Book of Common Prayer
ק Qoph
145 I cried with my whole heart; hear me, O Lord,
I will keep Your statutes.
146 I cried unto You; deliver me,
and I shall keep Your testimonies.
147 I arose before the dawn of the morning and cried for help;
I hope in Your words.
148 My eyes are awake before the night watches,
that I might meditate on Your word.
149 Hear my voice according to Your lovingkindness, O Lord;
revive me according to Your judgment.
150 They draw close, those who persecute me with evil;
they are far from Your law.
151 But You are near, O Lord,
and all Your commandments are true.
152 I have known of old
that You have established Your testimonies forever.
ר Resh
153 Consider my affliction, and deliver me,
for I do not forget Your law.
154 Plead my cause, and defend me;
revive me according to Your word.
155 Salvation is far from the wicked,
for they do not seek Your statutes.
156 Great are Your compassions, O Lord;
revive me according to Your judgments.
157 Many are my persecutors and my enemies,
yet I do not turn from Your testimonies.
158 I behold the transgressors with disgust,
because they have not kept Your word.
159 Consider how I love Your precepts;
revive me, O Lord, according to Your lovingkindness.
160 Your word is true from the beginning,
and every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.
ש Sin and Shin
161 Princes have persecuted me without a cause,
but my heart stands in awe of Your words.
162 I rejoice at Your word,
as one who finds great plunder.
163 I hate and abhor lying,
but I love Your law.
164 Seven times a day I praise You,
because of Your righteous judgments.
165 Those who love Your law have great peace,
and nothing shall cause them to stumble.
166 Lord, I have hoped for Your deliverance,
and I carry out Your commandments.
167 My soul has kept Your testimonies,
and I love them greatly.
168 I have kept Your precepts and Your testimonies,
for all my ways are before You.
ת Taw
169 Let my cry come near before You, O Lord;
give me understanding according to Your word.
170 Let my supplication come before You;
deliver me according to Your word.
171 My lips shall declare praise,
for You have taught me Your statutes.
172 My tongue shall speak of Your word,
for all Your commandments are right.
173 Let Your hand help me,
for I have chosen Your precepts.
174 I have longed for Your salvation, O Lord,
and Your law is my delight.
175 Let my soul live and praise You,
and let Your judgments come to my aid.
176 I have wandered like a lost sheep;
seek Your servant,
for I do not forget Your commandments.
Psalm 128
A Song of Ascents.
1 Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord,
who walks in His ways.
2 For you shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands;
you will be happy, and it shall be well with you.
3 Your wife shall be as a fruitful vine
in your house,
your children like olive shoots
around your table.
4 Behold, this man shall be blessed
who fears the Lord.
5 The Lord shall bless you from Zion,
and may you see the welfare of Jerusalem
all the days of your life.
6 Indeed, may you see your children’s children.
Peace upon Israel!
Psalm 129
A Song of Ascents.
1 “Often they have afflicted me from my youth,”
may Israel now say,
2 “often they have afflicted me from my youth,
yet they have not prevailed against me.
3 The plowmen plowed upon my back;
they made their furrows long.”
4 The Lord is righteous;
He has cut the cords of the wicked.
5 Let all those be shamed
and turned back who hate Zion.
6 Let them be as the grass on the housetops,
which withers before it even grows,
7 where the reaper is unable to fill his hand,
or he who binds sheaves, his arms.
8 Neither do they who pass by say,
“The blessing of the Lord be upon you;
we bless you in the name of the Lord!”
Psalm 130
A Song of Ascents.
1 From the depths I call on You, O Lord!
2 O Lord, hear my voice;
let Your ears be attentive
to the sound of my supplications.
3 If you, O Lord, should keep track of iniquities,
O Lord, who shall stand?
4 For there is forgiveness with You,
that You may be feared.
5 I wait for the Lord, with bated breath I wait;
I long for His Word!
6 My soul waits for the Lord,
more than watchmen for the morning,
more than watchmen for the morning.
7 Let Israel wait for the Lord!
For mercy is found with the Lord;
with Him is great redemption.
8 He shall redeem Israel
from all their iniquities.
Ruth Meets Boaz
2 Now Naomi had a relative of her husband, a man of prominence and means from the clan of Elimelek. His name was Boaz.
2 Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go into the field and glean among the heads of grain behind anyone in whose eyes I may find favor.”
Naomi said to her, “Go, my daughter.” 3 So she went to glean in the field behind the harvesters. She happened to come to a part of the field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelek.
4 Just then Boaz came from Bethlehem and said to the harvesters, “May the Lord be with you!”
And they said to him, “May the Lord bless you.”
5 Then Boaz said to his servant who was in charge of his harvesters, “Whose young woman is this?”
6 So the servant who was in charge of his harvesters answered, “She is the young Moabitess woman who came back with Naomi from the land of Moab. 7 She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather grain among the bundles behind the harvesters.’ So she came and has remained from morning until now, though she rested a little while in the house.”
8 Then Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen, my daughter. Do not go to glean in another field and leave this one. Stay close to my young women. 9 Keep your eyes on the field in which they reap and follow after them. I have commanded the men not to touch you. When you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink from what the young men have drawn.”
10 So she fell on her face, bowed down to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should acknowledge me, a foreigner?”
11 Boaz answered and said to her, “I have been told all that you have done for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband, and how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to a people you did not know before. 12 May the Lord reward your deeds. May you have a full reward from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”
13 Then she said, “May I find favor in your eyes, my lord, for you have comforted me and have spoken kindly to your servant, though I am not like one of your servant girls.”
23 Moreover I call God as a witness upon my soul, that it is to spare you that I have not yet gone to Corinth. 24 Not that we have dominion over your faith, but we are fellow workers for your joy, for by faith you stand.
2 But I determined this for myself, that I would not come again to you in sorrow. 2 For if I make you sorrowful, who then will there be to make me rejoice, but the one whom I have made sorrowful? 3 I wrote concerning this matter to you, so that when I came, I would not be grieved by those in whom I ought to rejoice, having confidence in you all, that my joy is your joy. 4 For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears, not that you should be grieved, but that you might know the love which I have more abundantly for you.
Forgiveness for the Offender
5 But if anyone has caused grief, he has not grieved me, but to some extent all of you, not to put it too severely. 6 This punishment which was inflicted by many on such a man is sufficient. 7 So on the contrary, you ought to forgive him and comfort him, lest perhaps he might be swallowed up with excessive sorrow. 8 Therefore I ask you to confirm your love toward him. 9 For to this end I also wrote, so that I might know that you are proving yourselves by whether you are being obedient in all things. 10 Whomever you forgive anything, I also forgive. For if I forgave someone anything, for your sakes I forgave it in Christ, 11 lest Satan should take advantage of us. For we are not ignorant of his devices.
Paul’s Anxiety in Troas
12 Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, and a door was opened to me by the Lord, 13 I had no rest in my spirit, because I did not find Titus my brother. So taking my leave of them, I went from there into Macedonia.
14 Now thanks be to God who always causes us to triumph in Christ and through us reveals the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. 15 For we are to God a sweet fragrance of Christ among those who are saved and among those who perish. 16 To the one we are the fragrance of death, which brings death, and to the other the fragrance of life, which brings life. Who is sufficient for these things? 17 For we are not as many are who peddle the word of God. Instead, being sent by God, we sincerely speak in Christ in the sight of God.
Teaching About Anger
21 “You have heard that it was said by the ancients, ‘You shall not murder,’[a] and ‘Whoever murders shall be in danger of the judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ shall be in danger of the Sanhedrin. But whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be in danger of hell fire.
23 “Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go on your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
25 “Reconcile with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, and the judge deliver you to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. 26 Truly I say to you, you will by no means come out of there until you have paid the last penny.[b]
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.