Book of Common Prayer
Pledge of Integrity
Psalm 101
1 A psalm of David.
I will sing of lovingkindness and justice.
To You, Adonai, I will sing praises.
2 I will behave wisely in the way of integrity
—when will You come to me?
I walk in my house with integrity in my heart.
3 No base thing will I set before my eyes.
Twisted behavior I hate—it will not cling to me.
4 A perverse heart will depart from me.
I will know nothing evil.
5 Whoever slanders his neighbor in secret
—him I will silence.
Who has haughty eyes and a proud heart
—him I will not tolerate.
6 My eyes are on the trustworthy of the land,
to be in my company.
One walking in a blameless way will serve me.
7 No one who practices deceit will dwell in my house.
No one who utters lies will endure before my eyes.
8 Each morning I silence all the land’s wicked ones—
to cut off from Adonai’s city every evildoer.
Prayer Against an Accuser
Psalm 109
1 For the music director, a psalm of David.
O God of my praise, be not silent.
2 For the wicked and the deceitful
have opened their mouth against me.
They spoke to me with a lying tongue,
3 with hateful words surrounded me,
and fought against me without cause.
4 In return for my love they are my accusers,
but I am in prayer.
5 They repay me evil for good,
and hatred for my love.
6 Set a wicked man over him,
let an accuser[a] stand at his right hand.
7 When he is judged,
let him be found guilty,
and may his prayer be as sin.
8 Let his days be few,
let another take his position.
9 May his children be fatherless,
and his wife a widow.
10 Let his children wander and beg
and may they search in their ruins.
11 Let a creditor seize all he has,
and may strangers plunder his labor.
12 Let no one show him mercy,
or take pity on his fatherless children.
13 Let his posterity be cut off,
and his name be blotted out in the next generation.
14 May the guilt of his fathers be remembered before Adonai,
the sin of his mother never blotted out.
15 Let their sins be before Adonai continually,
that He may cut off the memory of them from the earth.
16 For he never remembered to show mercy.
But he persecuted a poor and needy man,
crushed in spirit, to put him to death.
17 How he loved cursing—
may it fall on him!
He had no pleasure in blessing—
may it be far from him!
18 He wore cursing like his robe,
until it filled his belly like water, and his bones like oil.
19 May it be like a cloak wrapped around him,
like a belt tied around him always.
20 Let this be Adonai’s reward to my accusers,
and to those who speak evil against me.
21 But You, Adonai my Lord,
deal with me for Your Name’s sake.
Because Your lovingkindness is good, deliver me.
22 For I am afflicted and needy,
and my heart is wounded within me.
23 I fade away like an evening shadow,
shaken off like a locust.
24 My knees totter from fasting,
and my flesh is lean, with no fat.
25 And I have become a taunt to them.
When they see me, they wag their head.
26 Help me, Adonai my God,
Save me through Your lovingkindness.
27 Let them know that it is Your hand—
that You, Adonai, have done it.
28 They may curse, but You bless.
When they arise, they will be ashamed,
but Your servant will rejoice.
29 My accusers will be clothed in disgrace,
and wrapped in shame as in a cloak.
30 I will greatly thank Adonai with my mouth,
and in the midst of a throng will I praise Him.
AYIN ע
121 I did what is just and right.
Do not leave me to my oppressors.
122 Guarantee Your servant’s well-being.
Do not let arrogant ones oppress me.
123 My eyes fail, longing for Your salvation
and for Your righteous word.
124 Deal with Your servant as befits Your lovingkindness,
and teach me Your statutes.
125 I am Your servant, give me discernment,
so I may understand Your testimonies.
126 It is time for Adonai to act—
they have violated Your Torah!
127 Therefore I love Your mitzvot
more than gold, more than pure gold.
128 Therefore I esteem all Your precepts as right in every way
—every false way I hate.
PE פ
129 Your testimonies are wonderful.
Therefore my soul obeys them.
130 The unfolding of Your words gives light,
giving understanding to the simple.
131 I opened my mouth wide and panted,
for I longed for Your mitzvot.
132 Turn to me and be gracious to me,
as is fitting to those who love Your Name.
133 Direct my footsteps in Your word,
and let no iniquity get mastery over me.
134 Redeem me from human oppression,
and I will keep Your precepts.
135 Make Your face shine on Your servant,
and teach me Your decrees.
136 Streams of water run down from my eyes,
because they do not observe Your Torah.
TZADHE צ
137 Righteous are You, Adonai,
and Your judgments are upright.
138 You have commanded righteousness,
Your testimonies, and great faithfulness.
139 My zeal has consumed me,
because my foes forgot Your words.
140 Your word is thoroughly refined,
and Your servant loves it.
141 I am insignificant and despised,
yet I have not forgotten Your precepts.
142 Your justice is righteousness forever,
and Your Torah is truth.
143 Trouble and anguish have overtaken me,
yet Your mitzvot are my delight.
144 Your testimonies are righteous forever
—make me understand, so I may live.
15 Look down from heaven and see
from Your holy, glorious, lofty abode.
Where are Your zeal and mighty deeds?
Are the yearnings of Your heart,
Your compassions, withheld from me?
16 For You are our Father—
even if Abraham would not know us
or Israel not recognize us.
You, Adonai, are our Father, our Redeemer—
from everlasting is Your Name.
17 Adonai, why do You cause us to stray from Your ways,
and harden our heart from fearing You?
Return for Your servants’ sake,
the tribes of Your heritage.
18 Briefly Your holy people possessed it—
our foes have trampled Your Sanctuary.
19 We have become like those over whom[a]
You have never ruled,
like those not called by Your Name.
Oh, that You would rend the heavens and come down,
that the mountains might quake at Your presence!
As Unclean Rags
64 As fire kindles brushwood,
as fire causes water to boil,
make Your Name known to Your foes,
so the nations may tremble before You!
2 When You did awesome things that we were not expecting,
You came down—the mountains shook at Your presence!
3 For from days of old no one has heard,
no ear perceived,
no eye has seen God, except You,
who acts on behalf of the one waiting for Him.
4 You meet him who rejoices in doing righteousness,
who remembers You in Your ways.
Behold, You were angry.
When we keep sinning all the time,
would we be saved?
5 For all of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteousness is like a filthy garment,
and all of us wither like a leaf,
and our iniquities carry us away, like the wind.
6 No one calls on Your Name,
or stirs himself up to take hold of You.
For You have hidden Your face from us,
and have consumed us, because of our iniquities.
7 But now, Adonai, You are our Father.
We are the clay and You are our potter,
We are all the work of Your hand.
8 Do not be angry much more, Adonai,
or remember iniquity forever.
Oh, please see,
we are all Your people!
9 Your holy cities became a wilderness,
Zion has become a wilderness,
Jerusalem a desolation.
Qualifications for Oversight and Service
3 Trustworthy is the saying: “If any man aspires to the office of overseer,[a] he desires a good work.” 2 An overseer, then, must be beyond criticism—the husband of one wife, clear-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not addicted to wine, not violent but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money, 4 managing his own household well, keeping his children under control with all respectfulness. 5 (But if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s community?) 6 He must not be a new believer,[b] or he may become puffed up and fall into the same judgment as the devil. 7 Furthermore, he must have a good reputation with those outside, so that he will not fall into disgrace and the devil’s trap.
8 Servant-leaders likewise must be dignified, not double-speaking, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain. 9 They must keep hold of the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. 10 Also let them first be tested—then let those who are blameless serve as servant-leaders. 11 Women likewise must be dignified, not backbiting; clear-minded, trustworthy in every respect. 12 Let servant-leaders be husbands of one wife, managing their children and their own households well. 13 For those who have served well as servant-leaders gain for themselves a good standing and great confidence in the faith that is in Messiah Yeshua.
14 These things I write to you, hoping to come to you shortly. 15 But if I delay, I write so you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God—which is the community of the living God, a pillar and foundation of truth. 16 Now beyond question, great is the mystery of godliness:
He was revealed in the flesh,
Vindicated in the Spirit,
Seen by angels,
Proclaimed among the nations,
Trusted throughout the world,
Taken up in glory.
A Question for a Question
27 Again they come to Jerusalem. While Yeshua was walking in the Temple, the ruling kohanim, Torah scholars, and elders come up to Him. 28 And they start saying to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things? Who gave You this authority to do these things?”
29 Yeshua said to them, “I will put one question to you. Answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 The immersion of John—was it from heaven or from men? Answer Me!”
31 They began to dialogue among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 32 But if we say, ‘From men’. . .?” They were afraid of the crowd, for all held that John really was a prophet. 33 So answering Yeshua, they say, “We don’t know.”
And Yeshua tells them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
Taking the Kingdom by Force
12 Yeshua began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard. He put a hedge around it, dug a pit for the winepress, and built a tower. He leased it to some tenant farmers and went on a journey. 2 And at the season, he sent a servant to collect from the tenants part of the vineyard’s fruit. 3 But grabbing him, they beat him up and sent him away empty-handed. 4 And again the man sent another servant to them, and they wounded his head and treated him shamefully. 5 He sent another, and that one they killed; and so on with many others, beating some and killing some. 6 He had yet one, a well-loved son. He sent him to them last of all, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’
7 “But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir! Come on, let’s kill him and the inheritance will be ours!’ 8 So grabbing the son, they killed him and threw him out of the vineyard.
9 “What then will the master of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. 10 Haven’t you read this Scripture?
‘The stone which the builders rejected,
this has become the chief cornerstone.
11 This came from Adonai,
and it is marvelous in our eyes.’”[a]
12 They were trying to seize Yeshua, because they realized that He spoke the parable against them. But they feared the crowd, so they left Him and went away.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.