Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 83
A song; a psalm by Asaph.
1 O Elohim, do not remain silent.
Do not turn a deaf ear to me.
Do not keep quiet, O El.
2 Look, your enemies are in an uproar.
Those who hate you hold their heads high.
3 They make plans in secret against your people
and plot together against those you treasure.
4 They say, “Let’s wipe out their nation
so that the name of Israel will no longer be remembered.”
5 They agree completely on their plan.
They form an alliance against you:
6 the tents from Edom and Ishmael,
Moab and Hagar,
7 Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek,
Philistia, along with those who live in Tyre.
8 Even Assyria has joined them.
They helped the descendants of Lot. Selah
9 Do to them what you did to Midian,
to Sisera and Jabin at the Kishon River.
10 They were destroyed at Endor.
They became manure to fertilize the ground.
11 Treat their influential people as you treated Oreb and Zeeb.
Treat all their leaders like Zebah and Zalmunna.
12 They said, “Let’s take Elohim’s pasturelands for ourselves.”
13 O my Elohim, blow them away like tumbleweeds,[a]
like husks in the wind.
14 Pursue them with your storms,
and terrify them with your windstorms
15 the way fire burns a forest
and flames set mountains on fire.[b]
16 Let their faces blush with shame, O Yahweh,
so that they must look to you for help.
17 Let them be put to shame and terrified forever.
Let them die in disgrace
18 so that they must acknowledge you.
Your name is Yahweh.
You alone are Elyon of the whole earth.
Psalm 145[a]
A song of praise by David.
1 I will highly praise you, my Elohim, the Melek.
I will bless your name forever and ever.
2 I will bless you every day.
I will praise your name forever and ever.
3 Yahweh is great, and he should be highly praised.
His greatness is unsearchable.
4 One generation will praise your deeds to the next.
Each generation will talk about your mighty acts.
5 I will think about the glorious honor of your majesty
and the miraculous things you have done.
6 People will talk about the power of your terrifying deeds,
and I will tell about your greatness.
7 They will announce what they remember of your great goodness,
and they will joyfully sing about your righteousness.
8 Yahweh is merciful, compassionate, patient,
and always ready to forgive.
9 Yahweh is good to everyone
and has compassion for everything that he has made.
10 Everything that you have made will give thanks to you, O Yahweh,
and your faithful ones will praise you.
11 Everyone will talk about the glory of your kingdom
and will tell the descendants of Adam about your might
12 in order to make known your mighty deeds
and the glorious honor of your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.
Your empire endures throughout every generation.
14 Yahweh supports everyone who falls.
He straightens the backs of those who are bent over.
15 The eyes of all creatures look to you,
and you give them their food at the proper time.
16 You open your hand,
and you satisfy the desire of every living thing.
17 Yahweh is fair in all his ways
and faithful in everything he does.
18 Yahweh is near to everyone who prays to him,
to every faithful person who prays to him.
19 He fills the needs of those who fear him.
He hears their cries for help and saves them.
20 Yahweh protects everyone who loves him,
but he will destroy all wicked people.
21 My mouth will speak the praise of Yahweh,
and all living creatures will praise his holy name
forever and ever.
Psalm 85
For the choir director; a psalm by Korah’s descendants.
1 You favored your land, O Yahweh.
You restored the fortunes of Jacob.
2 You removed your people’s guilt.
You pardoned all their sins. Selah
3 You laid aside all your fury.
You turned away from your burning anger.
4 Restore us, O Elohim, our savior.
Put an end to your anger against us.
5 Will you be angry with us forever?
Will you ever let go of your anger in the generations to come?
6 Won’t you restore our lives again
so that your people may find joy in you?
7 Show us your mercy, O Yahweh,
by giving us your salvation.
8 I want to hear what El Yahweh says,
because he promises peace to his people, to his godly ones.
But they must not go back to their stupidity.
9 Indeed, his salvation is near those who fear him,
and his glory will remain in our land.
10 Mercy and truth have met.
Righteousness and peace have kissed.
11 Truth sprouts from the ground,
and righteousness looks down from heaven.
12 Yahweh will certainly give us what is good,
and our land will produce crops.
13 Righteousness will go ahead of him
and make a path for his steps.
Psalm 86
A prayer by David.
1 Turn your ear toward me, O Yahweh.
Answer me, because I am oppressed and needy.
2 Protect me, because I am faithful to you.
Save your servant who trusts you. You are my Elohim.
3 Have pity on me, O Adonay,
because I call out to you all day long.
4 Give me joy, O Adonay,
because I lift my soul to you.
5 You, O Adonay, are good and forgiving,
full of mercy toward everyone who calls out to you.
6 Open your ears to my prayer, O Yahweh.
Pay attention when I plead for mercy.
7 When I am in trouble, I call out to you
because you answer me.
8 No god is like you, O Adonay.
No one can do what you do.
9 All the nations that you have made
will bow in your presence, O Adonay.
They will honor you.
10 Indeed, you are great, a worker of miracles.
You alone are Elohim.
11 Teach me your way, O Yahweh,
so that I may live in your truth.
Focus my heart on fearing you.
12 I will give thanks to you with all my heart, O Adonay my Elohim.
I will honor you forever
13 because your mercy toward me is great.
You have rescued me from the depths of hell.
14 O Elohim, arrogant people attack me,
and a mob of ruthless people seeks my life.
They think nothing of you.
15 But you, O Adonay, are a compassionate and merciful God.
You are patient, always faithful and ready to forgive.
16 Turn toward me, and have pity on me.
Give me your strength because I am your servant.
Save me because I am the son of your female servant.
17 Grant me some proof of your goodness
so that those who hate me may see it and be put to shame.
You, O Yahweh, have helped me and comforted me.
Gideon Makes a Gold Idol
22 The men of Israel said to Gideon, “You, then your son, and then your grandson, must rule us. You rescued us from Midian.”
23 Gideon replied, “I will not rule you nor will my son. Yahweh will rule you.” 24 Then Gideon said to them, “Do me a favor. Each of you give me the earrings from your loot.” (Their enemies, the Ishmaelites, wore gold earrings.)
25 The men of Israel answered, “Yes, we’ll give them to you.” So they spread out a coat. Each man took the earrings from his loot and dropped them on it. 26 The gold earrings Gideon had asked for weighed 40 pounds. This did not include the half-moon ornaments, the earrings, the purple clothes worn by the kings of Midian, and the chains from their camels’ necks. 27 Then Gideon used the gold to make an idol[a] and placed it in his hometown, Ophrah. All Israel chased after it there as though it were a prostitute. It became a trap for Gideon and his family.
28 The power of Midian was crushed by the people of Israel, and Midian never again became a threat. So the land had peace for 40 years during Gideon’s life.
29 Jerubbaal, son of Joash, went home to live. 30 Gideon had 70 sons because he had many wives. 31 His concubine[b] at Shechem also gave birth to a son. That son was named Abimelech.
32 Gideon, son of Joash, died at a very old age. He was buried in the tomb of his father Joash at Ophrah, the city belonging to Abiezer’s family.
33 As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel chased after other gods—the Baals—as though they were prostitutes. They made Baal Berith their god. 34 The Israelites did not remember Yahweh their Elohim, who had rescued them from all the enemies around them. 35 And they were not kind to the family of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) despite all the good he had done for Israel.
Peter and John’s Trial in Front of the Jewish Council
4 Some priests, the officer in charge of the temple guards, and some Sadducees approached Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. 2 These religious authorities were greatly annoyed. Peter and John were teaching the people and spreading the message that the dead will come back to life through Yeshua. 3 So the temple guards arrested them. Since it was already evening, they put Peter and John in jail until the next day.
4 But many of those who had heard the message became believers, so the number of men who believed grew to about 5,000.
5 The next day the Jewish rulers, the leaders, and the experts in Moses’ Teachings met in Jerusalem. 6 The chief priest Annas, Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and the rest of the chief priest’s family were present. 7 They made Peter and John stand in front of them and then asked, “By what power or in whose name did you do this?”
8 Then Peter, because he was filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and leaders of the people, 9 today you are cross-examining us about the good we did for a crippled man. You want to know how he was made well. 10 You and all the people of Israel must understand that this man stands in your presence with a healthy body because of the power of Yeshua Christ from Nazareth. You crucified Yeshua Christ, but God has brought him back to life. 11 He is the stone that the builders rejected, the stone that has become the cornerstone. 12 No one else can save us. Indeed, we can be saved only by the power of the one named Yeshua and not by any other person.”
43 The next day Yeshua wanted to go to Galilee. He found Philip and told him, “Follow me!” 44 (Philip was from Bethsaida, the hometown of Andrew and Peter.)
45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the man whom Moses wrote about in his teachings and whom the prophets wrote about. He is Yeshua, son of Joseph, from the city of Nazareth.”
46 Nathanael said to Philip, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”
Philip told him, “Come and see!”
47 Yeshua saw Nathanael coming toward him and remarked, “Here is a true Israelite who is sincere.”
48 Nathanael asked Yeshua, “How do you know anything about me?”
Yeshua answered him, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.”
49 Nathanael said to Yeshua, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the king of Israel!”
50 Yeshua replied, “You believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” 51 Yeshua said to Nathanael, “I can guarantee this truth: You will see the sky open and God’s angels going up and coming down to the Son of Man.”
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.