Old/New Testament
Be Gracious to Your Servants
Psalm 123
1 A Song of Ascents.
To You I lift up my eyes—
You enthroned in the heavens.
2 Behold, as the eyes of slaves to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a slave-girl to the hand of her mistress—
so our eyes look to Adonai our God, till He shows us favor.
3 Show us favor, Adonai, show us favor!
For we have endured much contempt.
4 Our soul has had enough
of the scorn of those at ease,
the contempt of the proud.
Had He Not Been on Our Side
Psalm 124
1 A Song of Ascents. Of David.
“Had Adonai not been on our side”
—let Israel now say—
2 “Had Adonai not been on our side,
when men rose up against us,
3 then they would have swallowed us alive,
when their wrath burned against us.
4 Then the waters would have engulfed us,
the torrent would have swept over our soul,
5 then the raging waters
would have swept over our soul.”
6 Blessed be Adonai, who has not given us
as prey for their teeth.
7 Our soul has escaped like a bird
out of the snare of the trappers—
the snare is broken, and we escaped!
8 Our help is in the Name of Adonai,
Maker of heaven and earth.
Like the Mountains Around Jerusalem
Psalm 125
1 A Song of Ascents.
Those who trust in Adonai are like Mount Zion—
it cannot be moved, but endures forever.
2 As the mountains are around Jerusalem,
so Adonai is all around His people,
both now and forever.
3 For a scepter of wickedness will not rest
over the land of the righteous—
lest the righteous set their hands to evil.
4 Do good, Adonai, to the good,
and to those upright in their hearts.
5 But as for those who turn aside to their crooked ways,
Adonai will lead them away with evildoers.
Shalom be upon Israel.
Warnings from History
10 For I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers and sisters, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea. [a] 2 They all were immersed into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3 And all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink—for they were drinking from a spiritual rock that followed them, and the Rock was Messiah. [b] 5 Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, for they were struck down in the desert.[c]
6 Now these things happened as examples for us, so we wouldn’t crave evil things, just as they did. [d] 7 Do not be idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” [e] 8 And let’s not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day 23,000 fell. [f] 9 And let’s not test the Lord, as some of them did—and were destroyed by serpents. [g] 10 And let’s not grumble, as some of them did—and were destroyed by the destroying angel. [h] 11 Now these things happened to them as an example, and it was written down as a warning to us—on whom the ends of the ages have come. 12 Therefore let the one who thinks that he stands watch out that he doesn’t fall. 13 No temptation has taken hold of you except what is common to mankind. But God is faithful—He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you can handle. But with the temptation He will also provide a way of escape, so you will be able to endure it.
Feast with the Lord—Not with Idols
14 Therefore, my dearly loved ones, flee from idolatry. 15 I speak as to sensible people—judge for yourselves what I say. 16 The cup of blessing that we bless—isn’t it a sharing of Messiah’s blood? The bread which we break—isn’t it a sharing of Messiah’s body? 17 Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body—for we all partake of the one bread. 18 Consider physical Israel. Those who eat the sacrifices—aren’t they partners in the altar?[i]
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.