Book of Common Prayer
Israel’s Failure to Trust God
106 Praise the Lord!
Thank the Lord because he is good.
His love continues forever.
2 No one can tell all the mighty things the Lord has done.
No one can speak all his praise.
3 Happy are those people who are fair,
who do what is right at all times.
4 Lord, remember me when you are kind to your people.
Help me when you save them.
5 Let me see the good things you do for your chosen people.
Let me be happy along with your happy nation.
Let me join your own people in praising you.
6 We have sinned just as our ancestors did.
We have done wrong. We have done evil.
7 Our ancestors in Egypt
did not learn from your miracles.
They did not remember all your kindnesses.
So they turned against you at the Red Sea.
8 But the Lord saved them for his own sake,
to show his great power.
9 He commanded the Red Sea, and it dried up.
He led them through the deep sea as if it were a desert.
10 He saved them from those who hated them.
He saved them from their enemies.
11 And the water covered their enemies.
Not one of them escaped.
12 Then the people believed what the Lord said.
They sang praises to him.
13 But they quickly forgot what he had done.
They did not wait for his advice.
14 They became greedy for food in the desert.
And they tested God there.
15 So he gave them what they wanted.
But he also sent a terrible disease among them.
16 The people in the camp became jealous of Moses
and of Aaron, the holy priest of the Lord.
17 Then the ground opened up and swallowed Dathan.
It closed over Abiram’s group.
18 Then a fire burned among their followers.
Flames burned up the wicked people.
19 The people made a gold calf at Mount Sinai.
They worshiped a metal statue.
20 They exchanged their glorious God
for a statue of a bull, which eats grass.
21 They forgot the God who saved them,
who had done great things in Egypt.
22 He did miracles in Egypt.[a]
He did amazing things by the Red Sea.
23 So God said he would destroy them.
But Moses, his chosen one, stood before him.
He stopped God’s anger from destroying them.
24 Then they refused to go into the beautiful land of Canaan.
They did not believe what God promised.
25 They grumbled in their tents
and did not obey the Lord.
26 So he swore to them
that they would die in the desert.
27 He said their children would be killed by other nations
and that they would be scattered among other countries.
28 They joined in worshiping Baal at Peor.
They ate meat that had been sacrificed to lifeless statues.
29 They made the Lord angry by what they did.
So many people became sick with a terrible disease.
30 But Phinehas prayed to the Lord,
and the disease stopped.
31 The Lord will remember that Phinehas did what was right.
And God will remember this from now on.
32 The people also made the Lord angry at Meribah.
And Moses was in trouble because of them.
33 The people turned against the Spirit of God.
So Moses spoke without stopping to think.
34 The people did not destroy the other nations
as the Lord had told them to do.
35 Instead, they mixed with the other nations.
And they learned their customs.
36 They worshiped other nations’ idols.
And they were trapped by them.
37 They even killed their sons and daughters
as sacrifices to demons.
38 They killed innocent people.
They killed their own sons and daughters
as sacrifices to the idols of Canaan.
So the land was made unholy by their blood.
39 The people became unholy by their sins.
They were unfaithful to God in what they did.
40 So the Lord became angry with his people.
He hated his own children.
41 He let other nations defeat them.
He let their enemies rule over them.
42 Their enemies were cruel to them.
Their enemies kept them under their power.
43 The Lord saved his people many times.
But they continued to turn against him.
So they became even more wicked.
44 But God saw their misery.
He heard their cry.
45 He remembered his agreement with them.
And he felt sorry for them because of his great love.
46 He caused them to be pitied
by those who held them captive.
47 Lord our God, save us.
Bring us back from other nations.
Then we will thank you.
Then we will gladly praise you.
48 Praise the Lord, the God of Israel.
He always was and always will be.
Let all the people say, “Amen!”
Praise the Lord!
The Story of a Girl from Moab
1 1-2 Long ago the judges[a] ruled Israel. During their rule, there was a time in the land when there was not enough food to eat. A man named Elimelech left Bethlehem in Judah and moved to the country of Moab. He took his wife and his two sons with him. His wife was named Naomi, and his two sons were named Mahlon and Kilion. These people were from the Ephrathah district around Bethlehem in Judah. The family traveled to Moab and lived there.
3 Later, Naomi’s husband, Elimelech, died. So only Naomi and her two sons were left. 4 These sons married women from Moab. The name of one wife was Orpah. The name of the other wife was Ruth. Naomi and her sons lived in Moab about ten years. 5 Then Mahlon and Kilion also died. So Naomi was left alone without her husband or her two sons.
6 While Naomi was in Moab, she heard that the Lord had taken care of his people. He had given food to them in Judah. So Naomi got ready to leave Moab and go back home. The wives of Naomi’s sons also got ready to go with her. 7 So they left the place where they had lived. And they started back on the way to the land of Judah. 8 But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back home. Each of you go to your own mother’s house. You have been very kind to me and to my sons who are now dead. I hope the Lord will also be kind to you in the same way. 9 I hope the Lord will give you another home and a new husband.”
Then Naomi kissed the women. And they began to cry out loud. 10 Her daughters-in-law said to her, “No. We will go with you to your people.”
11 But Naomi said, “My daughters, go back to your own homes. Why do you want to go with me? I cannot give birth to more sons to give you new husbands. 12 So go back to your own homes. I am too old to have another husband. But even if I had another husband tonight and if I had more sons, it wouldn’t help! 13 Would you wait until the babies were grown into men? Would you live for so many years without husbands? Don’t do this thing. My life is much too sad for you to share. This is because the Lord is against me!”
14 The women cried together again. Then Orpah kissed Naomi good-bye, but Ruth held on to her.
Paul Answers Those Who Accuse Him
1 From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus. I am an apostle because that is what God wanted.
Also from Timothy our brother in Christ.
To the church of God in Corinth, and to all of God’s people in the whole country of Southern Greece:
2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul Gives Thanks to God
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is the Father who is full of mercy. And he is the God of all comfort. 4 He comforts us every time we have trouble, so that we can comfort others when they have trouble. We can comfort them with the same comfort that God gives us. 5 We share in the many sufferings of Christ. In the same way, much comfort comes to us through Christ. 6 If we have troubles, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we have comfort, then you also have comfort. This helps you to accept patiently the same sufferings that we have. 7 Our hope for you is strong. We know that you share in our sufferings. So we know that you also share in the comfort we receive.
8 Brothers, we want you to know about the trouble we suffered in the country of Asia. We had great burdens there that were greater than our own strength. We even gave up hope for life. 9 Truly, in our own hearts we believed that we would die. But this happened so that we would not trust in ourselves. It happened so that we would trust in God, who raises people from death. 10 God saved us from these great dangers of death. And he will continue to save us. We have put our hope in him, and he will save us again. 11 And you can help us with your prayers. Then many people will give thanks for us—that God blessed us because of their many prayers.
Jesus Teaches the People
5 Jesus saw the crowds who were there. He went up on a hill and sat down. His followers came to him. 2 Jesus taught the people and said:
3 “Those people who know they have great spiritual needs are happy.
The kingdom of heaven belongs to them.
4 Those who are sad now are happy.
God will comfort them.
5 Those who are humble are happy.
The earth will belong to them.
6 Those who want to do right more than anything else are happy.
God will fully satisfy them.
7 Those who give mercy to others are happy.
Mercy will be given to them.
8 Those who are pure in their thinking are happy.
They will be with God.
9 Those who work to bring peace are happy.
God will call them his sons.
10 Those who are treated badly for doing good are happy.
The kingdom of heaven belongs to them.
11 “People will say bad things about you and hurt you. They will lie and say all kinds of evil things about you because you follow me. But when they do these things to you, you are happy. 12 Rejoice and be glad. You have a great reward waiting for you in heaven. People did the same evil things to the prophets who lived before you.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.