Book of Common Prayer
Book 1
(Psalms 1-41)
1 Great blessings belong to those
who don’t listen to evil advice,
who don’t live like sinners,
and who don’t join those who make fun of God.[a]
2 Instead, they love the Lord’s teachings
and think about them day and night.
3 So they grow strong,
like a tree planted by a stream—
a tree that produces fruit when it should
and has leaves that never fall.
Everything they do is successful.
4 But the wicked are not like that.
They are like chaff that the wind blows away.
5 When the time for judgment comes, the wicked will be found guilty.
Sinners have no place among those who do what is right.[b]
6 The Lord shows his people how to live,
but the wicked have lost their way.
2 Why are the nations so angry?
Why are the people making such foolish plans?
2 Their kings and leaders join together
to fight against the Lord and his chosen king.[c]
3 They say, “Let’s rebel against them.
Let’s break free from them!”
4 But the one who rules in heaven laughs at them.
The Lord makes fun of them.
5 He speaks to them in anger,
and it fills them with fear.
6 He says, “I have chosen this man to be king,
and he will rule on Zion, my holy mountain.”
7 Let me tell you about the Lord’s agreement:
He said to me, “Today I have become your father,[d]
and you are my son.
8 If you ask, I will give you the nations.
Everyone on earth will be yours.
9 You will rule over them with great power.
You will scatter your enemies like broken pieces of pottery!”
10 So, kings and rulers, be smart
and learn this lesson.
11 Serve the Lord with fear and trembling.
12 Show that you are loyal to his son,[e]
or the Lord will be angry and destroy you.
He is almost angry enough to do that now,
but those who go to him for protection will be blessed.
A song of David written during the time he was running from his son Absalom.
3 Lord, I have so many enemies.
So many people have turned against me.
2 They say to themselves, “God will not rescue him!” Selah
3 But you, Lord, protect me.
You bring me honor;
you give me hope.
4 I will pray to the Lord,
and he will answer me from his holy mountain. Selah
5 I can lie down to rest and know that I will wake up,
because the Lord covers and protects me.
6 So I will not be afraid of my enemies,
even if thousands of them surround me.
7 Lord, get up![f]
My God, come rescue me!
If you hit my enemies on the cheek,
you will break all their teeth.
8 Lord, the victory[g] is yours!
You are so good to your people. Selah
To the director: With stringed instruments. A song of David.
4 God, you showed that I was innocent.
You gave me relief from all my troubles.
So listen to me now when I call to you for help.
Be kind to me and hear my prayer.
2 Men,[h] how long will you try to dishonor me?
Do you enjoy wasting your time searching for new lies against me? Selah
3 You can be sure that anyone who serves the Lord faithfully is special to him.
The Lord listens when I pray to him.
4 Tremble with fear, and stop sinning.[i]
Think about this when you go to bed, and calm down. Selah
5 Give the right sacrifices to the Lord,
and put your trust in him!
6 Many people say, “I wish I could enjoy the good life.
Lord, give us some of those blessings.”[j]
7 But you have made me happier than they will ever be with all their wine and grain.
8 When I go to bed, I sleep in peace,
because, Lord, you keep me safe.
A song[a] of David that he sang to the Lord about Cush from the tribe of Benjamin.
7 Lord my God, I come to you for protection.
Save me from those who are chasing me.
2 If you don’t help me, I will be torn apart like an animal caught by a lion.
I will be carried away with no one to save me.
3 Lord my God, I have done nothing wrong.
4 I have done nothing to hurt a friend[b]
or to help his enemies.
5 If that is not the truth, then punish me.
Let an enemy chase me, catch me, and kill me.
Let him grind me into the dirt and put me in my grave. Selah
6 Lord, get up[c] and show your anger!
My enemy is angry, so stand and fight against him.
Get me the justice that you demand.
7 Gather the nations around you,
and take your place as judge.
8 Lord, judge the people.
Lord, judge me.
Prove that I am right and that I am innocent.
9 Stop those who do evil.
Support those who do good.
God, you are fair.
You know what people are thinking.
10 God helps people who want to do right,
so he will protect me.
11 God is a good judge.
He always condemns evil.
12-13 If the wicked will not change,
then God is ready to punish them.
He has prepared his deadly weapons.
His sword is sharp.
His bow is strung, drawn back,
and ready to shoot its flaming arrow.
14 The minds of the wicked are full of evil;
they are pregnant with wicked plans,
which give birth to lies.
15 They dig a pit to trap others,
but they are the ones who will fall into it.
16 The trouble they cause will come back on them.
They plan harm for others,
but they are the ones who will be hurt.
17 I praise the Lord because he is good.
I praise the name of the Lord Most High.
Famine in Judah
1 Long ago, during the time the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a man named Elimelech left the town of Bethlehem in Judah. He, his wife, and his two sons moved to the country of Moab. 2 The man’s wife was named Naomi, and his two sons were named Mahlon and Kilion. They were from the Ephrathah family of Bethlehem in Judah. The family traveled to the hill country of Moab and stayed there.
3 Later, Naomi’s husband, Elimelech, died, so only Naomi and her two sons were left. 4 Her sons married women from the country of Moab. One wife’s name was Orpah, and the other wife’s name was Ruth. They lived in Moab about ten years; 5 then Mahlon and Kilion also died. So Naomi was left alone without her husband or her two sons.
Naomi Goes Home
6 While Naomi was in the country of Moab, she heard that the Lord had helped his people. He had given food to his people in Judah. So Naomi decided to leave the hill country of Moab and go back home. Her daughters-in-law also decided to go with her. 7 They left the place where they had been living and started walking back to the land of Judah.
8 Then Naomi told her daughters-in-law, “Each of you should go back home to your mother. You have been very kind to me and my sons who are now dead. So I pray that the Lord will be just as kind to you. 9 I pray that the Lord will help each of you find a husband and a good home.” Naomi kissed her daughters-in-law, and they all started crying.
10 Then the daughters said, “But we want to come with you and go to your family.”
11 But Naomi said, “No, daughters, go back to your own homes. Why should you go with me? I can’t have any more sons to be your husbands. 12 Go back home. I am too old to have a new husband. Even if I thought I could be married again, I could not help you. If I became pregnant tonight and had two sons, 13 you would have to wait until they grew to become men before you could marry them. I cannot make you wait that long for husbands. That would make me very sad. And I am already sad enough—the Lord has done many things to me!”
14 So again they cried very much. Then Orpah kissed Naomi goodbye, but Ruth hugged her and stayed.
15 Naomi said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her own people and her own gods. You should do the same.”
16 But Ruth said, “Don’t force me to leave you! Don’t force me to go back to my own people. Let me go with you. Wherever you go, I will go. Wherever you sleep, I will sleep. Your people will be my people. Your God will be my God. 17 Where you die, I will die, and that is where I will be buried. I ask the Lord to punish me if I don’t keep this promise: Only death will separate us.”[a]
The Homecoming
18 Naomi saw that Ruth wanted very much to go with her. So Naomi stopped arguing with her.
1 Greetings from Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus. I am an apostle by the command of God our Savior and Christ Jesus our hope.
2 To Timothy, a true son to me in the faith we share.
Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Warnings Against False Teachings
3 When I went to Macedonia, I asked you to stay in Ephesus. Some people there are teaching things that are not true, and I want you to tell them to stop. 4 Tell them not to give their time to meaningless stories and to long lists of names to prove their family histories. Such things only cause arguments. They don’t help God’s work, which is done only by faith. 5 My purpose in telling you to do this is to promote love—the kind of love shown by those whose thoughts are pure, who do what they know is right, and whose faith in God is real. 6 But some have missed this key point in their teaching and have gone off in another direction. Now they talk about things that help no one. 7 They want to be teachers of the law,[a] but they don’t know what they are talking about. They don’t even understand the things they say they are sure of.
8 We know that the law is good if someone uses it right. 9 We also know that the law is not made for those who do what is right. It is made for those who are against the law and refuse to follow it. The law is for sinners who are against God and all that is pleasing to him. It is for those who have no interest in spiritual things and for those who kill their fathers or mothers or anyone else. 10 It is for those who commit sexual sins, homosexuals, those who sell slaves, those who tell lies, those who don’t tell the truth under oath, and those who are against the true teaching of God. 11 That teaching is part of the Good News that our blessed God gave me to tell. In it we see his glory.
Thanks for God’s Mercy
12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord because he trusted me and gave me this work of serving him. He gives me strength. 13 In the past I insulted Christ. As a proud and violent man, I persecuted his people. But God gave me mercy because I did not know what I was doing. I did that before I became a believer. 14 But our Lord gave me a full measure of his grace. And with that grace came the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
15 Here is a true statement that should be accepted without question: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, and I am the worst of them. 16 But I was given mercy so that in me Christ Jesus could show that he has patience without limit. Christ showed his patience with me, the worst of all sinners. He wanted me to be an example for those who would believe in him and have eternal life. 17 Honor and glory to the King who rules forever. He cannot be destroyed and cannot be seen. Honor and glory forever and ever to the only God. Amen.
Change Your Hearts
13 Some people there with Jesus at that time told him about what had happened to some worshipers from Galilee. Pilate had them killed. Their blood was mixed with the blood of the animals they had brought for sacrificing. 2 Jesus answered, “Do you think this happened to those people because they were more sinful than all other people from Galilee? 3 No, they were not. But if you don’t decide now to change your lives, you will all be destroyed like those people! 4 And what about those 18 people who died when the tower of Siloam fell on them? Do you think they were more sinful than everyone else in Jerusalem? 5 They were not. But I tell you if you don’t decide now to change your lives, you will all be destroyed too!”
The Useless Tree
6 Jesus told this story: “A man had a fig tree. He planted it in his garden. He came looking for some fruit on it, but he found none. 7 He had a servant who took care of his garden. So he said to his servant, ‘I have been looking for fruit on this tree for three years, but I never find any. Cut it down! Why should it waste the ground?’ 8 But the servant answered, ‘Master, let the tree have one more year to produce fruit. Let me dig up the dirt around it and fertilize it. 9 Maybe the tree will have fruit on it next year. If it still does not produce, then you can cut it down.’”
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International