Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 95
1 Come, let’s sing joyfully to Yahweh.
Let’s shout happily to the rock of our salvation.
2 Let’s come into his presence with a song of thanksgiving.
Let’s shout happily to him with psalms.
3 Yahweh is a great El and a great Melek above all gods.
4 In his hand are the deep places of the earth,
and the mountain peaks are his.
5 The sea is his.
He made it, and his hands formed the dry land.
6 Come, let’s worship and bow down.
Let’s kneel in front of Yahweh, our maker,
7 because he is our Elohim
and we are the people in his care,
the flock that he leads.
If only you would listen to him today!
8 “Do not be stubborn like my people were at Meribah,
like the time at Massah in the desert.
9 Your ancestors challenged me and tested me there,
although they had seen what I had done.
10 For 40 years I was disgusted with those people.
So I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts continue to stray.
They have not learned my ways.’
11 That is why I angrily took this solemn oath:
‘They will never enter my place of rest!’”
Psalm 88
A song; a psalm by Korah’s descendants; for the choir director; according to mahalath leannoth;[a] a maskil by Heman the Ezrahite.
1 O Yahweh Elohim, my savior,
I cry out to you during the day and at night.
2 Let my prayer come into your presence.
Turn your ear to hear my cries.
3 My soul is filled with troubles,
and my life comes closer to the grave.
4 I am numbered with those who go into the pit.
I am like a man without any strength—
5 abandoned with the dead,
like those who have been killed and lie in graves,
like those whom you no longer remember,
who are cut off from your power.
6 You have put me in the bottom of the pit—in deep, dark places.
7 Your rage lies heavily on me.
You make all your waves pound on me. Selah
8 You have taken my friends far away from me.
You made me disgusting to them.
I’m shut in, and I can’t get out.
9 My eyes grow weak because of my suffering.
All day long I call out to you, O Yahweh.
I stretch out my hands to you in prayer.
10 Will you perform miracles for those who are dead?
Will the spirits of the dead rise and give thanks to you? Selah
11 Will anyone tell about your mercy in Sheol
or about your faithfulness in Abaddon?
12 Will anyone know about your miracles in that dark place
or about your righteousness in the place where forgotten people live?
13 I cry out to you for help, O Yahweh,
and in the morning my prayer will come into your presence.
14 Why do you reject my soul, O Yahweh?
Why do you hide your face from me?
15 Ever since I was young, I have been suffering and near death.
I have endured your terrors, and now I am in despair.[b]
16 Your burning anger has swept over me.
Your terrors have destroyed me.
17 They swirl around me all day long like water.
They surround me on all sides.
18 You have taken my loved ones and friends far away from me.
Darkness is my only friend![c]
Psalm 91
1 Whoever lives under the shelter of Elyon
will remain in the shadow of Shadday.
2 I will say to Yahweh,
“You are my Machseh and my Metsuda, my Elohim in whom I trust.”
3 He is the one who will rescue you from hunters’ traps
and from deadly plagues.
4 He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge.
His truth is your shield and armor.
5 You do not need to fear
terrors of the night,
arrows that fly during the day,
6 plagues that roam the dark,
epidemics that strike at noon.
7 They will not come near you,
even though a thousand may fall dead beside you
or ten thousand at your right side.
8 You only have to look with your eyes
to see the punishment of wicked people.
9 You, O Yahweh, are my Machseh!
You have made Elyon your home.
10 No harm will come to you.
No sickness will come near your house.
11 He will put his angels in charge of you
to protect you in all your ways.
12 They will carry you in their hands
so that you never hit your foot against a rock.
13 You will step on lions and cobras.
You will trample young lions and snakes.
14 Because you love me, I will rescue you.
I will protect you because you know my name.
15 When you call to me, I will answer you.
I will be with you when you are in trouble.
I will save you and honor you.
16 I will satisfy you with a long life.
I will show you how I will save you.
Psalm 92
A psalm; a song; for the day of worship.
1 It is good to give thanks to Yahweh,
to make music to praise your name, O Elyon.
2 It is good to announce your mercy in the morning
and your faithfulness in the evening
3 on a ten-stringed instrument and a harp
and with a melody on a lyre.
4 You made me find joy in what you have done, O Yahweh.
I will sing joyfully about the works of your hands.
5 How spectacular are your works, O Yahweh!
How very deep are your thoughts!
6 A stupid person cannot know
and a fool cannot understand
7 that wicked people sprout like grass
and all troublemakers blossom like flowers,
only to be destroyed forever.
8 But you, O Yahweh, are highly honored forever.
9 Now look at your enemies, O Yahweh.
Now look at your enemies.
They disappear, and all troublemakers are scattered.
10 But you make me as strong as a wild bull,
and soothing lotion is poured on me.
11 My eyes gloat over those who spy on me.
My ears hear the cries of evildoers attacking me.
12 Righteous people flourish like palm trees
and grow tall like the cedars in Lebanon.
13 They are planted in Yahweh’s house.
They blossom in Elohim’s courtyards.
14 Even when they are old, they still bear fruit.
They are always healthy and fresh.
15 They make it known that Yahweh is decent.
He is my rock.
He is never unfair.
Judah Has Disobeyed the Terms of the Lord’s Promise
11 This is the message that Yahweh spoke to Jeremiah. He said, 2 “Listen to the terms of this promise,[a] and tell them to the people of Judah and to those who live in Jerusalem. 3 Say to them, ‘This is what Yahweh, the Elohim of Israel, says: Cursed is anyone who doesn’t listen to the terms of this promise. 4 I made this promise to your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt, which was an iron smelter. I said, “Obey me, and do everything that I have told you to do. Then you will be my people, and I will be your Elohim. 5 I will keep the oath I made to your ancestors and give them a land flowing with milk and honey, the land you still have today.”’”
I answered, “Yes, Yahweh.”
6 Yahweh said to me, “Announce all these things in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: Listen to the terms of this promise, and keep them. 7 I solemnly warned your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt, and the warning still applies to you today. I solemnly warned them to obey me. 8 But they didn’t obey me or pay attention to me. They followed their own stubborn, evil ways. So I punished them, because they did not keep all the terms of the promise, the terms that I commanded them to keep.”
14 Jeremiah, don’t pray for these people. Don’t cry or pray for them. I won’t listen when they call to me for help in times of trouble.
15 “What right do these people I love have to be in my house
when they do so many devious things?
Can the meat from their sacrifices turn disaster away from them?
They rejoice when they do evil.”
16 Yahweh called you a large olive tree
that has beautiful fruit to look at.
He will set fire to you with a mighty storm,
and your branches will be broken.
17 Yahweh Tsebaoth planted you.
He has pronounced disaster on you.
This is because of the evil things
that Israel and Judah have done.
They have made him furious by burning incense
as an offering to Baal.
Jeremiah’s Life Is Threatened
18 Yahweh revealed their plot to me so that I would understand. He showed me what they were doing. 19 I was like a trusting lamb brought to the slaughter. I didn’t know that they were plotting against me. They were saying, “Let’s destroy the tree with its fruit. Let’s cut Jeremiah off from this world of the living so that we won’t be reminded of him anymore.”
20 O Yahweh Tsebaoth, you judge fairly
and test motives and thoughts.
I want to see you take revenge on them,
because I’ve brought my case to you.
No Longer Slaves to Sin, but God’s Servants
6 What should we say then? Should we continue to sin so that God’s kindness[a] will increase? 2 That’s unthinkable! As far as sin is concerned, we have died. So how can we still live under sin’s influence?
3 Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Yeshua were baptized into his death? 4 When we were baptized into his death, we were placed into the tomb with him. As Christ was brought back from death to life by the glorious power of the Father, so we, too, should live a new kind of life. 5 If we’ve become united with him in a death like his, certainly we will also be united with him when we come back to life as he did. 6 We know that the person we used to be was crucified with him to put an end to sin in our bodies. Because of this we are no longer slaves to sin. 7 The person who has died has been freed from sin.
8 If we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, who was brought back to life, will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. 10 When he died, he died once and for all to sin’s power. But now he lives, and he lives for God. 11 So consider yourselves dead to sin’s power but living for God in the power Christ Yeshua gives you.
33 They replied to Yeshua, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and we’ve never been anyone’s slaves. So how can you say that we will be set free?”
34 Yeshua answered them, “I can guarantee this truth: Whoever lives a sinful life is a slave to sin. 35 A slave doesn’t live in the home forever, but a son does. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be absolutely free. 37 I know that you’re Abraham’s descendants. However, you want to kill me because you don’t like what I’m saying. 38 What I’m saying is what I have seen in my Father’s presence. But you do what you’ve heard from your father.”
39 The Jews replied to Yeshua, “Abraham is our father.”
Yeshua told them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do what Abraham did. 40 I am a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. But now you want to kill me. Abraham wouldn’t have done that. 41 You’re doing what your father does.”
The Jews said to Yeshua, “We’re not illegitimate children. God is our only Father.”
42 Yeshua told them, “If God were your Father, you would love me. After all, I’m here, and I came from God. I didn’t come on my own. Instead, God sent me. 43 Why don’t you understand the language I use? Is it because you can’t understand the words I use? 44 You come from your father, the devil, and you desire to do what your father wants you to do. The devil was a murderer from the beginning. He has never been truthful. He doesn’t know what the truth is. Whenever he tells a lie, he’s doing what comes naturally to him. He’s a liar and the father of lies. 45 So you don’t believe me because I tell the truth. 46 Can any of you convict me of committing a sin? If I’m telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? 47 The person who belongs to God understands what God says. You don’t understand because you don’t belong to God.”
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.