Book of Common Prayer
Simple Trust in the Lord
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
131 Lord, my heart is not [a]haughty,
Nor my eyes [b]lofty.
(A)Neither do I [c]concern myself with great matters,
Nor with things too [d]profound for me.
2 Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul,
(B)Like a weaned child with his mother;
Like a weaned child is my soul within me.
3 (C)O Israel, hope in the Lord
From this time forth and forever.
The Eternal Dwelling of God in Zion
A Song of Ascents.
132 Lord, remember David
And all his afflictions;
2 How he swore to the Lord,
(D)And vowed to (E)the Mighty One of Jacob:
3 “Surely I will not go into the chamber of my house,
Or go up to the comfort of my bed;
4 I will (F)not give sleep to my eyes
Or slumber to my eyelids,
5 Until I (G)find a place for the Lord,
A dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”
6 Behold, we heard of it (H)in Ephrathah;
(I)We found it (J)in the fields of [e]the woods.
7 Let us go into His tabernacle;
(K)Let us worship at His footstool.
8 (L)Arise, O Lord, to Your resting place,
You and (M)the ark of Your strength.
9 Let Your priests (N)be clothed with righteousness,
And let Your saints shout for joy.
10 For Your servant David’s sake,
Do not turn away the face of Your [f]Anointed.
11 (O)The Lord has sworn in truth to David;
He will not turn from it:
“I will set upon your throne (P)the [g]fruit of your body.
12 If your sons will keep My covenant
And My testimony which I shall teach them,
Their sons also shall sit upon your throne forevermore.”
13 (Q)For the Lord has chosen Zion;
He has desired it for His [h]dwelling place:
14 “This(R) is My resting place forever;
Here I will dwell, for I have desired it.
15 (S)I will abundantly bless her [i]provision;
I will satisfy her poor with bread.
16 (T)I will also clothe her priests with salvation,
(U)And her saints shall shout aloud for joy.
17 (V)There I will make the [j]horn of David grow;
(W)I will prepare a lamp for My [k]Anointed.
18 His enemies I will (X)clothe with shame,
But upon Himself His crown shall flourish.”
Blessed Unity of the People of God
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
133 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For (Y)brethren to dwell together in unity!
2 It is like the precious oil upon the head,
Running down on the beard,
The beard of Aaron,
Running down on the edge of his garments.
3 It is like the dew of (Z)Hermon,
Descending upon the mountains of Zion;
For (AA)there the Lord commanded the blessing—
Life forevermore.
Praising the Lord in His House at Night
A Song of Ascents.
134 Behold, bless the Lord,
All you servants of the Lord,
Who by night stand in the house of the Lord!
2 (AB)Lift up your hands in the sanctuary,
And bless the Lord.
3 The Lord who made heaven and earth
Bless you from Zion!
Praise to God in Creation and Redemption
135 Praise the Lord!
Praise the name of the Lord;
(AC)Praise Him, O you servants of the Lord!
2 (AD)You who stand in the house of the Lord,
In (AE)the courts of the house of our God,
3 Praise the Lord, for (AF)the Lord is good;
Sing praises to His name, (AG)for it is pleasant.
4 For (AH)the Lord has chosen Jacob for Himself,
Israel for His [l]special treasure.
5 For I know that (AI)the Lord is great,
And our Lord is above all gods.
6 (AJ)Whatever the Lord pleases He does,
In heaven and in earth,
In the seas and in all deep places.
7 (AK)He causes the [m]vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth;
(AL)He makes lightning for the rain;
He brings the wind out of His (AM)treasuries.
8 (AN)He [n]destroyed the firstborn of Egypt,
[o]Both of man and beast.
9 (AO)He sent signs and wonders into the midst of you, O Egypt,
(AP)Upon Pharaoh and all his servants.
10 (AQ)He defeated many nations
And slew mighty kings—
11 Sihon king of the Amorites,
Og king of Bashan,
And (AR)all the kingdoms of Canaan—
12 (AS)And gave their land as a [p]heritage,
A heritage to Israel His people.
13 (AT)Your name, O Lord, endures forever,
Your fame, O Lord, throughout all generations.
14 (AU)For the Lord will judge His people,
And He will have compassion on His servants.
15 (AV)The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
The work of men’s hands.
16 They have mouths, but they do not speak;
Eyes they have, but they do not see;
17 They have ears, but they do not hear;
Nor is there any breath in their mouths.
18 Those who make them are like them;
So is everyone who trusts in them.
19 (AW)Bless the Lord, O house of Israel!
Bless the Lord, O house of Aaron!
20 Bless the Lord, O house of Levi!
You who fear the Lord, bless the Lord!
21 Blessed be the Lord (AX)out of Zion,
Who dwells in Jerusalem!
Praise the Lord!
14 Now Boaz said to her at mealtime, “Come here, and eat of the bread, and dip your piece of bread in the vinegar.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed parched grain to her; and she ate and (A)was satisfied, and kept some back. 15 And when she rose up to [a]glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not [b]reproach her. 16 Also let grain from the bundles fall purposely for her; leave it that she may glean, and do not rebuke her.”
17 So she gleaned in the field until evening, and beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of (B)barley. 18 Then she took it up and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. So she brought out and gave to her (C)what she had kept back after she had been satisfied.
19 And her mother-in-law said to her, “Where have you gleaned today? And where did you work? Blessed be the one who (D)took notice of you.”
So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and said, “The man’s name with whom I worked today is Boaz.”
20 Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, (E)“Blessed be he of the Lord, who (F)has not forsaken His kindness to the living and the dead!” And Naomi said to her, “This man is a relation of ours, (G)one of [c]our close relatives.”
21 Ruth the Moabitess said, “He also said to me, ‘You shall stay close by my young men until they have finished all my harvest.’ ”
22 And Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It is good, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, and that people do not [d]meet you in any other field.” 23 So she stayed close by the young women of Boaz, to glean until the end of barley harvest and wheat harvest; and she dwelt with her mother-in-law.
Christ’s Epistle(A)
3 Do (B)we begin again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as some others, (C)epistles of commendation to you or letters of commendation from you? 2 (D)You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; 3 clearly you are an epistle of Christ, (E)ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not (F)on tablets of stone but (G)on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.
The Spirit, Not the Letter
4 And we have such trust through Christ toward God. 5 (H)Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but (I)our sufficiency is from God, 6 who also made us sufficient as (J)ministers of (K)the new covenant, not (L)of the letter but of the [a]Spirit; for (M)the letter kills, (N)but the Spirit gives life.
Glory of the New Covenant
7 But if (O)the ministry of death, (P)written and engraved on stones, was glorious, (Q)so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, 8 how will (R)the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? 9 For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry (S)of righteousness exceeds much more in glory. 10 For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels. 11 For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious.
12 Therefore, since we have such hope, (T)we use great boldness of speech— 13 unlike Moses, (U)who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at (V)the end of what was passing away. 14 But (W)their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. 15 But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. 16 Nevertheless (X)when one turns to the Lord, (Y)the veil is taken away. 17 Now (Z)the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is (AA)liberty. 18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding (AB)as in a mirror (AC)the glory of the Lord, (AD)are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as [b]by the Spirit of the Lord.
Adultery in the Heart
27 “You have heard that it was said [a]to those of old, (A)‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that whoever (B)looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 (C)If your right eye causes you to [b]sin, (D)pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to [c]sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.
Marriage Is Sacred and Binding(E)
31 “Furthermore it has been said, (F)‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ 32 But I say to you that (G)whoever divorces his wife for any reason except [d]sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.
Jesus Forbids Oaths
33 “Again you have heard that (H)it was said to those of [e]old, (I)‘You shall not swear falsely, but (J)shall perform your oaths to the Lord.’ 34 But I say to you, (K)do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is (L)God’s throne; 35 nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of (M)the great King. 36 Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 (N)But let [f]your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.