Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 137[a]
The Exiles’ Remembrance of Zion
1 By the rivers[b] of Babylon
we sat down and wept
when we remembered Zion.
2 [c]There on the poplars
we hung up our harps.
3 For it was there that our captors
asked us to sing them a song,
and, tormenting us, demanded a joyful song:
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”
4 But how could we sing songs of the Lord
while living in a foreign land?[d]
5 [e]If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
may my right hand fail me.
6 May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth
if I do not remember you,
if I do not regard Jerusalem
as the greatest of my joys.
7 [f]Remember, O Lord, the cruelty of the Edomites
on the day when Jerusalem fell,[g]
how they shouted, “Tear it down!
Tear it down to its very foundations!”
8 O Daughter[h] of Babylon, you destroyer,
happy will he be who repays you
for the suffering you inflicted upon us!
9 Happy will he be who seizes your babies
and smashes them against a rock![i]
Psalm 144[a]
Prayer for Victory and Peace
1 [b]Of David.
Blessed be the Lord,[c] my Rock,
who trains my hands for war
and my fingers for battle.
2 You are my safeguard[d] and my fortress,
my stronghold and my deliverer,
my shield in whom I take refuge,
the one who subdues nations under me.
3 O Lord, what is man that you care for him,
or the son of man that you think of him?[e]
4 Man is nothing more than a breath;
his days are like a fleeting shadow.[f]
5 [g]Part the heavens, O Lord, and descend;
touch the mountains so that they smoke.[h]
6 Flash forth lightning bolts and scatter my foes;
rout them with your arrows.[i]
7 Reach forth your hand[j] from on high;
deliver me and rescue me
from the mighty waters
and from the power of foreign foes
8 whose mouths utter lies[k]
and whose right hands are raised to swear to untruths.
9 [l]I will sing a new song to you, my God;
on a ten-stringed lyre I will play music for you.[m]
10 You grant victory to kings
and deliverance to your servant David from the cruel sword.[n]
11 Deliver me and rescue me
from the hands of foreign foes
whose mouths utter lies
and whose right hands are raised to swear to untruths.[o]
12 [p]May our sons in their youth
be like carefully nurtured plants,
and may our daughters be like pillars
designed to adorn a palace.[q]
13 May our barns be filled
with every kind of crop.
May our sheep increase by thousands,
by tens of thousands in our fields,[r]
14 and may our cattle be well fed.[s]
May there be no breach in our walls,
no going into exile,
no cries of distress in our streets.
15 Blessed are the people for whom this is true;
blessed[t] are the people whose God is the Lord.
Psalm 104[a]
Praise of God the Creator
1 Bless the Lord, O my soul.
O Lord, my God, you are indeed very great.
You are clothed in majesty and splendor,
2 wrapped in light[b] as in a robe.
You have stretched out the heavens like a tent;
3 you have established your palace[c] upon the waters.
You make the clouds serve as your chariot;
you ride forth on the wings of the wind.
4 You have appointed the winds as your messengers
and flames of fire[d] as your ministers.
5 You established the earth on its foundations
so that it will remain unshaken forever.[e]
6 You covered it with the deep like a cloak;
the waters rose above the mountains.
7 At your rebuke[f] the waters took to flight;
at the sound of your thunder they fled in terror.
8 They rose up to the mountains
and flowed down to the valleys,[g]
to the place that you had designated for them.
9 You established a boundary that they were not to cross
so that they would never again cover the earth.
10 [h]You made springs gush forth in the valleys
and flow between the mountains.
11 They supply water to every beast of the field,
and from them the wild asses quench their thirst.
12 On the banks the birds of the air build nests
and sing among the branches.
13 [i]From your dwelling you water the mountains,
enriching the earth with the fruit of your labor.
14 You provide grass for the cattle,
and the plants for man to cultivate.
You bring forth food from the earth
15 and wine to gladden the heart[j] of man,
oil to make his face shine
and bread to strengthen his body.
16 The trees of the Lord have fruit in abundance,
the cedars of Lebanon[k] that he planted.
17 In them the birds build their nests;
in the fir trees the stork makes its home.
18 The high mountains are inhabited by the wild goats;
in the rocky crags the badgers[l] find refuge.
19 You created the moon that marks the seasons
and the sun that knows its time for setting.[m]
20 You bring on darkness, and it is night,
when all the beasts of the forests go on the prowl.
21 The young lions[n] roar for their prey,
seeking their food from God.
22 When the sun rises, they steal away
and return to their lairs to rest.
23 People go forth to their work
and to their labor until darkness descends.
24 [o]How countless are your works, O Lord;
by your wisdom you have made them all;
the earth abounds with your creatures.
25 There is the sea, vast and broad,
filled with numberless species,
living creatures both great and small.
26 There the ships sail forth,
and the Leviathan[p] that you formed to play therein.
27 [q]All of them look to you
to give them their food at the appropriate time.[r]
28 [s]When you provide it for them,
they gather it up;
when you open your hand,
they are filled with good things.
29 When you turn away your face,[t]
they are dismayed;
when you take away their breath,
they die and return to the dust.
30 When you send forth your Spirit,[u]
they are created,
and you renew the face of the earth.
31 [v]May the glory of the Lord abide forever,
and may the Lord rejoice in his works.[w]
32 When he looks at the earth, it quakes;
when he touches the mountains, they smoke.[x]
33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;[y]
I will sing praise to my God while I have life.
34 May my meditation be pleasing to him,
for I find my joy in the Lord.
35 May sinners be banished from the earth,
and may the wicked no longer exist.
Bless the Lord, O my soul.[z]
Alleluia.
Chapter 4
Boaz Marries Ruth. 1 So Boaz went to the city gate and sat down there. The relative of whom Boaz had spoken was passing by, so he said, “Come over here, my friend, and sit down.” So he came over and sat down.[a] 2 He gathered ten of the elders of the city and said, “Sit down,” and they sat down.
3 Then he said to the next of kin, “Naomi has come back from the land of Moab and is selling the parcel of land that belonged to our kinsman Elimelech. 4 I thought that I would tell this to you. Buy it in the presence of those who dwell here and in the presence of the elders. If you intend to redeem it as next of kin, then redeem it. If you do not intend to redeem it, then tell me so that I can know, for there is no one else besides you to redeem the land, and then I am next in line.” He said, “I will redeem it.” 5 Then Boaz said, “When you acquire the field, you also receive the hand of Ruth the Moabite, the wife of the deceased, to raise up the name of the deceased for an inheritance.” 6 But the kinsman said, “I cannot redeem it for myself, lest I endanger my own inheritance. You can exercise my right of next of kin, for I cannot redeem it.”
7 Now in those days in Israel it was the custom that when there was an act of redemption or of the exchange of lands, one man would take off his sandal and give it to the other in order to confirm the action. This was an act of confirming actions in Israel. 8 So the kinsman said to Boaz, “Buy it for yourself,” and he took off his sandal.
9 Boaz then said to the elders and to all the people, “You are witnesses today that I have bought from Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech, and all that belonged to Chilion and all that belonged to Mahlon. 10 Moreover, I have acquired Ruth, the Moabite, the wife of Mahlon, to be my wife, to perpetuate the name of the deceased for an inheritance so that the name of the deceased not disappear from among his brethren nor from the gates of his native place. You are witnesses today.”
11 All the people who were in the gateway and the elders said, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah, both of whom built up the house of Israel. May you prosper in Ephrathah and be renowned in Bethlehem. 12 May your home be like that of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the children that the Lord will give you through this young woman.”
13 So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. He slept with her, and the Lord granted that she conceive, and she bore a son. 14 The women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you without a next of kin; may his name be famous throughout Israel.[b] 15 He will renew your life and support you in your old age. Your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is worth more than seven sons to you, has borne him.”
16 Naomi then took the child and laid him in her lap. She became his nurse. 17 The neighbor women gave him a name, saying, “A son is born to Naomi.” They called him Obed.[c] He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.
13 Therefore, since we have that spirit of faith about which it has been written: “I believed, and therefore I spoke,” we also believe, and therefore speak. 14 For we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us side by side with you into his presence. 15 Indeed, everything is for your sake, so that the grace that is abundantly bestowed on more and more people may cause thanksgiving to superabound, to the glory of God.
16 An Eternal Dwelling in Heaven. Therefore, we do not lose heart. Even though our outer self is continuing to decay, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 Our temporary light afflictions are preparing for us an incomparable weight of eternal glory, 18 for our eyes are fixed not on what is seen but rather on that which cannot be seen. What is visible is transitory; what is invisible is eternal.
Chapter 5
1 Now we know that if the earthly tent in which we live is destroyed, we have a dwelling prepared for us by God, a dwelling in the heavens, not made with human hands, that will be eternal. 2 While we are in this earthly tent, we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling; 3 for when we have put it on, we will not be naked.[a]
4 While we are enclosed in this earthly tent we groan, burdened because we do not wish to be stripped naked but rather to be further clothed, so that our mortal state may be swallowed up by immortality. 5 God is the one who has prepared us for this destiny, and he has given us the Spirit as a pledge of this.
6 Therefore, we are always confident, even though we realize that as long as we are at home in the body, we are exiles from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Yet we are filled with confidence, even as we long to be exiled from the body and be at home with the Lord.
9 For this reason, whether at home or away, we strive to please him. 10 For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive suitable recompense for his conduct in the body, whether good or bad.
The True Practice of Religion[a]
Chapter 6
Giving Alms in Secret. 1 “Beware of performing righteous deeds before others in order to impress them. If you do so, you will receive no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 Therefore, whenever you give alms, do not trumpet your generosity, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets in order to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have already received their reward. 3 But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. 4 Your almsgiving must be done in secret. And your Father who sees everything that is done in secret will reward you.
Praying in Secret. 5 “Whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may observe them doing so. Amen, I say to you, they have already received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees everything that is done in secret will reward you.
The Lord’s Prayer.[b] 7 “When you pray do not go on babbling endlessly as the pagans do, for they believe that they are more likely to be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not imitate them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
9 “This is how you should pray:
‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
10 Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts
as we forgive our debtors.
13 And do not lead us into temptation,[c]
but deliver us from the evil one.’
14 If you forgive others for the wrongs they have done, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.
16 Fasting in Secret.[d]“Whenever you fast, do not assume a gloomy expression like the hypocrites who contort their faces so that others may realize that they are fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.
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