Book of Common Prayer
Childlike Trust in God
A song for going up to worship. Of David.
131 Lord, my heart is not proud.
I don’t look down on others.
I don’t do great things,
and I can’t do miracles.
2 But I am calm and quiet.
I am like a baby with its mother.
I am at peace, like a baby with its mother.
3 People of Israel, put your hope in the Lord
now and forever.
In Praise of the Temple
A song for going up to worship.
132 Lord, remember David and all his suffering.
2 He made a promise to the Lord.
He made a promise to the Mighty God of Jacob.
3 He said, “I will not go home to my house.
I will not lie down on my bed.
4 I will not close my eyes
or let myself sleep
5 until I find a place for the Lord.
I want to provide a home for the Mighty God of Jacob.”
6 We heard about the Ark of the Covenant in Bethlehem.
We found it at Kiriath Jearim.
7 Let’s go to the Lord’s house.
Let’s worship at his footstool.
8 Rise, Lord, and come to your resting place.
Come with the Ark of the Covenant that shows your strength.
9 May your priests do what is right.
May your people sing for joy.
10 For the sake of your servant David,
do not reject your appointed king.
11 The Lord made a promise to David.
It was a sure promise that he will not take back.
He promised, “I will make one of your descendants
rule as king after you.
12 But your sons must keep my agreement
and the rules that I teach them.
Then their sons after them will rule
on your throne forever and ever.”
13 The Lord has chosen Jerusalem.
He wants it for his home.
14 He says, “This is my resting place forever.
Here is where I want to stay.
15 I will bless her with plenty of food.
I will fill her poor with food.
16 I will let her priests receive salvation.
And those who worship me will really sing for joy.
17 “I will make a king come from the family of David.
I will provide my appointed one descendants to rule after him.
18 I will cover his enemies with shame.
But his crown will shine.”
The Love of God’s People
A song for going up to worship. Of David.
133 It is good and pleasant
when God’s people live together in peace!
2 It is like having perfumed oil poured on the priest’s head
and running down his beard.
It ran down Aaron’s beard
and on to the collar of his robes.
3 It is like the dew of Mount Hermon
falling on the hills of Jerusalem.
There the Lord gives his blessing
of life forever.
Temple Guards, Praise the Lord
A song for going up to worship.
134 Praise the Lord, all you servants of the Lord.
You serve at night in the Temple of the Lord.
2 Raise your hands in the Temple
and praise the Lord.
3 May the Lord bless you from Mount Zion.
He made heaven and earth.
God Saves, Idols Do Not
135 Praise the Lord!
Praise the name of the Lord.
Praise him, you servants of the Lord.
2 Praise him, you who stand in the Lord’s Temple
and in the Temple courtyards.
3 Praise the Lord, because he is good.
Sing praises to him, because it is pleasant.
4 The Lord has chosen the people of Jacob for himself.
He has chosen the people of Israel for his very own.
5 I know that the Lord is great.
Our Lord is greater than all the gods.
6 The Lord does what he wants,
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and the deep oceans.
7 He brings the clouds from the ends of the earth.
He sends the lightning with the rain.
He brings out the wind from his storehouses.
8 He destroyed the firstborn sons in Egypt,
the firstborn of both men and animals.
9 He did many signs and miracles in Egypt.
He did amazing things to the king and his servants.
10 He defeated many nations
and killed powerful kings:
11 Sihon king of the Amorites,
Og king of Bashan
and all the kings of Canaan.
12 Then he gave their land as a gift.
It was a gift to his people, the Israelites.
13 Lord, your name is everlasting.
Lord, you will be remembered from now on.
14 You defend your people.
You have mercy on your servants.
15 The idols of other nations are made of silver and gold.
They are made by human hands.
16 They have mouths, but they cannot speak.
They have eyes, but they cannot see.
17 They have ears, but they cannot hear.
They have no breath in their mouths.
18 The people who make idols and trust them
are all like them.
19 Family of Israel, praise the Lord.
Family of Aaron, praise the Lord.
20 Family of Levi, praise the Lord.
You people who fear the Lord should praise him.
21 You people of Jerusalem, praise the Lord on Mount Zion.
Praise the Lord!
14 At mealtime Boaz told Ruth, “Come here! Eat some of our bread. Here, dip your bread in our vinegar.”
So Ruth sat down with the workers. Boaz gave her some roasted grain. Ruth ate until she was full, and there was some food left over. 15 Ruth rose and went back to work. Then Boaz told his servants, “Let her gather even around the bundles of grain. Don’t tell her to go away. 16 Drop some full heads of grain for her. Let her gather that grain, and don’t tell her to stop.”
17 So Ruth gathered grain in the field until evening. Then she separated the grain from the chaff. There was about one-half bushel of barley. 18 Ruth carried the grain into town. And her mother-in-law saw what she had gathered. Ruth also gave her the food that was left over from lunch.
19 Naomi asked her, “Where did you gather all this grain today? Where did you work? Blessed be the man who noticed you!”
Ruth told her about whose field she had worked in. She said, “The man I worked with today is named Boaz.”
20 Naomi told her daughter-in-law, “The Lord bless him! The Lord still continues to be kind to all people—the living and the dead!” Then Naomi told Ruth, “Boaz is one of our close relatives,[a] one who will take care of us.”
21 Then Ruth said, “Boaz also told me to come back and continue working. He said, ‘Keep close by my servants until they have finished the harvest.’”
22 Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law Ruth, “It is good for you to continue working with his women servants. If you work in another field, someone might hurt you.” 23 So Ruth continued working closely with the women servants of Boaz. She gathered grain until the barley harvest was finished. She also worked there through the end of the wheat harvest. And Ruth continued to live with Naomi, her mother-in-law.
Servants of the New Agreement
3 Are we starting to brag about ourselves again? Do we need letters of introduction to you or from you, like some other people? 2 You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts. It is known and read by everyone. 3 You show that you are a letter from Christ that he sent through us. This letter is not written with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is not written on stone tablets.[a] It is written on human hearts.
4 We can say this, because through Christ we feel sure before God. 5 I do not mean that we are able to say that we can do this work ourselves. It is God who makes us able to do all that we do. 6 God made us able to be servants of a new agreement from himself to his people. This new agreement is not a written law. It is of the Spirit. The written law brings death, but the Spirit gives life.
7 The law that brought death was written in words on stone. It came with God’s glory. Moses’ face was so bright with glory that the people of Israel could not continue to look at his face. And that glory later disappeared. 8 So surely the new way that brings the Spirit has even more glory. 9 That law judged people guilty of sin, but it had glory. So surely the new way that makes people right with God has much greater glory. 10 That old law had glory. But it really loses its glory when it is compared to the much greater glory of this new way. 11 If that law which disappeared came with glory, then this new way which continues forever has much greater glory.
12 We have this hope, so we are very brave. 13 We are not like Moses. He put a covering over his face so that the people of Israel would not see it. The glory was disappearing, and Moses did not want them to see it end. 14 But their minds were closed. Even today that same covering hides the meaning when they read the old agreement. That covering is taken away only through Christ. 15 But even today, when they read the law of Moses, there is a covering over their minds. 16 But when a person changes and follows the Lord, that covering is taken away. 17 The Lord is the Spirit. And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 Our faces, then, are not covered. We all show the Lord’s glory, and we are being changed to be like him. This change in us brings more and more glory. And it comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
Jesus Teaches About Adultery
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You must not be guilty of adultery.’[a] 28 But I tell you that if anyone looks at a woman with lust, he has already committed adultery with her in his mind. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, then take it out and throw it away. It is better to lose one part of your body than to have your whole body thrown into hell. 30 If your right hand causes you to sin, then cut it off and throw it away. It is better to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.
Jesus Teaches About Divorce
31 “It was also said, ‘Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a written divorce paper.’[b] 32 But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife is causing his wife to be guilty of adultery. The only reason for a man to divorce his wife is if she has been unfaithful to him. And anyone who marries that divorced woman is guilty of adultery.
Make Promises Carefully
33 “You have heard that it was said to our people long ago, ‘When you make a promise, don’t break your promise. Keep the promises that you make to the Lord.’[c] 34 But I tell you, never make an oath. Don’t make an oath using the name of heaven, because heaven is God’s throne. 35 Don’t make an oath using the name of the earth, because the earth belongs to God. Don’t make an oath using the name of Jerusalem, because that is the city of the great King. 36 And don’t even say that your own head is proof that you will keep your oath. You cannot make one hair on your head become white or black. 37 Say only ‘yes’ if you mean ‘yes,’ and say only ‘no’ if you mean ‘no.’ If you must say more than ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ it is from the Evil One.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.