Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 37[a]
A song of David.
1 Don’t be worried with evil workers
or envy the gains of people with all-wrong-upside-down ways.
2 Soon enough they will wither like grass,
like green herbs fading in summer’s heat.
3 Believe in the Eternal, and do what is good—
live in the land He provides; roam, and rest in God’s faithfulness.
4 Take great joy in the Eternal!
His gifts are coming, and they are all your heart desires!
5 Commit your path to the Eternal; let Him direct you.
Put your confidence in Him, and He will follow through with you.
6 He will spread out righteousness for you
as a sunrise spreads radiance over the land;
He will deliver justice for you into the light of the high sun.
7 Be still. Be patient. Expect the Eternal to arrive and set things right.
Don’t get upset when you see the worldly ones rising up the ladder.
Don’t be bothered by those who are anchored in wicked ways.
8 So turn from anger. Don’t rage,
and don’t worry—these ways frame the doorway to evil.
9 Besides, those who act from evil motives will be cut off from the land;
but those who wait, hoping in the Eternal, will enjoy its riches.
10 You’ll see . . . the wicked won’t know what hit them;
you’ll blink, and they’ll be gone;
you’ll go out looking for them, but you won’t find them.
11 But the humble-hearted will inherit the land;
they will take pleasure in its peace and enjoy its abundance.
12 How that wicked man devises evil against God’s righteous ones!
He grits his teeth, consumed by hate for the upright.
13 But oh, how the Lord laughs at him!
He knows the wicked man will get his; the day is coming.
14 The wicked unsheathe their swords, pull taut their bows;
the poor and needy are their victims,
and evil is on the prowl to kill those with integrity, God’s beloved.
15 But their swords will bend back to pierce their own hearts—
yes, their bows will snap in two.
16 The righteous are better off with the little God blessed them with
than living under the curse of the wealth of the wicked.
17 Their time is short, their arms will be broken,
but the Eternal will hold His righteous children high.
18 All their days are measured and known by the Eternal;
their inheritance is kept safe forever.
19 When calamity comes, they will escape with their dignity.
When famine invades the nations, they will be fed to their fill.
20 But immoral ones will find their lives cut short;
they’ll vanish as quickly as wildflowers in the fields.
Yes, enemies of the Eternal will vanish
like smoke into the cool night air.
21 Evil people borrow and never repay their debts,
while the good give generously from their hearts.
22 For God’s blessed children will inherit the land,
but those cursed by Him stand to gain nothing.
23 If you are right with God, He strengthens you for the journey;
the Eternal will be pleased with your life.
24 And even though you trip up, you will not fall on your face
because He holds you by the hand.
25 Through my whole life (young and old),
I have never witnessed God forsaking those who do right,
nor have I seen their children begging for crumbs,
26 Because they are always giving and sharing;
truly, their children are a joyful blessing.
27 Walk away from evil. Do good
so you, too, will enjoy never-ending life
28 Because the Eternal cherishes justice
and will not abandon those loyal to Him.
He will guard and care for them forever,
but any child born of evil will be rooted out, cut down, and destroyed.
29 Those leading God-pleasing lives will inherit His land
and settle there forever.
30 Wisdom fills the mouth of the right-living;
justice and truth roll from their tongues.
31 The True God’s law is imprinted upon their hearts,
and they do not stumble.
32 The wicked stalk God’s good ones,
looking to kill them,
33 But the Eternal will never leave them to the dogs of evil,
nor will they be found guilty when the verdict is read.
34 Wait for the Eternal. Keep to His path. Mind His will.
He will come for you, exalt you; you will inherit the land.
Before your very eyes you will see the end of the wicked.
35 I passed by a wicked man with a cold-blooded nature;
I looked, and he seemed as large as a cedar of Lebanon.
36 But then again, I passed that same way and there was nothing left of him.
I went out looking for him, but he was nowhere to be found.
37 Keep your eye on the innocent. Model your life after the blameless.
Everyone who loves peace has a future.
38 But sinners will be doomed.
The forecast for the wicked: utter destruction.
There will be none left, not one child of darkness.
39 The Eternal saves His faithful;
He lends His strength in hard times;
40 The Eternal comes and frees them—
frees them from evildoers and saves them for eternity—
simply because they seek shelter in Him.
16 My face, red and hot, boils over in tears;
the shadow of darkness lies heavy on my eyelids,
17 No matter that my hands are free of violence,
and my prayer is pure.
18 O earth, do not conceal my blood!
And when they seek to silence my cry, refuse a place for its burial.
19 Look! Even at this very moment, my witness is there, in heaven;
my advocate is seated on high.
20 My only friends scoff at me; they persist in mocking me;
even now my eyes well up in tears to God,
21 Appealing to God as a mere man,
as a human being might for the sake of his friend.
22 Only a few years left now,
and I will go down the path from which I cannot return.
17 Job: My spirit has collapsed; my days have been blotted out;
the grave is prepared for me.
13 If I hope only to live in the land of the dead,
if I prepare for myself a bed in the darkness,
14 If I speak to my burial pit, calling it “Father,”
and to the worms in the earth, calling them “Mother” and “Sister,”
15 Then where will I find my hope?
And who will see it?
16 Will hope go with me to the place of death?
Will hope accompany me into the ground?
After Barnabas and Saul help deliver the relief fund to Jerusalem (11:29–30), the three men return to Antioch. With this trip by Saul (who will shortly be renamed Paul) back to Antioch, Luke’s emphasis for the rest of the book shifts away from Peter and the church in Jerusalem to focus on Paul and his mission to spread the good news to Jews and outsiders throughout the northern Mediterranean area.
13 The church in Antioch had grown strong, with many prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon (a dark man from Central Africa), Lucius (from Cyrene in North Africa), Manaen (a member of Herod’s governing council), and Saul. 2 Once they were engaged in a time of worship and fasting when the Holy Spirit spoke to them, “Commission Barnabas and Saul to a project I have called them to accomplish.” 3 They fasted and prayed some more, laid their hands on the two selected men, and sent them off on their new mission. 4 Having received special commissioning by the Holy Spirit, Barnabas and Saul went to nearby Seleucia on the coast. Then they caught a ship to the island of Cyprus.
5 At the city of Salamis on the east side of Cyprus, they proclaimed the message of God in Jewish synagogues, assisted by John Mark. 6-7 They went westward from town to town, finally reaching Paphos on the western shore. There the proconsul named Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man, summoned Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear their message. At his side was an occult spiritualist and Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus 8 or Elymas (which means “magician”). Elymas argued with Barnabas and Saul, trying to keep Sergius Paulus from coming to faith.
9 Saul, who is also known as Paul, was suddenly full of the Holy Spirit. He stared directly into Elymas’s face.
Paul: 10 You’re a son of the devil. You’re an enemy of justice, you’re full of lies, and you steal opportunities from others. Why do you insist on confusing and twisting the clear, straight paths of the Lord? 11 Hear this, Elymas: the Lord’s hand is against you, and you will be as blind as a bat for a period of time, beginning right now!
At that instant, it was as if a mist came over Elymas and then total darkness. He stumbled around, groping for a hand so he could be led back home. 12 When Sergius Paulus saw this happen, he came to faith and was attracted to and amazed by the teaching about the Lord.
John and many people in his community are Jews. As a son of Abraham, his criticism of certain Jewish leaders is not a criticism of a whole people. He’s not stereotyping or making generalizations. “The Jews” he remembers in this passage are a corrupt group of power brokers who conspire against Jesus with the Romans to have Him crucified and who later have John’s own followers expelled from the synagogue. Their behavior may be compared to the behavior of those Israelites condemned by Old Testament prophets. Prophets have the duty—Jeremiah said he had “a fire in his bones” (20:9)—to speak for God and condemn hypocrisy and unbelief wherever it is found, especially when it’s found close to home. That’s what John’s doing when recalling this event.
9 While walking along the road, Jesus saw a man who was blind since his birth.
Disciples: 2 Teacher, who sinned? Who is responsible for this man’s blindness? Did he commit sins that merited this punishment? If not his sins, is it the sins of his parents?
Jesus: 3 Neither. His blindness cannot be explained or traced to any particular person’s sins. He is blind so the deeds of God may be put on display. 4 While it is daytime, we must do the works of the One who sent Me. But when the sun sets and night falls, this work is impossible. 5 Whenever I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.
6 After He said these things, He spat on the ground and mixed saliva and dirt to form mud, which He smeared across the blind man’s eyes.
Jesus (to the blind man): 7 Go, wash yourself in the pool of Siloam.
Siloam means “sent,” and its name reminded us that his healing was sent by God. The man went, washed, and returned to Jesus, his eyes now alive with sight. 8 Then neighbors and others who knew him were confused to see a man so closely resembling the blind beggar running about.
Townspeople: Isn’t this the man we see every day sitting and begging in the streets?
Others: 9 This is the same man.
Still Others: This cannot be him. But this fellow bears an uncanny resemblance to the blind man.
Formerly Blind Man: I am the same man. It’s me!
Townspeople: 10 How have your lifeless eyes been opened?
Formerly Blind Man: 11 A man named Jesus approached me and made mud from the ground and applied it to my eyes. He then said to me, “Go, wash yourself in the pool of Siloam.” I went and washed, and suddenly I could see.
Townspeople: 12 Where is this man who healed you?
Formerly Blind Man: I don’t know.
13-14 The townspeople brought the formerly blind beggar to appear before the Pharisees the same day Jesus healed him, which happened to be on the Sabbath Day. 15 The Pharisees began questioning him, looking for some explanation for how he could now see.
Formerly Blind Man: He smeared mud on my eyes, and I washed; now I see.
Some Pharisees: 16 God can’t possibly be behind this man because He is breaking the rules of the Sabbath.
Other Pharisees: How can such a lawbreaking scoundrel do something like this?
The Pharisees were at odds with one another about Jesus and could not agree whether His power came from God or the devil.
Pharisees (to the formerly blind man): 17 What do you say about this man, about the fact He opened your eyes so you could see?
Formerly Blind Man: I have no doubt—this man is a prophet.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.