Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 41
For the choir director; a psalm by David.
1 Blessed is the one who has concern for helpless people.
Yahweh will rescue him in times of trouble.
2 Yahweh will protect him and keep him alive.
He will be blessed in the land.
Do not place him at the mercy of his enemies.
3 Yahweh will support him on his sickbed.
You will restore this person to health when he is ill.
4 I said, “O Yahweh, have pity on me!
Heal my soul because I have sinned against you.”
5 My enemies say terrible things about me:
“When will he die, and when will his family name disappear?”
6 When one of them comes to visit me, he speaks foolishly.
His heart collects gossip.
Then he leaves to tell others.
7 Everyone who hates me whispers about me.
They think evil things about me and say,
8 “A devilish disease has attached itself to him.
He will never leave his sickbed.”
9 Even my closest friend whom I trusted,
the one who ate my bread,
has lifted his heel against me.
10 Have pity on me, O Yahweh!
Raise me up so that I can pay them back
11 and my enemy cannot shout in triumph over me.
When you do this, I know that you are pleased with me.
12 You defend my integrity,
and you set me in your presence forever.
13 Thank Yahweh Elohim of Israel through all eternity!
Amen and amen!
Psalm 52
For the choir director; a maskil; a psalm by David when Doeg (who was from Edom) told Saul that David had come to Ahimelech’s home.
1 Why do you brag about the evil you’ve done, you hero?
The mercy of El lasts all day long!
2 Your tongue makes up threats.
It’s like a sharp razor, you master of deceit.
3 You prefer evil to good.
You prefer lying to speaking the truth. Selah
4 You love every destructive accusation, you deceitful tongue!
5 But El will ruin you forever.
He will grab you and drag you out of your tent.
He will pull your roots out of this world of the living. Selah
6 Righteous people will see this and be struck with fear.
They will laugh at you and say,
7 “Look at this person who refused to make Elohim his fortress!
Instead, he trusted his great wealth
and became strong through his greed.”
8 But I am like a large olive tree in Elohim’s house.
I trust the mercy of Elohim forever and ever.
9 I will give thanks to you forever
for what you have done.
In the presence of your godly people,
I will wait with hope in your good name.
Psalm 44
For the choir director; a maskil by Korah’s descendants.
1 O Elohim,
we have heard it with our own ears.
Our ancestors have told us
about the miracle you performed in their day,
in days long ago.
2 By your power you forced nations out of the land,
but you planted our ancestors there.
You shattered many groups of people,
but you set our ancestors free.[a]
3 It was not with their swords that they took possession of the land.
They did not gain victory with their own strength.
It was your right hand, your arm,
and the light of your presence that did it,
because you were pleased with them.
4 You alone are my Melek, O Elohim.
You won those victories for Jacob.
5 With you we can walk over our enemies.
With your name we can trample those who attack us.
6 I do not rely on my bow,
and my sword will never save me.
7 But you saved us from our enemies.
You put to shame those who hate us.
8 All day long we praise our Elohim.
We give thanks to you forever. Selah
9 But now you have rejected and disgraced us.
You do not even go along with our armies.
10 You make us retreat from the enemy.
Those who hate us rob us at will.
11 You hand us over to be butchered like sheep
and scatter us among the nations.
12 You sell your people for almost nothing,
and at that price you have gained nothing.
13 You made us a disgrace to our neighbors
and an object of ridicule and contempt to those around us.
14 You made our defeat a proverb among the nations
so that people shake their heads at us.
15 All day long my disgrace is in front of me.
Shame covers my face
16 because of the words of those who insult and slander us,
because of the presence of the enemy and the avenger.
17 Although all of this happened to us,
we never forgot you.
We never ignored your promise.[b]
18 Our hearts never turned away.
Our feet never left your path.
19 Yet, you crushed us in a place for jackals
and covered us with the shadow of death.
20 If we forgot the name of our Elohim
or stretched out our hands to pray to another god,
21 wouldn’t Elohim find out,
since he knows the secrets in our hearts?
22 Indeed, we are being killed all day long because of you.
We are thought of as sheep to be slaughtered.
23 Wake up! Why are you sleeping, O Adonay?
Awake! Do not reject us forever!
24 Why do you hide your face?
Why do you forget our suffering and misery?
25 Our souls are bowing in the dust.
Our bodies cling to the ground.
26 Arise! Help us!
Rescue us because of your mercy!
A Prophet Announces God’s Judgment
13 A man of Elohim from Judah had come to Bethel. When he arrived, Jeroboam was standing at the altar to offer a sacrifice. 2 By a command of Yahweh, this man condemned the altar. “Altar, altar! This is what Yahweh says: There will be a son born in David’s family line. His name will be Josiah. Here on you Josiah will sacrifice the priests from the illegal worship sites who offer sacrifices on you. Human bones will be burned on you.”
3 That day the man of God also gave them a miraculous sign, saying, “This is the sign that Yahweh will give you: You will see the altar torn apart. The ashes on it will be poured on the ground.”
4 When King Jeroboam heard the man of Elohim condemning the altar in Bethel, he pointed to the man across the altar. “Arrest him,” he said. But the arm that he used to point to the man of God was paralyzed so that he couldn’t pull it back. 5 The altar was torn apart, and the ashes from the altar were poured on the ground. This was the miraculous sign the man of Elohim performed at Yahweh’s command.
6 Then the king asked the man of Elohim, “Please make an appeal to Yahweh your Elohim, and pray for me so that I can use my arm again.” So the man of Elohim made an appeal to Yahweh, and the king was able to use his arm again, as he had earlier.
7 The king told the man of Elohim, “Come home with me; have something to eat and drink, and I will give you a gift.”
8 The man of Elohim told the king, “Even if you gave me half of your palace, I would never go with you to eat or drink there. 9 When Yahweh spoke to me, he commanded me not to eat or drink or go back on the same road I took.” 10 So the man of Elohim left on another road and didn’t go back on the road he had taken to Bethel.
Greeting
1 From Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Yeshua.
To God’s people in the city of Philippi and their bishops[a] and deacons[b]—to everyone who is united with Christ Yeshua.
2 Good will[c] and peace from God our Father and the Lord Yeshua Christ are yours!
Paul’s Prayer for the Philippians
3 I thank my God for all the memories I have of you. 4 Every time I pray for all of you, I do it with joy. 5 I can do this because of the partnership we’ve had with you in the Good News from the first day you believed until now. 6 I’m convinced that God, who began this good work in you, will carry it through to completion on the day of Christ Yeshua. 7 You have a special place in my heart. So it’s right for me to think this way about all of you. All of you are my partners. Together we share God’s favor,[d] whether I’m in prison or defending and confirming the truth of the Good News. 8 God is my witness that, with all the compassion of Christ Yeshua, I long to see every one of you.
9 I pray that your love will keep on growing because of your knowledge and insight. 10 That way you will be able to determine what is best and be pure and blameless until the day of Christ. 11 Yeshua Christ will fill your lives with everything that God’s approval produces. Your lives will then bring glory and praise to God.
40 Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary from Magdala, Mary (the mother of young James and Joseph), and Salome. 41 They had followed him and supported him while he was in Galilee. Many other women who had come to Jerusalem with him were there too.
Jesus Is Placed in a Tomb(A)
42 It was Friday evening, before the day of worship, 43 when Joseph arrived. He was from the city of Arimathea and was an important member of the Jewish council. He, too, was waiting for the kingdom of God. Joseph boldly went to Pilate’s quarters to ask for the body of Yeshua.
44 Pilate wondered if Yeshua had already died. So he summoned the officer to ask him if Yeshua was, in fact, dead. 45 When the officer had assured him that Yeshua was dead, Pilate let Joseph have the corpse.
46 Joseph had purchased some linen cloth. He took the body down from the cross and wrapped it in the cloth. Then he laid the body in a tomb, which had been cut out of rock, and he rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. 47 Mary from Magdala and Mary (the mother of Joses) watched where Yeshua was laid.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.