Book of Common Prayer
A Burden Too Heavy for Me
Psalm 38
1 A psalm of David, for a memorial.
2 Adonai, do not rebuke me in Your anger
or discipline me in Your wrath.
3 For Your arrows have sunk deep into me
and Your hand has pressed down on me.
4 There is no health in my flesh because of Your indignation.
There is no wholeness in my bones because of my sin.
5 For my iniquities are on my head—
like a burden too heavy for me.
6 My wounds are foul and festering
because of my foolishness.
7 I am bent over, bowed down greatly.
All day I walk about in mourning.
8 For my heart is filled with burning pain,
and there is no health in my body.
9 I am numb and utterly crushed.
I groan because of anguish in my heart.
10 My Lord, all my longing is before You,
and my sighing is not hidden from You.
11 My heart pounds, my strength fails me.
The light of my eyes—also, not with me.
12 My friends and my companions stay away from my wound,
and my kinsmen stand far off.
13 They who seek my life set traps.
Those who seek my hurt threaten destruction, uttering lies all day.
14 But I, like someone deaf, hear nothing,
like a mute, not opening his mouth.
15 Yes, I am like one who cannot hear,
whose mouth has no arguments.
16 But I wait for You, Adonai—
You will answer, O Lord my God.
17 For I said: “Don’t let them gloat over me
or exalt themselves over me, when my foot slips.”
18 For I am about to fall,
and my pain is before me constantly.
19 So I confess my guilt.
I am troubled because of my sin.
20 My lively enemies are numerous.
Many hate me wrongfully.
21 Those who repay evil for good oppose me
because I pursue what is good.
22 Do not forsake me, Adonai.
O my God, be not far from me.
23 Hurry to my aid, my Lord, my salvation.
DALET ד
25 My soul clings to the dust.
Revive me according to Your word!
26 I told of my ways and You answered me.
Teach me Your statutes.
27 Help me discern the way of Your precepts,
so I may meditate on Your wonders.
28 My soul weeps with grief.
Make me stand firm with Your word.
29 Turn me away from the deceitful way,
and be gracious to me with Your Torah.
30 I have chosen the way of faithfulness.
I have set my heart on Your judgments.
31 I cling to Your testimonies.
Adonai, do not put me to shame!
32 I run the course of Your mitzvot,
for You open wide my heart.
HEY ה
33 Teach me the way of Your decrees, Adonai,
and I will follow them to the end.
34 Give me understanding,
that I may keep Your Torah
and observe it with all my heart.
35 Help me walk in the path of Your mitzvot—
for I delight in it.
36 Turn my heart to Your testimonies
and not to dishonest gain.
37 Turn my eyes away from gazing at vanity
but revive me in Your ways.
38 Fulfill Your word to Your servant,
which leads to reverence for You.
39 Make the disgrace I dread pass away,
for Your judgments are good.
40 Behold, I long for Your precepts.
Revive me by Your righteousness.
VAV ו
41 May Your lovingkindnesses come to me, Adonai—
Your salvation according to Your word—
42 so I may answer the one taunting me,
for I trust in Your word.
43 Never snatch out of my mouth a word of truth,
for I hope in Your judgments.
44 So I may always keep Your Torah,
forever and ever,
45 and walk about in freedom.
For I have sought Your precepts.
46 I will speak of Your testimonies
before kings, and never be ashamed.
47 I delight in Your mitzvot,
which I love.
48 I reach out my hands for Your mitzvot,
which I love,
and meditate on Your decrees.
Handwriting on the Wall
5 King Belshazzar held a great feast for 1,000 of his nobles and was drinking wine in front of the thousand. 2 When Belshazzar tasted the wine, he issued an order to bring in the gold and silver vessels that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the Temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his consorts and his concubines could drink from them. 3 So they brought the gold vessels that were taken out of the Temple of the House of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, consorts and concubines drank from them. 4 They drank the wine and praised the gods made of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood and stone.
5 At that very moment, the fingers of a human hand emerged and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace opposite the lampstand, so that the king could see the back of the hand that was writing. 6 The color drained from the king’s face, his thoughts alarmed him, his hips gave way and his knees began knocking together.
7 The king called loudly to summon the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the diviners. The king said to the wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this writing and tells me what it means will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain around his neck, and will have authority as the third ruler in the kingdom!”
8 Then all the king’s wise men came in, but they could not read the inscription nor tell the king what it meant. 9 So King Belshazzar became even more terrified and his face grew pale. His nobles were baffled.
10 The queen hearing the words of the king and his nobles entered the banquet hall. The queen spoke out and said, “May the king live forever! Do not let your thoughts frighten you, or your face be so pale! 11 There is a man in your kingdom who has the spirit of the holy gods in him. In the days of your father, he was found to have insight and intelligence, and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods. So King Nebuchadnezzar your father made him chief of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans and diviners. 12 This man Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar, was found to have extraordinary spirit, knowledge and insight for interpreting dreams, explaining riddles, and solving problems. Now, let Daniel be summoned and he will explain the interpretation.”
5 Everyone who believes that Yeshua is the Messiah is born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves the one born of Him.
Love God—Live God’s Word
2 We know that we love God’s children by this—when we love God and obey His commandments. 3 For this is the love of God—that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. 4 For everyone born of God overcomes the world. And the victory that has overcome the world is this—our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world, if not the one who believes that Yeshua is Ben-Elohim?
Believe God’s Own Testimony of Yeshua
6 Messiah Yeshua is the One who came by water and blood—not by water only, but by water and blood. The Spirit is the One who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are three that testify— 8 the Spirit, the water, and the blood—and these three are one. [a] 9 If we accept men’s testimony, God’s testimony is greater—for this it is the testimony that God has given about His Son. 10 The one who trusts in Ben-Elohim has the testimony in himself; the one who does not trust in God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given about His Son. 11 And the testimony is this—that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12 The one who has the Son has life; the one who does not have Ben-Elohim does not have life.
38 After He left the synagogue, Yeshua entered Simon’s home. Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they petitioned Him concerning her. 39 Then standing over her, He rebuked the fever and it left her. Immediately she arose to wait on them.
40 When the sun was setting, they brought to Yeshua all who were sick with various diseases. And He was laying hands on each one and healing them. 41 Even demons were coming out from many, shouting out and saying, “You are Ben-Elohim!”[a] But He was rebuking them and not permitting them to speak, because they knew Him to be the Messiah.
42 Now when it was day, He left and went to a desert place. The crowds were searching for Him, and they came to Him and were trying to keep Him from leaving them. 43 But He said to them, “I must proclaim the Good News of the kingdom of God[b] to the other towns also. It was for this purpose I was sent.” 44 So He kept preaching in the synagogues of Judea.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.