Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 18(A)
For the Music Director. A Psalm of David the servant of the Lord. He spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. He said:
1 I love You, O Lord, my strength.
2 The Lord is my pillar, and my fortress, and my deliverer;
my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;
my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower.
3 I will call on the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
and I will be saved from my enemies.
4 The cords of death encircled me,
and the torrents of destruction terrified me.
5 The cords of Sheol surrounded me;
the snares of death confronted me.
6 In my distress I called on the Lord,
and cried for help to my God;
He heard my voice from His temple,
and my cry for help came before Him to His ears.
7 Then the earth shook and quaked;
the foundations of the hills also moved;
they reeled because His anger burned.
8 Smoke went up out of His nostrils,
and fire from His mouth devoured;
coals were kindled by it.
9 He bent the heavens and came down,
and darkness was under His feet.
10 He rode on a cherub, and flew;
He flew swiftly on the wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness His secret place;
His pavilion was surrounding Him,
dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.
12 At the brightness before Him His thick clouds passed by,
hailstones and coals of fire.
13 The Lord also thundered in the heavens,
and the Most High gave His voice,
hailstones and coals of fire.
14 He sent out His arrows and scattered them,
and He shot out lightning and distressed them.
15 Then the channels of waters appeared,
and the foundations of the world were discovered
at Your rebuke, O Lord,
at the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.
16 He sent from above, He took me;
He drew me out of many waters.
17 He delivered me from my strong enemy,
and from those who hated me,
for they were too strong for me.
18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
but the Lord was my support.
19 He also brought me forth into a large place;
He delivered me because He delighted in me.
20 The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness;
according to the cleanness of my hands He has repaid me.
21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord,
and have not wickedly departed from my God.
22 For all His judgments were before me,
and I did not put away His statutes from me.
23 I was also upright before Him,
and I kept myself from my iniquity.
24 Therefore the Lord has repaid me according to my righteousness,
according to the cleanness of my hands in His view.
25 With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful;
with the blameless man You will show Yourself blameless;
26 with the pure You will show Yourself pure;
and with the crooked You will show Yourself crooked.
27 For You will save the afflicted people,
but will bring down prideful eyes.
28 For You will cause my lamp to shine;
the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.
29 For by You I can run through a troop,
and by my God I can leap a wall.
30 As for God, His way has integrity;
the word of the Lord is proven;
He is a shield
to all those who take refuge in Him.
31 For who is God except the Lord?
Or who is a rock besides our God?
32 It is God who clothes me with strength,
and gives my way integrity.
33 He makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
and causes me to stand on my high places.
34 He trains my hands for war,
so that my arms bend a bow of bronze.
35 You have given me the shield of Your salvation,
and Your right hand has held me up,
and Your gentleness has made me great.
36 You have lengthened my stride under me,
so that my feet did not slip.
37 I pursued my enemies and overtook them;
I did not return until they were destroyed.
38 I wounded them, and they were not able to rise;
they are fallen under my feet.
39 For You clothed me with strength for the battle;
You subdued under me those who rose up against me.
40 You gave me the necks of my enemies,
and I destroyed those who hate me.
41 They cried for help, but there was none to save them;
even to the Lord, but He did not answer them.
42 Then I beat them small as the dust before the wind;
I cast them out as the dirt in the streets.
43 You have delivered me from the hostilities of the people,
and You have made me the head of nations;
a people whom I have not known serve me.
44 At hearing a report, they obey me;
foreigners come cringing to me.
45 Foreigners fade away,
and come quaking out of their prisons.
46 The Lord lives! And blessed be my Rock!
May the God of my salvation be exalted.
47 It is God who avenges me
and subdues the people under me;
48 He delivers me from my enemies.
You lift me up above those who rise up against me;
You have delivered me from the violent man.
49 Therefore I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the nations,
and sing praises to Your name.
50 He gives great deliverance to His king,
and shows lovingkindness to His anointed,
to David and to his descendants for evermore.
Ruth’s Redemption
3 One day Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, “My daughter, why should I not find a home that will be good for you? 2 Now is not Boaz our relative, with whose young women you have been working? Tonight he winnows barley on the threshing floor. 3 Now wash and anoint yourself, and put on your best clothes. Then go down to the threshing floor, but do not let the man know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking. 4 When he lies down, notice the place where he is lying. Go in and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what you will do.”
5 She said to her, “All that you say to me I will do.” 6 So she went down to the threshing floor and did all that her mother-in-law had instructed.
7 When Boaz had eaten and drunk and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then Ruth came softly, uncovered his feet, and lay down. 8 At midnight, the man was startled and rolled over; and there, a woman was lying at his feet.
9 He said, “Who are you?”
And she answered, “I am Ruth, your maidservant. Spread your cloak over me, for you are a redeeming kinsman.”
10 He said, “May you be blessed of the Lord, my daughter. You have shown your last act of kindness to be greater than the first, because you have not pursued young men, whether poor or rich. 11 So now, my daughter, do not worry. All that you ask me, I will do for you. All of my fellow townsmen know that you are a woman of noble character. 12 Now it is true that I am a redeeming kinsman. Yet there is another redeemer closer than I am. 13 Stay here tonight, and in the morning if he wants to redeem you, very well. Let him do so. Yet if he does not want to redeem you, then I will redeem you. I will, as the Lord lives! Sleep here until morning.”
14 So she lay at his feet until morning, but she arose before one could recognize another. Then he said, “It must not be known that a woman came to the threshing floor.”
15 He said, “Bring me the shawl you have on you, and hold it.” So she held it, and he poured six measures of barley into it and placed it on her. Then she went into the city.
16 When Ruth came to her mother-in-law, Naomi said, “How did it go, my daughter?”
Then she told her all that Boaz had done for her. 17 She said, “He gave me these six ephahs of barley, for he said to me, ‘Do not return to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’ ”
18 Then Naomi said, “Wait here, my daughter, until you learn what happens. For the man will not rest until the matter is settled today.”
Prediction of Apostasy
4 Now the Spirit clearly says that in the last times some will depart from the faith and pay attention to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, 2 speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their consciences seared with a hot iron, 3 forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods, which God has created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For everything created by God is good, and not to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving, 5 for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
A Good Minister of Christ Jesus
6 If you remind the brothers of these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished by the words of faith and of good doctrine, which you have followed closely. 7 But refuse profane and foolish myths. Instead, exercise in the ways of godliness. 8 For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable in all things, holding promise for the present life and also for the life to come. 9 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance. 10 For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.
11 Command and teach these things. 12 Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, and in purity. 13 Until I come, give attention to reading, exhortation, and doctrine. 14 Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy, with the laying on of hands by the elders.
15 Meditate on these things. Give yourself completely to them, that your progress may be known to everyone. 16 Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.
The Lament Over Jerusalem(A)
31 On the same day certain Pharisees came, saying to Him, “Get out and depart from here, for Herod wants to kill You.”
32 He said to them, “Go and tell that fox, ‘Look, I cast out demons. And I perform healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day I shall be perfected.’ 33 Nevertheless I must travel today and tomorrow and the day following. For it cannot be that a prophet should perish outside Jerusalem.
34 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to you! How often would I have gathered your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing! 35 Look, your house is forsaken. Truly I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’[a]”
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.