Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 5[a]
Morning Prayer for Divine Help
1 For the director.[b] With flutes. A psalm of David.
2 Listen to my words, O Lord;
pay heed to my sighs.
3 Hear my cry for help,
my King and my God;
for to you I pray.
4 O Lord, at daybreak[c] you hear my voice;
at daybreak I bring my petition before you
and await your reply.
5 For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;
evil cannot remain in your presence.
6 The arrogant shrink before your gaze;
you hate all who do evil.
7 You destroy all who tell lies;
the Lord detests the violent and the deceitful.
8 But I will enter your house
because of your great kindness,[d]
and I will bow down in your holy temple,
filled with awe of you.
9 Lead me in your ways of righteousness, O Lord,
for I am surrounded by enemies;
make your path straight before me.[e]
10 For there is nothing trustworthy in their mouth;[f]
their heart devises treacherous schemes.
Their throat is a wide open grave;
with their tongue they utter flattery.
11 Punish them, O God;
may their intrigues result in their downfall.
Cast them out because of their many transgressions,
for they have rebelled against you.[g]
12 But may all who take refuge in you rejoice;
may they shout for joy forever.
Grant them your protection
so that those who love your name[h] may rejoice in you.
13 Truly, you bless the righteous, O Lord;
you surround them with your goodwill as with a shield.
Psalm 6[i]
Evening Prayer for God’s Mercy
1 For the director.[j] With stringed instruments. “Upon the eighth.” A psalm of David.
2 O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger
or punish me in your wrath.
3 Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am tottering;
help me, O Lord, for my body is in agony.[k]
4 My soul[l] is also filled with anguish.
But you, O Lord—how long?
5 Turn, O Lord, and deliver my soul;
save me because of your kindness.[m]
6 For among the dead who remembers you?
In the netherworld who sings your praises?[n]
7 I am exhausted from my sighing;
every night I flood my bed with my tears,
and I soak my couch with my weeping.
8 My eyes grow dim because of my grief;
they are worn out[o] because of all my foes.
9 Depart from me, all you evildoers,[p]
for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.
10 The Lord has listened to my pleas;
the Lord has accepted my prayer.
11 All my enemies will be shamed and terrified;
they will flee in utter confusion.[q]
Psalm 10[a]
Prayer for Help against Oppressors
1 Why, O Lord, do you stand far off?
Why do you remain hidden in times of trouble?
2 In his arrogance the wicked hunts down the poor;
let him be ensnared by the schemes he has devised.
3 The wicked boasts of his wicked desires;
he upholds the greedy and renounces the Lord.
4 Filled with arrogance, he does not seek God,
but thinks, “God does not exist.”[b]
5 The wicked always seems to prosper;
your judgments are far from his mind,
and he scoffs at all those who oppose him.
6 He says in his heart,[c] “I will not be swayed;
I will never experience misfortune.”
7 His mouth is filled with curses, deceit, and threats;[d]
his tongue breeds evil and malice.
8 He lies in wait near the villages,
and from ambush he slays the innocent;
his eyes are on the watch for the helpless.
9 He lies in wait like a lurking lion,
ready to strike the helpless;
he snares his victims,
seizing them in his net.
10 He crouches and lies low,
and the poor are overwhelmed by his might.
11 He thinks in his heart,
“God has forgotten;
he hides his face and will never see what is happening.”
12 Arise, O Lord! Lift up your hand, O God!
Do not forget the afflicted.
13 Why should the wicked reject God
and say in his heart,
“He will not call me to account”?
14 But you note our troubles and our grief
so that you may resolve our difficulties.
The helpless entrusts himself to you;
you are the recourse of the fatherless.
15 Break the arms of the sinner and the evildoer;
seek out the wicked
until no more endure.[e]
16 [f]The Lord is King forever and ever;
the heathen will disappear from his land.
17 You listen, O Lord, to the longings of the poor;
you strengthen their courage and heed their prayers.
18 You ensure justice for the fatherless and the oppressed
so that no one on earth may fill them with terror.
Psalm 11[g]
Unshakable Confidence in God
1 For the director.[h] Of David.
[i]In the Lord I take refuge.
How can you say to me,
“Flee like a bird to your mountains!
2 For behold, the wicked are bending their bows
as they fit their arrows to the string
so that from the shadows
they can shoot at those who are upright.[j]
3 If the foundations[k] are destroyed,
what can be done by those who are righteous?”
4 [l]The Lord is in his holy temple;
the Lord, whose throne is in heaven.
His eyes are fixed on the world;
his gaze examines everyone.
5 The Lord tests the upright and the wicked;
he detests the lover of violence.
6 Upon the wicked he will rain down
fiery coals and brimstone;[m]
a scorching wind will be their allotted portion.
7 For the Lord is just
and he loves righteous deeds;
the upright will behold his face.[n]
19 Life in Bethlehem. So they both traveled on until they came to Bethlehem. When they arrived in Bethlehem, there was a commotion among all of the inhabitants of the city on account of them. The women exclaimed, “Is this Naomi?” 20 She told them, “Do not call me Naomi, call me Mara. The Almighty has made my life so very bitter. 21 I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why should you call me Naomi? The Lord has brought witness against me; the Almighty has afflicted me.”
22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth, the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, went with her. They left the land of Moab and they arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.
Chapter 2
Ruth and Boaz.[a] 1 Naomi’s husband had a kinsman, a very wealthy man from the clan of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz. 2 Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go now to the field and glean ears of corn after one in whose sight I might find favor.” So she said, “Go, my daughter.”
3 She left and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers. It happened that she arrived at a portion of the field that belonged to Boaz of the clan of Elimelech.[b] 4 Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and he said to the reapers, “The Lord be with you.” They answered him, “The Lord bless you.” 5 Boaz asked his foreman of the harvesters, “Whose young woman is this?” 6 The foreman of the harvesters answered, “The young woman is a Moabite. She came back with Naomi from the land of Moab. 7 She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather the sheaves after the harvesters.’ She arrived early this morning and has continued working continuously until now, except for a short rest in the shelter.”
8 So Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen to me, my daughter. Do not go and glean in any other field and do not go away from here. Stay here with my servant girls. 9 Keep your eyes on the field that they are reaping, and follow after them. I have told the young men not to bother you. When you are thirsty, go to the water jars and drink from what the young men have drawn.” 10 She bowed down with her face to the ground and said, “Why have I, a foreigner, found favor in your sight that you should take notice of me?” 11 But Boaz answered her, “I have been informed of all that you have done for your mother-in-law since your husband died, how you left your father and your mother and the land of your birth and came to live with a people whom you had not previously known. 12 May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have taken refuge.”[c] 13 Then she said, “May I continue to find favor in your sight, my lord. You have comforted me and shown kindness to your servant, even though I am not really one of your servants.”
18 Never Falsify the Gospel. To you, Timothy, my child, I am giving these instructions in accordance with those prophecies once made about you,[a] so that by following them you may fight the good fight 19 with faith and a good conscience. Some people have spurned their conscience and destroyed their faith. 20 Among them are Hymenaeus[b] and Alexander whom I have handed over to Satan so that they may learn not to blaspheme.
Qualities of Public Worship and Church Leaders[c]
Chapter 2
Prayer for Those in Authority.[d] 1 I urge then, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be offered for everyone, 2 for kings and for all those who hold positions of authority, so that we may be able to lead a tranquil and quiet life with all possible devotion and dignity. 3 To do so is right and acceptable to God our Savior, 4 who desires everyone to be saved and to come to full knowledge of the truth.
5 [e]For there is one God,
and there is one mediator between God and man,
Christ Jesus, himself a man,
6 who gave himself as a ransom for all.
This was the testimony he offered at the appointed time. 7 And I was made a herald and an apostle of it (I am telling the truth; I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
Positions at Public Worship.[f] 8 I desire, then, that in every place the men should pray, lifting up their hands reverently in prayer without anger or argument.
10 Jesus Heals a Woman on the Sabbath.[a] On one Sabbath as Jesus was teaching in the synagogue, 11 a woman was present, possessed by a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and completely unable to stand up straight. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said, “Woman, you are freed from your infirmity.” 13 Then he laid his hands on her, and immediately she stood up straight and began praising God.
14 But the leader of the synagogue was indignant because Jesus had effected a cure on the Sabbath, and he said to the assembled people, “There are six days when work is permitted. Come on those days and be cured, and not on the Sabbath.” 15 The Lord said to him in reply, “You hypocrites! Is there a single one of you who does not untie his ox or his donkey and lead it from its stall to give it water on the Sabbath? 16 Should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has held bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the Sabbath?” 17 At these words, all his adversaries were put to shame, and the people rejoiced at all the wonderful things he was doing.
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