Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 34[a]
By David when he pretended to be insane in the presence of Abimelech; Abimelech threw him out, so David left.
1 I will thank Yahweh at all times.
My mouth will always praise him.
2 My soul will boast about Yahweh.
Those who are oppressed will hear it and rejoice.
3 Praise Yahweh’s greatness with me.
Let us highly honor his name together.
4 I went to Yahweh for help.
He answered me and rescued me from all my fears.
5 All who look to him will be radiant.[b]
Their faces will never be covered with shame.
6 Here is a poor man who called out.
Yahweh heard him and saved him from all his troubles.
7 The Messenger of Yahweh camps around those who fear him,
and he rescues them.
8 Taste and see that Yahweh is good.
Blessed is the person who takes refuge in him.
9 Fear Yahweh, you holy people who belong to him.
Those who fear him are never in need.
10 Young lions go hungry and may starve,
but those who seek Yahweh’s help have all the good things they need.
11 Come, children, listen to me.
I will teach you the fear of Yahweh.
12 Which of you wants a full life?
Who would like to live long enough to enjoy good things?
13 Keep your tongue from saying evil things
and your lips from speaking deceitful things.
14 Turn away from evil, and do good.
Seek peace, and pursue it!
15 Yahweh’s eyes are on righteous people.
His ears hear their cry for help.
16 Yahweh confronts those who do evil
in order to wipe out all memory of them from the earth.
17 Righteous people cry out.
Yahweh hears and rescues them from all their troubles.
18 Yahweh is near to those whose hearts are humble.
He saves those whose spirits are crushed.
19 The righteous person has many troubles,
but Yahweh rescues him from all of them.
20 Yahweh guards all of his bones.
Not one of them is broken.
21 Evil will kill wicked people,
and those who hate righteous people will be condemned.
22 Yahweh protects the souls of his servants.
All who take refuge in him will never be condemned.
Psalm 33
1 Joyfully sing to Yahweh, you righteous people.
Praising the Lord is proper for decent people.
2 Give thanks with a lyre to Yahweh.
Make music for him on a ten-stringed harp.
3 Sing a new song to him.
Play beautifully and joyfully on stringed instruments.
4 The word of Yahweh is correct,
and everything he does is trustworthy.
5 Yahweh loves righteousness and justice.
His mercy fills the earth.
6 The heavens were made by the word of Yahweh
and all the stars by the breath of his mouth.
7 He gathers the water in the sea like a dam
and puts the oceans in his storehouses.
8 Let all the earth fear Yahweh.
Let all who live in the world stand in awe of him.
9 He spoke, and it came into being.
He gave the order, and there it stood.
10 Yahweh blocks the plans of the nations.
He frustrates the schemes of the people of the world.
11 Yahweh’s plan stands firm forever.
His thoughts stand firm in every generation.
12 Blessed is the nation whose Elohim is Yahweh.
Blessed are the people he has chosen as his own.
13 Yahweh looks down from heaven.
He sees all of Adam’s descendants.
14 From the place where he sits enthroned,
he looks down upon all who live on earth.
15 The one who formed their hearts
understands everything they do.
16 No king achieves a victory with a large army.
No warrior rescues himself by his own great strength.
17 Horses are not a guarantee for victory.
Their great strength cannot help someone escape.
18 Yahweh’s eyes are on those who fear him,
on those who wait with hope for his mercy
19 to rescue their souls from death
and keep them alive during a famine.
20 We wait for Yahweh.
He is our help and our Magen.
21 In him our hearts find joy.
In his holy name we trust.
22 Let your mercy rest on us, O Yahweh,
since we wait with hope for you.
The Lord’s First Promise to Abram
12 Yahweh said to Abram,
“Leave your land,
your relatives,
and your father’s home.
Go to the land that I will show you.
2 I will make you a great nation,
I will bless you.
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you, I will curse.
Through you every family on earth will be blessed.”
The Lord’s Second Promise to Abram
4 So Abram left, as Yahweh had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran. 5 Abram set out for Canaan. He took along his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the possessions they had accumulated and the servants they had acquired in Haran.
6 They arrived in Canaan,[a] and Abram traveled through the land to the oak tree belonging to Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 Then Yahweh appeared to Abram and said, “I’m going to give this land to your descendants.” So he built an altar there to Yahweh, who had appeared to him.
Faith Directed People’s Lives
11 Faith assures us of things we expect and convinces us of the existence of things we cannot see. 2 God accepted our ancestors because of their faith.
3 Faith convinces us that God created the world through his word. This means what can be seen was made by something that could not be seen.
4 Faith led Abel to offer God a better sacrifice than Cain’s sacrifice. Through his faith Abel received God’s approval, since God accepted his sacrifices. Through his faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.
5 Faith enabled Enoch to be taken instead of dying. No one could find him, because God had taken him. Scripture states that before Enoch was taken, God was pleased with him. 6 No one can please God without faith. Whoever goes to God must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
7 Faith led Noah to listen when God warned him about the things in the future that he could not see. He obeyed God and built a ship to save his family. Through faith Noah condemned the world and received God’s approval that comes through faith.
8 Faith led Abraham to obey when God called him to go to a place that he would receive as an inheritance. Abraham left his own country without knowing where he was going.
9 Faith led Abraham to live as a foreigner in the country that God had promised him. He lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who received the same promise from God. 10 Abraham was waiting for the city that God had designed and built, the city with permanent foundations.
11 Faith enabled Abraham to become a father, even though he was old and Sarah had never been able to have children. Abraham trusted that God would keep his promise. 12 Abraham was as good as dead. Yet, from this man came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the grains of sand on the seashore.
35 Yeshua told them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never become hungry, and whoever believes in me will never become thirsty. 36 I’ve told you that you have seen me. However, you don’t believe in me. 37 Everyone whom the Father gives me will come to me. I will never turn away anyone who comes to me. 38 I haven’t come from heaven to do what I want to do. I’ve come to do what the one who sent me wants me to do. 39 The one who sent me doesn’t want me to lose any of those he gave me. He wants me to bring them back to life on the last day. 40 My Father wants all those who see the Son and believe in him to have eternal life. He wants me to bring them back to life on the last day.”
41 The Jews began to criticize Yeshua for saying, “I am the bread that came from heaven.” 42 They asked, “Isn’t this man Yeshua, Joseph’s son? Don’t we know his father and mother? How can he say now, ‘I came from heaven’?”
48 “I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert and died. 50 This is the bread that comes from heaven so that whoever eats it won’t die. 51 I am the living bread that came from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. The bread I will give to bring life to the world is my flesh.”
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.