Book of Common Prayer
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.
YOD י
73 Your hands have made me and formed me.
Give me understanding that I may learn Your mitzvot.
74 Those in awe of You see me and rejoice,
because I put my hope in Your word.
75 I know, Adonai, Your judgments are just.
In faithfulness You have afflicted me.
76 May Your lovingkindness comfort me,
according to Your promise to Your servant.
77 Let Your tender mercies reach me,
Let me live, for Your Torah is my delight.
78 May the proud be put to shame
for wronging me with a lie,
but I will meditate on Your precepts.
79 Let those in awe of You return to me—
those who know Your testimonies.
80 My heart will have integrity in following Your decrees,
so that I would not be ashamed.
KAF כ
81 My soul faints with longing for Your salvation,
but I still hope in Your word.
82 My eyes are worn out longing for Your promise,
saying, “When will You comfort me?”
83 Though I became like a wineskin dried in smoke,
I do not forget Your decrees.
84 How many are the days of Your servant?
When will You execute judgment on my persecutors?
85 The proud have dug pits for me—
that is not in accord with Your Torah!
86 All Your mitzvot are faithful.
They persecute me with a lie—help me!
87 They almost finished me off on earth.
But I—I will not forsake Your precepts.
88 Revive me with Your lovingkindness,
so I may keep Your mouth’s testimony.
LAMED ל
89 Forever, Adonai,
Your word stands firm in the heavens.
90 Your faithfulness endures from generation to generation.
You established the earth, and it stands.
91 Your judgments stand today,
for all things are Your servants.
92 If Your Torah had not been my delight,
I would have perished in my affliction.
93 I will never forget Your precepts.
For with them You have kept me alive.
94 I am Yours, save me!
For I have sought out Your precepts.
95 The wicked wait for me to destroy me.
But I will study Your testimonies.
96 I have seen a limit to all perfection,
yet Your commandment is boundless.
6 Then Adonai said to me in the days of King Josiah: “Have you seen what backsliding Israel did? She went up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and there she committed adultery. 7 Yet I thought that after she had done all this she would return to Me. But she did not return. Even her unfaithful sister Judah saw it. 8 I noted that when backsliding Israel committed adultery I sent her away and gave her a certificate of divorce. Yet, unfaithful Judah, her sister, did not fear. Instead she also went and committed adultery. 9 It happened that through her frivolous prostitution, she polluted the land and committed adultery with stones and with wood. 10 Yet after all this her unfaithful sister Judah did not return to Me with her whole heart, but only insincerely,”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
11 Then Adonai said to me, “Backsliding Israel has proved herself more righteous than unfaithful Judah. 12 Go! Proclaim these words toward the north, saying:
“Return backsliding Israel,” says Adonai.
“I will no longer frown on you,
for I am merciful,” says Adonai.
“I will not keep a grudge forever.
13 Only acknowledge your iniquity.
For you sinned against Adonai your God
and scattered your favors to foreign gods
under every green tree.
You have not obeyed My voice.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
Call to Backsliding Children
14 “Return, O backsliding children,” declares Adonai.
“For I am your Husband.
I will choose you—
one from a city and two from a clan—
and will bring you to Zion.
15 I will give you shepherds after My own heart
who will feed you knowledge and understanding.
16 It will be in those days when you multiply
and become fruitful in the land.”
It is a declaration of Adonai.
“They will no longer talk about the ark of the covenant of Adonai, nor will it come to mind or be remembered. Neither will it be missed or another one made again. 17 At that time they will call Jerusalem the throne of Adonai and all the nations will gather into it, to Jerusalem, in the Name of Adonai. No longer will they walk according to the stubbornness of their evil heart. 18 In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel. They will come together out of the land of the north to the land that I gave your fathers as an inheritance.”
28 And just as they did not see fit to recognize God, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what is not fitting. 29 They became filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents. 31 They are foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God’s righteous decree—that those who practice such things deserve death—they not only do them but also approve of others who practice the same.
God’s Judgment on Unrighteousness
2 Therefore you are without excuse, O man—every one of you who is judging. For by whatever you judge another, you condemn yourself. For you who judge practice the same things. [a] 2 We know that God’s judgment on those who practice such things is based on truth. 3 But you, O man—judging those practicing such things yet doing the same—do you suppose that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you belittle the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience—not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance?
5 But by your hard and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed. [b] 6 He will pay back each person according to his deeds. [c] 7 To those who by perseverance in doing good are seeking glory, honor, and immortality—eternal life. 8 But to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—wrath and fury. 9 There will be trouble and hardship for every human soul that does evil—to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 10 But there will be glory, honor, and shalom to everyone who does good—to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 11 For there is no partiality with God.[d]
Healing on Shabbat
5 After this there was a Jewish feast, and Yeshua went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now in Jerusalem there is a pool by the sheep gate, called Bethzatha in Aramaic,[a] which has five porches. 3 In these a crowd of invalids was lying around—blind, lame, disabled. (4 )[b]
5 Now a certain man had been an invalid there for thirty-eight years. 6 Seeing him lying there and knowing he had been that way a long time, Yeshua said to him, “Do you want to get well?”
7 The invalid answered Him, “Sir, I have nobody to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up. While I’m trying to get in, somebody else steps down before me!”
8 Yeshua tells him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk!”
9 Immediately, the man was healed! He took up his mat and started walking around. Now that day was Shabbat, 10 so Judean leaders were saying to the man who was healed, “It’s Shabbat! It’s not permitted for you to carry your mat.”
11 But he answered them, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”
12 They asked him, “Who is the man who told you, ‘Pick up your mat and walk’?” 13 But the man who had been healed didn’t know who it was, for Yeshua had slipped away into the crowd in that place.
14 Afterwards, Yeshua finds him in the Temple. He said to him, “Look, you’ve been healed! Stop sinning, so nothing worse happens to you.” 15 The man left and told the Judean leaders that it was Yeshua who had made him well.
Sent by the Father
16 Because Yeshua was doing these things on Shabbat, the Judean leaders started persecuting Him. 17 But Yeshua said to them, “My Father is still working, and I also am working.” 18 So for this reason the Judean leaders kept trying even harder to kill Him—because He was not only breaking Shabbat,[c] but also calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.