Book of Common Prayer
Walking with Integrity
Psalm 26
1 Of David.
Vindicate me, Adonai,
for I have walked in my integrity,
and trusted in Adonai without wavering.
2 Probe me, Adonai, and test me,
refine my mind and my heart.
3 For Your love is before my eyes
and I have walked in Your truth.
4 I have not sat with men of falsehood,
nor do I consort with hypocrites.
5 I detest the company of evildoers,
and do not sit with the wicked.
6 I will wash my hands in innocence,
so I can walk around Your altar, Adonai,
7 hearing the voice of thanksgiving
while proclaiming all Your wonders.
8 Adonai, I love the House where You live,
the place where Your glory dwells.
9 Do not take my soul away with sinners,
nor my life with people of bloodshed—
10 in whose hands are wicked schemes,
whose right hand is full of bribes.
11 But I—I will walk in my integrity.
Redeem me and be gracious to me.
12 My feet stand on level ground.
In congregations I will bless Adonai.
Hoshia-na!
Psalm 28
1 Of David.
To You, Adonai, I call—
my Rock, do not be deaf to me.
If You were silent to me,
I would become like those going down to the Pit.
2 Hear the sound of my pleas,
when I cry to You for help,
when I lift up my hands toward Your holy Sanctuary.
3 Do not drag me away with the wicked and with doers of iniquity,
who speak peace with their neighbors,
while evil is in their hearts.
4 Repay them for their deeds, their evil acts.
Repay them for the deeds of their hands.
Bring back on them what they deserve.
5 Since they show no regard for the deeds of Adonai
nor the work of His hands,
He will tear them down
and never build them up.
6 Blessed be Adonai, because He has heard
the sound of my supplications.
7 Adonai is my strength and my shield.[a]
My heart trusts in Him, and I was helped.
Therefore my heart leaps for joy,
and I will praise Him with my song.
8 Adonai is their strength—
a stronghold of salvation for His anointed.
9 Save Your people, bless Your inheritance,
shepherd them and carry them forever.
With God Is the Fountain of Life
Psalm 36
1 For the music director, of David the servant of Adonai.
2 An oracle of Transgression—within my heart, to the wicked one:
“There is no fear of God before his eyes.[a]
3 For he flatters himself in his own eyes,
too much to notice his iniquity—or hate it.
4 His mouth’s words are iniquity and deceit.
He has ceased to be wise and do good.
5 Even on his bed he plans sin.
He puts himself on a path that is no good, never refusing evil.”
6 Your love, Adonai, is in the heavens,
Your faithfulness up to the skies.
7 Your righteousness is like the mountains of God.
Your judgments are like the great deep.
You preserve man and beast, Adonai.
8 How precious is Your love, O God!
The children of men find refuge in the shadow of Your wings.
9 They drink their fill from the abundance of Your House.
You give them drink from the river of Your delights.
10 For with You is the fountain of life—
in Your light we see light.
11 Continue Your lovingkindness to those who know You,
and Your justice to the upright in heart.
12 May the foot of pride never tread on me,
nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.
13 There the evildoers lie fallen—
thrown down, not able to rise!
Make Me Know the Number of My Days
Psalm 39
1 For the music director, for Jeduthun, a psalm of David.
2 I said:
“I will guard my ways, so I will not sin with my tongue.
I will muzzle my mouth while the wicked are before me.”
3 So I became utterly speechless,
kept silent even from good,
but my anguish was stirred up.
4 My heart was hot within me,
while I was musing, the fire burned.
Then I spoke with my tongue:
5 “Let me know, Adonai, my end
and what the number of my days is.
Let me know how short-lived I am.
6 Behold, You made my days mere hand-breadths,
and my lifetime as nothing before You.
Surely all humanity is but vapor. Selah
7 Everyone goes about as a mere phantom.
Surely they are making an uproar in vain, heaping up stuff—
yet not knowing who will gather it.[a]
8 And now, my Lord, what do I wait for?
My hope is in You.
9 Deliver me from all my transgressions.
Do not make me the scorn of a fool.
10 I am speechless, not opening my mouth
—for You have done it.
11 Remove Your scourge from me.
I perish by the blow of Your hand.
12 With rebukes You chasten one for iniquity
and You consume like a moth what he finds pleasure in.
Surely all humanity is but a vapor. Selah
13 Hear my prayer, Adonai,
and listen to my cry—
do not keep silent at my tears.
For with You I am an outsider, a sojourner,
as all my fathers were.
14 Turn your gaze away from me, so I may smile again,
before I go, and am no more.”
15 So she lowered them down by a rope through the window—for her house was in the wall; she was living in the wall. 16 Then she said to them: “Go to the hill country, lest the pursuers meet you, and hide yourselves there for three days, until the pursuers return. Afterward, you may go your way.”
17 Then the men said to her: “We will be released from this oath that you have made us swear, 18 unless when we come into the land, you tie this line of scarlet thread in the window through which you lowered us down, and gather to yourself in the house your father, your mother, your brothers and all your father’s household— 19 whoever goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood will be on his head and we will be innocent, but whoever is with you in the house, his blood will be on our head if any hand is laid on him. 20 But if you divulge this business of ours, then we will be released from your oath you have made us swear.”
21 So she said: “According to your words, so be it.” Then she sent them away. After they had gone, she tied the scarlet cord to the window. 22 Then they departed and came to the hill country. They stayed there for three days until the pursuers returned. Now the pursuers had looked for them all along the road, but had not found them. 23 Then the two men returned, came down from the hill country, crossed over and came to Joshua son of Nun.
They reported to him all that had befallen them. 24 “Surely Adonai has given all the land into our hands,” they said to Joshua. “Indeed, all the inhabitants of the land have melted in fear before us.”
13 But I am speaking to you who are Gentiles. Insofar as I am an emissary to the Gentiles, I spotlight my ministry 14 if somehow I might provoke to jealousy my own flesh and blood[a] and save some of them. 15 For if their rejection leads to the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?
16 If the firstfruit is holy, so is the whole batch of dough;[b] and if the root is holy, so are the branches. 17 But if some of the branches were broken off and you—being a wild olive—were grafted in among them and became a partaker of the root of the olive tree with its richness, [c] 18 do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, it is not you who support the root but the root supports you. 19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” 20 True enough. They were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but fear— 21 for if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will He spare you. 22 Notice then the kindness and severity of God:
severity toward those who fell;
but God’s kindness toward you,
if you continue in His kindness;
otherwise you too will be cut off!
23 And they also,
if they do not continue in their unbelief,
will be grafted in;
for God is able to graft them in again.
24 For if you were cut out of that which by nature is a wild olive tree, and grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree?
Parable of the Talents
14 “For it is like a man about to go on a journey. He called his own servants and handed over his possessions to them. 15 To one he gave five talents,[a] to another two, and to another one, each according to his own ability. Then he went on his journey.
16 “Immediately the one who had received the five talents went and traded with them and gained five more. 17 In the same way, the one with two gained two more. 18 But the one who received one went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
19 “Now after a long time, the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 The one who had received the five talents came up and brought another five talents, saying, ‘Master, you handed me five talents. Look, I’ve gained five more.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful with a little, so I’ll put you in charge of much. Enter into your master’s joy!’
22 “The one who had received the two talents also came up and said, ‘Master, you handed me two talents. Look, I’ve gained two more.’ 23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful with a little, so I’ll put you in charge of much. Enter into your master’s joy!’
24 “Then the one who had received the one talent also came up and said, ‘Master, I knew that you are a hard man, reaping where you didn’t sow and gathering where you scattered no seed. 25 So I was afraid, and I went off and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’
26 “But his master responded, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! You knew that I reap where I didn’t sow and gather where I scattered no seed? 27 Then you should have brought my money to the brokers, and when I came I would have received it back with interest. 28 Therefore take the talent away from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents. 29 For to the one who has, more shall be given, and he shall have an abundance. But from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. 30 Throw the worthless servant out, into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.