Book of Common Prayer
The Heritage of the Righteous and the Calamity of the Wicked
A Psalm of David.
37 Do(A) not fret because of evildoers,
Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.
2 For they shall soon be cut down (B)like the grass,
And wither as the green herb.
3 Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
4 (C)Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your (D)heart.
5 (E)Commit[a] your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
6 (F)He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,
And your justice as the noonday.
7 Rest in the Lord, (G)and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who (H)prospers in his way,
Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.
8 (I)Cease from anger, and forsake wrath;
(J)Do not fret—it only causes harm.
9 For evildoers shall be [b]cut off;
But those who wait on the Lord,
They shall (K)inherit the earth.
10 For (L)yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more;
Indeed, (M)you will look carefully for his place,
But it shall be no more.
11 (N)But the meek shall inherit the earth,
And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
12 The wicked plots against the just,
(O)And gnashes at him with his teeth.
13 (P)The Lord laughs at him,
For He sees that (Q)his day is coming.
14 The wicked have drawn the sword
And have bent their bow,
To cast down the poor and needy,
To slay those who are of upright conduct.
15 Their sword shall enter their own heart,
And their bows shall be broken.
16 (R)A little that a righteous man has
Is better than the riches of many wicked.
17 For the arms of the wicked shall be broken,
But the Lord upholds the righteous.
18 The Lord knows the days of the upright,
And their inheritance shall be forever.
19 They shall not be ashamed in the evil time,
And in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.
20 But the wicked shall perish;
And the enemies of the Lord,
Like the splendor of the meadows, shall vanish.
Into smoke they shall vanish away.
21 The wicked borrows and does not repay,
But (S)the righteous shows mercy and gives.
22 (T)For those blessed by Him shall inherit the earth,
But those cursed by Him shall be [c]cut off.
23 (U)The steps of a good man are [d]ordered by the Lord,
And He delights in his way.
24 (V)Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down;
For the Lord upholds him with His hand.
25 I have been young, and now am old;
Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken,
Nor his descendants begging bread.
26 (W)He is [e]ever merciful, and lends;
And his descendants are blessed.
27 Depart from evil, and do good;
And dwell forevermore.
28 For the Lord loves justice,
And does not forsake His saints;
They are preserved forever,
But the descendants of the wicked shall be cut off.
29 (X)The righteous shall inherit the land,
And dwell in it forever.
30 (Y)The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom,
And his tongue talks of justice.
31 The law of his God is in his heart;
None of his steps shall [f]slide.
32 The wicked (Z)watches the righteous,
And seeks to slay him.
33 The Lord (AA)will not leave him in his hand,
Nor condemn him when he is judged.
34 (AB)Wait on the Lord,
And keep His way,
And He shall exalt you to inherit the land;
When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it.
35 I have seen the wicked in great power,
And spreading himself like a native green tree.
36 Yet [g]he passed away, and behold, he was no more;
Indeed I sought him, but he could not be found.
37 Mark the blameless man, and observe the upright;
For the future of that man is peace.
38 (AC)But the transgressors shall be destroyed together;
The future of the wicked shall be cut off.
Solomon’s Heart Turns from the Lord
11 But (A)King Solomon loved (B)many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites— 2 from the nations of whom the Lord had said to the children of Israel, (C)“You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. 3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. 4 For it was so, when Solomon was old, (D)that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his (E)heart was not [a]loyal to the Lord his God, (F)as was the heart of his father David. 5 For Solomon went after (G)Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after (H)Milcom[b] the abomination of the (I)Ammonites. 6 Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not fully follow the Lord, as did his father David. 7 (J)Then Solomon built a [c]high place for (K)Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on (L)the hill that is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the people of Ammon. 8 And he did likewise for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
9 So the Lord became angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned from the Lord God of Israel, (M)who had appeared to him twice, 10 and (N)had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not keep what the Lord had commanded. 11 Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, “Because you have done this, and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, (O)I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your (P)servant. 12 Nevertheless I will not do it in your days, for the sake of your father David; I will tear it out of the hand of your son. 13 (Q)However I will not tear away the whole kingdom; I will give (R)one tribe to your son (S)for the sake of My servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem (T)which I have chosen.”
Heavenly Versus Demonic Wisdom
13 (A)Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. 14 But if you have (B)bitter envy and [a]self-seeking in your hearts, (C)do not boast and lie against the truth. 15 (D)This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. 16 For (E)where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. 17 But (F)the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, (G)without partiality (H)and without hypocrisy. 18 (I)Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
Pride Promotes Strife
4 Where do [b]wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure (J)that war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and [c]war. [d]Yet you do not have because you do not ask. 3 (K)You ask and do not receive, (L)because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. 4 [e]Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that (M)friendship with the world is enmity with God? (N)Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, (O)“The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”?
6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:
(P)“God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.”
Humility Cures Worldliness
7 Therefore submit to God. (Q)Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 (R)Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. (S)Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and (T)purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 (U)Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 (V)Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
Do Not Judge a Brother
11 (W)Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother (X)and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is one [f]Lawgiver, (Y)who is able to save and to destroy. (Z)Who[g] are you to judge [h]another?
12 Pilate answered and said to them again, “What then do you want me to do with Him whom you call the (A)King of the Jews?”
13 So they cried out again, “Crucify Him!”
14 Then Pilate said to them, “Why, (B)what evil has He done?”
But they cried out all the more, “Crucify Him!”
15 (C)So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be (D)crucified.
The Soldiers Mock Jesus(E)
16 (F)Then the soldiers led Him away into the hall called [a]Praetorium, and they called together the whole garrison. 17 And they clothed Him with purple; and they twisted a crown of thorns, put it on His head, 18 and began to salute Him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 19 Then they (G)struck Him on the head with a reed and spat on Him; and bowing the knee, they worshiped Him. 20 And when they had (H)mocked Him, they took the purple off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him out to crucify Him.
The King on a Cross(I)
21 (J)Then they compelled a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus, as he was coming out of the country and passing by, to bear His cross.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.