Book of Common Prayer
Give Thanks to the Lord, for He Is Good
106 (A)Praise the Lord!
(B)Oh give thanks to the Lord, (C)for he is good,
(D)for his steadfast love endures forever!
2 Who can utter the mighty deeds of the Lord,
or declare all his praise?
3 Blessed are they who observe justice,
who (E)do righteousness at all times!
4 (F)Remember me, O Lord, when you show favor to your people;
help me when you save them,[a]
5 that I may look upon the prosperity of your (G)chosen ones,
that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation,
that I may glory with your inheritance.
6 (H)Both we and (I)our fathers have sinned;
we have committed iniquity; we have done wickedness.
7 Our fathers, when they were in Egypt,
did not consider your wondrous works;
they (J)did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love,
but (K)rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.
8 Yet he saved them (L)for his name's sake,
(M)that he might make known his mighty power.
9 He (N)rebuked the Red Sea, and it (O)became dry,
and he (P)led them through the deep as through a desert.
10 So he (Q)saved them from the hand of the foe
and (R)redeemed them from the power of the enemy.
11 And (S)the waters covered their adversaries;
not one of them was left.
12 Then (T)they believed his words;
they (U)sang his praise.
13 But they soon (V)forgot his works;
they did not wait for (W)his counsel.
14 But they had (X)a wanton craving in the wilderness,
and (Y)put God to the test in the desert;
15 he (Z)gave them what they asked,
but sent (AA)a wasting disease among them.
16 When men in the camp (AB)were jealous of Moses
and Aaron, (AC)the holy one of the Lord,
17 (AD)the earth opened and swallowed up Dathan,
and covered the company of Abiram.
18 (AE)Fire also broke out in their company;
the flame burned up the wicked.
19 They (AF)made a calf in Horeb
and worshiped a metal image.
20 They (AG)exchanged the glory of God[b]
for the image of an ox that eats grass.
21 They (AH)forgot God, their Savior,
who had done great things in Egypt,
22 wondrous works in (AI)the land of Ham,
and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.
23 Therefore (AJ)he said he would destroy them—
had not Moses, his (AK)chosen one,
(AL)stood in the breach before him,
to turn away his wrath from destroying them.
24 Then they (AM)despised (AN)the pleasant land,
having (AO)no faith in his promise.
25 They (AP)murmured in their tents,
and did not obey the voice of the Lord.
26 Therefore he (AQ)raised his hand and swore to them
that he would make them fall in the wilderness,
27 and would make their offspring fall among the nations,
(AR)scattering them among the lands.
28 Then they (AS)yoked themselves to the (AT)Baal of Peor,
and ate sacrifices offered to (AU)the dead;
29 they provoked the Lord to anger with their deeds,
and a plague broke out among them.
30 Then (AV)Phinehas stood up and intervened,
and the plague was stayed.
31 And that was (AW)counted to him as righteousness
from generation to generation forever.
32 They (AX)angered him at the waters of Meribah,
and it went ill with Moses on their account,
33 for they (AY)made his spirit bitter,[c]
and he (AZ)spoke rashly with his lips.
34 They did not (BA)destroy the peoples,
(BB)as the Lord commanded them,
35 but they (BC)mixed with the nations
and learned to do as they did.
36 They served their idols,
which became (BD)a snare to them.
37 They (BE)sacrificed their sons
and their daughters to (BF)the demons;
38 they poured out innocent blood,
the blood of their sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,
and the land was (BG)polluted with blood.
39 Thus they (BH)became unclean by their acts,
and (BI)played the whore in their deeds.
40 Then (BJ)the anger of the Lord was kindled against (BK)his people,
and he abhorred his (BL)heritage;
41 he (BM)gave them into the hand of the nations,
so that those who hated them ruled over them.
42 Their enemies (BN)oppressed them,
and they were brought into subjection under their power.
43 (BO)Many times he delivered them,
but they were rebellious in their (BP)purposes
and were (BQ)brought low through their iniquity.
44 Nevertheless, he looked upon their distress,
when he (BR)heard their cry.
45 For their sake he (BS)remembered his covenant,
and (BT)relented according to (BU)the abundance of his steadfast love.
46 He caused them to be (BV)pitied
by all those who held them captive.
Naomi Widowed
1 In the days (A)when the judges ruled there was (B)a famine in the land, and a man of (C)Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. 2 The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were (D)Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They went into the country of Moab and remained there. 3 But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 These took Moabite wives; the name of the one was Orpah and the name of the other Ruth. They lived there about ten years, 5 and both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband.
Ruth's Loyalty to Naomi
6 Then she arose with her daughters-in-law to return from the country of Moab, for she had heard in the fields of Moab that (E)the Lord had visited his people and (F)given them food. 7 So she set out from the place where she was with her two daughters-in-law, and they went on the way to return to the land of Judah. 8 But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother's house. May the Lord (G)deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with (H)the dead and with me. 9 The Lord grant that you may find (I)rest, each of you in the house of her husband!” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept. 10 And they said to her, “No, we will return with you to your people.” 11 But Naomi said, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb (J)that they may become your husbands? 12 Turn back, my daughters; go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons, 13 would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that (K)the hand of the Lord has gone out against me.” 14 Then they lifted up their voices and wept again. And Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.
Greeting
1 Paul, (A)an apostle of Christ Jesus (B)by the will of God, and (C)Timothy our brother,
To the church of God that is at Corinth, (D)with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia:
2 (E)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
God of All Comfort
3 (F)Blessed be the (G)God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and (H)God of all comfort, 4 (I)who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as we share abundantly in (J)Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.[a] 6 (K)If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. 7 Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you (L)share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.
8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers,[b] of (M)the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us (N)rely not on ourselves (O)but on God (P)who raises the dead. 10 (Q)He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. (R)On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. 11 (S)You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf (T)for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.
The Sermon on the Mount
5 Seeing the crowds, (A)he went up on the mountain, and when he (B)sat down, his disciples came to him.
The Beatitudes
2 And (C)he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
3 (D)“Blessed are (E)the poor in spirit, for (F)theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 “Blessed are (G)those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5 “Blessed are the (H)meek, for they (I)shall inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and (J)thirst (K)for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
7 “Blessed are (L)the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
8 “Blessed are (M)the pure in heart, for (N)they shall see God.
9 “Blessed are (O)the peacemakers, for (P)they shall be called (Q)sons[a] of God.
10 (R)“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for (S)theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 (T)“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely (U)on my account. 12 (V)Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for (W)so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.