Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 106[a]
Israel’s Confession of Sin
1 Hallelujah!
A
Give thanks to the Lord, who is good,
whose mercy endures forever.(A)
2 Who can recount the mighty deeds of the Lord,
proclaim in full God’s praise?
3 Blessed those who do what is right,
whose deeds are always just.(B)
4 Remember me, Lord, as you favor your people;
come to me with your saving help,(C)
5 That I may see the prosperity of your chosen ones,
rejoice in the joy of your people,
and glory with your heritage.
B
6 We have sinned like our ancestors;(D)
we have done wrong and are guilty.
I
7 Our ancestors in Egypt
did not attend to your wonders.
They did not remember your manifold mercy;
they defied the Most High at the Red Sea.
8 Yet he saved them for his name’s sake
to make his power known.(E)
9 He roared at the Red Sea and it dried up.
He led them through the deep as through a desert.(F)
10 He rescued them from hostile hands,
freed them from the power of the enemy.
11 The waters covered their oppressors;
not one of them survived.
12 Then they believed his words
and sang his praise.(G)
II
13 But they soon forgot all he had done;
they had no patience for his plan.
14 In the desert they gave in to their cravings,
tempted God in the wasteland.(H)
15 So he gave them what they asked
and sent a wasting disease against them.(I)
III
16 In the camp they challenged Moses(J)
and Aaron, the holy one of the Lord.
17 The earth opened and swallowed Dathan,
it closed on the followers of Abiram.
18 Against their company the fire blazed;
flames consumed the wicked.
IV
19 At Horeb they fashioned a calf,(K)
worshiped a metal statue.
20 They exchanged their glory[b]
for the image of a grass-eating bull.
21 They forgot the God who had saved them,
who had done great deeds in Egypt,(L)
22 Amazing deeds in the land of Ham,
fearsome deeds at the Red Sea.
23 He would have decreed their destruction,
had not Moses, his chosen one,
Withstood him in the breach[c]
to turn back his destroying anger.(M)
V
24 Next they despised the beautiful land;(N)
they did not believe the promise.
25 In their tents they complained;
they did not heed the voice of the Lord.
26 So with raised hand he swore
he would destroy them in the desert,
27 And scatter their descendants among the nations,
disperse them in foreign lands.
VI
28 They joined in the rites of Baal of Peor,(O)
ate food sacrificed to the dead.
29 They provoked him by their actions,
and a plague broke out among them.
30 Then Phinehas rose to intervene,
and the plague was brought to a halt.
31 This was counted for him as a righteous deed
for all generations to come.
VII
32 At the waters of Meribah they angered God,(P)
and Moses suffered because of them.[d]
33 They so embittered his spirit
that rash words crossed his lips.
VIII
34 They did not destroy the peoples
as the Lord had commanded them,(Q)
35 But mingled with the nations
and imitated their ways.(R)
36 They served their idols
and were ensnared by them.(S)
37 They sacrificed to demons[e]
their own sons and daughters,
38 Shedding innocent blood,
the blood of their own sons and daughters,
Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,
desecrating the land with bloodshed.
39 They defiled themselves by their actions,
became adulterers by their conduct.
40 So the Lord grew angry with his people,
abhorred his own heritage.
41 He handed them over to the nations,
and their adversaries ruled over them.(T)
42 Their enemies oppressed them,
kept them under subjection.
43 Many times did he rescue them,
but they kept rebelling and scheming
and were brought low by their own guilt.(U)
44 Still God had regard for their affliction
when he heard their wailing.
45 For their sake he remembered his covenant
and relented in his abundant mercy,(V)
46 Winning for them compassion
from all who held them captive.
C
Chapter 1
Naomi in Moab. 1 Once back in the time of the judges[a] there was a famine in the land; so a man from Bethlehem of Judah left home with his wife and two sons to reside on the plateau of Moab. 2 The man was named Elimelech, his wife Naomi, and his sons Mahlon and Chilion; they were Ephrathites from Bethlehem of Judah. Some time after their arrival on the plateau of Moab, 3 Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 They married Moabite women, one named Orpah, the other Ruth. When they had lived there about ten years, 5 both Mahlon and Chilion died also, and the woman was left with neither her two boys[b] nor her husband.
6 She and her daughters-in-law then prepared to go back from the plateau of Moab because word had reached her there that the Lord had seen to his people’s needs[c] and given them food. 7 She and her two daughters-in-law left the place where they had been living. On the road back to the land of Judah, 8 Naomi said to her daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you to your mother’s house.[d] May the Lord show you the same kindness as you have shown to the deceased and to me. 9 (A)May the Lord guide each of you to find a husband and a home in which you will be at rest.” She kissed them good-bye, but they wept aloud, 10 crying, “No! We will go back with you, to your people.” 11 Naomi replied, “Go back, my daughters. Why come with me? Have I other sons in my womb who could become your husbands?[e] 12 Go, my daughters, for I am too old to marry again. Even if I had any such hope, or if tonight I had a husband and were to bear sons, 13 would you wait for them and deprive yourselves of husbands until those sons grew up? No, my daughters, my lot is too bitter for you, because the Lord has extended his hand against me.” 14 Again they wept aloud; then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-bye, but Ruth clung to her.
I. Address
Chapter 1
Greeting. 1 [a]Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the church of God that is in Corinth, with all the holy ones throughout Achaia:(A) 2 grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thanksgiving. 3 (B)Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and God of all encouragement,[b] 4 who encourages us in our every affliction, so that we may be able to encourage those who are in any affliction with the encouragement with which we ourselves are encouraged by God.(C) 5 For as Christ’s sufferings overflow to us, so through Christ[c] does our encouragement also overflow. 6 If we are afflicted, it is for your encouragement and salvation; if we are encouraged, it is for your encouragement, which enables you to endure the same sufferings that we suffer. 7 Our hope for you is firm, for we know that as you share in the sufferings, you also share in the encouragement.[d]
8 We do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction that came to us in the province of Asia;[e] we were utterly weighed down beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life.(D) 9 Indeed, we had accepted within ourselves the sentence of death,[f] that we might trust not in ourselves but in God who raises the dead.(E) 10 He rescued us from such great danger of death, and he will continue to rescue us; in him we have put our hope [that] he will also rescue us again,(F) 11 as you help us with prayer, so that thanks may be given by many on our behalf for the gift granted us through the prayers of many.(G)
Chapter 5
The Sermon on the Mount. 1 [a]When he saw the crowds,[b] he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 He began to teach them, saying:
The Beatitudes[c]
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,[d]
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.(A)
4 [e]Blessed are they who mourn,(B)
for they will be comforted.
5 [f]Blessed are the meek,(C)
for they will inherit the land.
6 Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,[g]
for they will be satisfied.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.(D)
8 [h]Blessed are the clean of heart,(E)
for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,[i]
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.(F)
11 Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you [falsely] because of me.(G) 12 [j]Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.(H) Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
The Similes of Salt and Light.[k]
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