Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 56
For the choir director; according to yonath elem rechokim;[a] a miktam by David when the Philistines captured him in Gath.
1 Have pity on me, O Elohim, because people are harassing me.
All day long warriors oppress me.
2 All day long my enemies spy on me.
They harass me.
There are so many fighting against me.
3 Even when I am afraid, I still trust you.
4 I praise the word of Elohim.
I trust Elohim.
I am not afraid.
What can mere flesh and blood do to me?
5 All day long my enemies twist my words.
Their every thought is an evil plan against me.
6 They attack, and then they hide.
They watch my every step as they wait to take my life.
7 With the wrong they do, can they escape?
O Elohim, angrily make the nations fall.
8 (You have kept a record of my wanderings.
Put my tears in your bottle.
They are already in your book.)
9 Then my enemies will retreat when I call to you.
This I know: Elohim is on my side.
10 I praise the word of Elohim.
I praise the word of Yahweh.
11 I trust Elohim.
I am not afraid.
What can mortals do to me?
12 I am bound by my vows to you, O Elohim.
I will keep my vows by offering songs of thanksgiving to you.
13 You have rescued me from death.
You have kept my feet from stumbling
so that I could walk in Elohim’s presence, in the light of life.
Psalm 57
For the choir director; al tashcheth;[b] a miktam by David when he fled from Saul into the cave.
1 Have pity on me, O Elohim. Have pity on me,
because my soul takes refuge in you.
I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings
until destructive storms pass by.
2 I call to Elohim Elyon,
to El who does everything for me.
3 He sends his help from heaven and saves me.
He disgraces the one who is harassing me. Selah
Elohim sends his mercy and his truth!
4 My soul is surrounded by lions.
I must lie down with man-eating lions.
Their teeth are spears and arrows.
Their tongues are sharp swords.
5 May you be honored above the heavens, O Elohim.
Let your glory extend over the whole earth.
6 My enemies spread out a net to catch me.
(My soul is bowed down.)[c]
They dug a pit to trap me,
but then they fell into it. Selah
7 My heart is confident, O Elohim.
My heart is confident.
I want to sing and make music.[d]
8 Wake up, my soul![e]
Wake up, harp and lyre!
I want to wake up at dawn.
9 I want to give thanks to you among the people, O Adonay.
I want to make music to praise you among the nations
10 because your mercy is as high as the heavens.
Your truth reaches the skies.
11 May you be honored above the heavens, O Elohim.
Let your glory extend over the whole earth.
Psalm 58
For the choir director; al tashcheth; a miktam by David.
1 Do you rulers really give fair verdicts?
Do you judge Adam’s descendants fairly?
2 No, you invent new crimes on earth,
and your hands spread violence.
3 Even inside the womb wicked people are strangers to God.
From their birth liars go astray.
4 They have poisonous venom like snakes.
They are like a deaf cobra that shuts its ears
5 so that it cannot hear the voice of a snake charmer
or of anyone trained to cast spells.
6 O Elohim, knock the teeth out of their mouths.
Break the young lions’ teeth, O Yahweh.
7 Let them disappear like water that drains away.
When they aim their bows, let their arrows miss the target.[f]
8 Let them become like a snail that leaves behind a slimy trail
or like a stillborn child who never sees the sun.
9 Let God sweep them away
faster than a cooking pot is heated by burning twigs.[g]
10 Righteous people will rejoice when they see God take revenge.
They will wash their feet in the blood of wicked people.
11 Then people will say,
“Righteous people certainly have a reward.
There is an Elohim who judges on earth.”
Psalm 64
For the choir director; a psalm by David.
1 Hear my voice, O Elohim, when I complain.
Protect my life from a terrifying enemy.
2 Hide me from the secret plots of criminals,
from the mob of troublemakers.
3 They sharpen their tongues like swords.
They aim bitter words like arrows
4 to shoot at innocent people from their hiding places.
They shoot at them suddenly, without any fear.
5 They encourage one another in their evil plans.
They talk about setting traps and say,
“Who can see them?”
6 They search for the perfect crime and say,
“We have perfected a foolproof scheme!”
Human nature and the human heart are a mystery!
7 But Elohim will shoot them with an arrow.
Suddenly, they will be struck dead.
8 They will trip over their own tongues.
Everyone who sees them will shake his head.
9 Everyone will be afraid and conclude,
“This is an act of Elohim!”
They will learn from what he has done.
10 Righteous people will find joy in Yahweh and take refuge in him.
Everyone whose motives are decent will be able to brag.
Psalm 65
For the choir director; a psalm by David; a song.
1 You are praised with silence in Zion, O Elohim,
and vows made to you must be kept.
2 You are the one who hears prayers.
Everyone will come to you.
3 Various sins overwhelm me.
You are the one who forgives our rebellious acts.
4 Blessed is the person you choose
and invite to live with you in your courtyards.
We will be filled with good food from your house,
from your holy temple.
5 You answer us with awe-inspiring acts done in righteousness,
O Elohim, our savior,
the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the most distant sea,
6 the one who set the mountains in place with his strength,
the one who is clothed with power,
7 the one who calms the roar of the seas,
their crashing waves,
and the uproar of the nations.
8 Those who live at the ends of the earth are in awe of your miraculous signs.
The lands of the morning sunrise and evening sunset sing joyfully.
9 You take care of the earth, and you water it.
You make it much richer than it was.
(The river of Elohim is filled with water.)
You provide grain for them.
Indeed, you even prepare the ground.
10 You drench plowed fields with rain
and level their clumps of soil.
You soften them with showers
and bless what grows in them.
11 You crown the year with your goodness,
and richness overflows wherever you are.
12 The pastures in the desert overflow with richness.
The hills are surrounded with joy.
13 The pastures are covered with flocks.
The valleys are carpeted with grain.
All of them shout triumphantly. Indeed, they sing.
Ahab Takes Naboth’s Vineyard
21 This is what happened next. Naboth from Jezreel had a vineyard in Jezreel next to the palace of King Ahab of Samaria.
2 Ahab told Naboth, “Give me your vineyard. It will become my vegetable garden because it is near my house. I will give you a better vineyard for it. Or if you prefer, I will pay you a fair price for it.”
3 Naboth told Ahab, “Yahweh has forbidden me to give you what I inherited from my ancestors.”
4 Resentful and upset, Ahab went home because of what Naboth from Jezreel had told him. (Naboth had said, “I will not give you what I inherited from my ancestors.”) So Ahab lay on the couch, turned his face from everyone, and refused to eat.
5 His wife Jezebel came to him and asked, “Why are you so resentful of everything? Why don’t you eat?”
6 He told her, “I talked to Naboth from Jezreel. I said to him, ‘Sell me your vineyard. Or, if you like, I’ll give you another vineyard for it.’ But he said, ‘I won’t give you my vineyard.’”
7 His wife Jezebel said to him, “Aren’t you king of Israel? Get up, eat, and cheer up. I’ll give you the vineyard belonging to Naboth from Jezreel.”
8 So Jezebel wrote letters, signed them with Ahab’s name, and sealed them with his seal. She sent them to the respected leaders and nobles living in Naboth’s city. 9 In these letters she wrote: “Announce a fast. Seat Naboth as leader of the people. 10 Have two good-for-nothing men sit opposite him and accuse him of cursing Elohim and the king. Then stone him to death outside the city.”
11 The men in Naboth’s city—the respected leaders and nobles who lived there—did what Jezebel asked them to do. They did just as she had written in the letters she sent. 12 They announced a fast and had Naboth seated as the leader of the people. 13 The two good-for-nothing men came in and sat opposite him. In front of the people, these men accused Naboth of cursing Elohim and the king. So the people stoned him to death outside the city. 14 Then the leaders sent this message to Jezebel: “Naboth has been stoned to death.”
15 Jezebel received the message and said to Ahab, “Get up! Confiscate the vineyard which Naboth from Jezreel refused to sell you. He’s dead now.”
16 When he heard about Naboth’s death, Ahab went to confiscate the vineyard.
Greeting
1 From Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Yeshua by the will of God, and from Sosthenes, our brother in the Christian faith.
2 To God’s church that was made holy by Christ Yeshua and called to be God’s holy people in the city of Corinth and to people everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Yeshua Christ.
3 Good will[a] and peace from God our Father and the Lord Yeshua Christ are yours!
4 I always thank God for you because Christ Yeshua has shown you God’s good will. 5 Through Christ Yeshua you have become rich in every way—in speech and knowledge of every kind. 6 Our message about Christ has been verified among you. 7 Therefore, you don’t lack any gift as you wait eagerly for our Lord Yeshua Christ to be revealed. 8 He will continue to give you strength until the end so that no one can accuse you of anything on the day of our Lord Yeshua Christ. 9 God faithfully keeps his promises. He called you to be partners with his Son Yeshua Christ our Lord.
God’s Wisdom Is Better Than the World’s Wisdom
10 Brothers and sisters, I encourage all of you in the name of our Lord Yeshua Christ to agree with each other and not to split into opposing groups. I want you to be united in your understanding and opinions. 11 Brothers and sisters, some people from Chloe’s family have made it clear to me that you are quarreling among yourselves. 12 This is what I mean: Each of you is saying, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,”[b] or “I follow Christ.” 13 Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in Paul’s name? 14 I thank God that[c] I didn’t baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius 15 so that no one can say you were baptized in my name. 16 I also baptized Stephanas and his family. Beyond that, I’m not sure whether I baptized anyone else. 17 Christ didn’t send me to baptize. Instead, he sent me to spread the Good News. I didn’t use intellectual arguments. That would have made the cross of Christ lose its meaning.
18 The message about the cross is nonsense to those who are being destroyed, but it is God’s power to us who are being saved. 19 Scripture says,
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise.
I will reject the intelligence of intelligent people.”
The Temptation of Jesus(A)
4 Then the Spirit led Yeshua into the desert to be tempted by the devil. 2 Yeshua did not eat anything for 40 days and 40 nights. At the end of that time, he was hungry.
3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread.”
4 Yeshua answered, “Scripture says, ‘A person cannot live on bread alone but on every word that God speaks.’”
5 Then the devil took him into the holy city and had him stand on the highest part of the temple. 6 He said to Yeshua, “If you are the Son of God, jump! Scripture says, ‘He will put his angels in charge of you. They will carry you in their hands so that you never hit your foot against a rock.’”
7 Yeshua said to him, “Again, Scripture says, ‘Never tempt the Lord your God.’”[a]
8 Once more the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms in the world and their glory. 9 The devil said to him, “I will give you all this if you will bow down and worship me.”
10 Yeshua said to him, “Go away, Satan! Scripture says, ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’”
11 Then the devil left him, and angels came to take care of him.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.