Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 137[a]
137 By the rivers of Babylon
we sit down and weep[b]
when we remember Zion.
2 On the poplars in her midst
we hang our harps,
3 for there our captors ask us to compose songs;[c]
those who mock us demand that we be happy, saying:[d]
“Sing for us a song about Zion!”[e]
4 How can we sing a song to the Lord
in a foreign land?
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
may my right hand be crippled.[f]
6 May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth,
if I do not remember you,
and do not give Jerusalem priority
over whatever gives me the most joy.[g]
7 Remember, O Lord, what the Edomites did
on the day Jerusalem fell.[h]
They said, “Tear it down, tear it down,[i]
right to its very foundation!”
8 O daughter Babylon, soon to be devastated,[j]
how blessed will be the one who repays you
for what you dished out to us.[k]
9 How blessed will be the one who grabs your babies
and smashes them on a rock.[l]
Psalm 144[a]
By David.
144 The Lord, my Protector,[b] deserves praise[c]—
the one who trains my hands for battle,[d]
and my fingers for war,
2 who loves me[e] and is my stronghold,
my refuge[f] and my deliverer,
my shield and the one in whom I take shelter,
who makes nations submit to me.[g]
3 O Lord, of what importance is the human race,[h] that you should notice them?
Of what importance is mankind,[i] that you should be concerned about them?[j]
4 People[k] are like a vapor,
their days like a shadow that disappears.[l]
5 O Lord, make the sky sink[m] and come down.[n]
Touch the mountains and make them smolder.[o]
6 Hurl lightning bolts and scatter the enemy.
Shoot your arrows and rout them.[p]
7 Reach down[q] from above.
Grab me and rescue me from the surging water,[r]
from the power of foreigners,[s]
8 who speak lies,
and make false promises.[t]
9 O God, I will sing a new song to you.
Accompanied by a ten-stringed instrument, I will sing praises to you,
10 the one who delivers[u] kings,
and rescued David his servant from a deadly[v] sword.
11 Grab me and rescue me from the power of foreigners,[w]
who speak lies,
and make false promises.[x]
12 Then[y] our sons will be like plants,
that quickly grow to full size.[z]
Our daughters will be like corner pillars,[aa]
carved like those in a palace.[ab]
13 Our storehouses[ac] will be full,
providing all kinds of food.[ad]
Our sheep will multiply by the thousands
and fill[ae] our pastures.[af]
14 Our cattle will be weighted down with produce.[ag]
No one will break through our walls,
no one will be taken captive,
and there will be no terrified cries in our city squares.[ah]
15 How blessed are the people who experience these things.[ai]
How blessed are the people whose God is the Lord.
Psalm 104[a]
104 Praise the Lord, O my soul!
O Lord my God, you are magnificent.[b]
You are robed in splendor and majesty.
2 He covers himself with light as if it were a garment.
He stretches out the skies like a tent curtain,
3 and lays the beams of the upper rooms of his palace on the rain clouds.[c]
He makes the clouds his chariot,
and travels on the wings of the wind.[d]
4 He makes the winds his messengers,
and the flaming fire his attendant.[e]
5 He established the earth on its foundations;
it will never be moved.
6 The watery deep covered it[f] like a garment;
the waters reached[g] above the mountains.[h]
7 Your shout made the waters retreat;
at the sound of your thunderous voice they hurried off—
8 as the mountains rose up,
and the valleys went down—
to the place you appointed for them.[i]
9 You set up a boundary for them that they could not cross,
so that they would not cover the earth again.[j]
10 He turns springs into streams;[k]
they flow between the mountains.
11 They provide water for all the animals in the field;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 The birds of the sky live beside them;
they chirp among the bushes.[l]
13 He waters the mountains from the upper rooms of his palace;[m]
the earth is full of the fruit you cause to grow.[n]
14 He provides grass[o] for the cattle,
and crops for people to cultivate,[p]
so they can produce food from the ground,[q]
15 as well as wine that makes people glad,[r]
and olive oil to make their faces shine,[s]
as well as bread that sustains them.[t]
16 The trees of the Lord[u] receive all the rain they need,[v]
the cedars of Lebanon that he planted,
17 where the birds make nests,
near the evergreens in which the herons live.[w]
18 The wild goats live in the high mountains;[x]
the rock badgers find safety in the cliffs.
19 He made the moon to mark the months,[y]
and the sun sets according to a regular schedule.[z]
20 You make it dark and night comes,[aa]
during which all the beasts of the forest prowl around.
21 The lions roar for prey,
seeking their food from God.[ab]
22 When the sun rises, they withdraw
and sleep[ac] in their dens.
23 People then go out to do their work,
and they labor until evening.[ad]
24 How many living things you have made, O Lord![ae]
You have exhibited great skill in making all of them;[af]
the earth is full of the living things you have made.
25 Over here is the deep, wide sea,[ag]
which teems with innumerable swimming creatures,[ah]
living things both small and large.
26 The ships travel there,
and over here swims the whale[ai] you made to play in it.
27 All your creatures[aj] wait for you
to provide them with food on a regular basis.[ak]
28 You give food to them and they receive it;
you open your hand and they are filled with food.[al]
29 When you ignore them, they panic.[am]
When you take away their life’s breath,
they die and return to dust.
30 When you send your life-giving breath, they are created,
and you replenish the surface of the ground.
31 May the splendor of the Lord endure.[an]
May the Lord find pleasure in the living things he has made.[ao]
32 He looks down on the earth and it shakes;
he touches the mountains and they start to smolder.
33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I exist.[ap]
34 May my thoughts[aq] be pleasing to him.
I will rejoice in the Lord.
35 May sinners disappear[ar] from the earth,
and the wicked vanish.
Praise the Lord, O my soul.
Praise the Lord.
Boaz Settles the Matter
4 Now Boaz went up[a] to the village gate and sat there. Then along came the guardian[b] whom Boaz had mentioned to Ruth.[c] Boaz said, “Come[d] here, what’s-your-name,[e] and sit down.” So he came[f] and sat down. 2 Boaz chose ten of the village leaders[g] and said, “Sit down here!” So they sat down. 3 Then Boaz said to the guardian,[h] “Naomi, who has returned from the region of Moab, is selling[i] the portion of land that belongs to our relative Elimelech. 4 So I am legally informing you:[j] Acquire it before those sitting here and before the leaders of my people.[k] If you want to exercise your right to redeem it, then do so.[l] But if not, then tell me[m] so I will know.[n] For you possess the first option to redeem it; I am next in line after you.”[o] He replied, “I will redeem it.” 5 Then Boaz said, “When[p] you acquire the field[q] from Naomi,[r] you must also[s] acquire Ruth the Moabite,[t] the wife of our deceased relative,[u] in order to preserve his family name by raising up a descendant who will inherit his property.”[v] 6 The guardian said, “Then I am unable to redeem it, for I would ruin my own inheritance[w] in that case. You may exercise my redemption option, for I am unable to redeem it.”[x] 7 (Now this used to be the customary way to finalize a transaction involving redemption in Israel:[y] A man would remove his sandal and give it to the other party.[z] This was a legally binding act[aa] in Israel.) 8 So the guardian said to Boaz, “You may acquire it,” and he removed his sandal.[ab] 9 Then Boaz said to the leaders and all the people, “You are witnesses today that I have acquired from Naomi all that belonged to Elimelech, Kilion, and Mahlon. 10 I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite, the wife of Mahlon, as my wife to raise up a descendant who will inherit his property[ac] so the name of the deceased might not disappear[ad] from among his relatives and from his village.[ae] You are witnesses today.” 11 All the people who were at the gate and the elders replied, “We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is entering your home like Rachel and Leah, both of whom built up the house of Israel! May[af] you prosper[ag] in Ephrathah and become famous[ah] in Bethlehem. 12 May your family[ai] become like the family of Perez[aj]—whom Tamar bore to Judah—through the descendants[ak] the Lord gives you by this young woman.”
A Grandson is Born to Naomi
13 So Boaz married Ruth and slept with her.[al] The Lord enabled her to conceive[am] and she gave birth to a son. 14 The village women said to Naomi, “May the Lord be praised because he has not left you without a guardian[an] today! May he[ao] become famous in Israel![ap] 15 He will encourage you and provide for you when you are old,[aq] for your daughter-in-law, who loves you, has given him birth. She[ar] is better to you than seven sons!” 16 Naomi took the child and placed him on her lap;[as] she became his caregiver.[at] 17 The neighbor women gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.” They named him Obed.[au] Now he became the father of Jesse—David’s father.
13 But since we have the same spirit of faith as that shown in[a] what has been written, “I believed; therefore I spoke,”[b] we also believe, therefore we also speak. 14 We do so[c] because we know that the one who raised up Jesus[d] will also raise us up with Jesus and will bring us with you into his presence. 15 For all these things are for your sake, so that the grace that is including[e] more and more people may cause thanksgiving to increase[f] to the glory of God. 16 Therefore we do not despair,[g] but even if our physical body[h] is wearing away, our inner person[i] is being renewed day by day. 17 For our momentary, light suffering[j] is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison 18 because we are not looking at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen. For what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.
Living by Faith, Not by Sight
5 For we know that if our earthly house, the tent we live in,[k] is dismantled,[l] we have a building from God, a house not built by human hands, that is eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this earthly house[m] we groan, because we desire to put on[n] our heavenly dwelling, 3 if indeed, after we have put on[o] our heavenly house,[p] we will not be found naked. 4 For we groan while we are in this tent,[q] since we are weighed down,[r] because we do not want to be unclothed, but clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now the one who prepared us for this very purpose[s] is God, who gave us the Spirit as a down payment.[t] 6 Therefore we are always full of courage, and we know that as long as we are alive here on earth[u] we are absent from the Lord— 7 for we live[v] by faith, not by sight. 8 Thus we are full of courage and would prefer to be away[w] from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So then whether we are alive[x] or away, we make it our ambition to please him.[y] 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ,[z] so that each one may be paid back according to what he has done while in the body, whether good or evil.[aa]
Pure-hearted Giving
6 “Be[a] careful not to display your righteousness merely to be seen by people.[b] Otherwise you have no reward with your Father in heaven. 2 Thus whenever you do charitable giving,[c] do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in synagogues[d] and on streets so that people will praise them. I tell you the truth,[e] they have their reward! 3 But when you do your giving, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your gift may be in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.[f]
Private Prayer
5 “Whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray while standing in synagogues[g] and on street corners so that people can see them. Truly I say to you, they have their reward! 6 But whenever you pray, go into your inner room,[h] close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.[i] 7 When[j] you pray, do not babble repetitiously like the Gentiles, because they think that by their many words they will be heard. 8 Do[k] not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 So pray this way:[l]
Our Father[m] in heaven, may your name be honored,[n]
10 may your kingdom come,[o]
may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread,[p]
12 and forgive us our debts,[q] as we ourselves[r] have forgiven our debtors.
13 And do not lead us into temptation,[s] but deliver us from the evil one.[t]
14 “For if you forgive others[u] their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive you your sins.
Proper Fasting
16 “When[v] you fast, do not look sullen like the hypocrites, for they make their faces unattractive[w] so that people will see them fasting. I tell you the truth,[x] they have their reward!
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