Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 83
A song; a psalm by Asaph.
1 O Elohim, do not remain silent.
Do not turn a deaf ear to me.
Do not keep quiet, O El.
2 Look, your enemies are in an uproar.
Those who hate you hold their heads high.
3 They make plans in secret against your people
and plot together against those you treasure.
4 They say, “Let’s wipe out their nation
so that the name of Israel will no longer be remembered.”
5 They agree completely on their plan.
They form an alliance against you:
6 the tents from Edom and Ishmael,
Moab and Hagar,
7 Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek,
Philistia, along with those who live in Tyre.
8 Even Assyria has joined them.
They helped the descendants of Lot. Selah
9 Do to them what you did to Midian,
to Sisera and Jabin at the Kishon River.
10 They were destroyed at Endor.
They became manure to fertilize the ground.
11 Treat their influential people as you treated Oreb and Zeeb.
Treat all their leaders like Zebah and Zalmunna.
12 They said, “Let’s take Elohim’s pasturelands for ourselves.”
13 O my Elohim, blow them away like tumbleweeds,[a]
like husks in the wind.
14 Pursue them with your storms,
and terrify them with your windstorms
15 the way fire burns a forest
and flames set mountains on fire.[b]
16 Let their faces blush with shame, O Yahweh,
so that they must look to you for help.
17 Let them be put to shame and terrified forever.
Let them die in disgrace
18 so that they must acknowledge you.
Your name is Yahweh.
You alone are Elyon of the whole earth.
Psalm 145[a]
A song of praise by David.
1 I will highly praise you, my Elohim, the Melek.
I will bless your name forever and ever.
2 I will bless you every day.
I will praise your name forever and ever.
3 Yahweh is great, and he should be highly praised.
His greatness is unsearchable.
4 One generation will praise your deeds to the next.
Each generation will talk about your mighty acts.
5 I will think about the glorious honor of your majesty
and the miraculous things you have done.
6 People will talk about the power of your terrifying deeds,
and I will tell about your greatness.
7 They will announce what they remember of your great goodness,
and they will joyfully sing about your righteousness.
8 Yahweh is merciful, compassionate, patient,
and always ready to forgive.
9 Yahweh is good to everyone
and has compassion for everything that he has made.
10 Everything that you have made will give thanks to you, O Yahweh,
and your faithful ones will praise you.
11 Everyone will talk about the glory of your kingdom
and will tell the descendants of Adam about your might
12 in order to make known your mighty deeds
and the glorious honor of your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.
Your empire endures throughout every generation.
14 Yahweh supports everyone who falls.
He straightens the backs of those who are bent over.
15 The eyes of all creatures look to you,
and you give them their food at the proper time.
16 You open your hand,
and you satisfy the desire of every living thing.
17 Yahweh is fair in all his ways
and faithful in everything he does.
18 Yahweh is near to everyone who prays to him,
to every faithful person who prays to him.
19 He fills the needs of those who fear him.
He hears their cries for help and saves them.
20 Yahweh protects everyone who loves him,
but he will destroy all wicked people.
21 My mouth will speak the praise of Yahweh,
and all living creatures will praise his holy name
forever and ever.
Psalm 85
For the choir director; a psalm by Korah’s descendants.
1 You favored your land, O Yahweh.
You restored the fortunes of Jacob.
2 You removed your people’s guilt.
You pardoned all their sins. Selah
3 You laid aside all your fury.
You turned away from your burning anger.
4 Restore us, O Elohim, our savior.
Put an end to your anger against us.
5 Will you be angry with us forever?
Will you ever let go of your anger in the generations to come?
6 Won’t you restore our lives again
so that your people may find joy in you?
7 Show us your mercy, O Yahweh,
by giving us your salvation.
8 I want to hear what El Yahweh says,
because he promises peace to his people, to his godly ones.
But they must not go back to their stupidity.
9 Indeed, his salvation is near those who fear him,
and his glory will remain in our land.
10 Mercy and truth have met.
Righteousness and peace have kissed.
11 Truth sprouts from the ground,
and righteousness looks down from heaven.
12 Yahweh will certainly give us what is good,
and our land will produce crops.
13 Righteousness will go ahead of him
and make a path for his steps.
Psalm 86
A prayer by David.
1 Turn your ear toward me, O Yahweh.
Answer me, because I am oppressed and needy.
2 Protect me, because I am faithful to you.
Save your servant who trusts you. You are my Elohim.
3 Have pity on me, O Adonay,
because I call out to you all day long.
4 Give me joy, O Adonay,
because I lift my soul to you.
5 You, O Adonay, are good and forgiving,
full of mercy toward everyone who calls out to you.
6 Open your ears to my prayer, O Yahweh.
Pay attention when I plead for mercy.
7 When I am in trouble, I call out to you
because you answer me.
8 No god is like you, O Adonay.
No one can do what you do.
9 All the nations that you have made
will bow in your presence, O Adonay.
They will honor you.
10 Indeed, you are great, a worker of miracles.
You alone are Elohim.
11 Teach me your way, O Yahweh,
so that I may live in your truth.
Focus my heart on fearing you.
12 I will give thanks to you with all my heart, O Adonay my Elohim.
I will honor you forever
13 because your mercy toward me is great.
You have rescued me from the depths of hell.
14 O Elohim, arrogant people attack me,
and a mob of ruthless people seeks my life.
They think nothing of you.
15 But you, O Adonay, are a compassionate and merciful God.
You are patient, always faithful and ready to forgive.
16 Turn toward me, and have pity on me.
Give me your strength because I am your servant.
Save me because I am the son of your female servant.
17 Grant me some proof of your goodness
so that those who hate me may see it and be put to shame.
You, O Yahweh, have helped me and comforted me.
David Takes Bathsheba(A)
11 In the spring, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, his mercenaries, and Israel’s army to war. They destroyed the Ammonites and attacked Rabbah, while David stayed in Jerusalem.
2 Now, when evening came, David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the royal palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing, and she was very pretty. 3 David sent someone to ask about the woman. The man said, “She’s Bathsheba, daughter of Eliam and wife of Uriah the Hittite.” 4 So David sent messengers and took her. She came to him, and he went to bed with her. (She had just cleansed herself after her monthly period.) Then she went home. 5 The woman had become pregnant. So she sent someone to tell David that she was pregnant.
6 Then David sent a messenger to Joab, saying, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent Uriah to David. 7 When Uriah arrived, David asked him how Joab and the troops were and how the war was going.
8 “Go home,” David said to Uriah, “and wash your feet.” Uriah left the royal palace, and the king sent a present to him. 9 But Uriah slept at the entrance of the royal palace among his superior’s mercenaries. He didn’t go home.
10 When they told David, “Uriah didn’t go home,” David asked Uriah, “Didn’t you just come from a journey? Why didn’t you go home?”
11 Uriah answered David, “The ark and the army of Israel and Judah are in temporary shelters, and my commander Joab and Your Majesty’s mercenaries are living in the field. Should I then go to my house to eat and drink and go to bed with my wife? I solemnly swear, as sure as you’re living, I won’t do this!”
12 David said to Uriah, “Then stay here today, and tomorrow I’ll send you back.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13 David summoned him, ate and drank with him, and got him drunk. But that evening Uriah went to lie down on his bed among his superior’s mercenaries. He didn’t go home.
14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. 15 In the letter he wrote, “Put Uriah on the front line where the fighting is heaviest. Then abandon him so that he’ll be struck down and die.”
16 Since Joab had kept the city under observation, he put Uriah at the place where he knew the experienced warriors were. 17 The men of the city came out and fought Joab. Some of the people, namely, some of David’s mercenaries, fell and died—including Uriah the Hittite.
18 Then Joab sent a messenger to report to David all the details of the battle. 19 And he commanded the messenger, “When you finish telling the king about the battle, 20 the king may become angry. He might ask you, ‘Why did you go so close to the city to fight? Didn’t you know they would shoot from the wall? 21 Who killed Jerubbesheth’s[a] son Abimelech? Didn’t a woman on the wall of Thebez throw a small millstone at him and kill him? Why did you go so close to the wall?’ If the king asks this, then say, ‘Your man Uriah the Hittite is also dead.’”
22 The messenger left, and when he arrived, he reported to David everything Joab told him to say.[b] 23 The messenger said, “Their men overpowered us and came to attack us in the field. Then we forced them back to the entrance of the city gate. 24 The archers on the wall shot down at your mercenaries, and some of Your Majesty’s mercenaries died. Your man Uriah the Hittite also is dead.”
25 David said to the messenger, “This is what you are to say to Joab, ‘Don’t let this thing trouble you, because a sword can kill one person as easily as another. Strengthen your attack against the city, and destroy it.’ Say this to encourage him.”
26 When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband Uriah was dead, she mourned for him. 27 When her mourning was over, David sent for her and brought her to his home, and she became his wife. Then she gave birth to a son. But Yahweh considered David’s actions evil.
11 God worked unusual miracles through Paul. 12 People would take handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched Paul’s skin to those who were sick. Their sicknesses would be cured, and evil spirits would leave them.
13 Some Jews used to travel from place to place and force evil spirits out of people. They tried to use the name of the Lord Yeshua to force evil spirits out of those who were possessed. These Jews would say, “I order you to come out in the name of Yeshua, whom Paul talks about.” 14 Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.
15 But the evil spirit answered them, “I know Yeshua, and I’m acquainted with Paul, but who are you?” 16 Then the man possessed by the evil spirit attacked them. He beat them up so badly that they ran out of that house naked and wounded.
17 All the Jews and Greeks living in the city of Ephesus heard about this. All of them were filled with awe for the name of the Lord Yeshua and began to speak very highly about it. 18 Many believers openly admitted their involvement with magical spells and told all the details. 19 Many of those who were involved in the occult gathered their books and burned them in front of everyone. They added up the cost of these books and found that they were worth 50,000 silver coins. 20 In this powerful way the word of the Lord was spreading and gaining strength.
Moses and Elijah Appear with Jesus(A)
2 After six days Yeshua took only Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain where they could be alone.
Yeshua’s appearance changed in front of them. 3 His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone on earth could bleach them. 4 Then Elijah and Moses appeared to them and were talking with Yeshua.
5 Peter said to Yeshua, “Rabbi, it’s good that we’re here. Let’s put up three tents—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 6 (Peter didn’t know how to respond. He and the others were terrified.)
7 Then a cloud overshadowed them. A voice came out of the cloud and said, “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”
8 Suddenly, as they looked around, they saw no one with them but Yeshua.
9 On their way down the mountain, Yeshua ordered them not to tell anyone what they had seen. They were to wait until the Son of Man had come back to life. 10 They kept in mind what he said but argued among themselves what he meant by “come back to life.” 11 So they asked him, “Don’t the experts in Moses’ Teachings say that Elijah must come first?”
12 Yeshua said to them, “Elijah is coming first and will put everything in order again. But in what sense was it written that the Son of Man must suffer a lot and be treated shamefully? 13 Indeed, I can guarantee that Elijah has come. Yet, people treated him as they pleased, as Scripture says about him.”
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.