Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 69
For the choir director; according to shoshannim; by David.
1 Save me, O Elohim!
The water is already up to my neck!
2 I am sinking in deep mud.
There is nothing to stand on.
I am in deep water.
A flood is sweeping me away.
3 I am exhausted from crying for help.
My throat is hoarse.
My eyes are strained from looking for my Elohim.
4 Those who hate me for no reason
outnumber the hairs on my head.
Those who want to destroy me are mighty.
They have no reason to be my enemies.
I am forced to pay back what I did not steal.
5 O Elohim, you know my stupidity,
and the things of which I am guilty are not hidden from you.
6 Do not let those who wait with hope for you
be put to shame because of me, O Adonay Yahweh Tsebaoth.
Do not let those who come to you for help
be humiliated because of me, O Elohim of Israel.
7 Indeed, for your sake I have endured insults.
Humiliation has covered my face.
8 I have become a stranger to my own brothers,
a foreigner to my mother’s sons.
9 Indeed, devotion for your house has consumed me,
and the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.
10 I cried and fasted, but I was insulted for it.
11 I dressed myself in sackcloth, but I became the object of ridicule.
12 Those who sit at the gate gossip about me,
and drunkards make up songs about me.
13 May my prayer come to you at an acceptable time, O Yahweh.
O Elohim, out of the greatness of your mercy,
answer me with the truth of your salvation.
14 Rescue me from the mud.
Do not let me sink into it.
I want to be rescued from those who hate me
and from the deep water.
15 Do not let floodwaters sweep me away.
Do not let the ocean swallow me up,
or the pit close its mouth over me.
16 Answer me, O Yahweh, because your mercy is good.
Out of your unlimited compassion, turn to me.
17 I am in trouble, so do not hide your face from me.
Answer me quickly!
18 Come close, and defend my soul.
Set me free because of my enemies.
19 You know that I have been insulted, put to shame, and humiliated.
All my opponents are in front of you.
20 Insults have broken my heart, and I am sick.
I looked for sympathy, but there was none.
I looked for people to comfort me, but I found no one.
21 They poisoned my food,
and when I was thirsty, they gave me vinegar to drink.
22 Let the table set for them become a trap
and a snare for their friends.
23 Let their vision become clouded so that they cannot see.
Let their thighs continually shake.
24 Pour your rage on them.
Let your burning anger catch up with them.
25 Let their camp be deserted
and their tents empty.
26 They persecute the one you have struck,
and they talk about the pain of those you have wounded.
27 Charge them with one crime after another.
Do not let them be found innocent.
28 Let their names be erased from the Book of Life.
Do not let them be listed with righteous people.
29 I am suffering and in pain.
Let your saving power protect me, O Elohim.
30 I want to praise the name of Elohim with a song.
I want to praise its greatness with a song of thanksgiving.
31 This will please Yahweh more than sacrificing an ox
or a bull with horns and hoofs.
32 Oppressed people will see this and rejoice.
May the hearts of those who look to Elohim for help be refreshed.
33 Yahweh listens to needy people.
He does not despise his own who are in prison.
34 Let heaven and earth, the seas, and everything that moves in them, praise him.
35 When Elohim saves Zion, he will rebuild the cities of Judah.
His servants will live there and take possession of it.
36 The descendants of his servants will inherit it.
Those who love him will live there.
BOOK THREE
(Psalms 73–89)
Psalm 73
A psalm by Asaph.
1 Elohim is truly good to Israel,
to those whose lives are pure.
2 But my feet had almost stumbled.
They had almost slipped
3 because I was envious of arrogant people
when I saw the prosperity that wicked people enjoy.
4 They suffer no pain.
Their bodies are healthy.
5 They have no drudgery in their lives like ordinary people.
They are not plagued with problems like others.
6 That is why they wear arrogance like a necklace
and acts of violence like clothing.
7 Their eyes peer out from their fat faces,[a]
and their imaginations run wild.
8 They ridicule.
They speak maliciously.
They speak arrogantly about oppression.
9 They verbally attack heaven,
and they order people around on earth.
10 That is why Elohim’s people turn to wickedness[b]
and swallow their words.
11 Then wicked people ask, “What does Elohim know?”
“Does Elyon know anything?”
12 Look how wicked they are!
They never have a worry.
They grow more and more wealthy.
13 I’ve received no reward for keeping my life pure
and washing my hands of any blame.
14 I’m plagued with problems all day long,
and every morning my punishment begins again.
15 If I had said, “I will continue to talk like that,”
I would have betrayed Elohim’s people.
16 But when I tried to understand this,
it was too difficult for me.
17 Only when I came into Elohim’s holy place
did I finally understand what would happen to them.
18 You put them in slippery places
and make them fall into ruin.
19 They are suddenly destroyed.
They are completely swept away by terror!
20 As someone gets rid of a dream when he wakes up,
so you, O Adonay, get rid of the thought of them
when you wake up.
21 When my heart was filled with bitterness
and my mind was seized with envy,
22 I was stupid, and I did not understand.
I was like a dumb animal in your presence.
23 Yet, I am always with you.
You hold on to my right hand.
24 With your advice you guide me,
and in the end you will take me to glory.
25 As long as I have you,
I don’t need anyone else in heaven or on earth.
26 My body and mind may waste away,
but Elohim remains the foundation of my life
and my inheritance forever.
27 Without a doubt, those who are far from you will die.
You destroy all who are unfaithful to you.
28 Being united with Elohim is my highest good.
I have made Adonay Yahweh my Machseh
so that I may report everything that he has done.
Salvation for All People
56 This is what Yahweh says:
Preserve justice, and do what is right.
My salvation is about to come.
My righteousness is about to be revealed.
2 Blessed is the one who does these things
and the person who holds on to them.
Blessed is the one who keeps the day of worship from becoming unholy
and his hands from doing anything wrong.
3 Foreigners who have joined Yahweh should not say, “Yahweh will separate us from his people.” Castrated men should not say, “We’re only dead trees!” 4 This is what Yahweh says: I will remember the castrated men who keep my days of worship, choose what pleases me, and faithfully observe the conditions of my promise.[a] 5 Inside my house and within my walls, I will give them something better than sons and daughters. I will give them a monument and a name. I will give them a permanent name that will not be forgotten. 6 And I will remember the foreigners who have joined Yahweh to worship him, to love Yahweh’s name, and to be his servants. All of them will keep the day of worship from becoming unholy and will faithfully observe the conditions of my promise. 7 Then I will bring them to my holy mountain and make them happy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on my altar, because my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.
8 Adonay Yahweh, who gathers the scattered people of Israel, declares, “I will gather still others besides those I have already gathered.”
16 Let me explain further. Live your life as your spiritual nature directs you. Then you will never follow through on what your corrupt nature wants. 17 What your corrupt nature wants is contrary to what your spiritual nature wants, and what your spiritual nature wants is contrary to what your corrupt nature wants. They are opposed to each other. As a result, you don’t always do what you intend to do. 18 If your spiritual nature is your guide, you are not subject to Moses’ laws.
19 Now, the effects of the corrupt nature are obvious: illicit sex, perversion, promiscuity, 20 idolatry, drug use, hatred, rivalry, jealousy, angry outbursts, selfish ambition, conflict, factions, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild partying, and similar things. I’ve told you in the past and I’m telling you again that people who do these kinds of things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the spiritual nature produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There are no laws against things like that. 24 Those who belong to Christ Yeshua have crucified their corrupt nature along with its passions and desires.
Moses and Elijah Appear with Jesus(A)
2 After six days Yeshua took only Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain where they could be alone.
Yeshua’s appearance changed in front of them. 3 His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone on earth could bleach them. 4 Then Elijah and Moses appeared to them and were talking with Yeshua.
5 Peter said to Yeshua, “Rabbi, it’s good that we’re here. Let’s put up three tents—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 6 (Peter didn’t know how to respond. He and the others were terrified.)
7 Then a cloud overshadowed them. A voice came out of the cloud and said, “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”
8 Suddenly, as they looked around, they saw no one with them but Yeshua.
9 On their way down the mountain, Yeshua ordered them not to tell anyone what they had seen. They were to wait until the Son of Man had come back to life. 10 They kept in mind what he said but argued among themselves what he meant by “come back to life.” 11 So they asked him, “Don’t the experts in Moses’ Teachings say that Elijah must come first?”
12 Yeshua said to them, “Elijah is coming first and will put everything in order again. But in what sense was it written that the Son of Man must suffer a lot and be treated shamefully? 13 Indeed, I can guarantee that Elijah has come. Yet, people treated him as they pleased, as Scripture says about him.”
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.