Book of Common Prayer

A song to sing as we climb.

David wrote this song.

A song to sing as we climb.

The house of God

A song to sing as we climb.

David wrote this song.

A song to sing as we climb.

A song at night

A song to praise God

¹⁴ When it was time to eat a meal, Boaz said to Ruth, ‘Come here and eat with us. Take some bread and mix it with the wine.’ So Ruth sat down to eat with the workers. Boaz gave her some grain that someone had cooked. She ate all that she wanted, and she still had some with her.

¹⁵ After the meal, Ruth returned to work in the field. Boaz said to his workers, ‘Let her pick up grains anywhere, even near the heaps of barley that you have cut down. Do not chase her away. ¹⁶ You should also pull out some barley and drop it for her to pick up. Do not be angry with her.’

¹⁷ Ruth picked up grains in Boaz's field until evening. Then she hit the grains with a stick so that the seeds came out. The grains of barley that she took home filled a large basket.^[a]

¹⁸ She carried the barley back to Naomi's home in the town. Naomi saw how much Ruth had picked up. Ruth also took the grains that she did not eat at the meal and she gave them to Naomi.

¹⁹ Naomi asked Ruth, ‘Where did you work today, to pick up all this barley? I want God to bless the man who was so kind to you.’ So Ruth told Naomi about the man whose field she had worked in. She said, ‘The man that I worked with today is called Boaz.’

²⁰ Naomi said to Ruth, ‘He has been kind to us! He has thought about our husbands who have died and he has helped us who are still alive. I pray that the Lord will bless him in return. That man is our relative. He is one of our family-redeemers.’^[b]

²¹ Then Ruth said, ‘Boaz even said to me, “Stay with my workers until they have finished the work in my fields.” ’

²² Naomi said to Ruth, ‘Yes, my daughter, it will be good for you to work beside the young women in his fields. You will be safe there, but the workers in another field might hurt you.’

²³ So Ruth worked beside Boaz's women workers until they finished the harvest of barley and wheat. She continued to live with Naomi.

God's Holy Spirit gives us new life

3 We do not need any more to show that our work is good. Some people need to have letters from other people to say that they do good work. We do not need to show you letters like that. Nor do we need you to write a letter like that for us. ² You yourselves show that we have done good work. You are like a letter that is written on our lives. Everybody can read that letter and they can understand it. ³ It is clear that you are a like a letter that Christ himself has written. We are the people who brought God's message to you. Now people see what God has done in your lives. That is like a letter that they read. But it is not a letter written on paper with ink. It is the Spirit of the living God who wrote it. He did not write it on pieces of stone. Instead, he wrote it deep inside you.^[a]

⁴ We know that these things are true. Because of what Christ has done, we trust God to help us. ⁵ We know that we cannot do this work by ourselves. We never think that. But God makes us able to do it. ⁶ God has made us his servants. So we are able to tell people the message of his new agreement. This new agreement is not about rules. Rules tell people what they must do and they bring death. But God's new agreement comes from his Spirit. And the Spirit brings new life to us, not death.^[b]

⁷ Moses wrote the words of the old agreement on pieces of stone. It showed how great and powerful God was. Moses' face shone brightly after God spoke to him. It did not stay bright, but the Israelite people still could not look at Moses' face. The old agreement that brought death was powerful. ⁸ So the new agreement, which comes from God's Spirit, will show the power of God even more. ⁹ The old agreement showed people that they were guilty. God's new agreement makes people right with him. So surely the new agreement shows God's power even more than the old one did!

¹⁰ The old agreement was great and powerful at one time. But now God's new agreement has come in its place. The great power of the new agreement shows that the old agreement is no longer powerful. ¹¹ The old agreement was powerful, but it came to an end. God's new agreement will continue always. So it surely shows the power of God even more!

¹² So, because we know all this, we speak God's message bravely. ¹³ We are not like Moses. His face did not continue to be bright with the light from God. So he covered his face with a cloth. He did not want the Israelite people to see that the light was coming to an end. ¹⁴ But those Israelite people could not think properly. Even today, they still do not understand the message of God's old agreement. When they read it, they are like people who have a cloth that covers their minds. It continues like that unless they believe in Christ. Then Christ removes the cloth so that they understand. ¹⁵ Even today, when the Israelite people read Moses' books, a cloth still covers their minds. ¹⁶ But when a person turns to trust the Lord, then God takes the cloth away.^[c]

¹⁷ The Lord is the same as the Spirit. And when the Lord's Spirit is with anyone, that person is free. ¹⁸ We show the power of the Lord to other people. It is like God has removed a cloth from over our faces. He is changing us so that we become more and more like him. We show how great God is more and more clearly. It is the Lord who does all this, by the work of his Spirit.

Jesus teaches people about bad thoughts

²⁷ Jesus then said, ‘You know what God's rule says: “You must not have sex with anyone who is not your husband or your wife.” ²⁸ But what I tell you is this: A man may look at a woman who is not his wife. And he may want to have sex with her. In his thoughts, he has had sex with her, so he has done a wrong thing. ²⁹ If your right eye leads you to do wrong things, then you should take it out. You should throw it away. Yes, you will lose one eye. But it will be much worse if you keep your whole body and God throws you into hell. ³⁰ Also, if your right hand leads you to do wrong things, then you should cut it off. You should throw it away. You will lose one hand. But it will be much worse if you keep your body in one piece and go to hell.’^[a]

Jesus talks about when a man sends his wife away

³¹ ‘God's Law also says: “Any man who wants to send his wife away must give her a letter. This letter must say that they are no longer married.” ³² But what I tell you is this: A man must not send his wife away except for one reason. He may only send her away if she has had sex with another man. If he sends her away for any other reason, he has done a wrong thing. It is like he has caused her to have sex with another man. Also, if a woman has left her husband, another man must not marry her. That is the same as if he had sex with another man's wife.’

Jesus teaches people about promises to God

³³ ‘You also know the rule that God gave to your ancestors: “If you make a promise to God, you must do what you have said.” ³⁴ But what I tell you is this. Do not use any name to make a promise stronger. Do not use the words “by heaven” to make a promise stronger. Heaven is the place where God rules. Do not use the words “by the earth” to make a promise stronger. The earth is the place where God rests his feet. ³⁵ Do not use the words “by Jerusalem” to make a promise stronger. Jerusalem is God's city. He is the great King who rules from there. ³⁶ Do not use the words “by my head” to make a promise. You cannot make the colour of even one of your hairs black or white. ³⁷ Instead, when you make a promise, you should say only “Yes, I will do it.” Or you should say only “No, I will not do it.” If you say anything more than this, what you say is bad.^[b] It comes from Satan.’