Book of Common Prayer
Even My Close Friend
Psalm 41
1 For the music director: a psalm of David.
2 Blessed is the one who considers the wretched—
Adonai will deliver him in the evil day.
3 Adonai will protect him and keep him alive.
He will be made blessed in the land.
You will not give him over to the desire of his foes.
4 Adonai will strengthen him on his sickbed.
May You restore him completely from his bed.
5 I said: “Adonai, have mercy on me.
Heal my soul, for I have sinned against You.”
6 My enemies speak evil about me:
“When will he die and his name perish?”
7 And if someone of them comes to see me, he speaks falsely.
He stores up evil in his heart,
then he goes out and chatters.
8 All who hate me whisper together about me
They imagine the worst about me:
9 “Something evil was poured into him—
he will not get up again from the place where he lies.”
10 Even my own close friend,
whom I trusted, who ate my bread,
has lifted up his heel against me.[a]
11 But You, Adonai, have mercy on me,
and raise me up, so I may repay them.
12 By this I know that You delight in me:
that my enemy does not shout in triumph over me.
13 You uphold me in my integrity
and set me before Your face forever.
14 Blessed be Adonai, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.
Amen and amen!
Treacherous Tongue!
Psalm 52
1 For the music director: a contemplative song of David, 2 when Doeg the Edomite came and reported to Saul telling him, “David went to Ahimelech’s house.”
3 Why do you brag about evil, mighty man?
God’s lovingkindness is every day.
4 Your tongue plots destruction,
like a sharp razor, working deceit.
5 You love evil instead of good,
lying rather than speaking right. Selah
6 You love only devouring words—
treacherous tongue!
7 God will pull you down forever,
and snatch you, rip you out of your tent,
and uproot you from the land of the living. Selah
8 Then the righteous will see and fear,
and laugh at him:
9 “Here is the man who did not make God his stronghold.
Instead he trusted in his great riches—
and was strong in his evil desire.”
10 But I—I am like an olive tree flourishing in the House of God.
I trust in God’s lovingkindness forever and ever.
11 I will praise You forever for what You have done.
I will hope in Your Name, for it is good,
in the presence of Your kedoshim.
Arise, O God of Our Fathers
Psalm 44
1 For the music director, a psalm of the sons of Korah, a contemplative song.
2 We have heard with our ears, O God
—our fathers have told us—
of a work You did in their days, in days of old.
3 With Your hand You displaced nations, but You planted them.
You afflicted peoples, and You drove them out.
4 For it was not by their own sword that they took possession of the land,
nor did their own arm save them.
But it was Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your face—
for You favored them.
5 You are my King, O God—
command victories for Jacob!
6 Through You we push back our foes.
Through Your Name we trample those rising up against us.
7 For I do not trust in my bow,
nor can my sword save me.
8 For You saved us from our oppressors
and put to shame those who hated us.
9 In God we make our boast all day
and Your Name we praise forever. Selah
10 Yet You have spurned and humiliated us,
and no longer go out with our armies.
11 You make us retreat before the enemy.
Those who hate us have plundered us.
12 You gave us to be devoured like sheep[a]
and have scattered us among the nations.
13 You are selling Your people cheaply—
not even getting a great price for them.
14 You made us a taunt for our neighbors,
a scorn and ridicule for those around us.
15 You have made us a byword among the nations,
head-wagging among the peoples.
16 All day my disgrace is before me,
and my face is covered with shame—
17 because of the sound of taunting and reviling
from the face of a vengeful enemy.
18 All this came upon us, though we did not forget You,
nor were we false to Your covenant.
19 Our heart did not turn back,
nor did our steps stray from Your path.
20 Yet You crushed us in a place of jackals,
covered us with the shadow of death.
21 If we had forgotten the Name of our God
or stretched our hands to a foreign god,
22 would God not have discovered it?
For He knows the secrets of the heart.
23 But for Your sake we are slain all day.
We are counted as sheep for slaughter.[b]
24 Awake! Why do you sleep, my Lord?
Wake up! Do not cast us off forever.
25 Why do You hide Your face
and forget our misery and oppression?
26 For our soul sinks down to the dust.
Our belly cleaves to the earth.
27 Arise, be our help,
and redeem us
for Your mercy’s sake.
David Spares Saul at En-gedi
24 Now when Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, they told him saying, “Look, David is in the wilderness of En-gedi.” 2 So Saul took 3,000 chosen men from all Israel and went to search for David and his men near the rocks of the mountain goats. 3 When he came across the sheepfolds along the way where there was a cave, Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were already sitting in the innermost parts of the cave. 4 So David’s men said to him, “Look, it’s the day Adonai spoke to you about, ‘Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, so you may do to him as seems good in your eyes.’” Then David crept and cut off the corner of Saul’s robe stealthily.
5 But afterward, David’s conscience bothered him for cutting off the edge of Saul’s robe. 6 So he said to his fellow men, “Adonai forbid that I should do such a thing to my lord, Adonai’s anointed, stretching out my hand against him—for he is Adonai’s anointed.” 7 So David persuaded his fellow men with these words and did not let them rise against Saul. Then Saul left the cave and went on his way.
8 David also rose afterward, went out of the cave, and called out after Saul saying, “My lord the king!” When Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the earth and prostrated himself. 9 Then David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to men’s words saying: ‘Look, David intends you harm’? 10 Look, today your own eyes should see how Adonai delivered you today into my hand, in the cave. Some urged me to kill you, but my eye had pity on you, and I said: ‘I will not stretch out my hand against my lord, for he is Adonai’s anointed.’ 11 Moreover, my father, see! Yes, look at the corner of your robe in my hand! For in cutting off the corner of your robe, yet not killing you, you should know and realize that there is no evil or rebellion in my hand. I haven’t sinned against you, even though you are lying in wait for my life, to take it. 12 May Adonai judge between me and you, and may Adonai avenge me of you, but my hand will not be against you. 13 As the old proverb goes, ‘Out of the wicked comes forth wickedness’—but my hand will never be on you. 14 Whom has the king of Israel come after? Who are you chasing? A dead dog? A single flea? 15 May Adonai be judge and decide between me and you! And may He see and plead my cause and vindicate me against you.”
16 Now when David finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, “Is this your voice, my son, David?” Then Saul lifted up his voice and wept aloud. 17 Then he said to David, “You are more righteous than I, for you have done good to me, while I have done evil to you. 18 You’ve told today how well you’ve dealt with me, for Adonai had delivered me up into your hand, yet you did not kill me. 19 For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away on a good road? May Adonai reward you with good in return for what you have done to me today. 20 Now behold, I know for certain that you will be king, and that the kingdom of Israel will rise in your hand. 21 Swear now to me by Adonai that you won’t cut off my descendants after me, and that you won’t wipe out my name from my father’s house.” 22 So David swore to Saul. Then Saul went to his home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold.
44 The following Shabbat, almost the entire city came together to hear the word of the Lord. 45 When the Jewish leaders saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and tried to contradict what Paul was saying by reviling him. 46 Both Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, “It was necessary for the word of God to be spoken to you first. Since you reject it and judge yourselves unfit for eternal life—behold, we turn to the Gentiles.
47 For so the Lord has commanded us,
‘I have placed you as a light to the nations,
so that you may bring salvation to the end of the earth.’[a]”
48 When the Gentiles heard this, they were thrilled and glorified the word of the Lord; and as many as had been inscribed for eternal life believed.[b]
49 Now the word of the Lord spread throughout the whole region. 50 But the Jewish leaders incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and they drove them out of their district. 51 But Paul and Barnabas shook the dust off their feet against them,[c] and they went on to Iconium. 52 And the disciples were filled with joy and the Ruach ha-Kodesh.
Storytelling Opens Hearts
4 Again Yeshua began to teach by the sea. A large crowd gathered around Him, so He got into a boat on the sea and sat down. And the crowd was by the sea on the land. 2 He began teaching them many things by parables, and in His teaching, He said to them: 3 “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to spread some seed. 4 It happened that as he sowed, some fell beside the road; and the birds came and ate it up.
5 “Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it didn’t have much soil. It sprang up immediately, because the soil wasn’t deep. 6 But when the sun came up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.
7 “Other seed fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew and choked it, and it yielded no crop.
8 “And others fell into the good soil and were producing fruit, springing up and increasing. They yielded a crop, producing thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.” 9 And He said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
10 When Yeshua was alone, those around Him with the Twelve started asking Him about the parables. 11 And He told them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God. But for those who are outside, everything is in parables,[a] so that
12 ‘Seeing, they may se and not perceive,
and hearing, they may hear and not understand,
so they may not turn back and be forgiven.’”[b]
13 He said to them, “Don’t you grasp this parable? Then how will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 These are the ones beside the road where the word is sown. Whenever they hear, satan comes quickly and takes away the word that has been sown in them.
16 “These are the ones sown on rocky ground. When they hear the word, immediately they receive it with joy. 17 And they have no root in themselves but last only a short while. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately they fall away.
18 “And others are the ones sown among the thorns. They have heard the word; 19 but the worries of the world, the seduction of wealth, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
20 “And those are the ones sown on the good soil. They hear the word and accept it and produce fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.