Book of Common Prayer
Scorn and Disgrace, Gall and Vinegar
Psalm 69
1 For the music director, on “Lilies,” of David.
2 Save me, O God,
for the waters
have reached my soul.
3 I have sunk in deep mud,
and there is no footing,
I have come into deep waters,
and a flood sweeps over me.
4 I am worn out by my crying,
my throat is parched,
my eyes fail, waiting for my God.
5 Those who hate me without a cause[a] outnumber the hairs of my head.
Powerful are my enemies who would destroy me with lies.
What I did not steal, must I restore?
6 O God, You know my folly,
nor are my trespasses hidden from You.
7 May those who hope in You
not be ashamed because of me,
my Lord, Adonai-Tzva’ot.
May those who seek You
not be disgraced because of me,
O God of Israel.
8 For I have endured scorn for Your sake.
Disgrace has covered my face.
9 I have become a stranger to my brothers,
a foreigner to my mother’s children.
10 For zeal for Your House consumed me—
the insults of those who insulted You have fallen on me.[b]
11 When I wept and fasted—
that became a reproach to me.
12 When I put on sackcloth,
I became a joke to them.
13 Those who sit at the gate chatter about me,
and I am the song of the drunkards.
14 But as for me, my prayer to You, Adonai, is for a time of favor.
O God, in Your great love, answer me with the truth of Your salvation.
15 Deliver me from the mire—
do not let me sink.
Deliver me from those who hate me,
out of the deep waters.
16 Do not let floodwaters sweep over me,
nor the deep swallow me up,
nor the Pit shut its mouth over me.
17 Answer me, Adonai, for good is Your mercy.
With Your great compassion, turn to me.
18 Hide not Your face from Your servant.
For I am in distress—answer me quickly.
19 Draw near to my soul and redeem it.
Ransom me because of my foes.
20 You know my reproach, my shame, my disgrace.
All my adversaries are before You.
21 Scorn has broken my heart, so I am sick.
I looked for sympathy, but there was none,
for comforters, but found none.
22 They put gall in my food,
and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.[c]
23 Let their table before them be a snare,
and what should have been for their well-being,
let it be a trap.
24 Let their eyes be darkened so they cannot see
and their backs be bent forever.[d]
25 Pour out Your indignation on them.
Let Your fierce anger overtake them.
26 Let their encampment be deserted.
Let none dwell in their tents.
27 For they persecute the one You have smitten,
so they tell of the pain
of those You have wounded.
28 Add guilt to their guilt—
may they not come into Your righteousness.
29 May they be wiped out of the book of life
and not be recorded with the righteous.[e]
30 But I—I am afflicted and in pain.
Let Your salvation, O God, set me up on high.
31 I will praise God’s Name with a song,
and magnify Him with praise.
32 It will please Adonai better than an ox
or a bull with horns and hoofs.
33 The humble will see it and be glad.
You who seek God, let your hearts revive.
34 For Adonai hears the needy
and does not despise His captive people.
35 Let heaven and earth praise Him,
the seas and everything moving in them.
36 For God will save Zion,
and rebuild the cities of Judah.
Then they will dwell there and possess it.
37 The children of His servants will inherit it
and those who love His Name will dwell there.
God Is the Strength of My Heart
Psalm 73
1 A psalm of Asaph.
Surely God is good to Israel,
to the pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet almost slipped.
My steps nearly slid out from under me.
3 For I envied the arrogant,
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4 For there are no pains at their death,
their body is healthy.
5 They have none of humanity’s trouble,
nor are they plagued like others.
6 Therefore, they put on pride as a necklace,
and violence wraps around them like a garment.
7 Their eyes bulge out from fatness.
The imaginations of their hearts run wild.
8 They scoff and wickedly plan evil.
From on high they threaten.
9 They set their mouth against heaven.
Their tongue struts through the earth.
10 Therefore His people return here,
while they drink their fill.
11 So they say: “How does God know?
And does Elyon have knowledge?”
12 Behold, such are the wicked—
always at ease and amassing wealth.
13 Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure,
and washed my hands in innocence.
14 For all day I have been stricken,
my chastisement comes every morning.
15 If I had said: “I will speak thus,”
surely I would have betrayed a generation of Your children.
16 But when I tried to make sense of this,
it was troubling in my eyes—
17 until I entered the Sanctuary of God,
and perceived their end.
18 Surely You put them in slippery places.
You hurled them down to destruction.
19 How suddenly they became a ruin—
terminated, consumed by terrors.
20 Like a dream when one awakes,
thus when You arise, my Lord,
You will despise their form.
21 When my heart was embittered
and I was pierced in my heart,
22 I was brutish and ignorant.
I was like a beast before You.
23 Yet I am continually with You.
You hold my right hand.
24 You guide me with Your counsel,
and afterward You will take me into glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but You?
On earth there is none I desire besides You.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.
27 For behold, those far from You will perish.
You put an end to all who like a harlot are unfaithful to You.
28 But for me, it is good to be near God.
I have made my Lord Adonai my refuge.
So I will tell of all Your works.
Deborah’s Song
5 Then Deborah and Barak son of Abinoam sang on that day saying:
2 “When leaders take the lead in Israel,
when people freely offer themselves,
bless Adonai!
3 Listen, O kings! Give ear, O rulers!
I, to Adonai I will sing,
I will sing praise to Adonai,
the God of Israel.
4 Adonai, when You came out from Seir,
when You marched from Edom’s field,
the earth trembled,
the heavens also dropped,
yes, the clouds dropped water.
5 The mountains quaked before Adonai,
this Sinai at the presence of Adonai,
the God of Israel!
6 In the days of Shamgar son of Anath,
in the days of Yael,
the highways were deserted,
travelers walked by crooked paths.
7 Villages were deserted in Israel,
deserted, until I, Deborah, arose,
a mother in Israel arose.
8 They chose new gods—
then war was in the gates.
No shield or spear was seen
among 40,000 in Israel!
9 My heart is with Israel’s rulers,
who offer themselves freely among the people. Bless Adonai!
10 Riders on white donkeys,
sitting on saddle blankets,
traveling on the road, sing!
11 Louder than the sound of archers,
at the watering places!
There let them rehearse
the righteous acts of Adonai,
the righteous deeds for His villages in Israel.
Then the people of Adonai
went down to the gates.
12 Awake, awake, Deborah!
Awake, awake, utter a song!
Arise, Barak, lead away your captives,
O son of Abinoam!
13 Then a remnant of nobles came down.
Adonai’s people came down to me
with the mighty ones.
14 Those with root in Amalek
are from Ephraim, following you,
Benjamin, with your peoples.
From Machir came down rulers,
and from Zebulun wielding
the marshal’s staff.
15 Issachar’s chiefs were with Deborah.
Issachar was with Barak.
Into the valley they rushed at his heels.
Among the divisions of Reuben
there were great resolves of heart.
16 Why did you stay in the sheepfolds—
to hear the piping for the flocks?
Among the clans of Reuben
there was much searching of heart.
17 Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan,
and Dan, why did he stay by the ships?
Asher sat at the seacoast,
dwelling by its docks.
18 Zebulun is a people who jeopardized
their lives to death, and Naphtali also,
on the heights of the battlefield.
The Ruach Fills the Disciples
2 When the day of Shavuot[a] had come, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 And tongues like fire spreading out appeared to them and settled on each one of them. 4 They were all filled with the Ruach ha-Kodesh and began to speak in other tongues as the Ruach enabled them to speak out.
5 Now Jewish people were staying in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And when this sound came, the crowd gathered. They were bewildered, because each was hearing them speaking in his own language. 7 And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “All these who are speaking—aren’t they Galileans? 8 How is it that we each hear our own birth language? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites and those living in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, [b] 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and parts of Libya toward Cyrene, and visitors from Rome 11 (both Jewish people and proselytes), Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring in our own tongues the mighty deeds of God!” 12 And they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to each other, “What does this mean?”
13 Others, poking fun, were saying, “They are full of sweet new wine!”
Peter Speaks to the Shavuot Crowd
14 But Peter, standing with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: “Fellow Judeans and all who are staying in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and pay attention to my words. 15 These men are not drunk, as you suppose—for it’s only the third hour of the day! [c] 16 But this is what was spoken about through the prophet Joel:
17 ‘And it shall be in the last days,’ says God,
‘that I will pour out My Ruach on all flesh.
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams.
18 Even on My slaves, male and female,
I will pour out My Ruach in those days,
and they shall prophesy.
19 And I will give wonders in the sky above
and signs on the earth beneath—
blood, and fire, and smoky vapor.
20 The sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the great and glorious Day of Adonai comes.
21 And it shall be that everyone who calls
on the name of Adonai shall be saved.’[d]
The Son Is Risen!
28 Now after Shabbat, as it began to dawn on the first day of the week, Miriam of Magdala and the other Miriam came to look at the tomb. 2 And suddenly there was a great earthquake, for an angel of Adonai descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning,[a] and his clothing as white as snow. 4 And those keeping watch were shaken for fear of him and became like dead men.
5 But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know you are looking for Yeshua who was crucified. 6 He is not here; for He is risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He[b] was lying. 7 Go quickly now and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead. And behold, He’s going before you to the Galilee. There you will see Him. See, I have told you!” 8 They quickly left the tomb, with fear yet with great joy, and ran to bring news to His disciples.
The Good News Cannot Be Hidden
9 And behold, Yeshua met them. “Shalom!” He said. They drew near, grasped his feet, and worshiped Him. 10 “Don’t be afraid,” Yeshua said to them. “Go tell My brothers to head for the Galilee, and there they will see Me.”
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.