Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 70[a]
For the choir director; by David; to be kept in mind.
1 Come quickly to rescue me, O Elohim!
Come quickly to help me, O Yahweh!
2 Let those who seek my life
be confused and put to shame.
Let those who want my downfall
be turned back and disgraced.
3 Let those who say, “Aha! Aha!”
be turned back because of their own shame.
4 Let all who seek you rejoice and be glad because of you.
Let those who love your salvation continually say,
“Elohim is great!”
5 But I am oppressed and needy.
O Elohim, come to me quickly.
You are my help and my savior.
O Yahweh, do not delay!
Psalm 71
1 I have taken refuge in you, O Yahweh.
Never let me be put to shame.
2 Rescue me and free me because of your righteousness.
Turn your ear toward me, and save me.
3 Be a rock on which I may live,
a Maon where I may always go.
You gave the order to save me!
Indeed, you are my rock and my Metsuda.
4 My Elohim, free me from the hands of a wicked person,
from the grasp of one who is cruel and unjust.
5 You are my hope, O Adonay Yahweh.
You have been my confidence ever since I was young.
6 I depended on you before I was born.
You took me from my mother’s womb.
My songs of praise constantly speak about you.
7 I have become an example to many people,
but you are my strong Machseh.
8 My mouth is filled with your praise,
with your glory all day long.
9 Do not reject me when I am old
or abandon me when I lose my strength.
10 My enemies talk about me.
They watch me as they plot to take my life.
11 They say, “Elohim has abandoned him.
Pursue him and grab him because there is no one to rescue him.”
12 O Elohim, do not be so distant from me.
O my Elohim, come quickly to help me.
13 Let those who accuse me come to a shameful end.
Let those who want my downfall be covered
with disgrace and humiliation.
14 But I will always have hope.
I will praise you more and more.
15 My mouth will tell about your righteousness,
about your salvation all day long.
Even then, it is more than I can understand.
16 I will come with the mighty deeds of Adonay Yahweh.
I will praise your righteousness, yours alone.
17 O Elohim, you have taught me ever since I was young,
and I still talk about the miracles you have done.
18 Even when I am old and gray, do not abandon me, O Elohim.
Let me live to tell the people of this age
what your strength has accomplished,
to tell about your power to all who will come.
19 Your righteousness reaches to the heavens, O Elohim.
You have done great things.
O Elohim, who is like you?
20 You have made me endure many terrible troubles.
You restore me to life again.
You bring me back from the depths of the earth.
21 You comfort me and make me greater than ever.
22 Because of your faithfulness, O my Elohim,
even I will give thanks to you as I play on a lyre.
I will make music with a harp to praise you, O Qedosh Yisrael.
23 My lips will sing with joy when I make music to praise you.
My soul, which you have rescued, also will sing joyfully.
24 My tongue will tell about your righteousness all day long,
because those who wanted my downfall
have been disgraced and put to shame.
Psalm 74
A maskil[a] by Asaph.
1 Why, O Elohim, have you rejected us forever?
Why does your anger
smolder against the sheep in your care?
2 Remember your congregation.
Long ago you made it your own.
You bought this tribe to be your possession.
This tribe is Mount Zion, where you have made your home.
3 Turn your steps toward[b] these pathetic ruins.
The enemy has destroyed everything in the holy temple.
4 Your opponents have roared inside your meeting place.
They have set up their own emblems as symbols.
5 Starting from its entrance, they hacked away
like a woodcutter in a forest.[c]
6 They smashed all its carved paneling with axes and hatchets.
7 They burned your holy place to the ground.
They dishonored the place where you live among us.
8 They said to themselves, “We will crush them.”
They burned every meeting place of El in the land.
9 We no longer see miraculous signs.
There are no prophets anymore.
No one knows how long this will last.
10 How long, O Elohim, will the enemy insult us?
Will the enemy despise you forever?
11 Why do you hold back your hand, especially your right hand?
Take your hands out of your pockets.
Destroy your enemies![d]
12 And yet, from long ago Elohim has been my Melek,
the one who has been victorious throughout the earth.
13 You stirred up the sea with your own strength.
You smashed the heads of sea monsters in the water.
14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan[e]
and gave them to the creatures of the desert for food.
15 You opened the springs and brooks.
You dried up the ever-flowing rivers.
16 The day and the night are yours.
You set the moon and the sun in their places.
17 You determined all the boundaries of the earth.
You created summer and winter.
18 Remember how the enemy insulted you, O Yahweh.
Remember how an entire nation of godless fools despised your name.
19 Do not hand over the soul of your dove to wild animals.
Do not forget the life of your oppressed people forever.
20 Consider your promise[f]
because every dark corner of the land is filled with violence.
21 Do not let oppressed people come back in disgrace.
Let weak and needy people praise your name.
22 Arise, O Elohim!
Fight for your own cause!
Remember how godless fools insult you all day long.
23 Do not forget the shouting of your opponents.
Do not forget the uproar made by those who attack you.
Paul’s Visions and Revelations from the Lord
12 I must brag, although it doesn’t do any good. I’ll go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. 2 I know a follower of Christ who was snatched away to the third heaven fourteen years ago. I don’t know whether this happened to him physically or spiritually. Only God knows. 3 I know that this person 4 was snatched away to paradise where he heard things that can’t be expressed in words, things that humans cannot put into words. I don’t know whether this happened to him physically or spiritually. Only God knows.[a] 5 I’ll brag about this person, but I won’t brag about myself unless it’s about my weaknesses.
6 If I ever wanted to brag, I wouldn’t be a fool. Instead, I would be telling the truth. But I’m going to spare you so that no one may think more of me than what he sees or hears about me, 7 especially because of the excessive number of revelations that I’ve had.
Therefore, to keep me from becoming conceited, I am forced to deal with a recurring problem. That problem, Satan’s messenger, torments me to keep me from being conceited. 8 I begged the Lord three times to take it away from me. 9 But he told me: “My kindness[b] is all you need. My power is strongest when you are weak.” So I will brag even more about my weaknesses in order that Christ’s power will live in me. 10 Therefore, I accept weakness, mistreatment, hardship, persecution, and difficulties suffered for Christ. It’s clear that when I’m weak, I’m strong.
The King Comes to Jerusalem(A)
28 After Yeshua had given this illustration, he continued on his way to Jerusalem.
29 When he came near Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives (as it was called), Yeshua sent two of his disciples ahead of him. 30 He said to them, “Go into the village ahead of you. As you enter, you will find a young donkey tied there. No one has ever sat on it. Untie it, and bring it. 31 If anyone asks you why you are untying it, say that the Lord needs it.”
32 The men Yeshua sent found it as he had told them. 33 While they were untying the young donkey, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the donkey?”
34 The disciples answered, “The Lord needs it.”
35 They brought the donkey to Yeshua, put their coats on it, and helped Yeshua onto it. 36 As he was riding along, people spread their coats on the road. 37 By this time he was coming near the place where the road went down the Mount of Olives. Then the whole crowd of disciples began to praise God for all the miracles they had seen. 38 They shouted joyfully,
“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!
Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven.”
39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Yeshua, “Teacher, tell your disciples to be quiet.”
40 Yeshua replied, “I can guarantee that if they are quiet, the stones will cry out.”
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.