Book of Common Prayer
A Powerful King for the Poor
Psalm 72
1 Of Solomon.
Give the king Your judgments, O God,
and Your righteousness to the king’s son.
2 May he judge Your people with righteousness,
and Your poor ones with justice.
3 Let the mountains bring shalom to the people,
and the hills righteousness.
4 May he vindicate the poor of the people,
save the children of the needy,
and crush the oppressor.
5 Let them fear You while the sun endures,
and while the moon lasts, throughout all generations.
6 May he be like rain falling on a mown field,
like showers watering the ground.
7 Let the righteous flourish in his days.
Let shalom abound till the moon is no more.
8 May he have dominion from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
9 Let desert dwellers bow before him,
and his enemies lick the dust.
10 May kings of Tarshish and the islands bring tribute,
kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts.
11 So let all kings bow down before him,
and all nations serve him.
12 For he rescues the needy crying for help,
also the poor and the one with no helper.
13 He will take pity on the poor and needy,
and the souls of the needy he will save.
14 From oppression and violence he redeems their soul,
for precious is their blood in his sight.
15 Long may he live!
May gold from Sheba be given to him.
May he pray for him continually,
and bless him all day.
16 Let there be abundance of grain in the land.
Let it sway on the top of the hills,
let its fruit be like Lebanon,
and let people of the city flourish like grass of the field.
17 May his name endure forever.
May his name increase before the sun,
and may all nations be blessed by him
and call him blessed.
18 Blessed be Adonai Elohim, God of Israel,
who alone does wonders.
19 Blessed be His glorious Name forever.
May all the earth be filled with His glory!
Amen and Amen!
20 The prayers of David son of Jesse are complete.
YOD י
73 Your hands have made me and formed me.
Give me understanding that I may learn Your mitzvot.
74 Those in awe of You see me and rejoice,
because I put my hope in Your word.
75 I know, Adonai, Your judgments are just.
In faithfulness You have afflicted me.
76 May Your lovingkindness comfort me,
according to Your promise to Your servant.
77 Let Your tender mercies reach me,
Let me live, for Your Torah is my delight.
78 May the proud be put to shame
for wronging me with a lie,
but I will meditate on Your precepts.
79 Let those in awe of You return to me—
those who know Your testimonies.
80 My heart will have integrity in following Your decrees,
so that I would not be ashamed.
KAF כ
81 My soul faints with longing for Your salvation,
but I still hope in Your word.
82 My eyes are worn out longing for Your promise,
saying, “When will You comfort me?”
83 Though I became like a wineskin dried in smoke,
I do not forget Your decrees.
84 How many are the days of Your servant?
When will You execute judgment on my persecutors?
85 The proud have dug pits for me—
that is not in accord with Your Torah!
86 All Your mitzvot are faithful.
They persecute me with a lie—help me!
87 They almost finished me off on earth.
But I—I will not forsake Your precepts.
88 Revive me with Your lovingkindness,
so I may keep Your mouth’s testimony.
LAMED ל
89 Forever, Adonai,
Your word stands firm in the heavens.
90 Your faithfulness endures from generation to generation.
You established the earth, and it stands.
91 Your judgments stand today,
for all things are Your servants.
92 If Your Torah had not been my delight,
I would have perished in my affliction.
93 I will never forget Your precepts.
For with them You have kept me alive.
94 I am Yours, save me!
For I have sought out Your precepts.
95 The wicked wait for me to destroy me.
But I will study Your testimonies.
96 I have seen a limit to all perfection,
yet Your commandment is boundless.
18 Then Joseph said to them on the third day, “Do this and you will live. I fear God. 19 If you’re honest, let one of your brothers remain as a prisoner in the guardhouse where you’ve been, while you, go and bring grain for the hunger in your homes. 20 And your youngest brother, bring to me so that your words can be verified—and you won’t die.” So they did.
21 Then each man said to his brother, “We’re truly guilty for our brother. We saw the distress of his soul when he begged us for mercy, but we didn’t listen. That’s why this distress has come to us.”
22 Reuben answered them and said, “Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t sin against the boy’? But you didn’t listen. Now, see how his blood is now being accounted for.”
23 They did not know that Joseph was listening, since there was an interpreter between them. 24 He turned away from them and wept. When he turned back to them and spoke to them, he took Simeon from them and tied him up before their eyes.
25 Then Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to return each man’s money to his sack, and to give them provisions for the journey. So it was done for them. 26 Then they loaded their grain on their donkeys and left from there. 27 As one of them opened his sack to give fodder to his donkey at the lodge, he saw his money—behold, it was in the opening of his bag. 28 So he said to his brothers, “My money has been returned! Look, it’s in my bag.”
Their hearts sank. Trembling, each one turned to his brother and said, “What is this that God has done to us?”
9 I wrote to you in my letter not to mix together[a] with sexually immoral people— 10 not at all meaning the sexually immoral people of this world or the greedy or swindlers or idolaters, for then you would have to exit the world. 11 But now I am writing to you not to mix together with anyone who is being called a brother if he is sexually immoral or greedy or an idolater or a slanderer or a drunkard or a swindler—not even to eat with such a fellow. 12 For what business do I have judging outsiders? Don’t you judge those who are inside? 13 But those who are outside, God judges. Put away the wicked fellow from among yourselves.[b]
Settle Disputes Within the Community
6 Does any one of you, when he has a matter against his neighbor, dare to go to court before the unrighteous and not before the kedoshim? 2 Don’t you know that the kedoshim will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to judge trivial matters? 3 Don’t you know that we will judge angels? How much more the matters of this life! 4 So if you have courts for matters of this life, why do you appoint as judges those who have no standing in the community? 5 I say this to put you to shame! Isn’t there even one wise man among you who will be able to settle disputes between his brethren? 6 Instead, a brother goes to court against a brother—and before unbelievers at that!
7 Therefore, it is already an utter failure for you that you have lawsuits among yourselves. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? 8 But you yourselves do wrong and cheat—and against your brothers and sisters at that!
Storytelling Opens Hearts
4 Again Yeshua began to teach by the sea. A large crowd gathered around Him, so He got into a boat on the sea and sat down. And the crowd was by the sea on the land. 2 He began teaching them many things by parables, and in His teaching, He said to them: 3 “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to spread some seed. 4 It happened that as he sowed, some fell beside the road; and the birds came and ate it up.
5 “Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it didn’t have much soil. It sprang up immediately, because the soil wasn’t deep. 6 But when the sun came up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.
7 “Other seed fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew and choked it, and it yielded no crop.
8 “And others fell into the good soil and were producing fruit, springing up and increasing. They yielded a crop, producing thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.” 9 And He said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
10 When Yeshua was alone, those around Him with the Twelve started asking Him about the parables. 11 And He told them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God. But for those who are outside, everything is in parables,[a] so that
12 ‘Seeing, they may se and not perceive,
and hearing, they may hear and not understand,
so they may not turn back and be forgiven.’”[b]
13 He said to them, “Don’t you grasp this parable? Then how will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 These are the ones beside the road where the word is sown. Whenever they hear, satan comes quickly and takes away the word that has been sown in them.
16 “These are the ones sown on rocky ground. When they hear the word, immediately they receive it with joy. 17 And they have no root in themselves but last only a short while. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately they fall away.
18 “And others are the ones sown among the thorns. They have heard the word; 19 but the worries of the world, the seduction of wealth, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
20 “And those are the ones sown on the good soil. They hear the word and accept it and produce fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.