Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 72
By Solomon.
1 O Elohim, give the king your justice
and the king’s son[a] your righteousness
2 so that he may judge your people with righteousness
and your oppressed people with justice.
3 May the mountains bring peace to the people
and the hills bring righteousness.
4 May he grant justice to the people who are oppressed.
May he save the children of needy people
and crush their oppressor.
5 May they fear you as long as the sun and moon shine—
throughout every generation.
6 May he be like rain that falls on freshly cut grass,
like showers that water the land.
7 May righteous people blossom in his day.
May there be unlimited peace until the moon no longer shines.
8 May he rule from sea to sea,
from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth.
9 May the people of the desert kneel in front of him.
May his enemies lick the dust.
10 May the kings from Tarshish and the islands bring presents.
May the kings from Sheba and Seba bring gifts.
11 May all kings worship him.
May all nations serve him.
12 He will rescue the needy person who cries for help
and the oppressed person who has no one’s help.
13 He will have pity on the poor and needy
and will save the lives of the needy.
14 He will rescue them from oppression and violence.
Their blood will be precious in his sight.
15 May he live long.
May the gold from Sheba be given to him.
May the people pray for him continually.
May they praise him all day long.
16 May there be plenty of grain in the land.
May it wave in the breeze on the mountaintops,
its fruit like the treetops of Lebanon.
May those from the city flourish like the grass on the ground.
17 May his name endure forever.
May his name continue as long as the sun shines.
May all nations be blessed through him and call him blessed.
18 Thank Yahweh Elohim, the Elohim of Israel,
who alone does miracles.
19 Thanks be to his glorious name forever.
May the whole earth be filled with his glory.
Amen and amen!
20 The prayers by David, son of Jesse, end here.
73 Your hands created me and made me what I am.
Help me understand so that I may learn your commandments.
74 Those who fear you will see me and rejoice,
because my hope is based on your word.
75 I know that your regulations are fair, O Yahweh,
and that you were right to make me suffer.
76 Let your mercy comfort me
as you promised.
77 Let your compassion reach me so that I may live,
because your teachings make me happy.
78 Let arrogant people be put to shame
because they lied about me,
yet I reflect on your guiding principles.
79 Let those who fear you turn to me
so that they can come to know your written instructions.
80 Let my heart be filled with integrity in regard to your laws
so that I will not be put to shame.
81 My soul is weak from waiting for you to save me.
My hope is based on your word.
82 My eyes have become strained from looking for your promise.
I ask, “When will you comfort me?”
83 Although I have become like a shriveled and dried out wineskin,
I have not forgotten your laws.
84 What is left of my life?
When will you bring those who persecute me to justice?
85 Arrogant people have dug pits to trap me
in defiance of your teachings.
86 (All your commandments are reliable.)
Those people persecute me with lies. Help me!
87 They almost wiped me off the face of the earth.
But I did not abandon your guiding principles.
88 Give me a new life through your mercy
so that I may obey the written instructions,
which came from your mouth.
89 O Yahweh, your word is established in heaven forever.
90 Your faithfulness endures throughout every generation.
You set the earth in place, and it continues to stand.
91 All things continue to stand today because of your regulations,
since they are all your servants.
92 If your teachings had not made me happy,
then I would have died in my misery.
93 I will never forget your guiding principles,
because you gave me a new life through them.
94 I am yours.
Save me, because I have searched for your guiding principles.
95 The wicked people have waited for me in order to destroy me,
yet I want to understand your written instructions.
96 I have seen a limit to everything else,
but your commandments have no limit.
The Lord’s Compassion for the Women without Children
54 Sing with joy, you childless women who never gave birth to children.
Break into shouts of joy, you women who never had birth pains.
“There will be more children of women who have been deserted
than there are children of married women,” says Yahweh.
2 Expand the space of your tent.
Stretch out the curtains of your tent, and don’t hold back.
Lengthen your tent ropes, and drive in the tent pegs.
3 You will spread out to the right and left.
Your descendants will take over other nations,
and they will resettle deserted cities.
4 Don’t be afraid, because you won’t be put to shame.
Don’t be discouraged, because you won’t be disgraced.
You’ll forget the shame you’ve had since you were young.
You won’t remember the disgrace of your husband’s death anymore.
5 Your husband is your maker.
His name is Yahweh Tsebaoth.
Your Go’el is Qedosh Yisrael.
He is called the Elohim of the whole earth.
6 “Yahweh has called you as if you were
a wife who was abandoned and in grief,
a wife who married young and was rejected,” says your Elohim.
7 “I abandoned you for one brief moment,
but I will bring you back with unlimited compassion.
8 I hid my face from you for a moment in a burst of anger,
but I will have compassion on you with everlasting kindness,”
says Yahweh your Go’el.
9 “To me this is like Noah’s floodwaters, when I swore an oath
that Noah’s floodwaters would never cover the earth again.
So now I swear an oath not to be angry with you or punish you.
10 The mountains may move, and the hills may shake,
but my kindness will never depart from you.
My promise[a] of peace will never change,”
says Yahweh, who has compassion on you.
11 “You suffering, comfortless, storm-ravaged city!
I will rebuild your city with precious stones.
I will reset your foundations with sapphires.
12 I will rebuild your towers with rubies,
your gates with sparkling stones,
and all your walls with precious stones.”
13 All your children will be taught by Yahweh,
and your children will have unlimited peace.
14 You will be established in righteousness.
You will be far from oppression,
so you will not be afraid.
You will be far from destruction,
so it won’t come near you.
15 “If anyone attacks you, it will not be my doing.
Whoever attacks you will be defeated by you.
16 I’ve created blacksmiths to fan the coals into flames
and to produce useful weapons.
I’ve also created destroyers to bring destruction.
17 No weapon that has been made to be used against you will succeed.
You will have an answer for anyone who accuses you.
This is the inheritance of Yahweh’s servants.
Their victory comes from me,” declares Yahweh.
You Are Children of the Promise
21 Those who want to be controlled by Moses’ laws should tell me something. Are you really listening to what Moses’ Teachings say? 22 Scripture says that Abraham had two sons, one by a woman who was a slave and the other by a free woman. 23 Now, the son of the slave woman was conceived in a natural way, but the son of the free woman was conceived through a promise made to Abraham.
24 I’m going to use these historical events as an illustration. The women illustrate two arrangements.[a] The one woman, Hagar, is the arrangement made on Mount Sinai. Her children are born into slavery. 25 Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia. She is like Jerusalem today because she and her children are slaves. 26 But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother. 27 Scripture says:
“Rejoice, women who cannot get pregnant,
who cannot give birth to any children!
Break into shouting, those who feel no pains of childbirth!
Because the deserted woman will have more children
than the woman who has a husband.”
28 Now you, brothers and sisters, are children of the promise like Isaac.
29 Furthermore, at that time the son who was conceived in a natural way persecuted the son conceived in a spiritual way. That’s exactly what’s happening now. 30 But what does Scripture say? “Get rid of the slave woman and her son, because the son of the slave woman must never share the inheritance with the son of the free woman.” 31 Brothers and sisters, we are not children of a slave woman but of the free woman.
The Pharisees Ask for a Sign from Heaven(A)
11 The Pharisees went to Yeshua and began to argue with him. They tested him by demanding that he perform a miraculous sign from heaven.
12 With a deep sigh he asked, “Why do these people demand a sign? I can guarantee this truth: If these people are given a sign, it will be far different than what they want!”
13 Then he left them there.
The Yeast of the Pharisees(B)
He got into a boat again and crossed to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. 14 The disciples had forgotten to take any bread along and had only one loaf with them in the boat.
15 Yeshua warned them, “Be careful! Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod!”
16 They had been discussing with one another that they didn’t have any bread.
17 Yeshua knew what they were saying and asked them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you don’t have any bread? Don’t you understand yet? Don’t you catch on? Are your minds closed? 18 Are you blind and deaf? Don’t you remember? 19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets did you fill with leftover pieces?”
They told him, “Twelve.”
20 “When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many large baskets did you fill with leftover pieces?”
They answered him, “Seven.”
21 He asked them, “Don’t you catch on yet?”
Jesus Gives Sight to a Blind Man
22 As they came to Bethsaida, some people brought a blind man to Yeshua. They begged Yeshua to touch him. 23 Yeshua took the blind man’s hand and led him out of the village. He spit into the man’s eyes and placed his hands on him. Yeshua asked him, “Can you see anything?”
24 The man looked up and said, “I see people. They look like trees walking around.”
25 Then Yeshua placed his hands on the man’s eyes a second time, and the man saw clearly. His sight was normal again. He could see everything clearly even at a distance. 26 Yeshua told him when he sent him home, “Don’t go into the village.”
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.