Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 131
A song by David for going up to worship.
1 O Yahweh, my heart is not conceited.
My eyes do not look down on others.
I am not involved in things too big or too difficult for me.
2 Instead, I have kept my soul calm and quiet.
My soul is content as a weaned child is content in its mother’s arms.
3 Israel, put your hope in Yahweh now and forever.
Psalm 132
A song for going up to worship.
1 O Yahweh, remember David and all the hardships he endured.
2 Remember how he swore an oath to Yahweh
and made this vow to the Mighty One of Jacob:
3 “I will not step inside my house,
4 get into my bed, shut my eyes, or close my eyelids
5 until I find a place for Yahweh,
a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”
6 Now, we have heard about the ark of the promise being in Ephrathah.
We have found it in Jaar.
7 Let’s go to his dwelling place.
Let’s worship at his footstool.
8 O Yahweh, arise, and come to your resting place
with the ark of your power.
9 Clothe your priests with righteousness.
Let your godly ones sing with joy.
10 For the sake of your servant David,
do not reject your anointed one.
11 Yahweh swore an oath to David.
This is a truth he will not take back:
“I will set one of your own descendants on your throne.
12 If your sons are faithful to my promise[a]
and my written instructions that I will teach them,
then their descendants will also sit on your throne forever.”
13 Yahweh has chosen Zion.
He wants it for his home.
14 “This will be my resting place forever.
Here I will sit enthroned because I want Zion.
15 I will certainly bless all that Zion needs.
I will satisfy its needy people with food.
16 I will clothe its priests with salvation.
Then its godly ones will sing joyfully.
17 There I will make a horn sprout up for David.
I will prepare a lamp for my anointed one.
18 I will clothe his enemies with shame,
but the crown on my anointed one will shine.”
Psalm 133
A song by David for going up to worship.
1 See how good and pleasant it is
when brothers and sisters live together in harmony!
2 It is like fine, scented oil on the head,
running down the beard—down Aaron’s beard—
running over the collar of his robes.
3 It is like dew on Mount Hermon,
dew which comes down on Zion’s mountains.
That is where Yahweh promised
the blessing of eternal life.
Psalm 134
A song for going up to worship.
1 Praise Yahweh, all you servants of Yahweh,
all who stand in the house of Yahweh night after night.
2 Lift your hands toward the holy place, and praise Yahweh.
3 May Yahweh, the maker of heaven and earth, bless you from Zion.
Psalm 135
1 Hallelujah!
Praise the name of Yahweh.
Praise him, you servants of Yahweh
2 who are standing in the house of Yahweh,
in the courtyards of the house of our Elohim.
3 Praise Yah because Yahweh is good.
Make music to praise his name because his name is beautiful.
4 Yah chose Jacob to be his own
and chose Israel to be his own special treasure.
5 I know that Yahweh is great,
that our Adonay is greater than all the false gods.
6 Yahweh does whatever he wants in heaven or on earth,
on the seas or in all the depths of the oceans.
7 He is the one who makes the clouds rise from the ends of the earth,
who makes lightning for the thunderstorms,
and who brings wind out of his storerooms.
8 He is the one who killed every firstborn male in Egypt.
He killed humans and animals alike.
9 He sent miraculous signs and amazing things into the heart of Egypt
against Pharaoh and all his officials.
10 He is the one who defeated many nations and killed mighty kings:
11 King Sihon of the Amorites,
King Og of Bashan,
and all the kingdoms in Canaan.
12 He gave their land as an inheritance,
an inheritance to his people Israel.
13 O Yahweh, your name endures forever.
O Yahweh, you will be remembered throughout every generation.
14 Yahweh will provide justice for his people
and have compassion on his servants.
15 The idols of the nations are made of silver and gold.
They were made by human hands.[b]
16 They have mouths, but they cannot speak.
They have eyes, but they cannot see.
17 They have ears, but they cannot hear.
They cannot breathe.
18 Those who make idols end up like them.
So does everyone who trusts them.
19 Descendants of Israel, praise Yahweh.
Descendants of Aaron, praise Yahweh.
20 Descendants of Levi, praise Yahweh.
You people who fear Yahweh, praise Yahweh.
21 Thank Yahweh in Zion.
Thank the one who lives in Jerusalem.
Hallelujah!
14 When it was time to eat, Boaz told her, “Come here. Have some bread, and dip it into the sour wine.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he handed her some roasted grain. She ate all she wanted and had some left over.
15 When she got up to gather grain, Boaz ordered his servants, “Let her gather grain even among the bundles. Don’t give her any problems. 16 Even pull some grain out of the bundles and leave it for her to gather. Don’t give her a hard time about it.”
Ruth and Naomi Talk about Boaz
17 So Ruth gathered grain in the field until evening. Then she separated the grain from its husks. She had about half a bushel of barley. 18 She picked it up and went into the town, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gathered. Ruth also took out what she had left over from lunch and gave it to Naomi.
19 Her mother-in-law asked her, “Where did you gather grain today? Just where did you work? May the man who paid attention to you be blessed.”
So Ruth told her mother-in-law about the person with whom she worked. She said, “The man I worked with today is named Boaz.”
20 Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May Yahweh bless him. Yahweh hasn’t stopped being kind to people—living or dead.” Then Naomi told her, “That man is a relative of ours. He is a close relative, one of those responsible for taking care of us.”
21 Ruth, who was from Moab, told her, “He also said to me, ‘Stay with my younger workers until they have finished the harvest.’”
22 Naomi told her daughter-in-law Ruth, “It’s a good idea, my daughter, that you go out to the fields with his young women. If you go to someone else’s field, you may be molested.”
23 So Ruth stayed with the young women who were working for Boaz. She gathered grain until both the barley harvest and the wheat harvest ended. And she continued to live with her mother-in-law.
The Ministry That Comes from Christ Is Greater Than Moses’ Ministry
3 Do we have to show you our qualifications again? Do we, like some people, need letters that recommend us to you or letters from you that recommend us to others? 2 You’re our letter of recommendation written in our hearts that everyone knows and reads. 3 It’s clear that you are Christ’s letter, written as a result of our ministry. You are a letter written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, a letter written not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
4 Christ gives us confidence about you in God’s presence. 5 By ourselves we are not qualified in any way to claim that we can do anything. Rather, God makes us qualified. 6 He has also qualified us to be ministers of a new promise,[a] a spiritual promise, not a written one. Clearly, what was written brings death, but the Spirit brings life.
7 The ministry that brought death was inscribed on stone. Yet, it came with such glory that the people of Israel couldn’t look at Moses’ face. His face was shining with glory, even though that glory was fading. 8 Won’t the ministry that brings the Spirit have even more glory? 9 If the ministry that brings punishment has glory, then the ministry that brings God’s approval has an overwhelming glory. 10 In fact, the ministry that brings punishment lost its glory because of the superior glory of the other ministry. 11 If that former ministry faded away despite its glory, how much more does that ministry which remains continue to be glorious?
12 Since we have confidence in the new promise, we speak very boldly. 13 We are not like Moses. He kept covering his face with a veil. He didn’t want the people of Israel to see the glory fading away. 14 However, their minds became closed. In fact, to this day the same veil is still there when they read the Old Testament. It isn’t removed, because only Christ can remove it. 15 Yet, even today, when they read the books of Moses, a veil covers their minds. 16 But whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
17 This Lord is the Spirit. Wherever the Lord’s Spirit is, there is freedom. 18 As all of us reflect the Lord’s glory with faces that are not covered with veils, we are being changed into his image with ever-increasing glory. This comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
About Sexual Sin
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Never commit adultery.’ 28 But I can guarantee that whoever looks with lust at a woman has already committed adultery in his heart.
29 “So if your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose a part of your body than to have all of it thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand leads you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose a part of your body than to have all of it go into hell.
31 “It has also been said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife must give her a written notice.’ 32 But I can guarantee that any man who divorces his wife for any reason other than unfaithfulness makes her look as though she has committed adultery. Whoever marries a woman divorced in this way makes himself look as though he has committed adultery.
About Oaths
33 “You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, ‘Never break your oath, but give to the Lord what you swore in an oath to give him.’ 34 But I tell you don’t swear an oath at all. Don’t swear an oath by heaven, which is God’s throne, 35 or by the earth, which is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, which is the city of the great King. 36 And don’t swear an oath by your head. After all, you cannot make one hair black or white. 37 Simply say yes or no. Anything more than that comes from the evil one.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.