Book of Common Prayer
Praise to Yahweh for His Faithfulness in Israel’s History
106 Praise Yah.[a] Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good,
for his loyal love is forever.
2 Who can utter the mighty deeds of Yahweh,
or proclaim all his praise?
3 Blessed are those who observe justice,
he who does righteousness at all times.
4 Remember me, O Yahweh, when you show favor to your people.
Look after me when you deliver,
5 that I may see the good done your chosen ones,
to be glad in the joy of your nation,
to glory together with your inheritance.
6 We have sinned along with our ancestors.[b]
We have committed iniquity; we have incurred guilt.
7 Our ancestors[c] in Egypt did not understand your wonderful works.
They did not remember your many acts of loyal love,
and so they rebelled by the sea at the Red Sea.[d]
8 Yet he saved them for the sake of his name,
to make known his might.
9 So he rebuked the Red Sea,[e] and it dried up,
and he led them through the deep as through a desert.
10 Thus he saved them from the hand of the hater
and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.
11 But waters covered their adversaries;
not one of them survived.
12 Then they believed his words;
they sang his praise.
13 They quickly forgot his works;
they did not wait for his counsel.
14 And they craved intensely[f] in the wilderness,
and tested God in the desert.
15 So he gave to them their request,
but he sent leanness into their souls.[g]
16 And they were jealous of Moses in the camp,
and of Aaron, the holy one of Yahweh.
17 The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan,
and it covered over the gang of Abiram.
18 Also fire burned in their assembly;
the flame devoured the wicked.
19 They made a calf at Horeb
and bowed down to a cast image.
20 And so they exchanged their glory
for an image of an ox that eats grass.
21 They forgot God their Savior,
who had done great things in Egypt,
22 wonders in the land of Ham,
awesome deeds by the Red Sea.[h]
23 So he said he would exterminate them,
had not Moses, his chosen one,
stood in the breach before him,
to reverse his wrath from destroying them.
24 Then they refused the desirable land;
they did not believe his word,
25 but grumbled in their tents.
They did not obey the voice of Yahweh.
26 So he made an oath[i] against them,
to make them drop in the wilderness,
27 and to disperse[j] their descendants[k] among the nations
and to scatter them among the lands.
28 They also attached themselves to Baal of Peor,
and they ate sacrifices offered to the dead.[l]
29 Thus they provoked to anger by their deeds,
and a plague broke out among them.
30 Then Phinehas stood up and intervened,
and so the plague was stopped,
31 and it was reckoned to him as righteousness
throughout all generations.[m]
32 They also angered God at the waters of Meribah,
and it went badly for Moses on account of them,
33 because they rebelled against his Spirit,[n]
and he spoke thoughtlessly with his lips.
34 They did not exterminate the peoples,
as Yahweh had commanded them, [o]
35 but they mingled with the nations
and learned their works,
36 and served their idols,
which became[p] a snare to them.
37 They even sacrificed their sons and daughters
to the demons,
38 and they poured out innocent blood,
the blood of their sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,
and so the land was defiled with the blood.[q]
39 And they became unclean by their works,
and were unfaithful in their deeds.
40 So Yahweh’s anger burned against his people,
and he abhorred his inheritance.
41 Then he gave them into the hand of the nations,
and those who hated them ruled over them.
42 And their enemies oppressed them,
and they were subdued under their hand.
43 Many times he delivered them,
but they rebelled in their counsel,
and were brought low by their iniquity.
44 Yet he looked upon their distress
when he heard their cry.
45 And he remembered his covenant with them,
and relented based on the abundance of his loyal love.
46 And he let them find compassion[r]
before all their captors.
47 Save us, O Yahweh our God,
and gather us from the nations,
so that we may give thanks to your holy name
and boast in your praise.
48 Blessed is Yahweh, the God of Israel,
from everlasting and to everlasting.
And let all the people say, “Amen!”
Praise Yah.[s]
Elimelech Takes His Family to Live in Moab
1 And it happened in the days when the judges ruled,[a] there was a famine in the land, and a man from Bethlehem of Judah went to reside[b] in the countryside of Moab—he and his wife and his two sons. 2 And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephraimites from Bethlehem in Judah. And they went to the countryside of Moab and remained there.
3 But Elimelech the husband of Naomi died and she was left behind with her two sons.[c] 4 And they took[d] for themselves Moabite wives. The name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other was Ruth. And they lived there about ten years. 5 But both[e] Mahlon and Kilion died, and the woman was left without her two sons and without her husband.
Naomi Returns with Ruth
6 And she got up, she and her daughters-in-law, and returned from the countryside of Moab, because she had heard in the countryside of Moab that Yahweh had come to the aid of[f] his people to give food to them. 7 So she set out from the place where she was[g] and her two daughters-in-law with her, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah.
8 But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, each of you return to her mother’s house. May Yahweh show kindness to you[h] just as you did with the dead and with me. 9 May Yahweh grant that you[i] find a resting place, each in the house of her husband.” And she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and cried.
10 And they said to her, “No, we want to return with you to your people.” 11 And Naomi said, “Return, my daughters. Why do you still want to go with me?[j] Are there sons in my womb[k] that may be husbands for you? 12 Turn back, my daughters! Go, for I am too old to have a husband.[l] If I should think there is hope for me, even if I should have a husband this night, and even if I should bear sons, 13 would you therefore wait until they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying?[m] No, my daughters, for it is far more bitter to me than to you. For the hand of Yahweh has gone out against me.” 14 And they lifted up their voices and cried again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her.
Greeting
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the church of God that is in Corinth, together with all the saints who are in all Achaia. 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thanksgiving for God’s Compassion and Comfort
3 Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in all affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, thus through Christ our comfort overflows also. 6 But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort that is at work in the patient endurance of the same sufferings that we also suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we[a] know that as you are sharers in the sufferings, so also you will be sharers in the comfort.
8 For we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning our affliction that happened in the province of Asia,[b] that we were burdened to an extraordinary degree, beyond our strength, so that we were in despair even of living. 9 But we ourselves had the sentence of death in ourselves, so that we would not be putting confidence in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead, 10 who delivered us from so great a risk of death, and will deliver us, in whom we have put our hope that he will also deliver us again, 11 while[c] you also join in helping on our behalf[d] by prayer, so that thanks may be given on our behalf[e] by many persons for this gracious gift given to us through the help of many.
The Sermon on the Mount: The Beatitudes
5 Now when he[a] saw the crowds, he went up the mountain and after he[b] sat down, his disciples approached him. 2 And opening his mouth he began to teach them, saying,
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
because theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are the ones who mourn,
because they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
because they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are the ones who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
because they will be satisfied.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
because they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
because they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
because they will be called sons of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
because theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 Blessed are you
when they insult you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil things against you, lying on account of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you.
2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software