Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 63
A psalm by David when he was in the wilderness of Judah.
1 O Elohim, you are my Elohim.
At dawn I search for you.
My soul thirsts for you.
My body longs for you
in a dry, parched land where there is no water.
2 So I look for you in the holy place
to see your power and your glory.
3 My lips will praise you
because your mercy is better than life itself.
4 So I will thank you as long as I live.
I will lift up my hands to pray in your name.
5 You satisfy my soul with the richest foods.
My mouth will sing your praise with joyful lips.
6 As I lie on my bed, I remember you.
Through the long hours of the night, I think about you.
7 You have been my help.
In the shadow of your wings, I sing joyfully.
8 My soul clings to you.
Your right hand supports me.
9 But those who try to destroy my life
will go into the depths of the earth.
10 They will be cut down by swords.
Their dead bodies will be left as food for jackals.
11 But the king will find joy in Elohim.
Everyone who takes an oath by Elohim will brag,
but the mouths of liars will be shut.
Psalm 98
A psalm.
1 Sing a new song to Yahweh
because he has done miraculous things.
His right hand and his holy arm have gained victory for him.
2 Yahweh has made his salvation known.
He has uncovered his righteousness for the nations to see.
3 He has not forgotten to be merciful and faithful
to Israel’s descendants.
All the ends of the earth have seen how our Elohim saves them.
4 Shout happily to Yahweh, all the earth.
Break out into joyful singing, and make music.
5 Make music to Yahweh with a lyre,
with a lyre and the melody of a psalm,
6 with trumpets and the playing of a ram’s horn.
Shout happily in the presence of the Melek, Yahweh.
7 Let the sea, everything in it,
the world, and those who live in it roar like thunder.
8 Let the rivers clap their hands
and the mountains sing joyfully
9 in Yahweh’s presence
because he is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with justice
and its people with fairness.
Psalm 103
By David.
1 Praise Yahweh, my soul!
Praise his holy name, all that is within me.
2 Praise Yahweh, my soul,
and never forget all the good he has done:
3 He is the one who forgives all your sins,
the one who heals all your diseases,
4 the one who rescues your life from the pit,
the one who crowns you with mercy and compassion,
5 the one who fills your life with blessings
so that you become young again like an eagle.
6 Yahweh does what is right and fair
for all who are oppressed.
7 He let Moses know his ways.
He let the Israelites know the things he had done.
8 Yahweh is compassionate, merciful, patient,
and always ready to forgive.
9 He will not always accuse us of wrong
or be angry with us forever.
10 He has not treated us as we deserve for our sins
or paid us back for our wrongs.
11 As high as the heavens are above the earth—
that is how vast his mercy is toward those who fear him.
12 As far as the east is from the west—
that is how far he has removed our rebellious acts from himself.
13 As a father has compassion for his children,
so Yahweh has compassion for those who fear him.
14 He certainly knows what we are made of.
He bears in mind that we are dust.
15 Human life is as short-lived as grass.
It blossoms like a flower in the field.
16 When the wind blows over the flower, it disappears,
and there is no longer any sign of it.
17 But from everlasting to everlasting,
Yahweh’s mercy is on those who fear him.
His righteousness belongs
to their children and grandchildren,
18 to those who are faithful to his promise,[a]
to those who remember to follow his guiding principles.
19 Yahweh has set his throne in heaven.
His kingdom rules everything.
20 Praise Yahweh, all his angels,
you mighty beings who carry out his orders
and are ready to obey his spoken orders.
21 Praise Yahweh, all his armies,
his servants who carry out his will.
22 Praise Yahweh, all his creatures
in all the places of his empire.
Praise Yahweh, my soul!
2 Abram was very rich because he had livestock, silver, and gold. 3 He traveled from place to place. He went from the Negev as far as Bethel, to the area between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been originally, 4 where he had first made an altar. There Abram worshiped Yahweh.
5 Lot, who had been traveling with Abram, also had his own sheep, cattle, and tents. 6 There wasn’t enough pastureland for both of them. They had so many possessions that they were unable to remain together. 7 Quarrels broke out between Abram’s herders and Lot’s herders. (Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in that area.)
8 Abram said to Lot, “Please, let’s not have any more quarrels between us or between our herders. After all, we’re relatives. 9 Isn’t all this land yours also? Let’s separate. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right, and if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.” 10 Then Lot looked in the direction of Zoar as far as he could see. He saw that the whole Jordan Plain was well-watered like Yahweh’s garden or like Egypt. (This was before Yahweh destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)
11 Lot chose the whole Jordan Plain for himself. He moved toward the east. They each went their own way. 12 Abram lived in Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain, moving his tents as far as Sodom. 13 (The people who lived in Sodom were very wicked. They committed terrible sins against Yahweh.)
The Lord’s Third Promise to Abram
14 After Lot left, Yahweh said to Abram, “Look north, south, east, and west of where you are. 15 I will give all the land you see to you and to your descendants for an indefinite period of time. 16 I will also give you as many descendants as the dust of the earth. If anyone could count the dust of the earth, then he could also count your descendants. 17 Go! Walk back and forth across the entire land because I will give it to you.” 18 So Abram moved his tents and went to live by the oak trees belonging to Mamre at Hebron. There he built an altar for Yahweh.
Paul Was Accepted as an Apostle by the Leaders in Jerusalem
2 Then 14 years later I went to Jerusalem again with Barnabas. I also took Titus along. 2 I went in response to a revelation from God. I showed them the way I spread the Good News among people who are not Jewish. I did this in a private meeting with those recognized as important people to see whether all my efforts had been wasted.
3 Titus was with me, and although he is Greek, no one forced him to be circumcised.
4 False Christians were brought in. They slipped in as spies to learn about the freedom Christ Yeshua gives us. They hoped to find a way to control us. 5 But we did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the Good News would always be yours.
6 Those who were recognized as important people didn’t add a single thing to my message. (What sort of people they were makes no difference to me, since God doesn’t play favorites.) 7 In fact, they saw that I had been entrusted with telling the Good News to people who are not circumcised as Peter had been entrusted to tell it to those who are circumcised. 8 The one who made Peter an apostle to Jewish people also made me an apostle to people who are not Jewish. 9 James, Cephas, and John (who were recognized as the most important people) acknowledged that God had given me this special gift.[a] So they shook hands with Barnabas and me, agreeing to be our partners. It was understood that we would work among the people who are not Jewish and they would work among Jewish people. 10 The only thing they asked us to do was to remember the poor, the very thing which I was eager to do.
Jesus Cures a Deaf Man
31 Yeshua then left the neighborhood of Tyre. He went through Sidon and the territory of the Ten Cities[a] to the Sea of Galilee.
32 Some people brought to him a man who was deaf and who also had a speech defect. They begged Yeshua to lay his hand on him. 33 Yeshua took him away from the crowd to be alone with him. He put his fingers into the man’s ears, and after spitting, he touched the man’s tongue. 34 Then he looked up to heaven, sighed, and said to the man, “Ephphatha!” which means, “Be opened!” 35 At once the man could hear and talk normally.
36 Yeshua ordered the people not to tell anyone. But the more he ordered them, the more they spread the news. 37 Yeshua completely amazed the people. They said, “He has done everything well. He makes the deaf hear and the mute talk.”
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.