Book of Common Prayer
Inheritance of the Kedoshim
Psalm 37
1 Of David.
Do not fret because of evildoers,
nor be envious of them who do wrong.
2 For like the grass they soon wither
and fade like a green herb.
3 Trust in Adonai and do good.
Dwell in the land, feed on faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself in Adonai,
and He will give you the requests of your heart.
5 Commit your way to Adonai.
Trust in Him, and He will do it.
6 He will bring out your vindication as light,
and your cause will shine as noonday.
7 Be still before Adonai and wait patiently for Him.
Do not fret over one prospering in his way,
over one carrying out wicked schemes.
8 Put away anger and turn from wrath.
Do not fret—it only leads to doing evil.
9 For evildoers will be cut off,
but those who wait for Adonai—
they will inherit the land.
10 Yet a little while,
and the wicked will be no more.
Yes, you will look at his place,
but he will not be there.
11 But the meek will inherit the land,
and delight in abundant shalom.
12 The wicked plots against the righteous
and gnashes at him with his teeth.
13 The Lord laughs at him—
for He sees his day is coming.
14 The wicked have unsheathed their sword and have bent their bow
to bring down the poor and needy,
to slay those whose conduct is upright.
15 Their sword will pierce their own hearts,
and their bows will be broken.
16 Better a little that the righteous have
than the wealth of many wicked.
17 For the arms of the wicked will be broken,
while Adonai upholds the righteous.
18 Adonai knows the days of the blameless—
their inheritance endures forever.
19 They will not be ashamed in an evil time
and in days of famine they will be satisfied.
20 For the wicked will perish,
and the enemies of Adonai will be like the beauty of the fields—
they will vanish—vanish like smoke.
21 The wicked borrows and does not repay,
but the righteous is a gracious giver.
22 For His blessed ones inherit the land.
But those He curses will be cut off.
23 From Adonai a man’s steps are made firm,
when He delights in his way.
24 Though he stumble,
he will not fall headlong,
for Adonai is holding his hand.
25 I was young and now I am old,
yet I have never seen the righteous one forsaken,
nor his children begging for bread.
26 All day long he is gracious and lends.
So his offspring will be a blessing.
27 Turn from evil and do good,
so you may live forever.
28 For Adonai loves justice
and does not abandon His godly ones.
They will be preserved forever,
but the seed of the wicked will be cut off.
29 The righteous will inherit the land
and dwell in it forever.
30 The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom
and his tongue speaks justice.
31 The Torah of his God is in his heart.
His steps do not slip.
32 The wicked lies in wait for the righteous,
seeking to slay him.
33 But Adonai will not leave him in his hand,
or let him be condemned when judged.
34 Wait for Adonai and keep His way,
and He will exalt you to inherit the land.
When the wicked are cut off, you will see it.
35 I have seen a wicked, ruthless man
flourishing like a leafy tree in native soil.
36 But once he passed by, he was no more.
Though I looked for him, he could not be found.
37 Notice the man of integrity and watch the upright—
for the man of shalom has a future.
38 But transgressors will be destroyed altogether.
The future of the wicked will be cut off.
39 Yet the salvation of the righteous is from Adonai.
He is their stronghold in time of trouble.
40 Adonai helps them and delivers them.
He rescues them from the wicked and saves them—
because they take refuge in Him.
32 “Indeed, ask now about the former days that were before you, from the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of the sky to the other. Has there ever been such a great thing as this, or has anything like it been heard? 33 Has a people ever heard the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire, as you have heard—and lived? 34 Or has any god ever tried to come to take for himself a nation from within a nation—by trials, by signs and wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors—like all that Adonai your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 35 You were shown, so that you might know that Adonai is God—there is no other besides Him. [a] 36 From the heavens He made you hear His voice to instruct you,[b] and on earth He caused you to see His great fire—you heard His words from the midst of the fire. 37 Because He loved your fathers, He chose their descendants after them. Then He brought you out from Egypt with His presence, by His great power— 38 to drive out from before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is this day.
39 “So you will know today and take to heart that Adonai, He is God, in the heavens above and on the earth below—there is no other. 40 You must keep His statutes and His mitzvot, which I am commanding you today, so that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and so that you may prolong your days in the land that Adonai your God is giving you for all time.”
A New Covenant on Hearts of Flesh
3 Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you? 2 You are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. 3 It is clear that you are a letter from Messiah delivered by us—written not with ink but with the Ruach of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.[a]
4 Such is the confidence we have through Messiah toward God— 5 not that we are competent in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our competence is from God. 6 He also made us competent as servants of a new covenant[b]—not of the letter, but of the Ruach. For the letter kills, but the Ruach gives life.
7 Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that Bnei-Yisrael could not look intently upon Moses’ face because of its glory[c]—although it was passing away— 8 how will the ministry of the Ruach not be even more glorious? 9 For if there is glory in the ministry of condemnation,[d] the ministry of righteousness overflows even more in glory. 10 For even what was glorious is not glorious in comparison to the glory that surpasses it. 11 For if what is passing away is glorious, much more what remains is glorious.
12 Therefore, having such a hope, we act with great boldness. 13 We are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face in order for Bnei-Yisrael not to look intently upon the end of what was passing away. 14 But their minds were hardened. For up to this very day the same veil remains unlifted at the reading of the ancient covenant, since in Messiah it is passing away. 15 But to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart. 16 But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. [e] 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Ruach Adonai is, there is freedom. [f] 18 But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory—just as from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
A Lesson for the Disciples
16 Now Yeshua was also saying to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a household manager, and this manager was accused of squandering his belongings. 2 So he called the manager and said to him, ‘What’s this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’
3 “Then the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I’m not strong enough to dig; I’m ashamed to beg. 4 I know what I’ll do, so that when I’m put out of management others will welcome me into their homes.’ 5 So he called in each one of his master’s debtors, and he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
6 “He said, ‘One hundred units of olive oil.’
“The manager said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and write fifty.’ 7 Then he said to another, ‘Now how much do you owe?’
“He said, ‘A hundred units of wheat.’
“The manager said to him, ‘Take your bill and write eighty.’
8 “Now the master praised the crooked manager because he had acted shrewdly, for the sons of this age are smarter when dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. 9 I say to you, make friends for yourselves from the wealth of the world, so when it runs out, they will welcome you into the eternal shelters.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.