Book of Common Prayer
ק qof
145 I cry out with all my heart:
“Lord, answer me so I can guard your statutes!”
146 I cry out to you, “Save me
so I can keep your laws!”
147 I meet the predawn light and cry for help.
I wait for your promise.
148 My eyes encounter each hour of the night
as I think about your word.
149 Listen to my voice, according to your faithful love.
Lord, make me live again, according to your justice.
150 The people who love to plot wicked schemes are nearby,
but they are so far from your Instruction!
151 But you, Lord, are nearby too,
and all your commandments are true.
152 Long ago I learned from your laws
that you had established them forever.
ר resh
153 Look at my suffering and deliver me
because I haven’t forgotten your Instruction.
154 Argue my case and redeem me.
Make me live again by your word.
155 Salvation is far from the wicked
because they haven’t pursued your statutes.
156 You have so much compassion, Lord—
make me live again, according to your rules.
157 My oppressors and enemies are many,
but I haven’t turned away from your laws.
158 I look on the faithless, and I am disgusted
because they haven’t kept your word.
159 Look at how much I love your precepts.
Make me live again, Lord, according to your faithful love!
160 The first thing to know about your word is that it is true
and that all your righteous rules last forever.
שׂ sin and שׁ shin
161 Rulers oppress me without cause,
but my heart honors what you’ve said.
162 I’m overjoyed at your word,
like someone who finds great treasure.
163 I hate, I absolutely despise, what is false,
but I’m in love with your Instruction.
164 I praise you seven times a day
for your righteous rules.
165 The people who love your Instruction enjoy peace—and lots of it.
There’s no stumbling for them!
166 Lord, I wait for your saving help.
I do what you’ve commanded.
167 I keep your laws;
I love them so much!
168 I keep your precepts and your laws
because all my ways are seen by you.
ת tav
169 Let my cry reach you, Lord;
help me understand according to what you’ve said.
170 Let my request for grace come before you;
deliver me according to your promise!
171 Let my lips overflow with praise
because you’ve taught me your statutes.
172 Let my tongue declare your word,
because all your commandments are righteous.
173 Let your power help me
because I have chosen your precepts.
174 Lord, I long for your saving help!
Your Instruction is my joy!
175 Let me live again so I can praise you!
Let your rules help me!
176 I’ve wandered off like a sheep, lost.
Find your servant
because I haven’t forgotten
your commandments!
Psalm 128
A pilgrimage song.
128 Everyone who honors the Lord,
who walks in God’s ways, is truly happy!
2 You will definitely enjoy what you’ve worked hard for—
you’ll be happy; and things will go well for you.
3 In your house, your wife will be like a vine full of fruit.
All around your table, your children will be like olive trees, freshly planted.
4 That’s how it goes for anyone who honors the Lord:
they will be blessed!
5 May the Lord bless you from Zion.
May you experience Jerusalem’s goodness your whole life long.
6 And may you see your grandchildren.
Peace be on Israel!
Psalm 129
A pilgrimage song.
129 From youth, people have constantly attacked me—
let Israel now repeat!—
2 from youth people have constantly attacked me—
but they haven’t beaten me!
3 They plowed my back like farmers;
they made their furrows deep.
4 But the Lord is righteous—
God cut me free from the ropes of the wicked!
5 Let everyone who hates Zion be ashamed, thoroughly frustrated.
6 Let them be like grass on a roof
that dies before it can be pulled up,
7 which won’t fill the reaper’s hand
or fill the harvester’s arms.
8 Let no one who passes by say to them:
“May the Lord’s blessing be on you!
We bless you in the Lord’s name!”
Psalm 130
A pilgrimage song.
130 I cry out to you from the depths, Lord—
2 my Lord, listen to my voice!
Let your ears pay close attention to my request for mercy!
3 If you kept track of sins, Lord—
my Lord, who would stand a chance?
4 But forgiveness is with you—
that’s why you are honored.
5 I hope, Lord.
My whole being[a] hopes,
and I wait for God’s promise.
6 My whole being waits for my Lord—
more than the night watch waits for morning;
yes, more than the night watch waits for morning!
7 Israel, wait for the Lord!
Because faithful love is with the Lord;
because great redemption is with our God!
8 He is the one who will redeem Israel
from all its sin.
Gleaning in Bethlehem
2 Now Naomi had a respected relative, a man of worth, through her husband from the family of Elimelech. His name was Boaz. 2 Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi, “Let me go to the field so that I may glean among the ears of grain behind someone in whose eyes I might find favor.”
Naomi replied to her, “Go, my daughter.” 3 So she went; she arrived and she gleaned in the field behind the harvesters. By chance, it happened to be the portion of the field that belonged to Boaz, who was from the family of Elimelech.
4 Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem. He said to the harvesters, “May the Lord be with you.”
And they said to him, “May the Lord bless you.”
5 Boaz said to his young man, the one who was overseeing the harvesters, “To whom does this young woman belong?”
6 The young man who was overseeing the harvesters answered, “She’s a young Moabite woman, the one who returned with Naomi from the territory of Moab. 7 She said, ‘Please let me glean so that I might gather up grain from among the bundles behind the harvesters.’ She arrived and has been on her feet from the morning until now, and has sat down for only a moment.”[a]
8 Boaz said to Ruth, “Haven’t you understood, my daughter? Don’t go glean in another field; don’t go anywhere else. Instead, stay here with my young women. 9 Keep your eyes on the field that they are harvesting and go along after them. I’ve ordered the young men not to assault you. Whenever you are thirsty, go to the jugs and drink from what the young men have filled.”
10 Then she bowed down, face to the ground, and replied to him, “How is it that I’ve found favor in your eyes, that you notice me? I’m an immigrant.” 11 Boaz responded to her, “Everything that you did for your mother-in-law after your husband’s death has been reported fully to me: how you left behind your father, your mother, and the land of your birth, and came to a people you hadn’t known beforehand. 12 May the Lord reward you[b] for your deed. May you receive a rich reward from the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you’ve come to seek refuge.” 13 She said, “May I continue to find favor in your eyes, sir, because you’ve comforted me and because you’ve spoken kindly to your female servant—even though I’m not one of your female servants.”
23 I call on God as my witness—I didn’t come again to Corinth because I wanted to spare you. 24 It isn’t that we are trying to control your faith, but we are working with you for your happiness, because you stand firm in your faith. 2 1 So I decided that, for my own sake, I wouldn’t visit you again while I was upset. 2 If I make you sad, who will be there to make me glad when you are sad because of me?
Paul’s former letter
3 That’s why I wrote this very thing to you, so that when I came I wouldn’t be made sad by the ones who ought to make me happy. I have confidence in you, that my happiness means your happiness. 4 I wrote to you in tears, with a very troubled and anxious heart. I didn’t write to make you sad but so you would know the overwhelming love that I have for you.
5 But if someone has made anyone sad, that person hasn’t hurt me but all of you to some degree (not to exaggerate). 6 The punishment handed out by the majority is enough for this person. 7 This is why you should try your best to forgive and to comfort this person now instead, so that this person isn’t overwhelmed by too much sorrow. 8 So I encourage you to show your love for this person.
9 This is another reason why I wrote you. I wanted to test you and see if you are obedient in everything. 10 If you forgive anyone for anything, I do too. And whatever I’ve forgiven (if I’ve forgiven anything), I did it for you in the presence of Christ. 11 This is so that we won’t be taken advantage of by Satan, because we are well aware of his schemes.
Paul’s ministry
12 When I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, the Lord gave me an opportunity to preach. 13 But I was worried because I couldn’t find my brother Titus there. So I said good-bye to them and went on to Macedonia.
14 But thank God, who is always leading us around through Christ as if we were in a parade. He releases the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere through us. 15 We smell like the aroma of Christ’s offering to God, both to those who are being saved and to those who are on the road to destruction. 16 We smell like a contagious dead person to those who are dying, but we smell like the fountain of life to those who are being saved.
Who is qualified for this kind of ministry? 17 We aren’t like so many people who hustle the word of God to make a profit. We are speaking through Christ in the presence of God, as those who are sincere and as those who are sent from God.
Law of murder
21 “You have heard that it was said to those who lived long ago, Don’t commit murder,[a] and all who commit murder will be in danger of judgment. 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with their brother or sister will be in danger of judgment. If they say to their brother or sister, ‘You idiot,’ they will be in danger of being condemned by the governing council. And if they say, ‘You fool,’ they will be in danger of fiery hell. 23 Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift at the altar and go. First make things right with your brother or sister and then come back and offer your gift. 25 Be sure to make friends quickly with your opponents while you are with them on the way to court. Otherwise, they will haul you before the judge, the judge will turn you over to the officer of the court, and you will be thrown into prison. 26 I say to you in all seriousness that you won’t get out of there until you’ve paid the very last penny.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible