Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 102
A prayer by someone who is suffering, when he is weary and pours out his troubles in Yahweh’s presence.
1 O Yahweh, hear my prayer,
and let my cry for help come to you.
2 Do not hide your face from me when I am in trouble.
Turn your ear toward me.
Answer me quickly when I call.
3 My days disappear like smoke.
My bones burn like hot coals.
4 My heart is beaten down and withered like grass
because I have forgotten about eating.
5 I am nothing but skin and bones
because of my loud groans.
6 I am like a desert owl,
like an owl living in the ruins.
7 I lie awake.
I am like a lonely bird on a rooftop.
8 All day long my enemies insult me.
Those who ridicule me use my name as a curse.
9 I eat ashes like bread
and my tears are mixed with my drink
10 because of your hostility and anger,
because you have picked me up and thrown me away.
11 My days are like a shadow that is getting longer,
and I wither away like grass.
12 But you, O Yahweh, remain forever.
You are remembered throughout every generation.
13 You will rise and have compassion on Zion,
because it is time to grant a favor to it.
Indeed, the appointed time has come.
14 Your servants value Zion’s stones,
and they pity its rubble.
15 The nations will fear Yahweh’s name.
All the kings of the earth will fear your glory.
16 When Yahweh builds Zion,
he will appear in his glory.
17 He will turn his attention to the prayers
of those who have been abandoned.
He will not despise their prayers.
18 This will be written down for a future generation
so that a people yet to be created may praise Yah:
19 “Yahweh looked down from his holy place high above.
From heaven he looked at the earth.
20 He heard the groans of the prisoners
and set free those who were condemned to death.
21 Yahweh’s name is announced in Zion
and his praise in Jerusalem
22 when nations and kingdoms gather
to worship Yahweh.”
23 He has weakened my strength along the way.
He has reduced the number of my days.
24 I said, “My El, don’t take me now in the middle of my life.
Your years continue on throughout every generation.
25 Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth.
Even the heavens are the works of your hands.
26 They will come to an end, but you will still go on.
They will all wear out like clothing.
You will change them like clothes,
and they will be thrown away.
27 But you remain the same, and your life will never end.
28 The children of your servants will go on living here.
Their descendants will be secure in your presence.”
BOOK FIVE
(Psalms 107–150)
Psalm 107
1 Give thanks to Yahweh because he is good,
because his mercy endures forever.
2 Let the people Yahweh defended repeat these words.
They are the people he defended from the power of their enemies
3 and gathered from other countries,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south.
4 They wandered around the desert on a deserted road
without finding an inhabited city.
5 They were hungry and thirsty.
They began to lose hope.
6 In their distress they cried out to Yahweh.
He rescued them from their troubles.
7 He led them on a road that went straight to an inhabited city.
8 Let them give thanks to Yahweh because of his mercy.
He performed his miracles for Adam’s descendants.
9 He gave plenty to drink to those who were thirsty.
He filled those who were hungry with good food.
10 Those who lived in the dark, in death’s shadow
were prisoners in misery.
They were held in iron chains
11 because they had rebelled against El’s words
and had despised the advice given by Elyon.
12 So he humbled them with hard work.
They fell down, but no one was there to help them.
13 In their distress they cried out to Yahweh.
He saved them from their troubles.
14 He brought them out of the dark, out of death’s shadow.
He broke apart their chains.
15 Let them give thanks to Yahweh because of his mercy.
He performed his miracles for Adam’s descendants.
16 He shattered bronze gates
and cut iron bars in two.
17 Fools suffered because of their disobedience
and because of their crimes.
18 All food was disgusting to them,
and they came near death’s gates.
19 In their distress they cried out to Yahweh.
He saved them from their troubles.
20 He sent his message and healed them.
He rescued them from the grave.
21 Let them give thanks to Yahweh because of his mercy.
He performed his miracles for Adam’s descendants.
22 Let them bring songs of thanksgiving as their sacrifice.
Let them tell in joyful songs what he has done.
23 Those who sail on the sea in ships,
who do business on the high seas,
24 have seen what Yahweh can do,
the miracles he performed in the depths of the sea.
25 He spoke, and a storm began to blow,
and it made the waves rise high.
26 The sailors aboard ship rose toward the sky.
They plunged into the depths.
Their courage melted in the face of disaster.
27 They reeled and staggered like drunks,
and all their skills as sailors became useless.
28 In their distress they cried out to Yahweh.
He led them from their troubles.
29 He made the storm calm down,
and the waves became still.
30 The sailors were glad that the storm was quiet.
He guided them to the harbor they had longed for.
31 Let them give thanks to Yahweh because of his mercy.
He performed his miracles for Adam’s descendants.
32 Let them glorify him when the people are gathered for worship.
Let them praise him in the company of respected leaders.
Israel Is Like a Rotten Vine
10 The people of Israel are like vines that used to produce fruit.
The more fruit they produced,
the more altars they built.
The more their land produced,
the more stone markers they set up to honor other gods.
2 They are hypocrites. Now they must take their punishment.
Elohim will tear down their altars and destroy their stone markers.
3 So they’ll say,
“We have no king because we didn’t fear Yahweh.
Even if we had a king, he couldn’t do anything for us.”
4 They say many things. They lie when they take oaths,
and they make promises they don’t intend to keep.
That’s why lawsuits spring up
like poisonous weeds in the furrows of a field.
5 Those who live in Samaria fear the calf-shaped idol at Beth Aven.
The people will mourn over it.
The priests will cry loudly
because its glory will be taken away into captivity.
6 The thing itself will be carried to Assyria
as a present to the great king.[a]
Ephraim will be disgraced.
Israel will be ashamed because of its plans.
7 The king of Samaria will be carried away
like a piece of wood on water.
8 The illegal worship sites of Aven will be destroyed.
Israel sins there.
Thorns and weeds will grow over those altars.
People will say to the mountains, “Cover us!”
and to the hills, “Fall on us!”
9 Israel, you have sinned ever since the incident at Gibeah.
You never change.
War will overtake the wicked people in Gibeah.
10 “I will punish them when I’m ready.
Armies will gather to attack them.
They will be punished for their many sins.
Israel Is Like a Cow That Threshed Grain
11 “Ephraim is like a trained calf that loves to thresh[b] grain.
I will put a yoke[c] on its beautiful neck.
I will harness Ephraim.
Judah must plow.
Jacob must break up the ground.
12 “Break new ground.
Plant righteousness,
and harvest the fruit that your loyalty will produce for me.”
It’s time to seek Yahweh!
When he comes, he will rain righteousness on you.
13 You have planted wickedness and harvested evil.
You have eaten the fruit that your lies produced.
You have trusted your own power and your many warriors.
14 So your army will hear the noise of battle.
All your fortresses will be destroyed
like the time Shalman destroyed Beth Arbel in battle.
Mothers and their children were smashed to death.
15 This is what will happen to you, Bethel,
because you have done many wicked things.
At daybreak, the king of Israel will be completely destroyed.
Paul Speaks in His Own Defense
37 As the soldiers were about to take Paul into the barracks, he asked the officer, “May I say something to you?”
The officer replied to Paul, “Can you speak Greek? 38 Aren’t you the Egyptian who started a revolution not long ago and led four thousand terrorists into the desert?”
39 Paul answered, “I’m a Jew, a citizen from the well-known city of Tarsus in Cilicia. I’m asking you to let me talk to the people.”
40 The officer gave Paul permission to speak. So Paul stood on the stairs of the barracks and motioned with his hand for the people to be quiet. When the mob was silent, Paul spoke to them in the Hebrew language.
22 “Brothers and fathers, listen as I now present my case to you.”
2 When the mob heard him speak to them in Hebrew, they became even more quiet. Then Paul continued, 3 “I’m a Jew. I was born and raised in the city of Tarsus in Cilicia and received my education from Gamaliel here in Jerusalem. My education was in the strict laws handed down by our ancestors. I was as devoted to God as all of you are today. 4 I persecuted people who followed the way of Christ: I tied up men and women and put them into prison until they were executed. 5 The chief priest and the entire council of our leaders can prove that I did this. In fact, they even gave me letters to take to the Jewish community in the city of Damascus. I was going there to tie up believers and bring them back to Jerusalem to punish them.
6 “But as I was on my way and approaching the city of Damascus about noon, a bright light from heaven suddenly flashed around me. 7 I fell to the ground and heard a voice asking me, ‘Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?’
8 “I answered, ‘Who are you, sir?’
“The person told me, ‘I’m Yeshua from Nazareth, the one you’re persecuting.’
9 “The men who were with me saw the light but didn’t understand what the person who was speaking to me said.
10 “Then I asked, ‘What do you want me to do, Lord?’
“The Lord told me, ‘Get up! Go into the city of Damascus, and you’ll be told everything I’ve arranged for you to do.’
11 “I was blind because the light had been so bright. So the men who were with me led me into the city of Damascus.
12 “A man named Ananias lived in Damascus. He was a devout person who followed Moses’ Teachings. All the Jews living in Damascus spoke highly of him. 13 He came to me, stood beside me, and said, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ At that moment my sight came back and I could see Ananias.
14 “Ananias said, ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will, to see the one who has God’s approval, and to hear him speak to you. 15 You will be his witness and will tell everyone what you have seen and heard. 16 What are you waiting for now? Get up! Be baptized, and have your sins washed away as you call on his name.’
Jesus Appoints Twelve Apostles(A)
12 At that time Yeshua went to a mountain to pray. He spent the whole night in prayer to God.
13 When it was day, he called his disciples. He chose twelve of them and called them apostles. 14 They were Simon (whom Yeshua named Peter) and Simon’s brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, 15 Matthew, Thomas, James (son of Alphaeus), Simon (who was called the Zealot), 16 Judas (son of James), and Judas Iscariot (who became a traitor).
Many People Are Cured(B)
17 Yeshua came down from the mountain with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples and many other people were there. They had come from all over Judea, Jerusalem, and the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon. 18 They wanted to hear him and be cured of their diseases. Those who were tormented by evil spirits were cured. 19 The entire crowd was trying to touch him because power was coming from him and curing all of them.
Jesus Teaches His Disciples
20 Yeshua looked at his disciples and said,
“Blessed are those who are poor.
The kingdom of God is theirs.
21 Blessed are those who are hungry.
They will be satisfied.
Blessed are those who are crying.
They will laugh.
22 Blessed are you when people hate you, avoid you,
insult you, and slander you
because you are committed to the Son of Man.
23 Rejoice then, and be very happy!
You have a great reward in heaven.
That’s the way their ancestors treated the prophets.
24 “But how horrible it will be for those who are rich.
They have had their comfort.
25 How horrible it will be for those who are well-fed.
They will be hungry.
How horrible it will be for those who are laughing.
They will mourn and cry.
26 How horrible it will be for you
when everyone says nice things about you.
That’s the way their ancestors treated the false prophets.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.