Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 38
A psalm by David; to be kept in mind.[a]
1 O Yahweh, do not angrily punish me
or discipline me in your wrath.
2 Your arrows have struck me.
Your hand has struck me hard.
3 No healthy spot is left on my body
because of your rage.
There is no peace in my bones
because of my sin.
4 My guilt has overwhelmed me.
Like a heavy load, it is more than I can bear.
5 My wounds smell rotten.
They fester because of my stupidity.
6 I am bent over and bowed down very low.
All day I walk around in mourning.
7 My insides are filled with burning pain,
and no healthy spot is left on my body.
8 I am numb and completely devastated.
I roar because my heart’s in turmoil.
9 You know all my desires, O Adonay,
and my groaning has not been hidden from you.
10 My heart is pounding.
I have lost my strength.
Even the light of my eyes has left me.
11 My loved ones and my friends keep their distance
and my relatives stand far away because of my sickness.
12 Those who seek my life lay traps for me.
Those who are out to harm me talk about ruining me.
All day long they think of ways to deceive me.
13 But I am like a person who cannot hear
and like a person who cannot speak.
14 I am like one who cannot hear
and who can offer no arguments.
15 But I wait with hope for you, O Yahweh.
You will answer, O Adonay, my Elohim.
16 I said, “Do not let them gloat over me.
When my foot slips,
do not let them promote themselves at my expense.”
17 I am ready to fall.
I am continually aware of my pain.
18 I confess my guilt.
My sin troubles me.
19 My mortal enemies are growing stronger.
Many hate me for no reason.
20 They pay me back with evil instead of good,
and they accuse me because I try to do what is good.
21 Do not abandon me, O Yahweh.
O my Elohim, do not be so distant from me.
22 Come quickly to help me, O Adonay, my savior.
25 I am close to death.
Give me a new life as you promised.
26 I told you what I have done, and you answered me.
Teach me your laws.
27 Help me understand your guiding principles
so that I may reflect on your miracles.
28 I am drowning in tears.
Strengthen me as you promised.
29 Turn me away from a life of lies.
Graciously provide me with your teachings.
30 I have chosen a life of faithfulness.
I have set your regulations in front of me.
31 I have clung tightly to your written instructions.
O Yahweh, do not let me be put to shame.
32 I will eagerly pursue your commandments
because you continue to increase my understanding.
33 Teach me, O Yahweh, how to live by your laws,
and I will obey them to the end.
34 Help me understand so that I can follow your teachings.
I will guard them with all my heart.
35 Lead me on the path of your commandments,
because I am happy with them.
36 Direct my heart toward your written instructions
rather than getting rich in underhanded ways.
37 Turn my eyes away from worthless things.
Give me a new life in your ways.
38 Keep your promise to me
so that I can fear you.
39 Take away insults, which I dread,
because your regulations are good.
40 I long for your guiding principles.
Give me a new life in your righteousness.
41 Let your blessings reach me, O Yahweh.
Save me as you promised.
42 Then I will have an answer for the one who insults me
since I trust your word.
43 Do not take so much as a single word of truth from my mouth.
My hope is based on your regulations.
44 I will follow your teachings forever and ever.
45 I will walk around freely
because I sought out your guiding principles.
46 I will speak about your written instructions in the presence of kings
and not feel ashamed.
47 Your commandments, which I love, make me happy.
48 I lift my hands in prayer because of your commandments,
which I love.
I will reflect on your laws.
Isaiah Is Sent with a Message for the Lord’s People
6 In the year King Uzziah died, I saw Adonay sitting on a high and lofty throne. The bottom of his robe filled the temple. 2 Angels[a] were standing above him. Each had six wings: With two they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. 3 They called to each other and said,
“Holy, holy, holy is Yahweh Tsebaoth!
The whole earth is filled with his glory.”
4 Their voices shook the foundations of the doorposts, and the temple filled with smoke.
5 So I said, “Oh, no!
I’m doomed.
Every word that passes through my lips is sinful.
I live among people with sinful lips.
I have seen the Melek, Yahweh Tsebaoth!”
6 Then one of the angels flew to me. In his hand was a burning coal that he had taken from the altar with tongs. 7 He touched my mouth with it and said, “This has touched your lips. Your guilt has been taken away, and your sin has been forgiven.”
8 Then I heard the voice of Adonay, saying, “Whom will I send? Who will go for us?”
I said, “Here I am. Send me!”
9 And he said, “Go and tell these people,
‘No matter how closely you listen, you’ll never understand.
No matter how closely you look, you’ll never see.’
10 Make these people close-minded.
Plug their ears.
Shut their eyes.
Otherwise, they may see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their minds,
and return and be healed.”
11 I asked, “How long, O Adonay?”
And he replied,
“Until the cities lie in ruins with no one living in them,
the houses have no people,
and the land is completely desolate.
12 Yahweh will send his people far away,
and a large area in the middle of the land will be abandoned.
13 Even if one out of ten people is left in it,
the land will be burned again.
When a sacred oak or an oak is cut down, a stump is left.
The holy seed will be the land’s stump.”
Greeting
1 From Paul, Silas, and Timothy.
To the church at Thessalonica united with God our Father and the Lord Yeshua Christ.
2 Good will[a] and peace from God our Father and the Lord Yeshua Christ are yours!
Paul’s Prayer for the Thessalonians
3 We always have to thank God for you, brothers and sisters. It’s right to do this because your faith is showing remarkable growth and your love for each other is increasing. 4 That’s why we brag in God’s churches about your endurance and faith in all the persecutions and suffering you are experiencing. 5 Your suffering proves that God’s judgment is right and that you are considered worthy of his kingdom.
6 Certainly, it is right for God to give suffering to those who cause you to suffer. 7 It is also right for God to give all of us relief from our suffering. He will do this when the Lord Yeshua is revealed, coming from heaven with his mighty angels in a blazing fire. 8 He will take revenge on those who refuse to acknowledge God and on those who refuse to respond to the Good News about our Lord Yeshua. 9 They will pay the penalty by being destroyed forever, by being separated from the Lord’s presence and from his glorious power. 10 This will happen on that day when he comes to be honored among all his holy people and admired by all who have believed in him. This includes you because you believed the testimony we gave you.
11 With this in mind, we always pray that our God will make you worthy of his call. We also pray that through his power he will help you accomplish every good desire and help you do everything your faith produces. 12 That way the name of our Lord Yeshua will be honored among you. Then, because of the good will of Yeshua Christ, our God and Lord, you will be honored by him.
53 Then each of them went home.
A Woman Caught in Adultery
8 Yeshua went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Early the next morning he returned to the temple courtyard. All the people went to him, so he sat down and began to teach them.
3 The experts in Moses’ Teachings and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught committing adultery. They made her stand in front of everyone 4 and asked Yeshua, “Teacher, we caught this woman in the act of adultery. 5 In his teachings, Moses ordered us to stone women like this to death. What do you say?” 6 They asked this to test him. They wanted to find a reason to bring charges against him.
Yeshua bent down and used his finger to write on the ground. 7 When they persisted in asking him questions, he straightened up and said, “The person who is sinless should be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Then he bent down again and continued writing on the ground.
9 One by one, beginning with the older men, the experts in Moses’ Teachings and Pharisees left. Yeshua was left alone with the woman. 10 Then Yeshua straightened up and asked her, “Where did they go? Has anyone condemned you?”
11 The woman answered, “No one, sir.”
Yeshua said, “I don’t condemn you either. Go! From now on don’t sin.”
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.