Book of Common Prayer
Refuge, Sukkah, Shelter
Psalm 31
1 For the music director, a psalm of David.
2 In You, Adonai, have I taken refuge:
Let me never be put to shame.
In Your righteousness, deliver me.
3 Turn Your ear to me, rescue me quickly.
Be a rock of refuge for me, a stronghold for my deliverance.
4 Since You are my rock and my fortress,
You lead me and guide me for Your Name’s sake.
5 Free me from the net they hid for me,
for You are my refuge.
6 Into Your hand I commit my spirit.[a]
You have redeemed me, Adonai, God of truth.
7 I detest those who continue to watch worthless idols,
but I trust in Adonai.
8 I will be glad and rejoice in Your lovingkindness,
for You saw my affliction.
You knew the troubles of my soul.
9 You did not hand me over to the enemy.
You set my feet in a wide-open place.
10 Be gracious to me, Adonai,
for I am in distress.
My eyes waste away with grief,
my soul and my body as well.
11 For my life is consumed in sorrow
and my years in sighing.
My strength fails because of my anguish
and my bones waste away.
12 Because of all my adversaries
I am the contempt of my neighbors
and a dread to my acquaintances.
Seeing me on the street, they flee from me.
13 I am as forgotten as a dead man.
I have become like a broken vessel.
14 For I have heard the whispering of many.
There is terror on every side
as they conspire against me
and plot to take my life.
15 But I have trusted in You, Adonai.
I said: “You are my God.”
16 My times are in Your hands.
Deliver me from the hands of my foes and from those who pursue me.
17 Make Your face shine on Your servant.
Save me in Your lovingkindness.
18 Adonai, let me not be ashamed,
for I have called upon You.
Let the wicked be ashamed—
let them be silent in Sheol.
19 Let the lying lips be mute.
For they speak arrogantly against the righteous,
with pride and contempt.
20 How great is Your goodness,
which You have stored up for those who fear You,
which You have given to those who take refuge in You,
before the children of men.
21 In the shelter of Your presence
You hide them from people’s plots.
You conceal them in a sukkah
from the strife of tongues.
22 Blessed be Adonai,
for He has shown me His wonderful love
in a besieged city.
23 I said in my alarm,
“I have been cut off from Your sight!”
But You heard the sound of my pleas
when I cried out to You.
24 Love Adonai, all His kedoshim!
Adonai preserves all the faithful,
but the proud He pays back in full.
25 Chazak! Let your heart take courage,[b]
all you who wait for Adonai.
Justice for the Oppressed
Psalm 35
1 A psalm of David.
Adonai, oppose those who oppose me.
Fight those who fight me.
2 Take hold of shield and buckler,
and rise up to my help.
3 Draw out also a spear and battle-axe.
Stop those who pursue me.
Say to my soul: “I am your salvation.”
4 May those who seek my life
be ashamed and disgraced.
May they be turned back and humiliated
—those who plot evil against me.
5 May they be like chaff before the wind,
with the angel of Adonai driving them off.
6 May their way be dark and slippery,
with the angel of Adonai pursuing them.
7 For without cause they hid their net for me,
and without cause they dug a pit for my soul.
8 Let ruin come upon him by surprise.
Let the net he hid entangle himself
—into that same pit let him fall.
9 Then my soul will rejoice in Adonai
and delight in His salvation.
10 All my bones will say:
“Adonai, who is like You,
rescuing the poor from one too strong for him,
the poor and needy from one who robs him?”
11 Violent witnesses rise up.
They question me about things I know nothing about.
12 They repay me evil for good—
my soul is forlorn.
13 But as for me, when they were sick,
my clothing was sackcloth.
I afflicted my soul with fasting,
my prayer kept returning to my heart.
14 I went about mourning as though for my own friend or brother.
I bowed down dressed in black as though for my own mother.
15 But at my stumbling they gathered in glee.
Wretches gathered against me whom I did not know,
tearing at me without ceasing.
16 They mocked profanely, as if at a feast,
they gnashed at me with their teeth.
17 My Lord, how long will You look on?
Rescue my soul from their ravages—
my solitary existence from the lions.
18 I praise You in the great assembly,
acclaiming You among a throng of people.
19 Do not let my deceitful enemies gloat over me without cause,
nor let those who hate me for nothing wink an eye.[a]
20 For they never speak shalom,
but devise deceitful words against the quiet ones in the land.
21 Yes, they open their mouth wide against me, saying:
“Aha! Aha! Our own eyes have seen it!”
22 You have seen it, Adonai—be not silent!
Adonai, be not far from me.
23 Arise, awaken to my defense,
to my cause—my God and my Lord!
24 Vindicate me, Adonai my God,
according to Your justice,
and do not let them gloat over me.
25 Don’t let them say in their heart:
“Aha! Just what we wanted!”
Don’t let them say:
“We swallowed him up!”
26 May they be ashamed and humiliated,
those who rejoice over my misery.
May they who exalt themselves over me
be clothed with shame and disgrace.
27 May they shout for joy and be glad,
those who delight in my righteous cause.
May they always say:
“Exalted be Adonai, who delights in His servant’s shalom.”
28 Then my tongue will declare aloud
Your justice and Your praises all day.
The Sign of Immanuel
10 Then Adonai spoke again to Ahaz saying, 11 “Ask for a sign from Adonai your God—from the depths of Sheol or the heights of Heaven.”
12 But Ahaz said, “I won’t ask—I wouldn’t test Adonai!”
13 Then he said, “Hear now, house of David! Is it a small thing for you to weary men? Will you also weary my God? 14 Therefore Adonai Himself will give you a sign:
Behold, the virgin[a] will conceive.
When she is giving birth to a son,
she will call his name Immanuel.[b]
15 He will be eating curds and honey
by the time he knows to refuse evil
and choose good.
16 For before the boy knows to refuse evil and choose good, the land of the two kings you dread will be abandoned. 17 Adonai will bring—on you, on your people and on your father’s house such days as have never come since the day Ephraim separated from Judah—the king of Assyria!
18 In that day Adonai will whistle for the fly at the source of the Nile of Egypt and for the bee in the land of Assyria. 19 Then they will come, all of them—and will settle in the steep wadis and in the clefts of the cliffs and in all the thorn bushes and in all the watering holes. 20 In that day Adonai will shave—with a razor hired beyond the River—with the king of Assyria—the head and the hair of the legs, and even clip off the beard.
21 In that day it will be that a man will rear a calf and two sheep, 22 and from the abundant milk they give, he will eat curds—for anyone left in the land will eat curds and honey.
23 In that day it will be that every place where there were 1,000 vines worth 1,000 silver shekels will become briers and thorns. 24 With arrows and bows one will come there, since all the land will become briers and thorns. 25 As for all the hills that were tilled with the hoe—you will not go there for fear of briers and thorns. Instead it will be for grazing of oxen and roaming of sheep.
Firstfruits of Salvation
13 But we should always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters loved by the Lord, because God chose you as firstfruits for salvation[a] through sanctification by the Ruach and belief in the truth. 14 He called you to this salvation through our proclaiming the Good News, for you to gain the glory of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. 15 So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold on to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by our letter.
16 Now may our Lord Yeshua the Messiah Himself and God our Father, who loved us and by grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, 17 comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good deed and word.
3 Finally, brothers and sisters, pray for us that the word of the Lord may spread quickly and be glorified—just as it is with you. 2 Also pray that we may be rescued from perverse and evil people, for not all are trustworthy. 3 But the Lord is trustworthy—and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. 4 We have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you are doing and will keep doing what we command. 5 May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Messiah.
The Seder in the Upper Room
14 When the hour came, Yeshua reclined at table, and the emissaries with Him. 15 And He said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you, I will never eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”
17 And when He had taken a cup and offered the bracha, He said, “Take this and share it among yourselves. 18 For I tell you that I will never drink of the fruit of the vine from now on, until the kingdom of God comes.”
19 And when He had taken matzah[a] and offered the bracha, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body, given for you. Do this in memory of Me.” 20 In the same way, He took the cup after the meal, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is poured out for you. [b] 21 But look, the hand of the one betraying Me is with Mine on the table. [c] 22 For indeed, the Son of Man is going as has been predetermined; but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!”
23 So they began to discuss among themselves which of them it might be who would do this thing. 24 But there was also a quarrel among them about which of them is considered the greatest. 25 And Yeshua said to them, “The kings of the nations have mastery over them, and those exercising authority over them are called ‘benefactors.’ 26 But with you, it is not so. Rather, let the one who is greatest among you become like the youngest, and the one who leads like the one who serves. 27 For who is greater, the one who reclines or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines? But I am among you as one who serves.
28 “You are the ones who have remained with Me in My times of testing. 29 And just as My Father has granted Me a kingdom, so I grant to you 30 that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and you shall sit upon thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.