Book of Common Prayer
The two paths[a]
1 If someone does not do what wicked people tell him to do,
if he does not join with sinners,
if he does not meet with those who laugh at God,
God has blessed that person!
2 He is happy when he obeys the Law of the Lord.[b]
He thinks about God's Law during the day and at night.
3 He will become like a tree that grows beside streams of water.
It gives its fruit at the right season.
Its leaves do not fall off.
Everything that person does will have a good result.
4 But wicked people are as empty as chaff.
The wind blows them away.[c]
5 So they will not go free when God judges them.
Sinners cannot join with God's people,
the people who are right with God.[d]
6 The Lord takes care of people who respect him.
But wicked people are living in a way that will take them to a bad end.
The Lord's king rules[e]
2 Why are nations making plans to turn against the Lord?
All their plans will fail!
2 Kings and rulers decide to work together,
to fight against the Lord
and the king that he has chosen.
3 They say, ‘We will not accept their authority over us!
We will get free from their power!’[f]
4 The Lord who sits on his throne in heaven laughs at them.
He says that their plans are useless.
5 Then he becomes very angry and he frightens them.
He warns them with strong words and he says,
6 ‘I have put my king on his throne in Zion.[g]
I have put him on my holy mountain.’
7 I will tell you what the Lord has promised to me, his king.
He said to me, ‘You are my son.
Yes, today I have become your father![h]
8 Ask me and see what I will do!
I will give you all the nations on the earth.
They will all belong to you.
9 You will break them with an iron sceptre,
as if they are clay pots.’
10 So, you kings, think carefully!
You who rule the nations of the world, learn this lesson:
11 Respect the Lord and serve him.
Enjoy his rule with fear!
12 Bend down low in front of his son!
If not, the Lord will be angry.
He will quickly become very angry.
You will suddenly die!
But as for those who serve the Lord as their king,
he blesses them and he takes care of them all.
This is a song that David wrote when he ran away from his son, Absalom.[i]
A morning song
3 Lord, every day I have more enemies.
Many people fight against me.
2 They say about me,
‘God will not save him.’
Selah.
3 But Lord, you are like a shield for me.[j]
You are the one who gives me honour.
You lift my head up high.
4 I called aloud to the Lord.
He answered me from his holy mountain.
Selah.
5 I lie down and I sleep.
Then I wake up, because the Lord takes care of me.
6 Even if 10,000 enemies are all around me to attack me,
I will not be afraid of them.
7 Lord, stand up! My God, save me from my enemies!
Hit all my enemies in the face.
Break the teeth of those bad people.
8 Lord, it is you that saves us.
You bless your people.
Selah.
This is a song that David wrote.
Tell the music leader to use stringed instruments.
An evening song
4 God, please answer me when I call aloud for help.
You are the one who shows that I am right.
Help me in my trouble.
Show me that you are kind.
Listen to me when I pray.
2 Tell me this, you people:
How long will you refuse to respect me?
How long will you love stupid ideas?
How long will you agree with lies?
Selah.
3 The Lord is very kind to those who serve him.
He has chosen them to belong to himself.
So he listens when I pray to him.
4 Shake with fear and stop doing wrong things!
Lie on your bed and think quietly about your life.
Selah.
5 Offer the right sacrifices to the Lord.
Continue to trust in him.
6 Many people say, ‘Will anyone do a good thing for us?’
Lord, let your face smile on us.
7 You have made me very happy.
I am happier than anyone who has lots of food and wine.
8 I will lie down and I will sleep in peace.
You, Lord, are the one who takes care of me,
and you keep me safe.
A song with music that David wrote.
He sang this song to the Lord about Benjamin's descendant, Cush.
God always does what is right[a]
7 Lord, my God, I come to you to keep me safe.
Please save me from all those people who want to catch me.
2 If you do not keep me safe,
my enemies will tear me into pieces.
They will attack me like lions do,
and nobody will be able to save me.
3-5 Lord, my God, if I have done a wrong thing,
then let my enemies chase me and catch me.
If I have done a bad thing against a friend,
let my enemies catch me.
If I have helped a friend's enemy to attack him,
let my enemies catch me!
If I am guilty of any of these things,
let my enemies knock me down to the ground.
They should leave me there,
so that I lie as a dead person in the dirt.
Selah.
6 But Lord, now do something!
Wake up and help me!
Show how angry you are against my enemies.
Punish them in the way that you know is right!
7 Bring together the people of all nations,
to stand in front of you.
Rule over them from high above.
8 You, Lord, judge the people of all nations.
Lord, Most High God, say that I am not guilty.
Truly, I am righteous and honest.
9 Stop wicked people from doing evil things.
Keep your own people safe.
You always do what is right,
and you know how we think and feel.
10 The Most High God is like a shield to keep me safe.
He takes care of good, honest people.
11 God is a judge who is fair.
Every day he is angry against wicked people.
12 If they do not change the way that they live,
God will prepare to punish them.
He will make his sword sharp,
and he will put an arrow in his bow.
13 He will prepare his dangerous weapons.
He is ready to shoot his arrows that burn with fire.
14 Look! Wicked people prepare to do evil things!
They want to cause trouble.
Like a pregnant woman,
what starts inside them comes out into the open!
They give birth to lies that deceive people.
15 Wicked people want to hurt people.
They are digging a deep hole for people to fall into.
But they fall into the hole themselves!
16 The ideas that they have to hurt other people
bring trouble on themselves!
They want to be cruel to other people,
but they themselves receive the pain!
17 So I will thank the Lord
because he does what is right.
The Lord is the Most High God,
so I will sing to praise his name!
Naomi and Ruth
1 1-2 There was a time when judges ruled Israel. During that time there was a famine in Judah. A man who lived in Bethlehem, in Judah, had a wife and two sons. His name was Elimelech. Elimelech's wife was called Naomi, and his sons were called Mahlon and Kilion. They were from Ephrathah's clan. Because there was not enough food in Judah, Elimelech and his family left Bethlehem. They went to live as strangers in Moab.[a]
3 Elimelech died while they were living in Moab. Naomi and her two sons remained there alone. 4 Then Naomi's sons married women from Moab. Mahlon married a woman called Ruth. Kilion married a woman called Orpah. 5 After they had all lived in Moab for about ten years, both Mahlon and Kilion died. Now Naomi was completely alone, without her husband or her sons.[b]
6 Naomi received news from Judah that the Lord had helped his people.[c] There was now enough food in Judah again. So Naomi decided to leave Moab and return to Judah with Ruth and Orpah.
7 Naomi and her sons' wives left their home in Moab. They began to travel together on the way back to Judah. 8 On the way, Naomi said to Ruth and Orpah, ‘Listen! You should return to your mothers' homes in Moab and stay there. Your husbands are dead now. You have been kind to them and to me. I pray that the Lord will be as kind to you. 9 I also pray that God will give to each of you another husband and a new home.’ Naomi kissed them and said ‘goodbye’. Ruth and Orpah began to weep loudly. 10 They said to Naomi, ‘No! We will go with you to live with your people.’
11 But Naomi said, ‘My daughters, you should return to your own country. You should not choose to come back to Judah with me. I will not give birth to any more sons for you to marry them. 12 Return to your own country, my daughters. I am too old to marry another husband. Even if I did marry a man immediately, when might I give birth to sons? 13 I am sure that you do not want to wait until they are old enough for you to marry them! Would you wait all that time and not marry anyone else? So, my daughters, you must not return to Judah with me. You should not have to share my pain. The Lord has turned against me.’
14 Ruth and Orpah wept loudly again. Orpah kissed Naomi and she said ‘goodbye’. But Ruth would not leave Naomi. She held on to her. 15 Naomi said to Ruth, ‘Look! Orpah has returned to her family. She has returned to serve the gods of Moab. Go back home with her.’
16 Ruth said to Naomi, ‘Do not say that I must leave you. I will go with you, wherever you go. I will live wherever you live. You belong to Israel's people. I will belong to them too. Your God will be my God. 17 I will die in the same place that you die. That is where people will bury me. I will stay beside you until death makes us separate. If I ever leave you, the Lord should punish me.’
18 Then Naomi understood that Ruth would not agree to return to her own country. So she stopped saying that Ruth should leave her.
Paul says ‘Hello’ to Timothy
1 This letter is from me, Paul. I am an apostle of Christ Jesus. God, our Saviour, is the one who commanded that I should be an apostle. So did Christ Jesus, the one that we trust to help us.
2 I am writing to you, Timothy. I told you the message about Jesus and you believed in him. So you are like my own child.
I pray that God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord will continue to help you and be kind to you. I pray that they will give you peace in your mind.
Paul tells Timothy to stop the wrong teachers
3 When I was going to Macedonia, I asked you to stay in Ephesus. Please continue to stay there. Certain people in Ephesus are teaching wrong things about God. You must tell them to stop doing that. 4 Tell people not to listen to false stories. They should not always be studying long lists of their families' names from years ago. Those things do not help people. They only cause them to argue. Instead, they need to understand God's purpose for us. To do that, people must trust him.
5 We need to teach people to love one another with pure thoughts. They need to be sure in their minds that they are living in a good way. They need to trust God completely. 6 But certain people have failed to live in that way. They would rather talk about things that do not help anyone. 7 They want to be teachers of God's laws. They speak very strongly, but they do not really understand what they are talking about.
The purpose of God's laws
8 We know that God's laws are good, if people use them properly. 9 We also know that God did not make those laws for people who already live in a good way. He made them for people like this, to show them what is right:
people who refuse to obey any laws;
people who do not want anyone to rule them;
people who turn away from God;
people who do bad things;
people who do not respect God's holy things;
people who kill their father or their mother;
people who murder;
10 people who have sex in a wrong way;
men who have sex with other men;
people who catch other people to sell them;
people who tell lies;
people who do not speak the truth in court;
people who do any wrong things that are against God's true message.
11 That true message is the good news that comes from our great God. We praise him for it. He has chosen me to tell this good news to people.
Paul thanks Christ Jesus
12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has made me strong to serve him. He decided to trust me and he chose me to work on his behalf. 13 Before he chose me, I said bad things about him. I caused great trouble for his people. I was a cruel man, but God was very kind to me. He forgave me because I did not know what I was doing. That was because I did not believe in Jesus. 14 Our Lord continued to be very good and kind to me. He caused me to believe in Christ Jesus and to love him.
15 Here is a true message that everyone should believe: ‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save people who do wrong things.’ I am the worst person like that! 16 But God was kind to me.[a] Christ Jesus showed that he was completely patient with me, the worst person. That was an example to those people who would later believe in him. They would believe and receive life for ever with God.
17 Praise God, the King who rules for ever! He can never die. He lives where we cannot see him. He is the only God. So praise him and say how great he is! That is true always and for ever! Amen! This is true.
Stop doing wrong things or die
13 At that time, some people were with Jesus. They told him what happened to some people from Galilee. They had been burning animals as a gift for God. Pilate sent some soldiers to kill them.[a]
2 Jesus replied, ‘Think about those people from Galilee. Perhaps you think that they had done more bad things than other people from Galilee. Do you think that is why they had to die? 3 No! But I tell you this. All of you have done many bad things. So you must change how you live and you must turn to God. If you do not, you will also die as they did.
4 And you remember what happened to those 18 people in Siloam. A high building fell down and it killed them. Perhaps you think that they had done more bad things than the other people in Jerusalem. 5 But I tell you, no, they had not. All of you have also done many bad things. So you must change how you live and you must turn to God. If you do not, you will also die as they did.’
A story about a fig tree
6 Then Jesus told this story. ‘A man had a garden where he grew fruit. He had planted a fig tree there. But when he came to look for fruit on it, he could not find any. 7 So he said to his gardener, “Look, for three years, I have come to look for fruit on this tree. But I have never found any. So cut the tree down! I do not think that it should be here. It is wasting the ground.”
8 “Master,” the gardener replied, “please leave the tree in the ground for one more year. Let me dig round it and let me put some good soil there.[b] 9 If I do that, next year, the fig tree may have some fruit on it. If it does not, I will cut it down for you.” ’[c]
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