Book of Common Prayer
Be Still My Soul
Psalm 131
1 A Song of Ascents. Of David.
Adonai, my heart is not proud,
nor my eyes lofty,
nor do I go after things too great
or too difficult for me.
2 But I have calmed and quieted my soul—
like a weaned child with his mother,
like a weaned child is my soul within me.
3 O Israel, put your hope in Adonai
from this time forth and forever.
Promise of Ben-David
Psalm 132
1 A Song of Ascents.
Adonai, remember David,
all his afflictions,
2 and how he swore to Adonai,
vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob:
3 “I will not enter the tent of my house
nor lie on my bed,
4 nor will I will give sleep to my eyes,
nor slumber to my eyelids,
5 till I find a place for Adonai,
a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob.”
6 Behold, we heard of it in Ephratha,
we found it in the fields of Joar.
7 Let us go into His dwelling place,
let us bow at His footstool.
8 Arise, Adonai, to Your resting place—
You, and the Ark of Your might.
9 Let Your kohanim wear righteousness,
and let Your godly ones sing for joy.
10 For Your servant David’s sake
do not turn away the face of Your anointed.[a]
11 Adonai has sworn to David
a true promise He will not revoke:
“From the fruit of your body
I will set one upon your throne—[b]
12 if your children keep My covenant
and My law that I will teach them,
then their sons will sit on your throne forever.”
13 For Adonai has chosen Zion,
He has desired it for His dwelling:
14 “This is My resting place forever.
Here I dwell, for I have desired it.
15 I will abundantly bless her food.
I will satisfy her needy ones with bread.
16 I will clothe her kohanim with salvation,
and her godly ones will sing aloud for joy.
17 There will I make a horn spring up for David,[c]
I have set up a lamp for My anointed.
18 His enemies I will clothe with shame,
but upon himself his crown will shine.”
Blessing of Unity
Psalm 133
1 A Song of Ascents. Of David.
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
for brothers to dwell together in unity!
2 It is like the precious oil upon the head,
coming down upon the beard—Aaron’s beard—
coming down on the collar of his robes.
3 It is like the dew of Hermon,
coming down upon the mountains of Zion.
For there Adonai commanded the blessing
—life forevermore!
Call to Evening Worship
Psalm 134
1 A Song of Ascents.
Behold, bless Adonai, all servants of Adonai,
who stand by night in the House of Adonai.
2 Lift up your hands to the Sanctuary
and bless Adonai.
3 May Adonai bless you out of Zion—
Maker of heaven and earth.
Jacob as His Treasure
Psalm 135
1 Halleluyah! Praise the Name of Adonai.
Give praise, O servants of Adonai—
2 standing in the House of Adonai,
in the courts of the House of our God.
3 Praise Adonai, for Adonai is good.
Sing praises to His Name, for it is delightful.
4 For Adonai has chosen Jacob for Himself,
Israel as His treasured possession.[d]
5 For I have known that Adonai is great,
and that our Lord is above all gods.
6 Whatever Adonai pleases, He does,
in heaven and in earth,
in the seas and in all deeps.
7 He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain.
He brings wind out of His storehouses.
8 He struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
both man and beast.
9 He sent signs and wonders among you,
O Egypt, on Pharaoh and all his servants.
10 He struck down many nations
and slew mighty kings:
11 Sihon, king of the Amorites,
and Og, king of Bashan,
and all the kingdoms of Canaan,
12 and gave their land as an inheritance,
an inheritance to His people Israel.
13 Adonai, Your Name endures forever,
Your renown, Adonai, from generation to generation.
14 For Adonai will vindicate His people,
and have compassion on His servants.
15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
16 They have mouths, but cannot speak,
eyes, but cannot see;
17 they have ears, but cannot hear,
nor is there any breath in their mouths.
18 Those who make them will be like them—
so will all who keep trusting in them.
19 O house of Israel, bless Adonai!
O house of Aaron, bless Adonai!
20 O house of Levi, bless Adonai!
You who revere Adonai, bless Adonai!
21 Blessed be Adonai out of Zion,
who dwells in Jerusalem. Halleluyah!
14 At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come over here and eat some bread and dip your piece into the wine vinegar.” So she sat beside the harvesters and he held out to her roasted grain. She ate until she was full, and some was still left. 15 When she got up to glean, Boaz gave orders to his workers saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, do not humiliate her. 16 Also be sure to pull out some grain for her from the sheaves and leave them for her to pick up, and do not rebuke her.”
17 So she gleaned in the field until evening. When she thrashed what she had gathered, there was about an ephah of barley. 18 She carried it back to town, where her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. Ruth took some out and gave her what was left over after eating her fill.
19 Her mother-in-law asked her, “Where did you glean today? Where did you work? May the one who noticed you be blessed!”
She told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and she said, “The name of the man for whom I worked is Boaz.”
20 So Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by Adonai who has not stopped his kindness to the living or to the dead.” Then Naomi said to her, “This man is closely related to us, one of our kinsmen-redeemers.”[a]
21 Then Ruth the Moabitess said, “He even said to me, ‘Stay close to my workers until they have finished the entire harvest.’”
22 Naomi answered her daughter-in-law Ruth, “It is good, my daughter-in-law, that you go out with his female workers, so that you will not be harmed in another field.”
23 So she stayed close to Boaz’s female workers, gleaning until both the barley harvest and the wheat harvest were completed. Meanwhile she lived with her mother-in-law.
A New Covenant on Hearts of Flesh
3 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you? 2 You are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. 3 It is clear that you are a letter from Messiah delivered by us—written not with ink but with the Ruach of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.[a]
4 Such is the confidence we have through Messiah toward God— 5 not that we are competent in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our competence is from God. 6 He also made us competent as servants of a new covenant[b]—not of the letter, but of the Ruach. For the letter kills, but the Ruach gives life.
7 Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that Bnei-Yisrael could not look intently upon Moses’ face because of its glory[c]—although it was passing away— 8 how will the ministry of the Ruach not be even more glorious? 9 For if there is glory in the ministry of condemnation,[d] the ministry of righteousness overflows even more in glory. 10 For even what was glorious is not glorious in comparison to the glory that surpasses it. 11 For if what is passing away is glorious, much more what remains is glorious.
12 Therefore, having such a hope, we act with great boldness. 13 We are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face in order for Bnei-Yisrael not to look intently upon the end of what was passing away. 14 But their minds were hardened. For up to this very day the same veil remains unlifted at the reading of the ancient covenant, since in Messiah it is passing away. 15 But to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart. 16 But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. [e] 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Ruach Adonai is, there is freedom. [f] 18 But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory—just as from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ [a] 28 But I tell you that everyone who looks upon a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 And if your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away! It is better for you that one part of your body should be destroyed, than that your whole body be thrown into Gehenna. [b] 30 And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away! It is better for you that one part of your body should be destroyed, than that your whole body go into Gehenna.
31 “It was said, ‘Whoever sends his wife away, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ [c] 32 But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall carry out your oaths to Adonai.’ [d] 34 But I tell you, do not swear at all—not by heaven, for it is the throne of God; 35 or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet;[e] or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. [f] 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black. 37 But let your word ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’—anything more than this is from the evil one.”
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.