Book of Common Prayer
145 I have called out with all my heart. Answer me, O Yahweh.
I want to obey your laws.
146 I have called out.
Save me, so that I can obey your written instructions.
147 I got up before dawn, and I cried out for help.
My hope is based on your word.
148 My eyes are wide-open throughout the nighttime hours
to reflect on your word.
149 In keeping with your mercy, hear my voice.
O Yahweh, give me a new life guided by your regulations.
150 Those who carry out plots against me are near,
yet they are far away from your teachings.
151 You are near, O Yahweh,
and all your commandments are reliable.
152 Long ago I learned from your written instructions
that you made them to last forever.
153 Look at my misery, and rescue me,
because I have never forgotten your teachings.
154 Plead my case for me, and save me.
Give me a new life as you promised.
155 Wicked people are far from being saved,
because they have not searched for your laws.
156 Your acts of compassion are many in number, O Yahweh.
Give me a new life guided by your regulations.
157 I have many persecutors and opponents,
yet I have not turned away from your written instructions.
158 I have seen traitors,
and I am filled with disgust.
They have not accepted your promise.
159 See how I have loved your guiding principles!
O Yahweh, in keeping with your mercy, give me a new life.
160 There is nothing but truth in your word,
and all of your righteous regulations endure forever.
161 Influential people have persecuted me for no reason,
but it is only your words that fill my heart with terror.
162 I find joy in your promise
like someone who finds a priceless treasure.
163 I hate lying; I am disgusted with it.
I love your teachings.
164 Seven times a day I praise you
for your righteous regulations.
165 There is lasting peace for those who love your teachings.
Nothing can make those people stumble.
166 I have waited with hope for you to save me, O Yahweh.
I have carried out your commandments.
167 I have obeyed your written instructions.
I have loved them very much.
168 I have followed your guiding principles and your written instructions,
because my whole life is in front of you.
169 Let my cry for help come into your presence, O Yahweh.
Help me understand as you promised.
170 Let my plea for mercy come into your presence.
Rescue me as you promised.
171 Let my lips pour out praise
because you teach me your laws.
172 Let my tongue sing about your promise
because all your commandments are fair.
173 Let your hand help me
because I have chosen to follow your guiding principles.
174 I have longed for you to save me, O Yahweh,
and your teachings make me happy.
175 Let my soul have new life so that it can praise you.
Let your regulations help me.
176 I have wandered away like a lost lamb.
Search for me,
because I have never forgotten your commandments.
Psalm 128
A song for going up to worship.
1 Blessed are all who fear Yahweh
and live his way.
2 You will certainly eat what your own hands have provided.
Blessings to you!
May things go well for you!
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine inside your home.
Your children will be like young olive trees around your table.
4 This is how Yahweh will bless the person who fears him.
5 May Yahweh bless you from Zion
so that you may see Jerusalem prospering
all the days of your life.
6 May you live to see your children’s children.
Let there be peace in Israel!
Psalm 129
A song for going up to worship.
1 “From the time I was young, people have attacked me . . .”
(Israel should repeat this.)
2 “From the time I was young, people have attacked me,
but they have never overpowered me.
3 They have plowed my back like farmers plow fields.
They made long slashes like furrows.”
4 Yahweh is righteous.
He has cut me loose
from the ropes that wicked people tied around me.
5 Put to shame all those who hate Zion.
Force them to retreat.
6 Make them be like grass on a roof,
like grass that dries up before it produces a stalk.
7 It will never fill the barns of those who harvest
or the arms of those who gather bundles.
8 Those who pass by will never say to them,
“May you be blessed by Yahweh”
or “We bless you in the name of Yahweh.”
Psalm 130
A song for going up to worship.
1 O Yahweh, out of the depths I call to you.
2 O Adonay, hear my voice.
Let your ears be open to my pleas for mercy.
3 O Yahweh, who would be able to stand
if you kept a record of sins?
4 But with you there is forgiveness
so that you can be feared.
5 I wait for Yahweh, my soul waits,
and with hope I wait for his word.
6 My soul waits for Adonay
more than those who watch for the morning,
more than those who watch for the morning.
7 O Israel, put your hope in Yahweh,
because with Yahweh there is mercy
and with him there is unlimited forgiveness.
8 He will rescue Israel from all its sins.
Samuel’s Spotless Leadership
12 Then Samuel said to all Israel, “I have listened to everything you have said to me and appointed a king over you. 2 And now, here is the king who will lead you. I am old and gray, but my sons are with you. I have led you from my youth until this day. 3 Here I am. Testify against me in front of Yahweh and in front of his anointed king. Did I take anyone’s ox? Did I take anyone’s donkey? Did I cheat or oppress anyone? Did I take a bribe from anyone to look the other way? If so, I will give it all back.”
4 They answered, “You didn’t cheat us, oppress us, or take anything from anyone.”
5 Samuel told them, “Yahweh is a witness to what you’ve said, and his anointed king is a witness today that you’ve found nothing in my hands.”
“He is a witness,” they answered.
6 Samuel told the people, “Yahweh appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your ancestors out of Egypt.
16 Now then, stand still and watch this great thing Yahweh is going to do right before your eyes. 17 Isn’t the wheat being harvested today? I will call on Yahweh, and he’ll send thunder and rain. Then you will realize what a wicked thing you did in Yahweh’s presence when you asked for a king.”
18 Then Samuel called on Yahweh. That day Yahweh sent thunder and rain so that all the people feared Yahweh and Samuel very much.
19 All the people pleaded with Samuel, “Pray to Yahweh your Elohim for us so that we will not die. We have added another evil thing to all our other sins by asking for a king.”
20 “Don’t be afraid,” Samuel told the people. “You did do all these evil things. But don’t turn away from Yahweh. Instead, serve Yahweh wholeheartedly. 21 Don’t turn away to follow other gods. They can’t help or rescue you, because they don’t exist. 22 For the sake of his great name, Yahweh will not abandon his people, because Yahweh wants to make you his people. 23 It would be unthinkable for me to sin against Yahweh by failing to pray for you. I will go on teaching you the way that is good and right. 24 Fear Yahweh, and serve him sincerely. Consider the great things he did for you. 25 But if you go on doing what is evil, you and your king will be wiped out.”
14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that the Samaritans had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. 15 Peter and John went to Samaria and prayed that the Samaritans would receive the Holy Spirit. 16 (Before this the Holy Spirit had not come to any of the Samaritans. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Yeshua.) 17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and the Samaritans received the Holy Spirit.
18 Simon saw that the Spirit was given to the Samaritans when the apostles placed their hands on them. So he offered Peter and John money 19 and said, “Give me this power so that anyone I place my hands on will receive the Holy Spirit.”
20 Peter told Simon, “May your money be destroyed with you because you thought you could buy God’s gift. 21 You won’t have any share in this because God can see how twisted your thinking is. 22 So change your wicked thoughts, and ask the Lord if he will forgive you for thinking like this. 23 I can see that you are bitter with jealousy and wrapped up in your evil ways.”
24 Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me that none of the things you said will happen to me.”
25 After they had boldly spoken about the message of the Lord, they spread the Good News in many Samaritan villages on their way back to Jerusalem.
Pilate Questions Jesus(A)
23 Then the entire assembly stood up and took him to Pilate.
2 They began to accuse Yeshua by saying, “We found that he stirs up trouble among our people: He keeps them from paying taxes to the emperor, and he says that he is Christ, a king.”
3 Pilate asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
“Yes, I am,” Yeshua answered.
4 Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowd, “I can’t find this man guilty of any crime.”
Pilate Sends Jesus to Herod
5 The priests and the crowd became more forceful. They said, “He stirs up the people throughout Judea with his teachings. He started in Galilee and has come here.”
6 When Pilate heard that, he asked if the man was from Galilee. 7 When Pilate found out that he was, he sent Yeshua to Herod. Herod ruled Galilee and was in Jerusalem at that time.
8 Herod was very pleased to see Yeshua. For a long time he had wanted to see him. He had heard about Yeshua and hoped to see him perform some kind of miracle. 9 Herod asked Yeshua many questions, but Yeshua wouldn’t answer him. 10 Meanwhile, the chief priests and the experts in Moses’ Teachings stood there and shouted their accusations against Yeshua.
11 Herod and his soldiers treated Yeshua with contempt and made fun of him. They put a colorful robe on him and sent him back to Pilate. 12 So Herod and Pilate became friends that day. They had been enemies before this.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.