Book of Common Prayer
Lead Me to the Rock
Psalm 61
1 For the music director, on string instrument, of David.
2 Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer.
3 From the end of the earth I call to You when my heart is faint.
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
4 For You have been a refuge for me,
a tower of strength before the enemy.
5 Let me dwell in Your tent forever.
Let me take refuge in the shelter of Your wings. Selah
6 For You have heard my vows, O God.
You have given the inheritance of those who fear Your Name.
7 May You add days to the king’s days.
May his years span many generations.
8 May he be enthroned before God forever.
Appoint mercy and truth to protect him.
9 So I will sing praise to Your Name forever,
to fulfill my vows day after day.
My Rock and My Salvation
Psalm 62
1 For the music director, on Jeduthun. A psalm of David.
2 My soul, wait in stillness, only for God—
from Him comes my salvation.
3 He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my fortress—I will never be moved.
4 How long will all of you assault a man,
to crush him, like a leaning wall,
a fence to be torn down?
5 They only plot to topple him from his rank.
Delighting in falsehood, they bless with their mouth,
but inwardly they curse. Selah
6 My soul, wait in stillness, only for God—
for from Him comes my expectation.
7 He alone is my rock and my salvation,
my strong tower—I will not be moved.
8 On God, my salvation and my glory is the rock of my strength.
My refuge is in God.
9 Trust in Him at all times, you people.
Pour out your heart in His presence.
God is our refuge. Selah
10 Sons of Adam are a vapor,
sons of man are an illusion.
In balanced scales they go up—
altogether they are less than a breath.
11 Do not trust in extortion,
and do not put vain hope in plunder.
Though these things increase riches,
do not set your heart on them.
12 Once God has spoken,
twice I have heard this:
might belongs to God.
13 Also Yours, O Lord, is lovingkindness.
For You reward a man for his work.[a]
Triumphal Procession up to the Temple
Psalm 68
1 For the music director, a psalm of David, a song.
2 Let God arise!
Let His enemies be scattered!
Let those who hate Him flee before Him.
3 As smoke is blown away,
may You blow them away.
As wax melts before the fire,
may the wicked perish before God.
4 But let the righteous be glad.
Let them exult before God.
Let them rejoice with gladness.
5 Sing to God, sing praises to His Name.
Prepare the road for Him who rides through the deserts,
whose Name is Adonai—
and rejoice before Him.
6 A father of orphans, defender of widows,
is God in His holy dwelling.
7 God settles the lonely in a home.
He leads prisoners out to prosperity.
But the rebellious live in a parched land.
8 O God, when You went out before Your people,
when You marched through the desert—Selah—
9 the earth shook, the heavens rained
at the presence of God—the One of Sinai—
at the presence of God, God of Israel.
10 You poured down abundant rain, O God.
You sustained Your weary inheritance.
11 Your community settled in it.
In Your goodness, O God, You provided for the poor.
12 The Lord gives the word—
a great company of women proclaims the good news.
13 “Kings of armies, flee, flee!”
She who stays at home divides the spoil.
14 When you lie among the campfires,
wings of a dove were covered with silver
and her feathers with shimmering gold.
15 When Shaddai scattered kings there,
it was snowing on Zalmon.
16 Mount Bashan is a mountain of God.
Mount Bashan is a mountain of peaks.
17 Why do you gaze with envy, you mountain peaks,
at the mountain God desired for His dwelling?
Yes, Adonai will dwell there forever!
18 The chariots of God are thousands and thousands
—my Lord is among them as at Sinai, in holiness.
19 You went up on high.
You led captivity captive.
You received gifts from humanity,[a]
even from the rebellious—
so that God might dwell there.
20 Blessed be my Lord!
Day by day He bears our burdens—
the God of our salvation! Selah
21 God is for us—a God of deliverance.
Adonai my Lord has escapes from death.
22 Surely God crushes the head of His foes,
the hairy scalp of one walking in his guilt.
23 My Lord said:
“I will bring them back from Bashan,
I will bring them back from the depths of the sea.
24 So your foot may wade in blood,
and your dogs’ tongue may have their share of your enemies’ blood.”
25 They have seen Your processions, O God—
the processions of my God, my King, into the Sanctuary:
26 The singers go before, the musicians last,
between maidens beating tambourines.
27 “Bless God in the congregations—
Adonai, from the fountain of Israel.”
28 There Benjamin, the youngest, is leading them,
there the throng of Judah’s princes,
there the princes of Zebulun,
there the princes of Naphtali.
29 Your God commanded your strength.
Strengthen, O God,
You who have acted for us.
30 From Your Temple above Jerusalem,
kings bring You tribute.
31 Rebuke the beast of the reeds,
the herd of bulls with the calves,
peoples trampling down pieces of silver.
He has scattered the peoples who delight in war!
32 Nobles come from Egypt.
Cush runs to stretch her hands to God.
33 Sing to God, kingdoms of the earth,
sing praises to the Lord—Selah—
34 to Him who rides upon the ancient heavens of heavens.
Look, He utters His voice, a mighty voice!
35 Ascribe strength to God—
His majesty is over Israel
and His strength is in the skies.
36 O God, You are awesome from Your holy places.
The God of Israel gives strength and power to the people.
Blessed be God!
Dedicating the Wall
27 At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, they sought out Levites from all their places to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with joy and thanksgiving, and songs with cymbals, harps and lyres. 28 The companies of singers were also assembled from the district around Jerusalem and from the Netophathite villages, 29 and from Beth-gilgal, and from the fields of Geba and Azmavet, for the singers had built communities for themselves round about Jerusalem.
30 After the kohanim and the Levites had purified themselves, they purified the people, the gates, and the wall. 31 Then I led the leaders of Judah up on the wall, and I appointed two great choirs to give thanks. One of the processions went to the right on the wall toward the Dung Gate,
42 and also Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam and Ezer. The singers sang under the direction of Jezrahiah. 43 On that day they offered great sacrifices and rejoiced, for God had given them great joy. The women and children also rejoiced. The joy in Jerusalem could be heard from far off.
44 On that day men were appointed over the storehouses for the offerings, firstfruits and tithes. They were to gather into them the portions from the fields of the cities required by the Torah for the kohanim and the Levites. For Judah delighted in the kohanim and in the Levites who were ministering. 45 They kept the ceremonial functions of their God and the ceremony of the purification according to the command of David and of Solomon his son. 46 For of old, in the days of David and Asaph, there were leaders of the singers who sang songs of praise and thanksgiving to God.
47 So in the days of Zerubbabel and of Nehemiah, all Israel gave daily portions for the singers and the gatekeepers. They also set apart the portion for the Levites, and the Levites set apart the portion for the sons of Aaron.
Two Witnesses
11 Then a measuring rod like a staff was given to me, saying, “Get up and measure the Temple of God and the altar, and count those worshiping in it. [a] 2 But do not measure the court outside the Temple—leave it out, because it has been given to the nations, and they shall trample the holy city for forty-two months. [b] 3 And I will grant authority to My two witnesses and they will prophesy for 1,260 days,[c] dressed in sackcloth.”
4 These are the two olive trees and the two menorot that are standing before the Lord of the earth. [d] 5 If anyone wishes to harm them, fire comes out of their mouths and consumes their enemies. If anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way. [e] 6 These two have the power to shut the heavens, so that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying.[f] And they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they wish.[g]
7 When they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the abyss will make war on them, and overcome them and kill them. [h] 8 And their corpses will lie in the open street[i] of the great city that figuratively is called Sodom and Egypt—where also their[j] Lord was crucified. 9 Some from the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations will look at their corpses for three and a half days, not allowing them to be placed into a grave. [k] 10 Those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them. They will celebrate and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.
11 But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet;[l] and great fear fell on those who were watching them. 12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies watched them.[m]
13 At that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city collapsed.[n] Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
14 The second woe is past. The third woe is coming soon.
The Seventh Trumpet
15 Then the seventh angel trumpeted, and there were loud voices in heaven saying,
“The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord
and of His Anointed One.
And He shall reign forever and ever!”[o]
16 And the twenty-four elders seated on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying,
“We thank you, Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot,[p]
who is and who was,
because You have taken Your great power
and begun to reign.
18 The nations were enraged,
but Your wrath has come[q]
and the time for the dead to be judged—
to reward Your servants,
the prophets and kedoshim,
and those who fear Your name,
the small and the great,
and to destroy the destroyers of the earth.”[r]
19 Then the Temple of God in heaven was opened, and the Ark of His Covenant appeared in His Temple. And there were flashes of lightning and rumblings and clashes of thunder and an earthquake and heavy hail.[s]
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid. And because of his joy, he goes out and sells all that he has and buys that field.
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. 46 Upon finding a pearl of great value, he went out and sold all that he had and bought it.
47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea, gathering things of every kind. 48 When it was filled, they pulled it ashore; and they sat down and gathered up the good into containers, but threw the bad away. 49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth and separate the wicked from among the righteous 50 and throw them into the fiery furnace;[a] in that place will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
51 “Have you understood all these things?”
They said to Him, “Yes.”
52 Then He said to them, “Therefore every Torah scholar discipled for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure both new things and old.”
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.