Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 24
A psalm by David.
1 The earth and everything it contains are Yahweh’s.
The world and all who live in it are his.
2 He laid its foundation on the seas
and set it firmly on the rivers.
3 Who may go up Yahweh’s mountain?
Who may stand in his holy place?
4 The one who has clean hands and a pure heart
and does not long for what is false[a]
or lie when he is under oath.
5 This person will receive a blessing from Yahweh
and righteousness from Elohim, his savior.
6 This is the person who seeks him,
who searches for the face of the El of Jacob.[b] Selah
7 Lift your heads, you gates.
Be lifted, you ancient doors,
so that the Melek of glory may come in.
8 Who is this Melek of glory?
Yahweh, strong and mighty!
Yahweh, heroic in battle!
9 Lift your heads, you gates.
Be lifted, you ancient doors,
so that the Melek of glory may come in.
10 Who, then, is this Melek of glory?
Yahweh Tsebaoth is the Melek of glory! Selah
Psalm 29
A psalm by David.
1 Give to Yahweh, you heavenly beings.
Give to Yahweh glory and power.
2 Give to Yahweh the glory his name deserves.
Worship Yahweh in his holy splendor.
3 The voice of Yahweh rolls over the water.
The El of glory thunders.
Yahweh shouts over raging water.
4 The voice of Yahweh is powerful.
The voice of Yahweh is majestic.
5 The voice of Yahweh breaks the cedars.
Yahweh splinters the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He makes Lebanon skip along like a calf
and Mount Sirion like a wild ox.
7 The voice of Yahweh strikes with flashes of lightning.
8 The voice of Yahweh makes the wilderness tremble.
Yahweh makes the wilderness of Kadesh tremble.
9 The voice of Yahweh splits the oaks[a]
and strips the trees of the forests bare.
Everyone in his temple is saying, “Glory!”
10 Yahweh sat enthroned over the flood.
Yahweh sits enthroned as Melek forever.
11 Yahweh will give power to his people.
Yahweh will bless his people with peace.
Psalm 8
For the choir director; on the gittith;[a] a psalm by David.
1 O Yahweh, our Adonay, how majestic is your name throughout the earth!
Your glory is sung above the heavens.[b]
2 From the mouths of little children and infants,
you have built a fortress against your opponents
to silence the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I look at your heavens,
the creation of your fingers,
the moon and the stars that you have set in place—
4 what is a mortal that you remember him
or the Son of Man that you take care of him?
5 You have made him a little lower than yourself.
You have crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You have made him rule what your hands created.
You have put everything under his control:
7 all the sheep and cattle, the wild animals,
8 the birds, the fish,
whatever swims in the currents of the seas.
9 O Yahweh, our Adonay, how majestic is your name throughout the earth!
Psalm 84
For the choir director; on the gittith; a psalm by Korah’s descendants.
1 Your dwelling place is lovely, O Yahweh Tsebaoth!
2 My soul longs and yearns
for Yahweh’s courtyards.
My whole body shouts for joy to El Chay.
3 Even sparrows find a home,
and swallows find a nest for themselves.
There they hatch their young
near your altars, O Yahweh Tsebaoth,
my Melek and my Elohim.
4 Blessed are those who live in your house.
They are always praising you. Selah
5 Blessed are those who find strength in you.
Their hearts are on the road that leads to you.[a]
6 As they pass through a valley where balsam trees grow,[b]
they make it a place of springs.
The early rains cover it with blessings.[c]
7 Their strength grows as they go along
until each one of them appears
in front of Elohim in Zion.
8 O Yahweh Elohim Tsebaoth, hear my prayer.
Open your ears, O Elohim of Jacob. Selah
9 Look at our shield, O Elohim.
Look with favor on the face of your anointed one.
10 One day in your courtyards is better than a thousand anywhere else.
I would rather stand in the entrance to my Elohim’s house
than live inside wicked people’s homes.
11 Yahweh Elohim is a sun and Magen.
Yahweh grants favor and honor.
He does not hold back any blessing
from those who live innocently.
12 O Yahweh Tsebaoth, blessed is the person who trusts you.
The Poor Complain about Their Rich Relatives
5 Then some of the people, the men and their wives, complained publicly about their Jewish relatives. 2 Some of them said, “We have large families! We need some grain if we are going to eat and stay alive.” 3 Others said, “We’ve had to mortgage our fields, our vineyards, and our homes in order to get some grain because of this famine.” 4 Others said, “We’ve had to borrow money to pay the king’s taxes on our fields and vineyards. 5 We have the same flesh and blood as our relatives. Our children are just like theirs. Yet, we have to force our sons and daughters to become slaves. Some of our daughters have already become slaves. But we can’t do anything else when our fields and vineyards belong to others.”
Nehemiah Stops the Rich from Taking Advantage of the Poor
6 I became furious when I heard their complaint and what they had to say. 7 After thinking it over, I confronted the nobles and the leaders. I told them, “You are charging interest on loans made to your own relatives.” I arranged for a large meeting to deal with them. 8 Then I told them, “We have done our best to buy back our Jewish relatives who had been sold to other nations. Now you are selling your Jewish relatives so that we have to buy them back again!” They were unable to say anything. 9 I added, “What you’re doing is wrong. Shouldn’t you live in the fear of our Elohim to keep our enemies from ridiculing us? 10 My brothers, my servants, and I are lending money and grain to the poor. But we must stop charging them interest. 11 You must return their fields, their vineyards, their olive orchards, and their homes today. Also, you must return the interest on the money, grain, new wine, and olive oil you’ve been charging them.”
12 They responded, “We’ll return it and not try to get it from them again. We’ll do what you say.” Then I called the priests and made them swear to do what they promised. 13 I brushed off my clothes and said, “In the same way, may Elohim brush off from home and work everyone who refuses to keep this promise. In the same way, may everyone be brushed off and left with nothing.” Then the whole congregation said amen and praised Yahweh. The people did what they had promised.
Nehemiah Never Takes What Is Rightfully His as Governor
14 During the 12 years that I was governor of Judah, from the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes’ reign to the thirty-second year of his reign, my brothers and I never ate any food that was paid for by the governor’s food allowance. 15 Those who were governors before me had made life difficult for the people by taking from them food and wine plus one pound of silver. Even the governors’ servants took advantage of their power over the people. But I didn’t do that, because I feared Elohim. 16 Instead, I put my best effort into the work on this wall, and we bought no land. All my men gathered here for work. 17 I fed 150 Jewish leaders and their people who came to us from the surrounding nations. 18 Preparing one ox and six choice sheep was necessary every day. Poultry was prepared for me. Once every ten days a supply of wine was ordered. Yet, in spite of all this, I never demanded anything from the governor’s food allowance, because these people were already carrying a heavy load.
Nehemiah’s Prayer
19 Remember me, my Elohim. Consider everything that I have done for these people.
7 On Sunday we met to break bread. Paul was discussing Scripture with the people. Since he intended to leave the next day, he kept talking until midnight. 8 (Many lamps were lit in the upstairs room where we were meeting.)
9 A young man named Eutychus was sitting in a window. As Paul was talking on and on, Eutychus was gradually falling asleep. Finally, overcome by sleep, he fell from the third story and was dead when they picked him up. 10 Paul went to him, took him into his arms, and said, “Don’t worry! He’s alive!” 11 Then Eutychus went upstairs again, broke the bread, and ate. Paul talked with the people for a long time, until sunrise, and then left.
12 The people took the boy home. They were greatly relieved that he was alive.
Stop Worrying(A)
22 Then Yeshua said to his disciples, “So I tell you to stop worrying about what you will eat or wear. 23 Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothes. 24 Consider the crows. They don’t plant or harvest. They don’t even have a storeroom or a barn. Yet, God feeds them. You are worth much more than birds.
25 “Can any of you add an hour to your life by worrying? 26 If you can’t do a small thing like that, why worry about other things? 27 Consider how the flowers grow. They never work or spin yarn for clothes. But I say that not even Solomon in all his majesty was dressed like one of these flowers. 28 That’s the way God clothes the grass in the field. Today it’s alive, and tomorrow it’s thrown into an incinerator. So how much more will he clothe you people who have so little faith?
29 “Don’t concern yourself about what you will eat or drink, and quit worrying about these things. 30 Everyone in the world is concerned about these things, but your Father knows you need them. 31 Rather, be concerned about his kingdom. Then these things will be provided for you.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.