Book of Common Prayer
BOOK 1
1 Blessed is the man who doesn’t walk in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stand on the path of sinners,
nor sit in the seat of scoffers;
2 but his delight is in Yahweh’s[a] law.
On his law he meditates day and night.
3 He will be like a tree planted by the streams of water,
that produces its fruit in its season,
whose leaf also does not wither.
Whatever he does shall prosper.
4 The wicked are not so,
but are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
6 For Yahweh knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked shall perish.
2 Why do the nations rage,
and the peoples plot a vain thing?
2 The kings of the earth take a stand,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against Yahweh, and against his Anointed,[b] saying,
3 “Let’s break their bonds apart,
and cast their cords from us.”
4 He who sits in the heavens will laugh.
The Lord[c] will have them in derision.
5 Then he will speak to them in his anger,
and terrify them in his wrath:
6 “Yet I have set my King on my holy hill of Zion.”
7 I will tell of the decree:
Yahweh said to me, “You are my son.
Today I have become your father.
8 Ask of me, and I will give the nations for your inheritance,
the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession.
9 You shall break them with a rod of iron.
You shall dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
10 Now therefore be wise, you kings.
Be instructed, you judges of the earth.
11 Serve Yahweh with fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
12 Give sincere homage to the Son,[d] lest he be angry, and you perish on the way,
for his wrath will soon be kindled.
Blessed are all those who take refuge in him.
A Psalm by David, when he fled from Absalom his son.
3 Yahweh, how my adversaries have increased!
Many are those who rise up against me.
2 Many there are who say of my soul,
“There is no help for him in God.”[e] Selah.
3 But you, Yahweh, are a shield around me,
my glory, and the one who lifts up my head.
4 I cry to Yahweh with my voice,
and he answers me out of his holy hill. Selah.
5 I laid myself down and slept.
I awakened, for Yahweh sustains me.
6 I will not be afraid of tens of thousands of people
who have set themselves against me on every side.
7 Arise, Yahweh!
Save me, my God!
For you have struck all of my enemies on the cheek bone.
You have broken the teeth of the wicked.
8 Salvation belongs to Yahweh.
May your blessing be on your people. Selah.
For the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments. A Psalm by David.
4 Answer me when I call, God of my righteousness.
Give me relief from my distress.
Have mercy on me, and hear my prayer.
2 You sons of men, how long shall my glory be turned into dishonor?
Will you love vanity and seek after falsehood? Selah.
3 But know that Yahweh has set apart for himself him who is godly;
Yahweh will hear when I call to him.
4 Stand in awe, and don’t sin.
Search your own heart on your bed, and be still. Selah.
5 Offer the sacrifices of righteousness.
Put your trust in Yahweh.
6 Many say, “Who will show us any good?”
Yahweh, let the light of your face shine on us.
7 You have put gladness in my heart,
more than when their grain and their new wine are increased.
8 In peace I will both lay myself down and sleep,
for you alone, Yahweh, make me live in safety.
A meditation by David, which he sang to Yahweh, concerning the words of Cush, the Benjamite.
7 Yahweh, my God, I take refuge in you.
Save me from all those who pursue me, and deliver me,
2 lest they tear apart my soul like a lion,
ripping it in pieces, while there is no one to deliver.
3 Yahweh, my God, if I have done this,
if there is iniquity in my hands,
4 if I have rewarded evil to him who was at peace with me
(yes, I have plundered him who without cause was my adversary),
5 let the enemy pursue my soul, and overtake it;
yes, let him tread my life down to the earth,
and lay my glory in the dust. Selah.
6 Arise, Yahweh, in your anger.
Lift up yourself against the rage of my adversaries.
Awake for me. You have commanded judgment.
7 Let the congregation of the peoples surround you.
Rule over them on high.
8 Yahweh administers judgment to the peoples.
Judge me, Yahweh, according to my righteousness,
and to my integrity that is in me.
9 Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end,
but establish the righteous;
their minds and hearts are searched by the righteous God.
10 My shield is with God,
who saves the upright in heart.
11 God is a righteous judge,
yes, a God who has indignation every day.
12 If a man doesn’t repent, he will sharpen his sword;
he has bent and strung his bow.
13 He has also prepared for himself the instruments of death.
He makes ready his flaming arrows.
14 Behold,[a] he travails with iniquity.
Yes, he has conceived mischief,
and brought out falsehood.
15 He has dug a hole,
and has fallen into the pit which he made.
16 The trouble he causes shall return to his own head.
His violence shall come down on the crown of his own head.
17 I will give thanks to Yahweh according to his righteousness,
and will sing praise to the name of Yahweh Most High.
1 In the days when the judges judged, there was a famine in the land. A certain man of Bethlehem Judah went to live in the country of Moab with his wife and his two sons. 2 The name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi. The names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem Judah. They came into the country of Moab and lived there. 3 Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died; and she was left with her two sons. 4 They took for themselves wives of the women of Moab. The name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other was Ruth. They lived there about ten years. 5 Mahlon and Chilion both died, and the woman was bereaved of her two children and of her husband. 6 Then she arose with her daughters-in-law, that she might return from the country of Moab; for she had heard in the country of Moab how Yahweh[a] had visited his people in giving them bread. 7 She went out of the place where she was, and her two daughters-in-law with her. They went on the way to return to the land of Judah. 8 Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May Yahweh deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. 9 May Yahweh grant you that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband.”
Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices, and wept. 10 They said to her, “No, but we will return with you to your people.”
11 Naomi said, “Go back, my daughters. Why do you want to go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? 12 Go back, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say, ‘I have hope,’ if I should even have a husband tonight, and should also bear sons, 13 would you then wait until they were grown? Would you then refrain from having husbands? No, my daughters, for it grieves me seriously for your sakes, for Yahweh’s hand has gone out against me.”
14 They lifted up their voices and wept again; then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth stayed with her. 15 She said, “Behold,[b] your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her god. Follow your sister-in-law.”
16 Ruth said, “Don’t urge me to leave you, and to return from following you, for where you go, I will go; and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God[c] my God. 17 Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May Yahweh do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me.”
18 When Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ according to the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ[a] our hope, 2 to Timothy, my true child in faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
3 As I urged you when I was going into Macedonia, stay at Ephesus that you might command certain men not to teach a different doctrine, 4 and not to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than God’s stewardship, which is in faith. 5 But the goal of this command is love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith, 6 from which things some, having missed the mark, have turned away to vain talking, 7 desiring to be teachers of the law, though they understand neither what they say nor about what they strongly affirm.
8 But we know that the law is good if a person uses it lawfully, 9 as knowing this, that law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, 10 for the sexually immoral, for homosexuals, for slave-traders, for liars, for perjurers, and for any other thing contrary to the sound doctrine, 11 according to the Good News of the glory of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.
12 I thank him who enabled me, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he counted me faithful, appointing me to service, 13 although I used to be a blasphemer, a persecutor, and insolent. However, I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. 14 The grace of our Lord abounded exceedingly with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. 15 The saying is faithful and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. 16 However, for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first, Jesus Christ might display all his patience for an example of those who were going to believe in him for eternal life. 17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
13 Now there were some present at the same time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2 Jesus answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered such things? 3 I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them—do you think that they were worse offenders than all the men who dwell in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no, but, unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way.”
6 He spoke this parable. “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. 7 He said to the vine dresser, ‘Behold, these three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and found none. Cut it down! Why does it waste the soil?’ 8 He answered, ‘Lord, leave it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. 9 If it bears fruit, fine; but if not, after that, you can cut it down.’”
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