Book of Common Prayer
The Path of Eternal Life
Psalm 16
1 A Michtam of David.
Keep me safe, O God, for in You I have found shelter.
2 I said to Adonai: “You are my Lord—
I have no good apart from You.”
3 As for the kedoshim who are in the land,
they are noble—in them is all my delight.
4 As for those who run after another god,
may their sorrows multiply.
I will not pour out their drink offerings of blood,
nor lift up their names with my lips.
5 Adonai is my portion and my cup.
You cast my lot.
6 My boundary lines fall in pleasant places
—surely my heritage is beautiful.
7 I will bless Adonai, who counsels me.
Even at night my heart instructs me.
8 I have set Adonai always before me.
Since He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
9 So my heart is glad and my soul rejoices.
My body also rests secure.
10 For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol
nor let Your faithful one see the Pit.[a]
11 You make known to me the path of life.
Abundance of joys are in Your presence,
eternal pleasures at Your right hand.[b]
A Plea for Vindication
Psalm 17
1 A prayer of David.
Hear, Adonai, a just plea, listen to my cry!
Give ear to my prayer—from lips with no deceit.
2 From Your presence comes my vindication.
Your eyes see what is right.
3 You have examined my heart.
You searched me at night.
Though You test me, You find nothing.
I resolved that my mouth will not sin.
4 As for the deeds of mankind—
by the word of Your lips
I have kept out of the ways of the violent.
5 My steps have kept on Your paths.
My feet have not slipped.
6 I called upon You, O God,
for You will answer me.
Incline Your ear to me,
hear my speech.
7 Be wonderful with Your lovingkindness,
O Savior of those taking refuge at Your right hand
from those rising up against them.
8 Protect me like the pupil of the eye.
Hide me in the shadow of Your wings,
9 from the wicked who attack me—
my enemies, who surround me.
10 Their callous heart they shut tight.
With their mouth they speak proudly.
11 Our steps are now surrounded.
They set their eyes to throw us down to the ground,
12 like a lion eager to tear to pieces,
like a young lion crouching in cover.
13 Arise, Adonai! Confront him!
Make him bow down!
Deliver my soul from the wicked with Your sword,
14 from men, with Your hand, Adonai,
from men of the world whose portion is in this life.
You fill their belly with Your treasure
—with plenty of children—
and leave their surplus to their babes.
15 I in righteousness will behold Your face!
When I awake,
I will be satisfied with Your likeness.
Suffering Servant
Psalm 22
1 For the music director, on “The Doe of the Dawn,” a psalm of David.
2 My God, my God,
why have You forsaken me?
Distant from my salvation
are the words of my groaning.[a]
3 O my God, I cried out by day, but You did not answer,
by night, but there was no rest for me.
4 Yet You are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
5 In You our fathers put their trust.
They trusted, and You delivered them.
6 They cried to you and were delivered.
In You they trusted, and were not disappointed.
7 Am I a worm, and not a man?
Am I a scorn of men, despised by people?
8 All who see me mock me.
They curl their lips, shaking their heads:
9 “Rely on Adonai! Let Him deliver him!
Let Him rescue him—since he delights in Him!”[b]
10 Yet You brought me out of the womb,
made me secure at my mother’s breasts.
11 From the womb I was cast on You—
from my mother’s womb You have been my God.
12 Be not far from me!
For trouble is near—
there is no one to help.
13 Many bulls have surrounded me.
Strong bulls of Bashan encircled me.
14 They open wide their mouths against me,
like a tearing, roaring lion.
15 I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are disjointed.
My heart is like wax—
melting within my innards.
16 My strength is dried up like a clay pot,
my tongue clings to my jaws.
You lay me in the dust of death.
17 For dogs have surrounded me.
A band of evildoers has closed in on me.
They pierced[c] my hands and my feet.
18 I can count all my bones.
They stare, they gape at me.
19 They divide my clothes among them,
and cast lots for my garment.[d]
20 But You, Adonai, be not far off!
O my strength! Come quickly to my aid!
21 Deliver my soul from the sword—
my only one from the power of the dog.
22 Save me from the lion’s mouth.
From the horns of the wild oxen rescue me.
23 I will declare Your Name to my brothers.
I will praise You amid the congregation.[e]
24 You who fear Adonai, praise Him!
All Jacob’s descendants, glorify Him!
Revere Him, all you seed of Israel.
25 For He has not despised or disdained the suffering of the lowly one.
Nor has He hidden His face from him,
but when he cried to Him, He heard.
26 From You is my praise in the great assembly.
I will fulfill my vows before those who fear Him.
27 Let the poor eat and be satisfied.
Let them who seek after Him praise Adonai.
May your hearts live forever!
28 All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to Adonai.
All the families of the nations will bow down before You.
29 For the kingdom belongs to Adonai,
and He rules over the nations.
30 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship.
Everyone who goes down to the dust will kneel before Him—
even the one who could not keep his own soul alive.
31 His posterity will serve him, telling
the next generation about my Lord.
32 They will come and declare His righteousness
to a people yet to be born—
because He has done it!
Evil Inclination of All Humanity
6 Now when humankind began to multiply on the face of the ground and daughters were born to them, 2 then the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were good and they took for themselves wives, any they chose. 3 Then Adonai said, “My Spirit will not remain with humankind forever, since they are flesh. So their days will be 120 years. 4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, whenever the sons of God came to the daughters of men, and gave birth to them. Those were the mighty men of old, men of renown.
5 Then Adonai saw that the wickedness of humankind was great on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their heart was only evil all the time. 6 So Adonai regretted that He made humankind on the earth, and His heart was deeply pained. 7 So Adonai said, “I will wipe out humankind, whom I have created, from the face of the ground, from humankind to livestock, crawling things and the flying creatures of the sky, because I regret that I made them.”
8 But Noah found favor in Adonai’s eyes.
12 Take care, brothers and sisters, that none of you has an evil heart of unbelief that falls away from the living God. 13 But encourage one another day by day—as long as it is called “Today”—so that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partners of Messiah, if we hold our original conviction firm until the end. 15 As it is said,
“Today if you hear His voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”[a]
16 Now which ones heard and rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt with Moses? 17 And with whom was He provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest? Was it not to those who were disobedient? 19 So we see that they were not able to enter in because of lack of trust.
Water to Wine
2 On the third day, there was a wedding at Cana in the Galilee. Yeshua’s mother was there, 2 and Yeshua and His disciples were also invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine ran out, Yeshua’s mother said to Him, “They don’t have any wine!”
4 Yeshua said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with you and Me? My hour hasn’t come yet.”
5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever He tells you.”
6 Now there were six stone jars, used for the Jewish ritual of purification, each holding two to three measures. [a] 7 Yeshua said to them, “Fill the jars with water!” So they filled them up to the top. 8 Then He said to them, “Take some water out, and give it to the headwaiter.” And they brought it.
9 Now the headwaiter did not know where it had come from, but the servants who had drawn the water knew. As the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine, he calls the bridegroom 10 and says to him, “Everyone brings out the good wine first, and whenever they are drunk, then the worse. But you’ve reserved the good wine until now!” 11 Yeshua did this, the first of the signs, in Cana of the Galilee—He revealed His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.
Yeshua Purges the Temple
12 After this Yeshua went down to Capernaum with His mother, brothers,[b] and disciples, and they stayed there a few days.
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.