Book of Common Prayer
Prayer for Protection from the Wicked.
For the music director; for [a]flute accompaniment. A Psalm of David.
5 (A)Listen to my words, Lord,
Consider my (B)sighing.
2 Listen to (C)the sound of my cry for help, (D)my King and my God,
For to You I pray.
3 In the morning, Lord, [b]You will hear my voice;
In the (E)morning I will present my [c]prayer to You and be on the (F)watch.
4 For You are not a God (G)who takes pleasure in wickedness;
(H)No evil can dwell with You.
5 The (I)boastful will not (J)stand before Your eyes;
You (K)hate all who do injustice.
6 You (L)destroy those who speak lies;
The Lord loathes (M)the person of bloodshed and deceit.
7 But as for me, (N)by Your abundant graciousness I will enter Your house,
[d]At Your holy temple I will (O)bow in (P)reverence for You.
8 Lord, (Q)lead me (R)in Your righteousness (S)because of my enemies;
Make Your way [e]straight before me.
9 For there is (T)nothing [f]trustworthy in [g]their mouth;
Their (U)inward part is destruction itself.
Their (V)throat is an open grave;
They [h]flatter with their tongue.
10 Make them pay, God;
(W)Have them fall by their own schemes!
(X)Scatter them in the multitude of their wrongdoings,
For they are (Y)rebellious against You.
11 But (Z)rejoice, all who (AA)take refuge in You,
Sing for joy forever!
And [i]may You (AB)shelter them,
That those who (AC)love Your name may rejoice in You.
12 For You (AD)bless the righteous person, Lord,
You (AE)surround him with favor as with a shield.
Prayer for Mercy in Time of Trouble.
For the music director; with stringed instruments, [j]upon an eight-string lyre. A Psalm of David.
6 Lord, (AF)do not rebuke me in Your anger,
Nor discipline me in Your wrath.
2 Be gracious to me, Lord, for I am (AG)frail;
(AH)Heal me, Lord, for (AI)my bones are horrified.
3 And my (AJ)soul is greatly horrified;
But You, Lord—(AK)how long?
4 Return, Lord, (AL)rescue my [k]soul;
Save me because of Your mercy.
5 For (AM)there is no [l]mention of You in death;
In [m]Sheol, who will praise You?
A Prayer for the Overthrow of the Wicked.
10 Why (A)do You stand far away, Lord?
Why (B)do You hide [a]Yourself in times of trouble?
2 In (C)arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the needy;
[b]Let them be (D)caught in the plots which they have devised.
3 For the wicked (E)boasts of his (F)soul’s desire,
And [c]the greedy person curses and (G)shows disrespect to the Lord.
4 The wicked, [d]in his haughtiness, (H)does not seek Him.
(I)There is no God in all his schemes.
5 His ways (J)succeed at all times;
Yet Your judgments are on high, (K)out of his sight;
As for all his enemies, he snorts at them.
6 He says to himself, “(L)I will not be moved;
[e]Throughout the generations (M)I will not be in adversity.”
7 His (N)mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and (O)oppression;
(P)Under his tongue is harm and injustice.
8 He sits in the (Q)lurking places of the villages;
He (R)kills the innocent in the secret places;
His eyes [f]surreptitiously watch for the [g](S)unfortunate.
9 He lurks in secret like (T)a lion in his [h]lair;
He (U)lurks to catch (V)the needy;
He catches the needy when he pulls him into his (W)net.
10 Then he crushes the needy one, who cowers;
And [i]unfortunate people fall by his mighty power.
11 He (X)says to himself, “God has forgotten;
He has hidden His face; He will never see it.”
12 Arise, Lord; God, (Y)lift up Your hand.
(Z)Do not forget the humble.
13 Why has the wicked (AA)treated God disrespectfully?
He has said to himself, “[j]You will not require an account.”
14 You have seen it, for You have looked at (AB)harm and provocation to [k]take it into Your hand.
The [l](AC)unfortunate commits himself to You;
You have been the (AD)helper of the orphan.
15 (AE)Break the arm of the wicked and the evildoer,
[m](AF)Seek out his wickedness until You find none.
16 The Lord is (AG)King forever and ever;
(AH)Nations have perished from His land.
17 Lord, You have heard the (AI)desire of the humble;
You will (AJ)strengthen their heart, (AK)You will make Your ear attentive
18 To [n]vindicate the (AL)orphan and the (AM)oppressed,
So that mankind, which is of the earth, will no longer cause (AN)terror.
The Lord, a Refuge and Defense.
For the music director. A Psalm of David.
11 In the Lord I (AO)take refuge;
How can you say to my soul, “Flee as a bird to your (AP)mountain?
2 For, behold, the wicked (AQ)bend the bow,
They have [o](AR)set their arrow on the string
To (AS)shoot in darkness at the upright in heart.
3 If the (AT)foundations are destroyed,
What can the righteous do?”
4 The Lord is in His (AU)holy temple; the [p]Lord’s (AV)throne is in heaven;
His (AW)eyes see, His eyelids test the sons of mankind.
5 The Lord (AX)tests the righteous and (AY)the wicked,
And His soul hates one who loves violence.
6 He will (AZ)rain [q]coals of fire upon the wicked,
(BA)And brimstone and (BB)burning wind will be the portion of (BC)their cup.
7 For the Lord is (BD)righteous, (BE)He loves [r]righteousness;
The upright will (BF)see His face.
19 So they both went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they had come to Bethlehem, (A)all the city was stirred because of them, and [a]the women said, “Is this Naomi?” 20 But she said to them, “Do not call me [b]Naomi; call me [c]Mara, for [d](B)the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. 21 I went away full, but (C)the Lord has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has testified against me and [e]the Almighty has afflicted me?”
22 So Naomi returned, and with her Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, who returned from the land of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at (D)the beginning of barley harvest.
Ruth Gleans in Boaz’s Field
2 Now Naomi had [f]a relative of her husband, a [g]man of great wealth, of the family of (E)Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. 2 And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the field and (F)glean among the ears of grain following one in whose eyes I may find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.” 3 So she left and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers; and [h]she happened to come to the portion of the field belonging to Boaz, who was of the family of Elimelech. 4 Now behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the reapers, “(G)May the Lord be with you.” And they said to him, “May the Lord bless you.” 5 Then Boaz said to his servant who was [i]in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?” 6 And the servant [j]in charge of the reapers replied, “She is the young Moabite woman who returned with Naomi from the land of Moab. 7 And she said, ‘Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.’ So she came and has remained from the morning until now; she has been sitting in the house for a little while.”
8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, “[k]Listen carefully, my daughter. Do not go to glean in another field; furthermore, do not go on from this one, but join my young women here. 9 Keep your eyes on the field which they reap, and go after them. Indeed, I have ordered the servants not to touch you. When you are thirsty, go to the [l]water jars and drink from what the servants draw.” 10 Then she (H)fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your sight that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?” 11 Boaz replied to her, “All that you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband has been fully reported to me, and how you left your father and your mother and the land of your birth, and came to a people that you did not previously know. 12 (I)May the Lord reward your [m]work, and may your wages be full from the Lord, the God of Israel, (J)under whose wings you have come to take refuge.” 13 Then she said, “I have found favor in your sight, my lord, for you have comforted me and indeed have spoken [n]kindly to your servant, though I am not like one of your female servants.”
18 This (A)command I entrust to you, Timothy, (B)my [a]son, in accordance with the (C)prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you (D)fight the good fight, 19 keeping (E)faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to [b](F)their faith. 20 [c]Among these are (G)Hymenaeus and (H)Alexander, whom I have (I)handed over to Satan, so that they will be (J)taught not to blaspheme.
A Call to Prayer
2 First of all, then, I urge that (K)requests, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving be made in behalf of all people, 2 (L)for kings and all who are in [d]authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and [e]dignity. 3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of (M)God our Savior, 4 (N)who wants all people to be (O)saved and to (P)come to the [f]knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is (Q)one God, and (R)one mediator also between God and mankind, the (S)Man Christ Jesus, 6 who (T)gave Himself as a ransom for all, the (U)testimony [g]given at [h](V)the proper time. 7 (W)For this I was appointed as a [i]preacher and (X)an apostle ((Y)I am telling the truth, I am not lying), as a teacher of (Z)the Gentiles in faith and truth.
Instructions for Believers
8 Therefore (AA)I want the men (AB)in every place to pray, (AC)lifting up (AD)holy hands, without anger and dispute.
Healing on the Sabbath
10 Now Jesus was (A)teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11 And [a]there was a woman who for eighteen years had had (B)a [b]sickness caused by a spirit; and she was bent over double, and could not straighten up at all. 12 When Jesus saw her, He called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your sickness.” 13 And He (C)laid His hands on her; and immediately she stood up straight again, and began (D)glorifying God. 14 But (E)the synagogue leader, indignant because Jesus (F)had healed on the Sabbath, began saying to the crowd in response, “(G)There are six days during which work should be done; so come during them and get healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” 15 But (H)the Lord answered him and said, “You hypocrites, (I)does each of you on the Sabbath not untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it away to water it? 16 And this woman, (J)a daughter of Abraham as she is, whom (K)Satan has bound for [c]eighteen long years, should she not have been released from this restraint on the Sabbath day?” 17 And as He said this, all His opponents were being [d]humiliated; and (L)the entire crowd was rejoicing over all the glorious things being done by Him.
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