Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 102
A prayer by someone who is suffering, when he is weary and pours out his troubles in Yahweh’s presence.
1 O Yahweh, hear my prayer,
and let my cry for help come to you.
2 Do not hide your face from me when I am in trouble.
Turn your ear toward me.
Answer me quickly when I call.
3 My days disappear like smoke.
My bones burn like hot coals.
4 My heart is beaten down and withered like grass
because I have forgotten about eating.
5 I am nothing but skin and bones
because of my loud groans.
6 I am like a desert owl,
like an owl living in the ruins.
7 I lie awake.
I am like a lonely bird on a rooftop.
8 All day long my enemies insult me.
Those who ridicule me use my name as a curse.
9 I eat ashes like bread
and my tears are mixed with my drink
10 because of your hostility and anger,
because you have picked me up and thrown me away.
11 My days are like a shadow that is getting longer,
and I wither away like grass.
12 But you, O Yahweh, remain forever.
You are remembered throughout every generation.
13 You will rise and have compassion on Zion,
because it is time to grant a favor to it.
Indeed, the appointed time has come.
14 Your servants value Zion’s stones,
and they pity its rubble.
15 The nations will fear Yahweh’s name.
All the kings of the earth will fear your glory.
16 When Yahweh builds Zion,
he will appear in his glory.
17 He will turn his attention to the prayers
of those who have been abandoned.
He will not despise their prayers.
18 This will be written down for a future generation
so that a people yet to be created may praise Yah:
19 “Yahweh looked down from his holy place high above.
From heaven he looked at the earth.
20 He heard the groans of the prisoners
and set free those who were condemned to death.
21 Yahweh’s name is announced in Zion
and his praise in Jerusalem
22 when nations and kingdoms gather
to worship Yahweh.”
23 He has weakened my strength along the way.
He has reduced the number of my days.
24 I said, “My El, don’t take me now in the middle of my life.
Your years continue on throughout every generation.
25 Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth.
Even the heavens are the works of your hands.
26 They will come to an end, but you will still go on.
They will all wear out like clothing.
You will change them like clothes,
and they will be thrown away.
27 But you remain the same, and your life will never end.
28 The children of your servants will go on living here.
Their descendants will be secure in your presence.”
BOOK FIVE
(Psalms 107–150)
Psalm 107
1 Give thanks to Yahweh because he is good,
because his mercy endures forever.
2 Let the people Yahweh defended repeat these words.
They are the people he defended from the power of their enemies
3 and gathered from other countries,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south.
4 They wandered around the desert on a deserted road
without finding an inhabited city.
5 They were hungry and thirsty.
They began to lose hope.
6 In their distress they cried out to Yahweh.
He rescued them from their troubles.
7 He led them on a road that went straight to an inhabited city.
8 Let them give thanks to Yahweh because of his mercy.
He performed his miracles for Adam’s descendants.
9 He gave plenty to drink to those who were thirsty.
He filled those who were hungry with good food.
10 Those who lived in the dark, in death’s shadow
were prisoners in misery.
They were held in iron chains
11 because they had rebelled against El’s words
and had despised the advice given by Elyon.
12 So he humbled them with hard work.
They fell down, but no one was there to help them.
13 In their distress they cried out to Yahweh.
He saved them from their troubles.
14 He brought them out of the dark, out of death’s shadow.
He broke apart their chains.
15 Let them give thanks to Yahweh because of his mercy.
He performed his miracles for Adam’s descendants.
16 He shattered bronze gates
and cut iron bars in two.
17 Fools suffered because of their disobedience
and because of their crimes.
18 All food was disgusting to them,
and they came near death’s gates.
19 In their distress they cried out to Yahweh.
He saved them from their troubles.
20 He sent his message and healed them.
He rescued them from the grave.
21 Let them give thanks to Yahweh because of his mercy.
He performed his miracles for Adam’s descendants.
22 Let them bring songs of thanksgiving as their sacrifice.
Let them tell in joyful songs what he has done.
23 Those who sail on the sea in ships,
who do business on the high seas,
24 have seen what Yahweh can do,
the miracles he performed in the depths of the sea.
25 He spoke, and a storm began to blow,
and it made the waves rise high.
26 The sailors aboard ship rose toward the sky.
They plunged into the depths.
Their courage melted in the face of disaster.
27 They reeled and staggered like drunks,
and all their skills as sailors became useless.
28 In their distress they cried out to Yahweh.
He led them from their troubles.
29 He made the storm calm down,
and the waves became still.
30 The sailors were glad that the storm was quiet.
He guided them to the harbor they had longed for.
31 Let them give thanks to Yahweh because of his mercy.
He performed his miracles for Adam’s descendants.
32 Let them glorify him when the people are gathered for worship.
Let them praise him in the company of respected leaders.
19 When King Hezekiah heard the message, he tore his clothes in grief, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into Yahweh’s temple. 2 Then he sent Eliakim, who was in charge of the palace, Shebna the scribe, and the leaders of the priests, clothed in sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz.
3 They said to him, “This is what Hezekiah says: Today is a day filled with misery, punishment, and disgrace. We are like a woman who is about to give birth but doesn’t have the strength to do it. 4 Yahweh your Elohim may have heard all the words of the field commander. His master, the king of Assyria, sent him to defy Elohim Chay. Yahweh your Elohim may punish him because of the message that Yahweh your Elohim heard. Pray for the few people who are left.”
5 So King Hezekiah’s men went to Isaiah. 6 Isaiah answered them, “Say this to your master, ‘This is what Yahweh says: Don’t be afraid of the message that you heard when the Assyrian king’s assistants slandered me. 7 I’m going to put a spirit in him so that he will hear a rumor and return to his own country. I’ll have him assassinated in his own country.’”
8 The field commander returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah. He had heard that the king left Lachish. 9 Now, Sennacherib heard that King Tirhakah of Sudan was coming to fight him.
Sennacherib sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10 “Tell King Hezekiah of Judah, ‘Don’t let the god whom you trust deceive you by saying that Jerusalem will not be put under the control of the king of Assyria. 11 You heard what the kings of Assyria did to all countries, how they totally destroyed them. Will you be rescued? 12 Did the gods of the nations which my ancestors destroyed rescue Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, and the king of the cities of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?’”
14 Hezekiah took the letters from the messengers, read them, and went to Yahweh’s temple. He spread them out in front of Yahweh 15 and prayed to Yahweh, “Yahweh, Elohim of Israel, you are enthroned over the angels.[a] You alone are Elohim of all the kingdoms of the world. You made heaven and earth. 16 Turn your ear toward me, Yahweh, and listen. Open your eyes, Yahweh, and see. Listen to the message that Sennacherib sent to defy Elohim Chay. 17 It is true, Yahweh, that the kings of Assyria have leveled nations.[b] 18 They have thrown the gods from these countries into fires because these gods aren’t real gods. They’re only wooden and stone statues made by human hands. So the Assyrians have destroyed them. 19 Now, Yahweh our Elohim, rescue us from Assyria’s control so that all the kingdoms on earth will know that you alone are Yahweh Elohim.”
Isaiah’s Prophecy against King Sennacherib of Assyria(A)
20 Then Isaiah, son of Amoz, sent a message to Hezekiah, “This is what Yahweh Elohim of Israel says: You prayed to me about King Sennacherib of Assyria. I have heard you.
16 If I spread the Good News, I have nothing to brag about because I have an obligation to do this. How horrible it will be for me if I don’t spread the Good News! 17 If I spread the Good News willingly, I’ll have a reward. But if I spread the Good News unwillingly, I’m only doing what I’ve been entrusted to do.
18 So what is my reward? It is to spread the Good News free of charge. In that way I won’t use the rights that belong to those who spread the Good News.
Paul’s Work as an Apostle
19 Although I’m free from all people, I have made myself a slave for all people to win more of them. 20 I became Jewish for Jewish people. I became subject to the laws in Moses’ Teachings for those who are subject to those laws. I did this to win them even though I’m not subject to Moses’ Teachings. 21 I became like a person who does not have Moses’ Teachings for those who don’t have those teachings. I did this to win them even though I have God’s teachings. I’m really subject to Christ’s teachings. 22 I became like a person weak in faith to win those who are weak in faith. I have become everything to everyone in order to save at least some of them. 23 I do all this for the sake of the Good News in order to share what it offers.
24 Don’t you realize that everyone who runs in a race runs to win, but only one runner gets the prize? Run like them, so that you can win. 25 Everyone who enters an athletic contest goes into strict training. They do it to win a temporary crown, but we do it to win one that will be permanent. 26 So I run—but not without a clear goal ahead of me. So I box—but not as if I were just shadow boxing. 27 Rather, I toughen my body with punches and make it my slave so that I will not be disqualified after I have spread the Good News to others.
Jesus Cures a Man with a Skin Disease(A)
8 When Yeshua came down from the mountain, large crowds followed him.
2 A man with a serious skin disease came and bowed down in front of him. The man said to Yeshua, “Sir, if you’re willing, you can make me clean.”[a]
3 Yeshua reached out, touched him, and said, “I’m willing. So be clean!” Immediately, his skin disease went away, and he was clean.
4 Yeshua said to him, “Don’t tell anyone about this! Instead, show yourself to the priest. Then offer the sacrifice Moses commanded as proof to people that you are clean.”
A Believing Army Officer(B)
5 When Yeshua went to Capernaum, a Roman army officer came to beg him for help. 6 The officer said, “Sir, my servant is lying at home paralyzed and in terrible pain.”
7 Yeshua said to him, “I’ll come to heal him.”
8 The officer responded, “Sir, I don’t deserve to have you come into my house. But just give a command, and my servant will be healed. 9 As you know, I’m in a chain of command and have soldiers at my command. I tell one of them, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and another, ‘Come!’ and he comes. I tell my servant, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”
10 Yeshua was amazed when he heard this. He said to those who were following him, “I can guarantee this truth: I haven’t found faith as great as this in anyone in Israel. 11 I can guarantee that many will come from all over the world. They will eat with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 The citizens of that kingdom will be thrown outside into the darkness. People will cry and be in extreme pain there.
13 Yeshua told the officer, “Go! What you believed will be done for you.” And at that moment the servant was healed.
Jesus Cures Peter’s Mother-in-Law and Many Others(C)
14 When Yeshua went to Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law in bed with a fever. 15 Yeshua touched her hand, and the fever went away. So she got up and prepared a meal for him.
16 In the evening the people brought him many who were possessed by demons. He forced the evil spirits out of people with a command and cured everyone who was sick. 17 So what the prophet Isaiah had said came true: “He took away our weaknesses and removed our diseases.”
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.