Book of Common Prayer
61 (0) For the leader. With stringed instruments. By David:
2 (1) Hear my cry, God;
listen to my prayer.
3 (2) From the end of the earth, with fainting heart,
I call out to you.
Set me down on a rock
far above where I am now.
4 (3) For you have been a refuge for me,
a tower of strength in the face of the foe.
5 (4) I will live in your tent forever
and find refuge in the shelter of your wings. (Selah)
6 (5) For you, God, have heard my vows;
you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.
7 (6) Prolong the life of the king!
May his years go on for many generations.
8 (7) May he be enthroned in God’s presence forever!
Appoint grace and truth to preserve him!
9 (8) Then I will sing praise to your name forever,
as day after day I fulfill my vows.
62 (0) For the leader. Set in the style of Y’dutun. A psalm of David:
2 (1) My soul waits in silence for God alone;
my salvation comes from him.
3 (2) He alone is my rock and salvation,
my stronghold; I won’t be greatly moved.
4 (3) How long will you assail a person
in order to murder him, all of you,
as if he were a sagging wall
or a shaky fence?
5 (4) They only want to shake him from his height,
they take delight in lying —
with their mouths they bless,
but inwardly they curse. (Selah)
6 (5) My soul, wait in silence for God alone,
because my hope comes from him.
7 (6) He alone is my rock and salvation,
my stronghold; I won’t be moved.
8 (7) My safety and honor rest on God.
My strong rock and refuge are in God.
9 (8) Trust in him, people, at all times;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us. (Selah)
10 (9) Ordinary folks are merely a breath
and important people a sham;
if you lay them on a balance-scale, they go up —
both together are lighter than nothing.
11 (10) Don’t put your trust in extortion,
don’t put false hopes in robbery;
even if wealth increases,
don’t set your heart on it.
12 (11) God has spoken once, I have heard it twice:
strength belongs to God.
13 (12) Also to you, Adonai, belongs grace;
for you reward all as their deeds deserve.
68 (0) For the leader. A psalm of David. A song:
2 (1) Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered;
let those who hate him flee from his presence.
3 (2) Drive them away as smoke is driven away;
like wax melting in the presence of a fire,
let the wicked perish in the presence of God.
4 (3) But let the righteous rejoice and be glad in God’s presence;
yes, let them exult and rejoice.
5 (4) Sing to God, sing praises to his name;
extol him who rides on the clouds
by his name, Yah;
and be glad in his presence.
6 (5) God in his holy dwelling,
is a father to orphans and defender of widows.
7 (6) God gives homes to those who are alone
and leads prisoners out into prosperity.
But rebels must live in a parched wasteland.
8 (7) God, when you went out at the head of your people,
when you marched out through the wilderness, (Selah)
9 (8) the earth quaked, and rain poured from the sky,
at the presence of God.
Even Sinai [shook] at the presence of God,
the God of Isra’el.
10 (9) You rained down showers in plenty, God;
when your heritage was weary, you restored it.
11 (10) Your flock settled in it;
in your goodness, God, you provided for the poor.
12 (11) Adonai gives the command;
the women with the good news are a mighty army.
13 (12) Kings and their armies are fleeing, fleeing,
while the women at home divide the spoil.
14 (13) Even if you lie among the animal stalls,
there are wings of a dove covered with silver
and its plumes with green gold.
15 (14) When Shaddai scatters kings there,
snow falls on Tzalmon.
16 (15) You mighty mountain, Mount Bashan!
You rugged mountain, Mount Bashan!
17 (16) You rugged mountain, why look with envy
at the mountain God wants for his place to live?
Truly, Adonai will live there forever.
18 (17) God’s chariots are myriads, repeated thousands;
Adonai is among them as in Sinai, in holiness.
19 (18) After you went up into the heights,
you led captivity captive,
you took gifts among mankind,
yes, even among the rebels,
so that Yah, God, might live there.
20 (19) Blessed be Adonai!
Every day he bears our burden,
does God, our salvation. (Selah)
21 (20) Our God is a God who saves;
from Adonai Adonai comes escape from death.
22 (21) God will surely crush the heads of his enemies,
the hairy crowns of those who continue in their guilt.
23 (22) Adonai said, “I will bring them back from Bashan,
I will fetch [those rebels] even from the depths of the sea;
24 (23) so that you can wash your feet in their blood,
and your dogs’ tongues too can get their share from your foes.
25 (24) They see your processions, God,
the processions of my God, my king, in holiness.
26 (25) The singers are in front, the musicians last,
in the middle are girls playing tambourines.
27 (26) “In choruses, bless God, Adonai,
you whose source is Isra’el.”
28 (27) There is Binyamin, the youngest, at the head;
the princes of Y’hudah, crowding along;
the princes of Z’vulun; the princes of Naftali.
29 (28) God, summon your strength!
Use your strength, God, as you did for us before,
30 (29) from your temple in Yerushalayim,
where kings will bring tribute to you.
31 (30) Rebuke the wild beast of the reeds,
that herd of bulls with their calves, the peoples,
who ingratiate themselves with bars of silver;
let him scatter the peoples who take pleasure in fighting.
32 (31) Let envoys come from Egypt,
Let Ethiopia stretch out its hands to God.
33 (32) Sing to God, kingdoms of the earth!
Sing praises to Adonai, (Selah)
34 (33) to him who rides on the most ancient heavens.
Listen, as he utters his voice, a mighty voice!
35 (34) Acknowledge that strength belongs to God,
with his majesty over Isra’el and his strength in the skies.
36 (35) How awe-inspiring you are, God,
from your holy places,
the God of Isra’el, who gives strength
and power to the people.
Blessed be God!
40 Continuing to address Iyov, Adonai said:
41 (9) “Look, any hope [of capturing him] is futile —
one would fall prostrate at the very sight of him.
2 (10) No one is fierce enough to rouse him,
so who can stand up to me?
3 (11) Who has given me anything
and made me pay it back?
Everything belongs to me
under all of heaven.
4 (12) “I have more to say about his limbs,
his strong talk, and his matchless strength.
5 (13) Who can strip off his [scaly] garment?
Who can enter his jaws?
6 (14) Who can pry open the doors of his face,
so close to his terrible teeth?
7 (15) “His pride is his rows of scales,
tightly sealed together —
8 (16) one is so close to the next
that no air can come between them;
9 (17) they are stuck one to another,
interlocked and impervious.
10 (18) “When he sneezes, light flashes out;
his eyes are like the shimmer of dawn.
11 (19) From his mouth go fiery torches,
and sparks come flying out.
6 They traveled through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, because they had been prevented by the Ruach HaKodesh from speaking the message in the province of Asia. 7 When they came to the frontier of Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia; but the Spirit of Yeshua would not let them. 8 So, after passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas.
9 There a vision appeared to Sha’ul at night. A man from Macedonia was standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” 10 As soon as he had seen the vision, we lost no time getting ready to leave for Macedonia; for we concluded that God had called us to proclaim the Good News to them.
11 Sailing from Troas, we made a straight run to Samothrace; the next day we went to Neapolis; 12 and from there, we went on to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that part of Macedonia. We spent a few days in this city; 13 then on Shabbat, we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we understood a minyan met. We sat down and began speaking to the women who had gathered there. 14 One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in fine purple cloth. She was already a “God-fearer,” and the Lord opened up her heart to respond to what Sha’ul was saying. 15 After she and the members of her household had been immersed, she gave us this invitation: “If you consider me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay in my house.” And she insisted till we went.
9 A large crowd of Judeans learned that he was there; and they came not only because of Yeshua, but also so that they could see El‘azar, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 The head cohanim then decided to do away with El‘azar too, 11 since it was because of him that large numbers of the Judeans were leaving their leaders and putting their trust in Yeshua.
12 The next day, the large crowd that had come for the festival heard that Yeshua was on his way into Yerushalayim. 13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,
“Deliver us!”[a]
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of Adonai,[b] the King of Isra’el!”
14 After finding a donkey colt, Yeshua mounted it, just as the Tanakh says —
15 “Daughter of Tziyon, don’t be afraid!
Look! your King is coming,
sitting on a donkey’s colt.”[c]
16 His talmidim did not understand this at first; but after Yeshua had been glorified, then they remembered that the Tanakh said this about him, and that they had done this for him. 17 The group that had been with him when he called El‘azar out of the tomb and raised him from the dead had been telling about it. 18 It was because of this too that the crowd came out to meet him — they had heard that he had performed this miracle. 19 The P’rushim said to each other, “Look, you’re getting nowhere! Why, the whole world has gone after him!”
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.