Book of Common Prayer
KOF ק
145 I cried out with all my heart,
“Answer me, Adonai!
I will keep Your decrees.”
146 I cried out to You, “Save me,
and I will keep Your testimonies.”
147 I am up before dawn, crying for help—
I put my hope in Your word.
148 My eyes are up before every night watch,
as I meditate on Your word.
149 Hear my voice with Your lovingkindness.
Revive me, Adonai, with Your judgments.
150 Pursuers of wicked schemes draw near—
they are far from Your Torah.
151 You are near, Adonai,
and all Your mitzvot are truth.
152 Long ago I learned from Your testimonies
that You founded them firmly forever.
RESH ר
153 See my affliction and rescue me,
for I do not forget Your Torah.
154 Defend my cause and redeem me.
Restore my life through Your word.
155 Salvation is far from the wicked,
for they do not seek after Your decrees.
156 Great are Your mercies, Adonai.
Restore my life with Your judgments.
157 Many are my persecutors and my foes.
Yet I do not turn from Your testimonies.
158 I see the treacherous and loathe them,
because they do not keep Your word.
159 See how I loved Your precepts.
Restore my life, Adonai, with Your lovingkindness.
160 Truth is the essence of Your word,
and all Your righteous rulings are eternal.
SHIN ש
161 Princes persecute me for no reason,
but my heart is in awe of Your words.
162 I rejoice in Your word,
as one who finds great spoil.
163 I hate and abhor falsehood,
but Your Torah I love.
164 Seven times a day I praise You,
because of Your righteous judgments.
165 Great peace have they who love Your Torah,
and nothing causes them to stumble.
166 I hope for Your salvation, Adonai,
and do Your mitzvot.
167 My soul has observed Your testimonies
and I love them exceedingly.
168 I observe Your precepts and Your laws,
for all my ways are before You.
TAV ת
169 Let my cry come to You, Adonai.
Grant me understanding by Your word.
170 Let my supplication come before You.
Deliver me, according to Your promise.
171 My lips utter praise,
for You teach me Your statutes.
172 My tongue sings of Your word,
for all Your mitzvot are righteous.
173 Let Your hand be ready to help me,
for I have chosen Your precepts.
174 I long for Your deliverance, Adonai,
and Your Torah is my delight.
175 Let my soul live and praise You,
and may Your rulings help me.
176 I have strayed like a lost sheep—seek Your servant.
For I did not forget Your mitzvot.
Blessing on Those Who Fear God
Psalm 128
1 A Song of Ascents.
Happy is everyone in awe of Adonai,
who walks in His ways,
2 for you will eat the labor of your hands.
You will be blessed
and it will be good for you.
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house.
Your children will be like olive saplings around your table.
4 Behold, thus will the man be blessed
who fears Adonai.
5 May Adonai bless you out of Zion,
and may you see Jerusalem in prosperity
all the days of your life,
6 and may you live to see your children’s children.
Shalom be upon Israel!
Haters Won’t Prevail
Psalm 129
1 A Song of Ascents.
“How many times they have been hostile to me,
even from my youth”—let Israel now say—
2 “How greatly they have been
hostile to me, even from my youth.
Yet they have not prevailed against me.
3 Plowmen plowed on my back—
they made their furrows long!”
4 Adonai is righteous—
He has cut the ropes of the wicked.
5 May all who hate Zion
be driven back in disgrace.
6 Let them be like grass on the roofs,
which withers before it springs up—
7 with it a reaper cannot fill his hand,
nor can a binder of sheaves fill his lap.
8 So the passersby may never say:
“The blessing of Adonai be upon you—
we bless you in the Name of Adonai.”
Forgiveness and Full Redemption
Psalm 130
1 A Song of Ascents.
Out of the depths I cry to You, Adonai!
2 Lord, hear my voice!
Let Your ears be attentive to the sound of my supplications.
3 If You, Adonai, kept a record of iniquities—
my Lord, who could stand?
4 For with You there is forgiveness,
so You may be revered.
5 I wait for Adonai, my soul waits,
and in His word I hope.
6 My soul waits for my Lord,
more than watchmen for the morning,
watchmen for the morning.
7 O Israel, wait for Adonai.
For with Adonai there is lovingkindness,
and with Him is full redemption,
8 and He will redeem Israel
from all its iniquities.
Gleaning in Boaz’s Field
2 Now, Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side—from Elimelech’s family—a prominent man of substance whose name was Boaz.
2 Ruth the Moabitess, said to Naomi, “Please let me go out to the field and glean grain behind anyone in whose eyes I may find favor.”
Naomi said to her, “Go ahead, my daughter.” 3 So Ruth went out and gleaned in the field behind the reapers. She just so happened to be in the field of Boaz, who was from Elimelech’s family.
4 Soon after Boaz arrived from Bethlehem, he said to the harvesters, “Adonai be with you.”
They replied, “May Adonai bless you.”
5 Then Boaz asked the foreman of his harvesters, “Whose young woman is this?”
6 “She is a Moabite woman who came back with Naomi from the region of Moab,” the foreman replied. 7 “She asked ‘Please allow me to glean and gather among the barley sheaves behind the harvesters.’ So she came and has been working in the field since morning until now, except for a little while in the shelter.”
8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen to me, my daughter. Do not go to glean in another field or even pass on from here, but stay close to my female workers. 9 Keep your eyes on the field that they are harvesting, and follow after them. I strongly ordered the young men not to touch you. When you are thirsty, you can go to the jars and drink from the water the young men have drawn.”
10 Then she fell upon her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes that you have noticed me, even though I am a foreigner?”
11 Boaz replied and said to her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law since your husband’s death has been fully reported to me—how you left your father and mother and the land of your birth, and came to a people you did not know before. 12 May Adonai repay you for what you have done, and may you be fully rewarded by Adonai, God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”
13 She said, “May I continue to find favor in your eyes, my lord, for you have comforted me and spoken kindly to your maidservant, even though I am not one of your maidservants.”
23 But I call God as my witness[a]—to spare you, I didn’t come to Corinth again. 24 Not that we lord it over you in matters of faith, but we are fellow workers for your joy—for in the faith you are standing firm.
Forgive the Repentant Sinner
2 So I made up my mind that I would not come to you again causing sorrow. 2 For if I cause you sorrow, then who is there cheering me on but the one I have made sorrowful? 3 And I wrote this very thing to you, so that when I came I wouldn’t have sorrow from those who ought to make me rejoice—having confidence in you all that my joy is yours. 4 For out of much distress and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears—not to make you sorrowful, but to let you know the love that I have especially for you.
5 But if anyone has caused sorrow, he has caused sorrow not to me, but to some extent—not to exaggerate—to all of you. 6 For such a person, this punishment by the majority is enough. 7 So instead you should forgive him and encourage him. Otherwise such a person might be swallowed up by excessive sorrow. 8 Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for him. 9 For to this end I also wrote, that I might know your character, whether you are obedient in all things. 10 Now anyone you forgive, I also forgive. For indeed, what I have forgiven (if I have forgiven anything), I did it for you in the presence of Messiah, 11 so that we might not be outwitted by satan—for we are not ignorant of his schemes.
Revealing Messiah’s Fragrance
12 Now when I arrived in Troas for the Good News of Messiah, and a door was opened to me by the Lord, 13 I had no rest in my spirit, because I didn’t find Titus my brother. So I said farewell to them, and I set out for Macedonia. 14 But thanks be to God, who in Messiah always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us reveals everywhere the aroma[b] of the knowledge of Himself. 15 For we are the aroma of Messiah to God, among those who are being saved and those who are perishing— 16 to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. Who is competent for these things? 17 For we are not like many, peddling the word of God. Rather, in Messiah we speak in the sight of God with sincerity, as persons sent from God.
21 “You have heard it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder,[a] and whoever commits murder shall be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be subject to judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca’ shall be subject to the council[b]; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be subject to fiery Gehenna.
23 “Therefore if you are presenting your offering upon the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your offering there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.
25 “Make friends quickly with your opponent while you are with him on the way. Otherwise, your opponent may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the assistant, and you will be thrown into prison. 26 Amen, I tell you, you will never get out of there until you have paid back the last penny![c]
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.