Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 131
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
1 Lord, my heart is not haughty,
my eyes are not raised too high.
I have not striven for enormities,
for things too wonderful for me.
2 I composed and quieted my desire,
like a child given suck by his mother;
like a child who sucks is my desire within me.
3 Let Israel hope in the Lord
from now and forever.
Psalm 132(A)
A Song of Ascents.
1 O Lord, remember David
and all his afflictions,
2 how he swore unto the Lord,
and vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob:
3 “I will not come into my house,
nor go up to my bed;
4 I will not give sleep to my eyes,
or slumber to my eyelids,
5 until I find a place for the Lord,
a dwelling for the mighty God of Jacob.”
6 We heard of it in Ephrathah;
we found it in the fields of Jaar.
7 “We will go to His dwelling place,
we will worship at His footstool.”
8 Arise, O Lord, go to Your resting place,
You and the ark of Your strength.
9 Let Your priests be clothed with righteousness,
and let Your godly ones shout for joy.
10 For Your servant David’s sake,
do not turn away Your anointed king.
11 The Lord has sworn with a sure oath to David
that He will not turn from it:
“From the fruit of your body
I will set a son on your throne.
12 If your children will keep My covenant
and My testimonies that I shall teach them,
then their children shall also sit
upon your throne forever.”
13 For the Lord has chosen Zion;
He has desired it for His dwelling:
14 “This is My resting place forever;
here I will dwell, for I have chosen it.
15 I will abundantly bless her provisions;
I will satisfy her poor with bread.
16 I will also clothe her priests with salvation,
and her godly ones shall shout for joy.
17 “There I will make a horn sprout for David;
I have prepared a lamp for My anointed one.
18 His enemies I will clothe with shame,
but on him his crown will shine.”
Psalm 133
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
for brothers to dwell together in unity!
2 It is like precious oil upon the head,
that runs down on the beard—
even Aaron’s beard—
and going down to the collar of his garments;
3 as the dew of Hermon,
that descends upon the mountains of Zion,
for there the Lord has commanded the blessing,
even life forever.
Psalm 134
A Song of Ascents.
1 Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord,
who by night stand in the house of the Lord.
2 Lift up your hands in the sanctuary,
and bless the Lord.
3 May the Lord who made heaven and earth
bless you from Zion.
Psalm 135(B)
1 Praise the Lord!
Praise the name of the Lord
praise Him, O servants of the Lord,
2 you who stand in the house of the Lord,
in the courts of the house of our God!
3 Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good;
sing praises unto His name, for it is pleasant.
4 For the Lord has chosen Jacob for Himself,
and Israel for His special possession.
5 For I know that the Lord is great,
and that our Lord is above all gods.
6 Whatever the Lord pleases,
He does in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and all the depths.
7 He causes the clouds to ascend from the ends of the earth;
He makes lightning for the rain;
He brings the wind out from His storehouses.
8 He struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
both of man and animal.
9 He sent signs and wonders into your midst, O Egypt,
against Pharaoh and all his servants;
10 He struck down great nations
and slew mighty kings—
11 Sihon, king of the Amorites,
and Og king of Bashan,
and all the kingdoms of Canaan—
12 and gave their land for an inheritance,
a possession to Israel His people.
13 Your name, O Lord, endures forever;
and Your renown, O Lord, throughout all generations.
14 For the Lord will defend His people,
and He will have compassion on His servants.
15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
the work of men’s hands.
16 They have mouths, but do not speak;
they have eyes, but do not see;
17 they have ears, but do not hear;
neither is there any breath in their mouths.
18 Those who make them are like them;
so is everyone who trusts in them.
19 Bless the Lord, O house of Israel;
bless the Lord, O house of Aaron.
20 Bless the Lord, O house of Levi;
you who fear the Lord, bless the Lord.
21 Blessed be the Lord from Zion,
who dwells at Jerusalem.
Praise you the Lord!
14 At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come over here, and eat some bread, and dip your piece in the vinegar.”
So she sat down beside the harvesters, and he passed her some roasted grain. She ate and was full and had some left over. 15 When she got up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, “Let her glean even among the bundles, and do not harm her. 16 Also pull out some grain for her from the bundles and leave it so that she may glean it, and do not rebuke her.”
17 So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah[a] of barley. 18 She took it up and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. She drew it out and gave her what she had left, after she had been satisfied.
19 Her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean today, and where did you work? May he who took notice of you be blessed.”
So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and said, “The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.”
20 Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed of the Lord who has not withdrawn His kindness to the living and to the dead.” Naomi said to her, “This man is a close relative of ours, one of our redeeming relatives.”
21 Then Ruth the Moabitess said, “He even told me, ‘You should stay close to my servants until they have finished all my harvest.’ ”
22 Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It is better, my daughter, that you go with his young women, for in someone else’s field you might be harmed.”
23 So she stayed close to the young women of Boaz to glean until the end of barley harvest and wheat harvest. And she lived with her mother-in-law.
Ministers of the New Covenant
3 Do we begin again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as some others, letters of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you? 2 You are our letter written in our hearts, known and read by all men. 3 For you are prominently declared to be the letter of Christ, prepared by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on human tablets of the heart.
4 We have such trust through Christ toward God, 5 not that we are sufficient in ourselves to take credit for anything of ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who has made us able ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
7 If the ministry that brought death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, the glory which was to fade away, 8 how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? 9 For if the ministry of condemnation is glorious, the ministry of righteousness much more exceeds it in glory. 10 Even that which was made glorious had no glory in comparison to the glory that excels. 11 For if that which fades was glorious, that which remains is much more glorious.
12 Seeing then that we have such hope, we speak with great boldness, 13 not as Moses, who put a veil over his face, so that the children of Israel could not look intently at the end of what was fading away. 14 Instead, their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the old covenant, the veil which was done away with in Christ. 15 But even to this day, when Moses is read, the veil is in their hearts. 16 Nevertheless when anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit. And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18 But we all, seeing the glory of the Lord with unveiled faces, as in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory by the Spirit of the Lord.
Teaching About Adultery
27 “You have heard that it was said by the ancients, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’[a] 28 But I say to you that whoever looks on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart. 29 And if your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away. For it is profitable that one of your members should perish, and not that your whole body be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is profitable for you that one of your members should perish, and not that your whole body be thrown into hell.
Teaching About Divorce(A)
31 “It was said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’[b] 32 But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to commit adultery. And whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.
Teaching About Oaths
33 “Again, you have heard that it was said by the ancients, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall fulfill your oaths to the Lord.’[c] 34 But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; 35 nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 But let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these comes from the evil one.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.