Book of Common Prayer
97 Oh, how I love your teachings!
They are in my thoughts all day long.
98 Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies,
because your commandments are always with me.
99 I have more insight than all my teachers,
because your written instructions are in my thoughts.
100 I have more wisdom than those with many years of experience,
because I have obeyed your guiding principles.
101 I have kept my feet from walking on any evil path
in order to obey your word.
102 I have not neglected your regulations,
because you have taught me.
103 How sweet the taste of your promise is!
It tastes sweeter than honey.
104 From your guiding principles I gain understanding.
That is why I hate every path that leads to lying.
105 Your word is a lamp for my feet
and a light for my path.
106 I took an oath, and I will keep it.
I took an oath to follow your regulations,
which are based on your righteousness.
107 I have suffered so much.
Give me a new life, O Yahweh, as you promised.
108 Please accept the praise I gladly give you, O Yahweh,
and teach me your regulations.
109 I always take my life into my own hands,
but I never forget your teachings.
110 Wicked people have set a trap for me,
but I have never wandered away from your guiding principles.
111 Your written instructions are mine forever.
They are the joy of my heart.
112 I have decided to obey your laws.
They offer a reward that never ends.
113 I hate two-faced people,
but I love your teachings.
114 You are my hiding place and my shield.
My hope is based on your word.
115 Get away from me, you evildoers,
so that I can obey the commandments of my Elohim.
116 Help me Elohim, as you promised, so that I may live.
Do not turn my hope into disappointment.
117 Hold me, and I will be safe,
and I will always respect your laws.
118 You reject all who wander away from your laws,
because their lies mislead them.[a]
119 You get rid of all wicked people on earth as if they were rubbish.
That is why I love your written instructions.
120 My body shudders in fear of you,
and I am afraid of your regulations.
Psalm 81
For the choir director; on the gittith;[a] by Asaph.
1 Sing joyfully to Elohim, our strength.
Shout happily to the Elohim of Jacob.
2 Begin a psalm, and strike a tambourine.
Play lyres and harps with their pleasant music.
3 Blow the ram’s horn on the day of the new moon,
on the day of the full moon,
on our festival days.
4 This is a law for Israel,
a legal decision from the Elohim of Jacob.
5 These are the instructions Elohim set in place for Joseph
when Joseph rose to power over Egypt.
I heard a message I did not understand:
6 “I removed the burden from his shoulder.
His hands were freed from the basket.
7 When you were in trouble, you called out to me, and I rescued you.
I was hidden in thunder, but I answered you.
I tested your loyalty at the oasis of Meribah. Selah
8 Listen, my people, and I will warn you.
Israel, if you would only listen to me!
9 Never keep any strange god among you.
Never worship a foreign god.
10 I am Yahweh your Elohim, the one who brought you out of Egypt.
Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
11 “But my people did not listen to me.
Israel wanted nothing to do with me.
12 So I let them go their own stubborn ways
and follow their own advice.
13 If only my people would listen to me!
If only Israel would follow me!
14 I would quickly defeat their enemies.
I would turn my power against their foes.
15 Those who hate Yahweh would cringe in front of him,
and their time for punishment would last forever.
16 But I would feed Israel with the finest wheat
and satisfy them with honey from a rock.”
Psalm 82
A psalm by Asaph.
1 Elohim takes his place in his own assembly.
He pronounces judgment among the gods:
2 “How long are you going to judge unfairly?
How long are you going to side with wicked people?” Selah
3 Defend weak people and orphans.
Protect the rights of the oppressed and the poor.
4 Rescue weak and needy people.
Help them escape the power of wicked people.
5 Wicked people do not know or understand anything.
As they walk around in the dark,
all the foundations of the earth shake.
6 I said, “You are gods.
You are all sons of Elyon.
7 You will certainly die like humans
and fall like any prince.”
8 Arise, O Elohim!
Judge the earth, because all the nations belong to you.
Jacob Gets Isaac’s Blessing
27 When Isaac was old and going blind, he called his older son Esau and said to him, “Son!”
Esau answered, “Here I am.”
2 Isaac said, “I’m old. I don’t know when I’m going to die. 3 Now take your hunting equipment, your quiver and bow, and go out into the open country and hunt some wild game for me. 4 Prepare a good-tasting meal for me, just the way I like it. Bring it to me to eat so that I will bless you before I die.”
5 Rebekah was listening while Isaac was speaking to his son Esau. When Esau went into the open country to hunt for some wild game to bring back, 6 Rebekah said to her son Jacob, “I’ve just heard your father speaking to your brother Esau. 7 He said, ‘Bring me some wild game, and prepare a good-tasting meal for me to eat so that I will bless you in the presence of Yahweh before I die.’ 8 Now listen to me, Son, and do what I tell you. 9 Go to the flock, and get me two good young goats. I’ll prepare them as a good-tasting meal for your father, just the way he likes it. 10 Then take it to your father to eat so that he will bless you before he dies.”
11 Jacob said to his mother Rebekah, “My brother Esau is a hairy man, and my skin is smooth.[a] 12 My father will feel my skin and think I’m mocking him. Then I’ll bring a curse on myself instead of a blessing.”
13 His mother responded, “Let any curse on you fall on me, Son. Just obey me and go! Get me the young goats.”
14 He went and got them and brought them to his mother. She prepared a good-tasting meal, just the way his father liked it. 15 Then Rebekah took her older son Esau’s good clothes, which she had in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. 16 She put the skins from the young goats on his hands and on the back of his neck. 17 Then she gave her son Jacob the good-tasting meal and the bread she had prepared.
18 He went to his father and said, “Father?”
“Yes?” he answered. “Who are you, Son?”
19 Jacob answered his father, “I’m Esau, your firstborn. I’ve done what you told me. Sit up and eat this meat I’ve hunted for you so that you may bless me.”
20 Isaac asked his son, “How did you find it so quickly, Son?”
“Yahweh your Elohim brought it to me,” he answered.
21 Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Come over here so that I can feel your skin, Son, to find out whether or not you really are my son Esau.” 22 So Jacob went over to his father. Isaac felt his skin. “The voice is Jacob’s,” he said, “but the hands are Esau’s.” 23 He didn’t recognize Jacob, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands. So he blessed him. 24 “Are you really my son Esau?” he asked him.
“I am,” Jacob answered.
25 Isaac said, “Bring me some of the game, and I will eat it, Son, so that I will bless you.” Jacob brought it to Isaac, and he ate it. Jacob also brought him wine, and he drank it.
26 Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come here and give me a kiss, Son.” 27 He went over and gave him a kiss. When Isaac smelled his clothes, he blessed him and said,
“The smell of my son
is like the smell of open country
that Yahweh has blessed.
28 May Elohim give you dew from the sky,
fertile fields on the earth,
and plenty of fresh grain and new wine.
29 May nations serve you.
May people bow down to you.
Be the master of your brothers,
and may the sons of your mother bow down to you.
May those who curse you be cursed.
May those who bless you be blessed.”
Dedicate Your Lives to God
12 Brothers and sisters, in view of all we have just shared about God’s compassion, I encourage you to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, dedicated to God and pleasing to him. This kind of worship is appropriate for you. 2 Don’t become like the people of this world. Instead, change the way you think. Then you will always be able to determine what God really wants—what is good, pleasing, and perfect.
3 Because of the kindness[a] that God has shown me, I ask you not to think of yourselves more highly than you should. Instead, your thoughts should lead you to use good judgment based on what God has given each of you as believers. 4 Our bodies have many parts, but these parts don’t all do the same thing. 5 In the same way, even though we are many individuals, Christ makes us one body and individuals who are connected to each other. 6 God in his kindness gave each of us different gifts. If your gift is speaking what God has revealed, make sure what you say agrees with the Christian faith. 7 If your gift is serving, then devote yourself to serving. If it is teaching, devote yourself to teaching. 8 If it is encouraging others, devote yourself to giving encouragement. If it is sharing, be generous. If it is leadership, lead enthusiastically. If it is helping people in need, help them cheerfully.
Jesus Speaks with the Pharisees about His Father
12 Yeshua spoke to the Pharisees again. He said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will have a life filled with light and will never live in the dark.”
13 The Pharisees said to him, “You testify on your own behalf, so your testimony isn’t true.”
14 Yeshua replied to them, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is true because I know where I came from and where I’m going. However, you don’t know where I came from or where I’m going. 15 You judge the way humans do. I don’t judge anyone. 16 Even if I do judge, my judgment is valid because I don’t make it on my own. I make my judgment with the Father who sent me. 17 Your own teachings say that the testimony of two people is true. 18 I testify on my own behalf, and so does the Father who sent me.”
19 The Pharisees asked him, “Where is your father?”
Yeshua replied, “You don’t know me or my Father. If you knew me, you would also know my Father.”
20 Yeshua spoke these words while he was teaching in the treasury area of the temple courtyard. No one arrested him, because his time had not yet come.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.