Book of Common Prayer
Scorn and Disgrace, Gall and Vinegar
Psalm 69
1 For the music director, on “Lilies,” of David.
2 Save me, O God,
for the waters
have reached my soul.
3 I have sunk in deep mud,
and there is no footing,
I have come into deep waters,
and a flood sweeps over me.
4 I am worn out by my crying,
my throat is parched,
my eyes fail, waiting for my God.
5 Those who hate me without a cause[a] outnumber the hairs of my head.
Powerful are my enemies who would destroy me with lies.
What I did not steal, must I restore?
6 O God, You know my folly,
nor are my trespasses hidden from You.
7 May those who hope in You
not be ashamed because of me,
my Lord, Adonai-Tzva’ot.
May those who seek You
not be disgraced because of me,
O God of Israel.
8 For I have endured scorn for Your sake.
Disgrace has covered my face.
9 I have become a stranger to my brothers,
a foreigner to my mother’s children.
10 For zeal for Your House consumed me—
the insults of those who insulted You have fallen on me.[b]
11 When I wept and fasted—
that became a reproach to me.
12 When I put on sackcloth,
I became a joke to them.
13 Those who sit at the gate chatter about me,
and I am the song of the drunkards.
14 But as for me, my prayer to You, Adonai, is for a time of favor.
O God, in Your great love, answer me with the truth of Your salvation.
15 Deliver me from the mire—
do not let me sink.
Deliver me from those who hate me,
out of the deep waters.
16 Do not let floodwaters sweep over me,
nor the deep swallow me up,
nor the Pit shut its mouth over me.
17 Answer me, Adonai, for good is Your mercy.
With Your great compassion, turn to me.
18 Hide not Your face from Your servant.
For I am in distress—answer me quickly.
19 Draw near to my soul and redeem it.
Ransom me because of my foes.
20 You know my reproach, my shame, my disgrace.
All my adversaries are before You.
21 Scorn has broken my heart, so I am sick.
I looked for sympathy, but there was none,
for comforters, but found none.
22 They put gall in my food,
and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.[c]
23 Let their table before them be a snare,
and what should have been for their well-being,
let it be a trap.
24 Let their eyes be darkened so they cannot see
and their backs be bent forever.[d]
25 Pour out Your indignation on them.
Let Your fierce anger overtake them.
26 Let their encampment be deserted.
Let none dwell in their tents.
27 For they persecute the one You have smitten,
so they tell of the pain
of those You have wounded.
28 Add guilt to their guilt—
may they not come into Your righteousness.
29 May they be wiped out of the book of life
and not be recorded with the righteous.[e]
30 But I—I am afflicted and in pain.
Let Your salvation, O God, set me up on high.
31 I will praise God’s Name with a song,
and magnify Him with praise.
32 It will please Adonai better than an ox
or a bull with horns and hoofs.
33 The humble will see it and be glad.
You who seek God, let your hearts revive.
34 For Adonai hears the needy
and does not despise His captive people.
35 Let heaven and earth praise Him,
the seas and everything moving in them.
36 For God will save Zion,
and rebuild the cities of Judah.
Then they will dwell there and possess it.
37 The children of His servants will inherit it
and those who love His Name will dwell there.
God Is the Strength of My Heart
Psalm 73
1 A psalm of Asaph.
Surely God is good to Israel,
to the pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet almost slipped.
My steps nearly slid out from under me.
3 For I envied the arrogant,
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4 For there are no pains at their death,
their body is healthy.
5 They have none of humanity’s trouble,
nor are they plagued like others.
6 Therefore, they put on pride as a necklace,
and violence wraps around them like a garment.
7 Their eyes bulge out from fatness.
The imaginations of their hearts run wild.
8 They scoff and wickedly plan evil.
From on high they threaten.
9 They set their mouth against heaven.
Their tongue struts through the earth.
10 Therefore His people return here,
while they drink their fill.
11 So they say: “How does God know?
And does Elyon have knowledge?”
12 Behold, such are the wicked—
always at ease and amassing wealth.
13 Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure,
and washed my hands in innocence.
14 For all day I have been stricken,
my chastisement comes every morning.
15 If I had said: “I will speak thus,”
surely I would have betrayed a generation of Your children.
16 But when I tried to make sense of this,
it was troubling in my eyes—
17 until I entered the Sanctuary of God,
and perceived their end.
18 Surely You put them in slippery places.
You hurled them down to destruction.
19 How suddenly they became a ruin—
terminated, consumed by terrors.
20 Like a dream when one awakes,
thus when You arise, my Lord,
You will despise their form.
21 When my heart was embittered
and I was pierced in my heart,
22 I was brutish and ignorant.
I was like a beast before You.
23 Yet I am continually with You.
You hold my right hand.
24 You guide me with Your counsel,
and afterward You will take me into glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but You?
On earth there is none I desire besides You.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.
27 For behold, those far from You will perish.
You put an end to all who like a harlot are unfaithful to You.
28 But for me, it is good to be near God.
I have made my Lord Adonai my refuge.
So I will tell of all Your works.
2 Now Ahaziah fell down from the balcony of his upper chamber in Samaria and was injured. So he sent messengers and instructed them, “Go inquire of Baal-Zebub[a] the god of Ekron, whether I will recover from this injury.”
3 But an angel of Adonai said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say to them: ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of Baal-Zebub the god of Ekron?’ 4 Therefore thus says Adonai: ‘You will not leave the bed you are lying on, for you will surely die.’” And Elijah departed.
5 When the messengers returned to the king, he asked them, “Why have you returned?”
6 They answered him, “A man came up to meet us and said to us: ‘Go, return to the king who sent you, and say to him, thus says Adonai, “Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending to inquire of Baal-Zebub the god of Ekron? Therefore you will not leave the bed you are lying on, for you will surely die.”’”
7 Then he said to them, “What kind of man was he that came up to meet you and told you these words?”
8 They answered him, “He was a hairy man with a leather belt around his waist.”
“It’s Elijah the Tishbite,” he said.
9 So the king sent a captain of 50 with his 50 to Elijah. When the captain went up to him, behold, he was sitting on the top of the hill. So he announced to him, “O man of God, by order of the king, come down!”
10 In response, Elijah said to the captain of 50, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your 50!” Then fire did come down from heaven and consumed him and his 50.
11 So the king again sent to him another captain of 50 with his 50 men, who addressed him and said, “O man of God, by order of the king, come down quickly!”
12 In response, Elijah said to them, “If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your 50.” And the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his 50.
13 So the king again sent the captain of a third 50 with his 50. But when the third captain of 50 went up and came near, he knelt before Elijah, and begged him saying, “O man of God, please, let my life and the lives of these 50 servants of yours be precious in your eyes! 14 Behold, fire came down from heaven and consumed the two previous captains of 50 with their 50; but now let my life be precious in your eyes!”
15 Then the angel of Adonai said to Elijah, “Go down with him; do not be afraid of him.” So he arose and went down with him to the king.
16 Then Elijah said to the king, “Thus says Adonai: You have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-Zebub the god of Ekron. Is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of His word? Therefore you will not leave the bed you are lying on, for you will surely die.” 17 So he died just as was the word of Adonai that Elijah had spoken.
Then Jehoram became king in his place, because Ahaziah had no son. It was in the second year of Jehoram son of King Jehoshaphat of Judah.
16 Don’t you know that you are God’s temple and that the Ruach Elohim dwells among you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.
18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone thinks he is wise in this age, let him become a fool so he may become wise. [a] 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the sight of God. For it is written, “He catches the clever in their craftiness.” [b] 20 And again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are useless.” [c] 21 So let no one boast about men. For all things are yours— 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Kefa, or the world or life or death, or things present or things to come. All are yours, 23 and you are Messiah’s, and Messiah is God’s.
11 “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, on account of Me.
12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great! For in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”[a]
Called to Be Salt and Light
13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt should lose its flavor, how shall it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.
14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a basket. Instead, they put it on a lampstand so it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men so they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.