testimony.” A mikhtam of David for teaching about 2 when he fought with Aram-Naharayim and with Aram-Tzovah, and Yo’av returned and killed 12,000 from Edom in the Salt Valley:
3 (1) God, you rejected us; you crushed us;
you were angry; but now revive us.
4 (2) You made the land shake, split it apart;
now repair the rifts, for it is collapsing.
5 (3) You made your people suffer hard times,
had us drink a wine that made us stagger.
6 (4) To those who fear you because of the truth
you gave a banner to rally around, (Selah)
7 (5) so that those you love could be rescued;
so save with your right hand, and answer us!
8 (6) God in his holiness spoke,
and I took joy [in his promise]:
“I will divide Sh’khem
and determine the shares in the Sukkot Valley.
9 (7) Gil‘ad is mine and M’nasheh mine,
Efrayim my helmet, Y’hudah my scepter.
10 (8) Mo’av is my washpot; on Edom I throw my shoe;
P’leshet, be crushed because of me!”
11 (9) Who will bring me into the fortified city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
12 (10) God, have you rejected us?
You don’t go out with our armies, God.
13 (11) Help us against our enemy,
for human help is worthless.
14 (12) With God’s help we will fight valiantly,
for he will trample our enemies.
118 Give thanks to Adonai; for he is good,
for his grace continues forever.
2 Now let Isra’el say,
“His grace continues forever.”
3 Now let the house of Aharon say,
“His grace continues forever.”
4 Now let those who fear Adonai say,
“His grace continues forever.”
5 From my being hemmed in I called on Yah;
he answered and gave me more room.
6 With Adonai on my side, I fear nothing —
what can human beings do to me?
7 With Adonai on my side as my help,
I will look with triumph at those who hate me.
8 It is better to take refuge in Adonai
than to trust in human beings;
9 better to take refuge in Adonai
than to put one’s trust in princes.
10 The nations all surrounded me;
in the name of Adonai I cut them down.
11 They surrounded me on every side
in the name of Adonai I cut them down.
12 They surrounded me like bees
but were extinguished [as quickly] as a fire in thorns;
in the name of Adonai I cut them down.
13 You pushed me hard to make me fall,
but Adonai helped me.
14 Yah is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation.
15 The sound of rejoicing and victory
is heard in the tents of the righteous:
“Adonai’s right hand struck powerfully!
16 Adonai’s right hand is raised in triumph!
Adonai’s right hand struck powerfully!”
17 I will not die; no, I will live
and proclaim the great deeds of Yah!
18 Yah disciplined me severely,
but did not hand me over to death.
19 Open the gates of righteousness for me;
I will enter them and thank Yah.
20 This is the gate of Adonai;
the righteous can enter it.
21 I am thanking you because you answered me;
you became my salvation.
22 The very rock that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone!
23 This has come from Adonai,
and in our eyes it is amazing.
24 This is the day Adonai has made,
a day for us to rejoice and be glad.
25 Please, Adonai! Save us!
Please, Adonai! Rescue us!
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of Adonai.
We bless you from the house of Adonai.
27 Adonai is God, and he gives us light.
Join in the pilgrim festival with branches
all the way to the horns of the altar.
28 You are my God, and I thank you.
You are my God; I exalt you.
29 Give thanks to Adonai; for he is good,
for his grace continues forever.
13 Sing, heaven! Rejoice, earth!
Break out in song, you mountains!
For Adonai is comforting his people,
having mercy on his own who have suffered.
14 “But Tziyon says, ‘Adonai has abandoned me,
Adonai has forgotten me.’
15 Can a woman forget her child at the breast,
not show pity on the child from her womb?
Even if these were to forget,
I would not forget you.
16 I have engraved you on the palms of my hands,
your walls are always before me.”
17 Your children are coming quickly,
your destroyers and plunderers are leaving and going.
18 Raise your eyes, and look around:
they are all gathering and coming to you.
Adonai swears: “As surely as I am alive,
you will wear them all like jewels,
adorn yourself with them like a bride.”
19 For your desolate places and ruins
and your devastated land
will be too cramped for those living in it;
your devourers will be far away.
20 The day will come when the children born
when you were mourning will say to you,
“This place is too cramped for me!
Give me room, so I can live!”
21 Then you will ask yourself,
“Who fathered these for me?
I’ve been mourning my children, alone,
as an exile, wandering to and fro;
so who has raised these?
I was left alone, so where have these come from?”
22 Adonai Elohim answers:
“I am beckoning to the nations,
raising my banner for the peoples.
They will bring your sons in their arms
and carry your daughters on their shoulders.
23 Kings will be your foster-fathers,
their princesses your nurses.
They will bow to you, face toward the earth,
and lick the dust on your feet.
Then you will know that I am Adonai —
those who wait for me will not be sorry.”
3 You stupid Galatians! Who has put you under a spell? Before your very eyes Yeshua the Messiah was clearly portrayed as having been put to death as a criminal! 2 I want to know from you just this one thing: did you receive the Spirit by legalistic observance of Torah commands or by trusting in what you heard and being faithful to it? 3 Are you that stupid? Having begun with the Spirit’s power, do you think you can reach the goal under your own power? 4 Have you suffered so much for nothing? If that’s the way you think, your suffering certainly will have been for nothing! 5 What about God, who supplies you with the Spirit and works miracles among you — does he do it because of your legalistic observance of Torah commands or because you trust in what you heard and are faithful to it?
6 It was the same with Avraham: “He trusted in God and was faithful to him, and that was credited to his account as righteousness.”[a] 7 Be assured, then, that it is those who live by trusting and being faithful who are really children of Avraham. 8 Also the Tanakh, foreseeing that God would consider the Gentiles righteous when they live by trusting and being faithful, told the Good News to Avraham in advance by saying, “In connection with you, all the Goyim will be blessed.”[b] 9 So then, those who rely on trusting and being faithful are blessed along with Avraham, who trusted and was faithful.
10 For everyone who depends on legalistic observance of Torah commands lives under a curse, since it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not keep on doing everything written in the Scroll of the Torah.”[c] 11 Now it is evident that no one comes to be declared righteous by God through legalism, since “The person who is righteous will attain life by trusting and being faithful.”[d] 12 Furthermore, legalism is not based on trusting and being faithful, but on [a misuse of] the text that says, “Anyone who does these things will attain life through them.”[e] 13 The Messiah redeemed us from the curse pronounced in the Torah by becoming cursed on our behalf; for the Tanakh says, “Everyone who hangs from a stake comes under a curse.”[f] 14 Yeshua the Messiah did this so that in union with him the Gentiles might receive the blessing announced to Avraham, so that through trusting and being faithful, we might receive what was promised, namely, the Spirit.
30 Those who had been sent out rejoined Yeshua and reported to him all they had done and taught. 31 There were so many people coming and going that they couldn’t even take time to eat, so he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a place where we can be alone, and you can get some rest.” 32 They went off by themselves to an isolated spot; 33 but many people, seeing them leave and recognizing them, ran ahead on foot from all the towns and got there first. 34 When Yeshua came ashore, he saw a huge crowd. Filled with compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd, he began teaching them many things.
35 By this time, the hour was late. The talmidim came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s getting late. 36 Send the people away, so that they can go and buy food for themselves in the farms and towns around here.” 37 But he answered them, “Give them something to eat, yourselves!” They replied, “We are to go and spend thousands on bread, and give it to them to eat?” 38 He asked them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and check.” When they had found out, they said, “Five. And two fish.” 39 Then he ordered all the people to sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 They sat down in groups of fifty or a hundred. 41 Then he took the five loaves and the two fish, and, looking up toward heaven, made a b’rakhah. Next he broke up the loaves and began giving them to the talmidim to distribute. He also divided up the two fish among them all. 42 They all ate as much as they wanted, 43 and they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces and fish. 44 Those who ate the loaves numbered five thousand men.
45 Immediately Yeshua had his talmidim get in the boat and go on ahead of him toward the other side of the lake, toward Beit-Tzaidah, while he sent the crowds away. 46 After he had left them, he went into the hills to pray.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.