Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 61
For the choir director; on a stringed instrument; by David.
1 Listen to my cry for help, O Elohim.
Pay attention to my prayer.
2 From the ends of the earth, I call to you
when I begin to lose heart.
Lead me to the rock that is high above me.
3 You have been my Machseh,
a Migdal-Oz against the enemy.
4 I would like to be a guest in your tent forever
and to take refuge under the protection of your wings. Selah
5 O Elohim, you have heard my vows.
You have given me the inheritance
that belongs to those who fear your name.
6 Add days upon days to the life of the king.
May his years endure throughout every generation.
7 May he sit enthroned in the presence of Elohim forever.
May mercy and truth protect him.
8 Then I will make music to praise your name forever,
as I keep my vows day after day.
Psalm 62
For the choir director; according to Jeduthun; a psalm by David.
1 My soul waits calmly for Elohim alone.
My salvation comes from him.
2 He alone is my rock and my savior—my stronghold.
I cannot be severely shaken.
3 How long will all of you attack a person?
How long will you try to murder him,
as though he were a leaning wall or a sagging fence?
4 They plan to force him out of his high position.
They are happy to lie.
They bless with their mouths,
but in their hearts they curse. Selah
5 Wait calmly for Elohim alone, my soul,
because my hope comes from him.
6 He alone is my rock and my savior—my stronghold.
I cannot be shaken.
7 My salvation and my glory depend on Elohim.
Elohim is the rock of my strength, my Machseh.
8 Trust him at all times, you people.
Pour out your hearts in his presence.
Elohim is our Machseh. Selah
9 Common people are only a whisper in the wind.
Important people are only a delusion.
When all of them are weighed on a scale, they amount to nothing.
They are less than a whisper in the wind.
10 Do not count on extortion to make you rich.
Do not hope to gain anything through robbery.
When riches increase, do not depend on them.
11 Elohim has spoken once.
I have heard it said twice:
“Power belongs to Elohim.
12 Mercy belongs to you, O Adonay.
You reward a person based on what he has done.”
Psalm 68
For the choir director; a psalm by David; a song.
1 Elohim will arise.
His enemies will be scattered.
Those who hate him will flee from him.
2 Blow them away like smoke.
Let wicked people melt in Elohim’s presence like wax next to a fire.
3 But let righteous people rejoice.
Let them celebrate in Elohim’s presence.
Let them overflow with joy.
4 Sing to Elohim; make music to praise his name.
Make a highway for him to ride through the deserts.[a]
Yah is his name.
Celebrate in his presence.
5 The Elohim who is in his holy dwelling place
is the Ab of the fatherless and the defender of widows.
6 Elohim places lonely people in families.
He leads prisoners out of prison into productive lives,
but rebellious people must live in an unproductive land.
7 O Elohim, when you went in front of your people,
when you marched through the desert, Selah
8 the earth quaked and the sky poured
in the presence of the Elohim of Sinai,
in the presence of the Elohim of Israel.
9 You watered the land with plenty of rain, O Elohim.
You refreshed it when your land was exhausted.
10 Your flock settled there.
Out of your goodness, O Elohim,
you provided for oppressed people.
11 Adonay gives instructions.
The women who announce the good news are a large army.
12 They say, “The kings of the armies flee; they run away.
The women who remained at home will divide the goods.
13 Though you stayed among the sheep pens,
you will be like the wings of a dove covered with silver,
its feathers with yellow gold.
14 Meanwhile, Shadday was still scattering kings there
like snow falling on Mount Zalmon.”
15 The mountain of Bashan is the mountain of Elohim.
The mountain of Bashan is the mountain with many peaks.
16 Why do you look with envy, you mountains with many peaks,
at the mountain where Elohim has chosen to live?
Certainly, Yahweh will live there forever.
17 The chariots of Elohim are twenty thousand in number,
thousands upon thousands.
Adonay is among them.
The God of Sinai is in his holy place.
18 You went to the highest place.
You took prisoners captive.
You received gifts from people,
even from rebellious people, so that Yah Elohim may live there.
19 Thanks be to Adonay,
who daily carries our burdens for us.
El is our salvation. Selah
20 Our El is the El of victories.
Yahweh Adonay is our escape from death.
21 Certainly, Elohim will crush the heads of his enemies
and destroy even the hair on the heads
of those who continue to be guilty.
22 Adonay said, “I will bring them back from Bashan.
I will bring them back from the depths of the sea
23 so that you, my people, may bathe[b] your feet in blood
and the tongues of your dogs
may lick the blood of your enemies.”
24 Your festival processions, O Elohim, can be seen by everyone.
They are the processions for my Elohim, my Melek, into the holy place.
25 The singers are in front.
The musicians are behind them.
The young women beating tambourines are between them.
26 Thank Elohim, Yahweh, the source of Israel, with the choirs.
27 Benjamin, the youngest, is leading them,
next the leaders of Judah with their noisy crowds,
then the leaders of Zebulun,
then the leaders of Naphtali.
28 Your Elohim has decided you will be strong.
Display your strength, O Elohim,
as you have for us before.
29 Kings will bring you gifts
because of your temple high above Jerusalem.
30 Threaten the beast who is among the cattails,
the herd of bulls with the calves of the nations,
until it humbles itself with pieces of silver.
Scatter the people who find joy in war.[c]
31 Ambassadors will come from Egypt.
Sudan will stretch out its hands to Elohim in prayer.
32 You kingdoms of the world, sing to Elohim.
Make music to praise Adonay. Selah
33 Elohim rides through the ancient heaven, the highest heaven.
Listen! He makes his voice heard, his powerful voice.
34 Acknowledge the power of Elohim.
His majesty is over Israel, and his power is in the skies.
35 Elohim, the El of Israel, is awe-inspiring in his holy place.
He gives strength and power to his people.
Thanks be to Elohim!
Abner’s Death
6 During the war between the families of Saul and David, Abner strengthened his position in Saul’s royal family. 7 Saul had a concubine[a] named Rizpah (Aiah’s daughter). Ishbosheth asked Abner, “Why did you have sex with my father’s concubine?”
8 Ishbosheth’s question made Abner very angry. “Have I been behaving like some Judean dog?”[b] he asked. “Until now I’ve been faithful to your father Saul’s family, to his relatives and friends, and I haven’t handed you over to David. But now you charge me with a crime because of this woman. 9 May Elohim strike me dead unless I do for David what Yahweh had promised him with an oath: 10 ‘I, Yahweh, will transfer the kingship from Saul’s family and establish David’s throne over Israel and Judah from Dan to Beersheba.’” 11 Ishbosheth couldn’t respond to a single word, because he was afraid of Abner.
12 Then Abner sent messengers to David to speak on his behalf. “Who owns this country?” he asked. “Make an agreement with me,” he said. “I’ll support you and bring all Israel to you.”
13 “Good!” David answered. “I’ll make an agreement with you. But there’s one condition: You can’t come to see me unless you bring Michal, Saul’s daughter, when you come.”
14 Then David sent messengers to Saul’s son Ishbosheth to say, “Give me my wife Michal. I made a payment of 100 Philistine foreskins for her.”
15 So Ishbosheth sent men to take her from her husband Paltiel, son of Laish. 16 Her husband went with her and cried over her all the way to Bahurim. “Go home,” Abner told him. So he went home.
17 Meanwhile, Abner sent the following message to the leaders of Israel: “For some time now you’ve wanted to make David your king. 18 Do it now, because Yahweh said about David: ‘I will save my people Israel from the Philistines and all their other enemies through my servant David.’” 19 Abner also spoke specifically to the people of Benjamin.
Then Abner went directly to David in Hebron to tell him everything Israel and the entire tribe of Benjamin had approved. 20 So Abner came with 20 men to David in Hebron, and David had a feast for Abner and his men.
21 Abner told David, “I must go now so that I can gather all Israel for you, Your Majesty. They will make a treaty with you, and you will rule everything your heart desires.” Then David dismissed Abner, who left peacefully.
Paul Has a Vision
6 Paul and Silas went through the regions of Phrygia and Galatia because the Holy Spirit kept them from speaking the word in the province of Asia. 7 They went to the province of Mysia and tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Yeshua wouldn’t allow this. 8 So they passed by Mysia and went to the city of Troas.
9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man from Macedonia. The man urged Paul, “Come to Macedonia to help us.”
10 As soon as Paul had seen the vision, we immediately looked for a way to go to Macedonia. We concluded that God had called us to tell the people of Macedonia about the Good News.
Paul and Silas in Philippi
11 So we took a ship from Troas and sailed straight to the island of Samothrace. The next day we sailed to the city of Neapolis, 12 and from there we went to the city of Philippi. Philippi is a leading city in that part of Macedonia, and it is a Roman colony. We were in this city for a number of days.
13 On the day of worship we went out of the city to a place along the river where we thought Jewish people gathered for prayer. We sat down and began talking to the women who had gathered there. 14 A woman named Lydia was present. She was a convert to Judaism from the city of Thyatira and sold purple dye for a living. She was listening because the Lord made her willing to pay attention to what Paul said. 15 When Lydia and her family were baptized, she invited us to stay at her home. She said, “If you’re convinced that I believe in the Lord, then stay at my home.” She insisted. So we did.
Jesus Feeds Five Thousand(A)
30 The apostles gathered around Yeshua. They reported to him everything they had done and taught. 31 So he said to them, “Let’s go to a place where we can be alone to rest for a while.” Many people were coming and going, and Yeshua and the apostles didn’t even have a chance to eat.
32 So they went away in a boat to a place where they could be alone. 33 But many people saw them leave and recognized them. The people ran from all the cities and arrived ahead of them. 34 When Yeshua got out of the boat, he saw a large crowd and felt sorry for them. They were like sheep without a shepherd. So he spent a lot of time teaching them.
35 When it was late, his disciples came to him. They said, “No one lives around here, and it’s already late. 36 Send the people to the closest farms and villages to buy themselves something to eat.”
37 Yeshua replied, “You give them something to eat.”
They said to him, “Should we go and spend about a year’s wages on bread to feed them?”
38 He said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.”
When they found out, they told him, “Five loaves of bread and two fish.”
39 Then he ordered all of them to sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 They sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties.
41 After he took the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and blessed the food. He broke the loaves apart and kept giving them to the disciples to give to the people. He also gave pieces of the two fish to everyone. 42 All of them ate as much as they wanted. 43 When they picked up the leftover pieces, they filled twelve baskets with bread and fish. 44 There were 5,000 men who had eaten the bread.
Jesus Walks on the Sea(B)
45 Yeshua quickly made his disciples get into a boat and cross to Bethsaida ahead of him while he sent the people away. 46 After saying goodbye to them, he went up a mountain to pray.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.