Book of Common Prayer
Childlike Trust in the Lord
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,
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 an oath to the Lord,
a promise to the Mighty God of Jacob.
3 He said, “I will not go home to my house,
or lie down on my bed,
4 or 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 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 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,
a sure promise that he will not take back.
He promised, “I will make one of your descendants
rule as king after you.
12 If your sons 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;
I will fill her poor with food.
16 I will cover her priests with 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 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 who 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 who made heaven and earth.
The Lord Saves, Idols Do Not
135 Praise the Lord!
Praise the name of the Lord;
praise him, you servants of the Lord,
2 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 pleases,
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 people and animals.
9 He did many signs and miracles in Egypt
against 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,
a gift to his people, the Israelites.
13 Lord, your name is everlasting;
Lord, you will be remembered forever.
14 The Lord defends his people
and has mercy on his servants.
15 The idols of other nations are made of silver and gold,
the work of 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 People who make idols will be like them,
and so will those who trust them.
19 Family of Israel, praise the Lord.
Family of Aaron, praise the Lord.
20 Family of Levi, praise the Lord.
You who respect 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 and dip it in our sauce.”
So Ruth sat down beside the workers. Boaz handed her some roasted grain, and she ate until she was full; she even had some food left over. 15 When Ruth rose and went back to work, Boaz commanded his workers, “Let her gather even around the piles of cut grain. Don’t tell her to go away. 16 In fact, drop some full heads of grain for her from what you have in your hands, and let her gather them. Don’t tell her to stop.”
17 So Ruth gathered grain in the field until evening. Then she separated the grain from the chaff, and there was about one-half bushel of barley. 18 Ruth carried the grain into town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gathered. Ruth also took out the food that was left over from lunch and gave it to Naomi.
19 Naomi asked her, “Where did you gather all this grain today? Where did you work? Blessed be whoever noticed you!”
Ruth told her mother-in-law 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! He continues to be kind to us—both the living and the dead!” Then Naomi told Ruth, “Boaz is one of our close relatives,[a] one who should take care of us.”
21 Then Ruth, the Moabite, said, “Boaz also told me, ‘Keep close to my workers until they have finished my whole harvest.’”
22 But Naomi said to her daughter-in-law Ruth, “It is better for you to continue working with his women workers. If you work in another field, someone might hurt you.” 23 So Ruth continued working closely with the workers of Boaz, gathering grain until the barley harvest and the wheat harvest were finished. And she 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, known and read by everyone. 3 You show that you are a letter from Christ 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] but on human hearts.
4 We can say this, because through Christ we feel certain before God. 5 We are not saying that we can do this work ourselves. It is God who makes us able to do all that we do. 6 He made us able to be servants of a new agreement from himself to his people. This new agreement is not a written law, but 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, which made Moses’ face so bright that the Israelites could not continue to look at it. But that glory later disappeared. 8 So surely the new way that brings the Spirit has even more glory. 9 If the law that judged people guilty of sin had glory, 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 bold. 13 We are not like Moses, who put a covering over his face so the Israelites would not see it. The glory was disappearing, and Moses did not want them to see it end. 14 But their minds were closed, and even today that same covering hides the meaning when they read the old agreement. That covering is taken away only through Christ. 15 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 ever greater glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
Jesus Teaches About Sexual Sin
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 and wants to sin sexually with her, in his mind he has already done that sin with the woman. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, 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, 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 forces her to be guilty of adultery. The only reason for a man to divorce his wife is if she has sexual relations with another man. 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, ‘Don’t break your promises, but keep the promises you make to the Lord.’[c] 34 But I tell you, never swear an oath. Don’t swear an oath using the name of heaven, because heaven is God’s throne. 35 Don’t swear an oath using the name of the earth, because the earth belongs to God. Don’t swear an oath using the name of Jerusalem, because that is the city of the great King. 36 Don’t even swear by your own head, because you cannot make one hair on your head become white or black. 37 Say only yes if you mean yes, and no if you mean no. If you say more than yes or no, it is from the Evil One.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.