Book of Common Prayer
Prayer in Affliction
Psalm 102
1 A prayer of the afflicted one, when he is faint and pours out his lament before Adonai:
2 Adonai, hear my prayer,
let my cry come to You.
3 Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my distress.
Turn Your ear to me—in the day I call,
answer me quickly.
4 For my days vanished like smoke,
and my bones were burned like coals.
5 My heart is stricken and withered like grass,
so that I even forget to eat my bread.
6 Because of the sound of my groaning,
my bones cling to my flesh.
7 I am like a pelican of the desert,
like an owl of the waste places.
8 I lie awake, like a lonely bird on a roof.
9 My enemies taunt me all day.
My deriders use my name to curse.
10 For I have eaten ashes like bread,
and mixed my drink with tears—
11 because of Your indignation and wrath,
for You have picked me up and tossed me aside.
12 My days are like a lengthening shadow,
and I wither away like grass.
13 But You, Adonai, sit enthroned forever.
Your renown is from generation to generation.
14 You will arise and have compassion on Zion,
for it is time to show favor to her,
for the appointed time has come,
15 for her stones are dear to Your servants,
and they cherish her dust.
16 So the nations will fear Adonai’s Name
and all the kings of the earth Your glory.
17 For Adonai has rebuilt Zion.
He has appeared in His glory.
18 He has turned to the prayer of the destitute,
and has not despised their prayer.
19 Let it be written for a generation to come,
that a people to be created may praise Adonai.
20 For He looks down from His holy height,
from heaven Adonai gazes on the earth,
21 to hear the groaning of the prisoner,
to set free those condemned to death,
22 to declare the Name of Adonai in Zion
and His praise in Jerusalem,
23 when the peoples and the kingdoms
assemble to worship Adonai.
24 He brought down my strength in midcourse.
He shortened my days.
25 I say, “My God,
do not take me up in the middle of my days.
Your years endure through all generations!
26 Long ago You founded the earth,
the heavens are the work of Your hands.
27 They will perish, but You will remain.
All of them will wear out like a garment.
Like clothing You change them, so they change.
28 But You are the same,
and Your years will never end.
29 The children of Your servants will live.
Their descendants will be established before You.”
A Refuge from Trouble
Psalm 142
1 A contemplative poem of David, when he was in the cave, a prayer.
2 I cry aloud with my voice to Adonai.
With my voice I seek favor from Adonai.
3 I pour out my complaint before Him,
before Him I tell my trouble.
4 When my spirit grows faint within me,
You know my path.
In the way where I walk they have hidden a trap for me.
5 Look at my right hand and see,
for no one cares about me.
I have no refuge—
no one cares for my soul.
6 I have cried out to You, Adonai.
I said: “You are my refuge,
my portion in the land of the living.”
7 Listen to my cry,
for I am brought very low.
Rescue me from my persecutors,
for they are too strong for me.
8 Bring my soul out of prison,
so I may praise Your Name.
The righteous will triumph through me,
for You will reward me.
Hide Not Your Face from Me
Psalm 143
1 A psalm of David.
Hear my prayer, Adonai,
give ear to my petitions.
In Your faithfulness and Your righteousness,
answer me!
2 Do not bring Your servant into judgment,
for in Your eyes no one living is righteous.
3 For an enemy pursues my soul.
He crushes my life down to the ground.
He makes me dwell in darkness, like those long dead.
4 So my spirit grows faint within me.
My heart is shocked within me.
5 I remember the days of old.
I meditate on all You have done.
I ponder the work of Your hands.
6 I spread forth my hands to You.
My soul longs for You as a parched land. Selah
7 Answer me speedily, Adonai—my spirit fails.
Hide not Your face from me,
lest I become like those who go down into the Pit.
8 Make me hear Your lovingkindness in the morning,
for in You I trust.
Show me the way I should go,
for to You I lift up my soul.
9 Deliver me from my enemies, Adonai.
I hide myself in You.
10 Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God.
Let Your good Ruach lead me on level ground.
11 For Your Name’s sake, Adonai, revive me.
In Your justice bring my soul out of trouble.
12 In Your mercy cut off my enemies
and destroy all who harass my soul,
for I am Your servant.
Fire Burning in My Bones
7 Adonai, You enticed me, so I was enticed.
You overpowered me, and prevailed.
I am a laughingstock all day long.
Everyone mocks me.
8 For whenever I speak, I cry out,
I proclaim, “Violence and ruin!”
For the word of Adonai is scorn
and ridicule to me all day long.
9 But if I say: “I won’t mention Him,
or speak any more in His Name,”
then it is like fire burning in my heart
—shut up in my bones—
I weary myself holding it in,
but I cannot.
10 For I heard the whispering of many:
“‘Terror on every side?’
Denounce him! Let’s denounce him!”
Even all my close friends
are watching for my fall:
“Perhaps he may be deceived,
so we’ll get the better of him,
and we’ll get our revenge on him.”
11 But Adonai is with me like a dreadful warrior.
Therefore my persecutors will stumble and will not prevail.
Since they are not insightful and not wise,
they will be utterly shamed—
an everlasting disgrace, never to be forgotten.
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.
27 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the Lord’s cup in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. 28 But a man must examine himself, and then let him eat of the bread and drink from the cup. 29 For the one who eats and drinks without recognizing the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and quite a few have died. [a] 31 For if we were judging ourselves thoroughly, we wouldn’t be coming under judgment. 32 But when we are judged, we are being disciplined by the Lord so that we might not be condemned along with the world.
The Son Glorifies the Father
17 Yeshua spoke these things; then, lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, so the Son may glorify You. 2 Even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, so may He give eternal life to all those You have given Him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Yeshua the Messiah, the One You sent. 4 I glorified You on earth by finishing the work that You have given Me to do. 5 Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world came to be.”
Yeshua Prays for His Disciples
6 “I have made Your name known to the men of this world that You gave Me. They were Yours; You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. 7 Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You. 8 The words, which You gave Me, I have given to them. They received them and truly understood that I came from You, and they believed that You sent Me. 9 I ask on their behalf. Not on behalf of the world do I ask, but on behalf of those You have given Me, for they are Yours. 10 All Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them. 11 I am no longer in the world; but they are in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name that You have given Me, so that they may be one just as We are. 12 While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name that You have given Me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the son of destruction,[a] so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.
13 “But now I am coming to You. I say these words while I am still in the world, so that they may have My joy made full in themselves. 14 I have given them Your word; and the world hated them, because they are not of the world just as I am not of the world. 15 I am not asking that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
17 “Make them holy in the truth. Your word is truth. 18 Just as You sent Me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sakes I make Myself holy, so that they also may be made holy in truth.”
Interceding for All Believers
20 “I pray not on behalf of these only, but also for those who believe in Me through their message, 21 that they all may be one. Just as You, Father, are in Me and I am in You, so also may they be one in Us, so the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 The glory that You have given to Me I have given to them, that they may be one just as We are one— 23 I in them and You in Me—that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me and loved them as You loved Me.
24 “Father, I also want those You have given Me to be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory—the glory You gave Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. 25 Righteous Father, the world did not know You, but I knew You; and these knew that You sent Me. 26 I made your Name known to them, and will continue to make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.