Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 137[a]
Sorrow and Hope in Exile
I
1 By the rivers of Babylon
there we sat weeping
when we remembered Zion.(A)
2 On the poplars in its midst
we hung up our harps.(B)
3 For there our captors asked us
for the words of a song;
Our tormentors, for joy:
“Sing for us a song of Zion!”
4 But how could we sing a song of the Lord
in a foreign land?
II
5 If I forget you, Jerusalem,
may my right hand forget.(C)
6 May my tongue stick to my palate
if I do not remember you,
If I do not exalt Jerusalem
beyond all my delights.
III
7 Remember, Lord, against Edom
that day at Jerusalem.
They said: “Level it, level it
down to its foundations!”(D)
8 Desolate Daughter Babylon, you shall be destroyed,
blessed the one who pays you back
what you have done us!(E)
9 [b]Blessed the one who seizes your children
and smashes them against the rock.(F)
Psalm 144[a]
A Prayer for Victory and Prosperity
1 Of David.
I
[b]Blessed be the Lord, my rock,
who trains my hands for battle,
my fingers for war;
2 My safeguard and my fortress,
my stronghold, my deliverer,
My shield, in whom I take refuge,
who subdues peoples under me.
II
3 [c]Lord, what is man that you take notice of him;
the son of man, that you think of him?(A)
4 [d]Man is but a breath,
his days are like a passing shadow.(B)
5 [e]Lord, incline your heavens and come down;
touch the mountains and make them smoke.(C)
6 Flash forth lightning and scatter my foes;
shoot your arrows and rout them.
7 Reach out your hand from on high;
deliver me from the many waters;
rescue me from the hands of foreign foes.
8 Their mouths speak untruth;
their right hands are raised in lying oaths.[f]
9 O God, a new song I will sing to you;
on a ten-stringed lyre I will play for you.(D)
10 You give victory to kings;
you delivered David your servant.(E)
From the menacing sword 11 deliver me;
rescue me from the hands of foreign foes.
Their mouths speak untruth;
their right hands are raised in lying oaths.
III
12 May our sons be like plants(F)
well nurtured from their youth,
Our daughters, like carved columns,
shapely as those of the temple.
13 May our barns be full
with every kind of store.
May our sheep increase by thousands,
by tens of thousands in our fields;
may our oxen be well fattened.
14 May there be no breach in the walls,
no exile, no outcry in our streets.(G)
15 Blessed the people so fortunate;
blessed the people whose God is the Lord.(H)
Psalm 104[a]
Praise of God the Creator
I
1 Bless the Lord, my soul!
Lord, my God, you are great indeed!
You are clothed with majesty and splendor,
2 robed in light as with a cloak.
You spread out the heavens like a tent;(A)
3 setting the beams of your chambers upon the waters.[b]
You make the clouds your chariot;
traveling on the wings of the wind.
4 You make the winds your messengers;
flaming fire, your ministers.(B)
II
5 [c]You fixed the earth on its foundation,
so it can never be shaken.
6 The deeps covered it like a garment;
above the mountains stood the waters.
7 At your rebuke they took flight;
at the sound of your thunder they fled.(C)
8 They rushed up the mountains, down the valleys
to the place you had fixed for them.
9 You set a limit they cannot pass;
never again will they cover the earth.(D)
III
10 You made springs flow in wadies
that wind among the mountains.
11 They give drink to every beast of the field;(E)
here wild asses quench their thirst.
12 Beside them the birds of heaven nest;
among the branches they sing.
13 You water the mountains from your chambers;
from the fruit of your labor the earth abounds.
14 You make the grass grow for the cattle
and plants for people’s work
to bring forth food from the earth,
15 wine to gladden their hearts,
oil to make their faces shine,
and bread to sustain the human heart.
16 [d]The trees of the Lord drink their fill,
the cedars of Lebanon, which you planted.
17 There the birds build their nests;
the stork in the junipers, its home.(F)
18 The high mountains are for wild goats;
the rocky cliffs, a refuge for badgers.
IV
19 You made the moon to mark the seasons,(G)
the sun that knows the hour of its setting.
20 You bring darkness and night falls,
then all the animals of the forest wander about.
21 Young lions roar for prey;
they seek their food from God.(H)
22 When the sun rises, they steal away
and settle down in their dens.
23 People go out to their work,
to their labor till evening falls.
V
24 How varied are your works, Lord!
In wisdom you have made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.(I)
25 There is the sea, great and wide!
It teems with countless beings,
living things both large and small.(J)
26 There ships ply their course
and Leviathan,[e] whom you formed to play with.(K)
VI
27 All of these look to you
to give them food in due time.(L)
28 When you give it to them, they gather;
when you open your hand, they are well filled.
29 [f]When you hide your face, they panic.
Take away their breath, they perish
and return to the dust.(M)
30 Send forth your spirit, they are created
and you renew the face of the earth.
VII
31 May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
may the Lord be glad in his works!
32 Who looks at the earth and it trembles,
touches the mountains and they smoke!(N)
33 I will sing to the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God while I live.(O)
34 May my meditation be pleasing to him;
I will rejoice in the Lord.
35 May sinners vanish from the earth,
and the wicked be no more.
Bless the Lord, my soul! Hallelujah![g]
Chapter 4
Boaz Marries Ruth. 1 Boaz went to the gate[a] and took a seat there. Along came the other redeemer(A) of whom he had spoken. Boaz called to him by name, “Come, sit here.” And he did so. 2 Then Boaz picked out ten of the elders[b] of the town and asked them to sit nearby. When they had done this, 3 he said to the other redeemer: “Naomi, who has come back from the plateau of Moab, is putting up for sale the piece of land that belonged to our kinsman Elimelech. 4 [c]So I thought I would inform you. Before those here present, including the elders of my people, purchase the field; act as redeemer.(B) But if you do not want to do it, tell me so, that I may know, for no one has a right of redemption prior to yours, and mine is next.” He answered, “I will act as redeemer.”
5 [d]Boaz continued, “When you acquire the field from Naomi, you also acquire responsibility for Ruth the Moabite,(C) the widow of the late heir, to raise up a family for the deceased on his estate.” 6 The redeemer replied, “I cannot exercise my right of redemption for that would endanger my own estate. You do it in my place, for I cannot.” 7 (D)Now it used to be the custom in Israel that, to make binding a contract of redemption or exchange, one party would take off a sandal[e] and give it to the other. This was the form of attestation in Israel. 8 So the other redeemer, in saying to Boaz, “Acquire it for yourself,” drew off his sandal. 9 Boaz then said to the elders and to all the people, “You are witnesses today that I have acquired from Naomi all the holdings of Elimelech, Chilion and Mahlon. 10 I also acquire Ruth the Moabite, the widow of Mahlon, as my wife, in order to raise up a family for her late husband on his estate, so that the name of the deceased may not perish from his people and his place. Do you witness this today?” 11 (E)All those at the gate, including the elders, said, “We do. May the Lord make this woman come into your house like Rachel and Leah, who between them built up the house of Israel. Prosper in Ephrathah! Bestow a name in Bethlehem! 12 With the offspring the Lord will give you from this young woman, may your house become like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah.”[f]
13 Boaz took Ruth. When they came together as husband and wife, the Lord enabled her to conceive and she bore a son. 14 Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed is the Lord who has not failed to provide you today with a redeemer. May he become famous in Israel! 15 He will restore your life and be the support of your old age, for his mother is the daughter-in-law who loves you. She is worth more to you than seven sons!” 16 Naomi took the boy, cradled him[g] against her breast, and cared for him. 17 The neighbor women joined the celebration: “A son has been born to Naomi!”(F) They named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.
13 [a]Since, then, we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed, therefore I spoke,” we too believe and therefore speak,(A) 14 knowing that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and place us with you in his presence.(B) 15 Everything indeed is for you, so that the grace bestowed in abundance on more and more people may cause the thanksgiving to overflow for the glory of God.(C)
16 [b]Therefore, we are not discouraged;[c] rather, although our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.(D) 17 For this momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,(E) 18 as we look not to what is seen but to what is unseen; for what is seen is transitory, but what is unseen is eternal.(F)
Chapter 5
Our Future Destiny. 1 (G)For we know that if our earthly dwelling,[d] a tent, should be destroyed, we have a building from God, a dwelling not made with hands, eternal in heaven. 2 [e]For in this tent we groan, longing to be further clothed with our heavenly habitation(H) 3 if indeed, when we have taken it off,[f] we shall not be found naked. 4 For while we are in this tent we groan and are weighed down, because we do not wish to be unclothed[g] but to be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.(I) 5 Now the one who has prepared us for this very thing is God,(J) who has given us the Spirit as a first installment.[h]
6 [i]So we are always courageous, although we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Yet we are courageous, and we would rather leave the body and go home to the Lord.(K) 9 Therefore, we aspire to please him, whether we are at home or away. 10 For we must all appear[j] before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive recompense, according to what he did in the body, whether good or evil.(L)
Chapter 6
Teaching About Almsgiving.[a] 1 “[But] take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them;(A) otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father. 2 When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites[b] do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.(B) 3 But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, 4 so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
Teaching About Prayer. 5 “When 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 see them. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. 7 [c]In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words.[d] 8 Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
The Lord’s Prayer. 9 [e]“This is how you are to pray:(C)
Our Father in heaven,[f]
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,[g]
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.(D)
11 [h](E)Give us today our daily bread;
12 and forgive us our debts,[i]
as we forgive our debtors;(F)
13 and do not subject us to the final test,[j]
but deliver us from the evil one.(G)
14 [k]If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you.(H) 15 But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.(I)
Teaching About Fasting. 16 “When you fast,[l] do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.