Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 5
The Refuge of the Righteous
For the choir director: with the flutes. A psalm of David.
1 Listen to my words, Lord;
consider my sighing.(A)
2 Pay attention to the sound of my cry,(B)
my King and my God,(C)
for I pray to you.
3 In the morning,(D) Lord, you hear my voice;
in the morning I plead my case to you(E) and watch expectantly.
4 For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;
evil cannot dwell with you.(F)
5 The boastful cannot stand in your sight;(G)
you hate all evildoers.(H)
6 You destroy those who tell lies;(I)
the Lord abhors violent and treacherous people.(J)
7 But I enter your house
by the abundance of your faithful love;(K)
I bow down toward your holy temple
in reverential awe of you.(L)
8 Lord, lead me in your righteousness(M)
because of my adversaries;
make your way straight before me.(N)
9 For there is nothing reliable in what they say;(O)
destruction is within them;
their throat is an open grave;
they flatter with their tongues.(P)
10 Punish them, God;
let them fall by their own schemes.(Q)
Drive them out(R) because of their many crimes,
for they rebel against you.(S)
11 But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;(T)
let them shout for joy forever.
May you shelter them,(U)
and may those who love your name boast about you.(V)
12 For you, Lord, bless the righteous one;
you surround him with favor like a shield.(W)
Psalm 6
A Prayer for Mercy
For the choir director: with stringed instruments, according to Sheminith.(X) A psalm of David.
1 Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger;
do not discipline me in your wrath.(Y)
2 Be gracious to me, Lord, for I am weak;[a](Z)
heal me,(AA) Lord, for my bones are shaking;(AB)
3 my whole being is shaken with terror.(AC)
And you, Lord—how long?(AD)
4 Turn, Lord! Rescue me;
save me because of your faithful love.(AE)
5 For there is no remembrance of you in death;
who can thank you in Sheol?(AF)
Psalm 10
Need for God’s Justice
1 Lord,[a][b] why do you stand so far away?(A)
Why do you hide in times of trouble?(B)
2 In arrogance the wicked relentlessly pursue their victims;
let them be caught in the schemes they have devised.(C)
3 For the wicked one boasts about his own cravings;(D)
the one who is greedy curses[c] and despises the Lord.(E)
4 In all his scheming,
the wicked person arrogantly thinks,[d]
“There’s no accountability,
since there’s no God.”(F)
5 His ways are always secure;[e]
your lofty judgments have no effect on him;[f]
he scoffs at all his adversaries.(G)
6 He says to himself, “I will never be moved—
from generation to generation I will be without calamity.”(H)
7 Cursing, deceit, and violence fill his mouth;
trouble and malice are under his tongue.(I)
8 He waits in ambush near settlements;(J)
he kills the innocent in secret places.
His eyes are on the lookout for the helpless;(K)
9 he lurks in secret like a lion in a thicket.
He lurks in order to seize a victim;
he seizes a victim and drags him in his net.
10 So he is oppressed and beaten down;
helpless people fall because of the wicked one’s strength.(L)
11 He says to himself, “God has forgotten;
he hides his face and will never see.”(M)
12 Rise up, Lord God! Lift up your hand.(N)
Do not forget the oppressed.(O)
13 Why has the wicked person despised God?
He says to himself, “You will not demand an account.”(P)
14 But you yourself have seen trouble and grief,
observing it in order to take the matter into your hands.(Q)
The helpless one entrusts himself to you;
you are a helper of the fatherless.(R)
15 Break the arm of the wicked, evil person,(S)
until you look for his wickedness,
but it can’t be found.(T)
16 The Lord is King forever and ever;(U)
the nations will perish from his land.(V)
17 Lord, you have heard the desire of the humble;
you will strengthen their hearts.
You will listen carefully,(W)
18 doing justice for the fatherless and the oppressed
so that mere humans from the earth may terrify them no more.(X)
Psalm 11
Refuge in the Lord
For the choir director. Of David.
1 I have taken refuge in the Lord.(Y)
How can you say to me,
“Escape to the mountains[g] like a bird!(Z)
2 For look, the wicked string bows;
they put their arrows on bowstrings
to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart.(AA)
3 When the foundations are destroyed,
what can the righteous do?” (AB)
4 The Lord is in his holy temple;(AC)
the Lord—his throne is in heaven.(AD)
His eyes watch;
his gaze[h] examines everyone.[i]
5 The Lord examines the righteous,
but he hates the wicked
and[j] those who love violence.(AE)
6 Let him rain burning coals[k] and sulfur on the wicked;
let a scorching wind be the portion in their cup.(AF)
7 For the Lord is righteous; he loves righteous deeds.
The upright will see his face.(AG)
19 The two of them traveled until they came to Bethlehem. When they entered Bethlehem, the whole town was excited about their arrival[a](A) and the local women exclaimed, “Can this be Naomi?”
20 “Don’t call me Naomi. Call me Mara,”[b] she answered, “for the Almighty(B) has made me very bitter.(C) 21 I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty.(D) Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has opposed[c] me, and the Almighty has afflicted me?”
22 So Naomi came back from the territory of Moab with her daughter-in-law Ruth the Moabitess. They arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.(E)
Ruth and Boaz Meet
2 Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side. He was a prominent man of noble character(F) from Elimelech’s family. His name was Boaz.
2 Ruth the Moabitess asked Naomi, “Will you let me go into the fields and gather fallen grain(G) behind someone with whom I find favor?”
Naomi answered her, “Go ahead, my daughter.” 3 So Ruth left and entered the field to gather grain behind the harvesters. She happened(H) to be in the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was from Elimelech’s family.
4 Later, when Boaz arrived from Bethlehem, he said to the harvesters, “The Lord be with you.”(I)
“The Lord bless you,”(J) they replied.
5 Boaz asked his servant who was in charge of the harvesters, “Whose young woman is this?”
6 The servant answered, “She is the young Moabite woman who returned with Naomi from the territory of Moab. 7 She asked, ‘Will you let me gather fallen grain among the bundles behind the harvesters?’ She came and has been on her feet since early morning, except that she rested a little in the shelter.”[d]
8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter.[e] Don’t go and gather grain in another field, and don’t leave this one, but stay here close to my female servants. 9 See which field they are harvesting, and follow them. Haven’t I ordered the young men not to touch you? When you are thirsty, go and drink from the jars the young men have filled.”
10 She fell facedown, bowed to the ground,(K) and said to him, “Why have I found favor with you, so that you notice me, although I am a foreigner?”
11 Boaz answered her, “Everything you have done for your mother-in-law since your husband’s death has been fully reported to me: how you left your father and mother and your native land, and how you came to a people you didn’t previously know. 12 May the Lord reward you for what you have done,(L) and may you receive a full reward from the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.”(M)
13 “My lord,” she said, “I have found favor with you, for you have comforted and encouraged your servant, although I am not like one of your female servants.”
Engage in Battle
18 Timothy, my son, I am giving you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies(A) previously made about you, so that by recalling them you may fight the good fight, 19 having faith(B) and a good conscience,(C) which some(D) have rejected and have shipwrecked the faith. 20 Among them are Hymenaeus(E) and Alexander,(F) whom I have delivered to Satan,(G) so that they may be taught not to blaspheme.
Instructions on Prayer
2 First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, 2 for kings and all those who are in authority,(H) so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness(I) and dignity.(J) 3 This is good, and it pleases God our Savior,(K) 4 who wants everyone(L) to be saved(M) and to come to the knowledge of the truth.(N)
5 For there is one God(O) and one mediator(P) between God and mankind, the man(Q) Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all,(R) a testimony at the proper time.
7 For this I was appointed a herald, an apostle(S) (I am telling the truth;[a] I am not lying), and a teacher of the Gentiles(T) in faith and truth.
Instructions to Men and Women
8 Therefore, I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or argument.(U)
Healing a Daughter of Abraham
10 As he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath,(A) 11 a woman was there who had been disabled by a spirit[a](B) for over eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all.[b] 12 When Jesus saw her, he called out to her,[c] “Woman, you are free of your disability.” 13 Then he laid his hands on her,(C) and instantly she was restored(D) and began to glorify God.(E)
14 But the leader of the synagogue, indignant(F) because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, responded by telling the crowd, “There are six days when work should be done;(G) therefore come on those days and be healed and not on the Sabbath day.”
15 But the Lord answered him and said, “Hypocrites!(H) Doesn’t each one of you untie his ox(I) or donkey from the feeding trough(J) on the Sabbath and lead it to water?(K) 16 Satan(L) has bound(M) this woman, a daughter of Abraham,(N) for eighteen years—shouldn’t she be untied from this bondage[d] on the Sabbath day?”
17 When he had said these things, all his adversaries(O) were humiliated,(P) but the whole crowd was rejoicing over all the glorious things he was doing.(Q)
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