Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 84
For the choir director; on the gittith; a psalm by Korah’s descendants.
1 Your dwelling place is lovely, O Yahweh Tsebaoth!
2 My soul longs and yearns
for Yahweh’s courtyards.
My whole body shouts for joy to El Chay.
3 Even sparrows find a home,
and swallows find a nest for themselves.
There they hatch their young
near your altars, O Yahweh Tsebaoth,
my Melek and my Elohim.
4 Blessed are those who live in your house.
They are always praising you. Selah
5 Blessed are those who find strength in you.
Their hearts are on the road that leads to you.[a]
6 As they pass through a valley where balsam trees grow,[b]
they make it a place of springs.
The early rains cover it with blessings.[c]
7 Their strength grows as they go along
until each one of them appears
in front of Elohim in Zion.
8 O Yahweh Elohim Tsebaoth, hear my prayer.
Open your ears, O Elohim of Jacob. Selah
9 Look at our shield, O Elohim.
Look with favor on the face of your anointed one.
10 One day in your courtyards is better than a thousand anywhere else.
I would rather stand in the entrance to my Elohim’s house
than live inside wicked people’s homes.
11 Yahweh Elohim is a sun and Magen.
Yahweh grants favor and honor.
He does not hold back any blessing
from those who live innocently.
12 O Yahweh Tsebaoth, blessed is the person who trusts you.
Elijah Flees from Jezebel
19 Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done, including how he had executed all the prophets. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah. She said, “May the gods strike me dead if by this time tomorrow I don’t take your life the way you took the lives of Baal’s prophets.”
3 Frightened, Elijah fled to save his life. He came to Beersheba in Judah and left his servant there. 4 Then he traveled through the wilderness for a day. He sat down under a broom plant and wanted to die. “I’ve had enough now, Yahweh,” he said. “Take my life! I’m no better than my ancestors.” 5 Then he lay down and slept under the broom plant.
An angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” 6 When he looked, he saw near his head some bread baked on hot stones and a jar of water. So he ate, drank, and went to sleep again.
7 The angel of Yahweh came back and woke him up again. The angel said, “Get up and eat, or your journey will be too much for you.”
8 He got up, ate, and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled for 40 days and nights until he came to Horeb, the mountain of Elohim. 9 There he went into a cave and spent the night.
Then Yahweh spoke his word to Elijah. He asked, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
10 He answered, “Yahweh Elohim Tsebaoth, I have eagerly served you. The Israelites have abandoned your promises,[a] torn down your altars, and executed your prophets. I’m the only one left, and they’re trying to take my life.”
11 Yahweh said, “Go out and stand in front of Yahweh on the mountain.”
As Yahweh was passing by, a fierce wind tore mountains and shattered rocks ahead of Yahweh. But Yahweh was not in the wind. After the wind came an earthquake. But Yahweh wasn’t in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake there was a fire. But Yahweh wasn’t in the fire. And after the fire there was a quiet, whispering voice.
The Ministry That Comes from Christ Is Greater Than Moses’ Ministry
3 Do we have to show you our qualifications again? Do we, like some people, need letters that recommend us to you or letters from you that recommend us to others? 2 You’re our letter of recommendation written in our hearts that everyone knows and reads. 3 It’s clear that you are Christ’s letter, written as a result of our ministry. You are a letter written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, a letter written not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
4 Christ gives us confidence about you in God’s presence. 5 By ourselves we are not qualified in any way to claim that we can do anything. Rather, God makes us qualified. 6 He has also qualified us to be ministers of a new promise,[a] a spiritual promise, not a written one. Clearly, what was written brings death, but the Spirit brings life.
7 The ministry that brought death was inscribed on stone. Yet, it came with such glory that the people of Israel couldn’t look at Moses’ face. His face was shining with glory, even though that glory was fading. 8 Won’t the ministry that brings the Spirit have even more glory? 9 If the ministry that brings punishment has glory, then the ministry that brings God’s approval has an overwhelming glory.
18 As all of us reflect the Lord’s glory with faces that are not covered with veils, we are being changed into his image with ever-increasing glory. This comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.