Book of Common Prayer
A special Davidic Psalm.[a]
Trust in the Face of Death
16 Keep me safe, God,
for I take refuge in you.
2 I told the Lord,
“You are my master,[b]
I have nothing good apart from you.”
3 As for the saints that are in the land,
they are noble, and all my delight is in them.
4 Those who hurry after another god[c] will have many sorrows;
I will not present[d] their drink offerings of blood,
nor will my lips speak[e] their names.
5 The Lord is my inheritance and my cup;
you support my lot.
6 The boundary lines have fallen in pleasant places for me;
truly, I have a beautiful heritage.
7 I will bless the Lord who has counseled me;
indeed, my conscience instructs[f] me during the night.
8 I have set the Lord before me continuously;
because he stands at my right hand, I will stand firm.[g]
9 Therefore, my heart is glad,
my whole being[h] rejoices,
and my body will dwell securely.
10 For you will not leave my soul in Sheol,[i]
you will not allow your holy one to experience corruption.[j]
11 You cause me to know the path of life;
in your presence is joyful abundance,
at your right hand there are pleasures forever.
A Davidic Prayer.
A Cry for Justice
17 Lord, hear my just plea!
Pay attention to my cry!
Listen to my prayer,
since it does not come from lying lips.
2 Justice for me will come from your presence;
your eyes see what is right.
3 When you probe my heart,
and examine me at night;
when you refine me,
you will find nothing wrong,[k]
for I have determined that I will not transgress with my mouth.
4 As for the ways of mankind,
I have, according to the words of your lips,
avoided the ways of the violent.
5 Because my steps have held fast to your paths,
my footsteps have not faltered.
6 I call upon you, for you will answer me, God.
Listen closely to me
and hear my prayer.
7 Show forth your gracious love,
save those who take refuge in you
from those who rebel against your sovereign power.[l]
8 Protect me as the most precious part of the eye;[m]
hide me under the shadow of your wings
9 from the wicked[n] who have afflicted me,
from my enemies who have surrounded me.
10 They are imprisoned by their own prosperity,[o]
they have boasted proudly with their mouth.
11 Now they have encircled our paths[p]
and are determined[q] to cast us down to the ground.
12 Like a lion they desire to rip us to pieces,
like a young lion waiting in ambush.
13 Arise, Lord,
confront them,
bring them to their knees!
Deliver me from the wicked by your sword—
14 from men, Lord, by your hand—
from men who belong to this world,
whose reward is only[r] in this[s] life.
But as for your treasured ones,
may their stomachs be full,
may their children have an abundance,
and may they leave wealth to their offspring.
15 But as for me, justified, I will behold your face;
when I awake, your presence[t] will satisfy me.
To the Director: To the tune of[a] “Doe of the Dawn”.
A Davidic Psalm.
God Delivers His Suffering Servant
22 My God! My God!
Why have you abandoned me?
Why are you so far from delivering me—
from my groaning words?
2 My God, I cry out to you throughout the day,
but you do not answer;
and throughout the night,
but I have no rest.[b]
3 You are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
4 Our ancestors trusted in you;
they trusted and you delivered them.
5 They cried out to you and escaped;
they trusted in you and were not put to shame.
6 But as for me,
I am only a worm and not a man,
scorned by mankind and despised by people.
7 Everyone who sees me mocks me;
they gape at me with open mouths
and shake their heads at me.
8 They say,[c] “Commit yourself to the Lord;
perhaps the Lord[d] will deliver him,
perhaps he will cause him to escape,
since he delights in him.”
9 Yet, you are the one who took me from the womb,
and kept me safe on my mother’s breasts.
10 I was dependent on you from birth;
from my mother’s womb you have been my God.
11 Do not be so distant from me,
for trouble is at hand;
indeed, there is no deliverer.
12 Many bulls have surrounded me;
the vicious bulls of Bashan have encircled me.
13 Their mouths are opened wide toward me,
like roaring and attacking lions.
14 I am poured out like water;
all my bones are out of joint.
My heart is like wax, melting within me.
15 My strength is dried up like broken pottery;
my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth,[e]
and you have brought me down to the dust of death.
16 For dogs have surrounded me;
a gang of those who practice evil has encircled me.
They gouged[f] my hands and my[g] feet.
17 I can count all my bones.
They look at me;
they stare at me.
18 They divide my clothing among themselves;
they cast lots for my clothing!
19 But as for you, Lord, do not be far away from me;
My Strength, come quickly to help me.
20 Deliver me from the sword;
my precious life from the power of the dog.
21 Deliver me from the mouth of the lion,
from the horns of the wild oxen.
You have answered me.
22 I will declare your name to my brothers;
in the midst of the congregation, I will praise you, saying,[h]
23 “All who fear the Lord, praise him!
All the seed of Jacob, glorify him!
All the seed of Israel, fear him!
24 For he does not despise nor detest the afflicted person;
he does not hide his face from him,
but he hears him when he cries out to him.”
25 My praise in the great congregation is because of you;
I will pay my vows before those who fear you.[i]
26 The afflicted will eat and be satisfied;
those who seek the Lord will praise him,
“May you[j] live forever!”
27 All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord;
all the families of the nations will bow in submission to the Lord.
28 Indeed, the kingdom belongs to the Lord;
he rules over the nations.
29 All the prosperous people will eat and bow down in submission.
All those who are about to go down to the grave[k]
will bow down in submission,
along with the one who can no longer keep himself alive.
30 Our[l] descendants will serve him,
and that generation will be told about the Lord.
31 They will come and declare his righteousness
to a people yet to be born;
indeed, he has accomplished it!
Boaz Acts to Fulfill His Responsibilities
4 Meanwhile, Boaz approached the city gate[a] and sat down there. Just then, the very same related redeemer whom Boaz had mentioned came by, so Boaz[b] called out to him, “Come over and sit down here, my friend!” So the man came over and sat down.
2 Boaz[c] selected ten of the town elders and spoke to them, “Sit down here.” So they sat down 3 and Boaz[d] addressed the related redeemer directly: “A portion of a field belonging to our relative Elimelech is up for sale by Naomi, who recently returned from the country of Moab. 4 So I thought to myself I ought to tell you that you must make a public purchase of this before the town residents and the elders of my people. So if you intend to act as the related redeemer, then do so.[e] But if not, let me know, because except for you—and I after you—there is no one to fulfill the duties of a related redeemer.”
The man responded, “I will act as related redeemer.”
A Complication Arises and is Resolved
5 Boaz continued, “On the very day you obtain the field from Naomi,[f] I’ll be obtaining[g] Ruth the Moabite woman, the widow of the late heir,[h] so the family name may be continued[i] as an inheritance.”
6 At this, the nearer related redeemer replied, “Then I am unable to act as related redeemer, because that would complicate my own inheritance. You act instead as the related redeemer, because I cannot do so.”[j]
7 During Israel’s earlier history,[k] all things concerning redeeming or changing inheritances were confirmed by a man taking off his sandal and giving it to the other party,[l] thereby creating a public[m] record in Israel. 8 So when the nearer related redeemer told Boaz, “Make the purchase yourself,” he then took off his sandal.
Boaz’s Public Commitment
9 At this, Boaz addressed the elders and all of the people: “You all are witnesses today that I hereby redeem everything from Naomi that belonged to Elimelech, including what belonged to Chilion and Mahlon, 10 along with Mahlon’s wife Ruth the Moabite woman. I will marry her to continue the family name as an inheritance, so that the name of the deceased does not disappear from among his relatives, nor from the public record.[n] You are all witnesses today!”
11 Then all of the assembled people,[o] including the elders who were there, said, “We are witnesses! May the Lord make this woman who enters your house like Rachel and Leah, who together established the house of Israel. May you prosper in Ephrathah, and may you excel in Bethlehem! 12 Moreover, may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore for Judah, from the offspring that the Lord gives you from this young woman.”
The Marriage of Boaz and Ruth
13 So Boaz took Ruth to be his wife, and when he had marital relations with her, the Lord made her conceive, and she bore a son. 14 Then the women of Bethlehem[p] told Naomi, “May the Lord be blessed,[q] who has not left you today without a related redeemer. May his name become famous throughout Israel! 15 And he will restore your life for you and will support you in your old age, because your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who has borne him, is better for you than seven sons!”
16 Naomi took care of the child, taking him to her breast and becoming his nurse. 17 So her women neighbors gave the child a nickname, which is “Naomi has a son!” They named him Obed. He became the father of Jesse, who was the father of David.
Elders and Their Duties
17 Elders who handle their duties[a] well should be considered worthy of double compensation,[b] especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. 18 For the Scripture says, “You must not muzzle an ox while it is treading out grain,”[c] and, “A worker deserves his pay.”[d] 19 Do not accept an accusation against an elder unless it is supported “by two or three witnesses.”[e] 20 As for those who keep on sinning, rebuke them in front of everyone so that the rest will also be afraid. 21 With God as my witness, as well as the Messiah[f] Jesus and the chosen angels, I solemnly call on you to carry out these instructions without prejudice, doing nothing on the basis of partiality. 22 Do not ordain[g] anyone hastily. Do not participate in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure. 23 Stop drinking only water, but use a little wine for your stomach because of your frequent illnesses.
24 The sins of some people are obvious, leading them to judgment. The sins[h] of others follow them there. 25 In the same way, good actions are obvious, and those that are not cannot remain hidden.
Jesus Heals a Man on the Sabbath
14 One Sabbath, Jesus[a] went to the house of a leader of the Pharisees to eat a meal. The guests[b] were watching Jesus[c] closely. 2 A man whose body was swollen with fluid suddenly appeared in front of him. 3 So Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the Law, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” 4 But they kept silent. So he took hold of the man,[d] healed him, and sent him away. 5 Then he asked them, “If your son[e] or ox falls into a well on the Sabbath day, you would pull him out immediately, wouldn’t you?” 6 And they couldn’t argue with him about this.
A Lesson about Guests
7 When Jesus[f] noticed how the guests were choosing the places of honor, he told them a parable. 8 “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, don’t sit down at the place of honor in case someone more important than you was invited by the host.[g] 9 Then the host who invited both of you would come to you and say, ‘Give this person your place.’ In disgrace, you would have to take the place of least honor. 10 But when you are invited, go and sit down at the place of least honor. Then, when your host comes, he will tell you, ‘Friend, move up higher,’ and you will be honored in the presence of everyone who eats with you. 11 Because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the person who humbles himself will be exalted.”
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