Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 37
Instruction in Wisdom
Davidic.
1 Do[a] not be agitated by evildoers;
do not envy those who do wrong.(A)
2 For they wither quickly like grass
and wilt like tender green plants.(B)
3 Trust in the Lord and do what is good;(C)
dwell in the land and live securely.[b](D)
4 Take delight in the Lord,
and He will give you your heart’s desires.(E)
5 Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in Him, and He will act,(F)
6 making your righteousness shine like the dawn,
your justice like the noonday.(G)
7 Be silent before the Lord and wait expectantly for Him;(H)
do not be agitated by one who prospers in his way,
by the man who carries out evil plans.(I)
8 Refrain from anger and give up your rage;
do not be agitated—it can only bring harm.(J)
9 For evildoers will be destroyed,
but those who put their hope in the Lord
will inherit the land.[c](K)
10 A little while, and the wicked person will be no more;
though you look for him, he will not be there.(L)
11 But the humble will inherit the land[d](M)
and will enjoy abundant prosperity.(N)
12 The wicked person schemes against the righteous
and gnashes his teeth at him.(O)
13 The Lord laughs at him(P)
because He sees that his day is coming.(Q)
14 The wicked have drawn the sword and strung the[e] bow
to bring down the afflicted and needy
and to slaughter those whose way is upright.(R)
15 Their swords will enter their own hearts,
and their bows will be broken.(S)
16 The little that the righteous man has is better
than the abundance of many wicked people.(T)
17 For the arms[f] of the wicked will be broken,(U)
but the Lord supports the righteous.(V)
18 The Lord watches over the blameless all their days,
and their inheritance will last forever.(W)
19 They will not be disgraced in times of adversity;
they will be satisfied in days of hunger.(X)
20 But the wicked will perish;
the Lord’s enemies, like the glory of the pastures,
will fade away—
they will fade away like smoke.(Y)
21 The wicked man borrows and does not repay,
but the righteous one is gracious and giving.(Z)
22 Those who are blessed by Him will inherit the land,[g]
but those cursed by Him will be destroyed.(AA)
23 A man’s steps are established by the Lord,
and He takes pleasure in his way.(AB)
24 Though he falls, he will not be overwhelmed,
because the Lord holds his hand.[h](AC)
25 I have been young and now I am old,
yet I have not seen the righteous abandoned
or his children begging for bread.(AD)
26 He is always generous, always lending,
and his children are a blessing.(AE)
27 Turn away from evil and do what is good,
and dwell there[i] forever.(AF)
28 For the Lord loves justice
and will not abandon His faithful ones.(AG)
They are kept safe forever,
but the children of the wicked will be destroyed.(AH)
29 The righteous will inherit the land[j]
and dwell in it permanently.(AI)
30 The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom;
his tongue speaks what is just.(AJ)
31 The instruction of his God is in his heart;
his steps do not falter.(AK)
32 The wicked one lies in wait for the righteous
and seeks to kill him;(AL)
33 the Lord will not leave him
in the power of the wicked one
or allow him to be condemned when he is judged.(AM)
34 Wait for the Lord and keep His way,
and He will exalt you to inherit the land.
You will watch when the wicked are destroyed.(AN)
35 I have seen a wicked, violent man
well-rooted[k] like a flourishing native tree.(AO)
36 Then I passed by and[l] noticed he was gone;
I searched for him, but he could not be found.(AP)
Daniel before the King
13 Then Daniel was brought before the king. The king said to him, “Are you Daniel, one of the Judean exiles that my predecessor the king brought from Judah?(A) 14 I’ve heard that you have the spirit of the gods in you, and that you have insight, intelligence, and extraordinary wisdom. 15 Now the wise men and mediums were brought before me to read this inscription and make its interpretation known to me, but they could not give its interpretation. 16 However, I have heard about you that you can give interpretations and solve problems. Therefore, if you can read this inscription and give me its interpretation, you will be clothed in purple, have a gold chain around your neck, and have the third highest position in the kingdom.”(B)
17 Then Daniel answered the king, “You may keep your gifts, and give your rewards to someone else;(C) however, I will read the inscription for the king and make the interpretation known to him. 18 Your Majesty, the Most High God gave sovereignty,(D) greatness, glory, and majesty to your predecessor Nebuchadnezzar.(E) 19 Because of the greatness He gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages(F) were terrified and fearful of him. He killed anyone he wanted and kept alive anyone he wanted; he exalted anyone he wanted and humbled anyone he wanted. 20 But when his heart was exalted and his spirit became arrogant,(G) he was deposed from his royal throne and his glory was taken from him.(H) 21 He was driven away from people,(I) his mind was like an animal’s, he lived with the wild donkeys,(J) he was fed grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with dew from the sky until he acknowledged that the Most High God is ruler over the kingdom of men and sets anyone He wants over it.(K)
22 “But you his successor, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart,(L) even though you knew all this. 23 Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. The vessels from His house were brought to you, and as you and your nobles, wives, and concubines drank wine from them,(M) you praised the gods made of silver and gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or understand.(N) But you have not glorified the God who holds your life-breath in His hand and who controls the whole course of your life.[a] 24 Therefore, He sent the hand, and this writing was inscribed.
The Inscription’s Interpretation
25 “This is the writing that was inscribed:
MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN.
26 This is the interpretation of the message:
MENE[b] means that God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end.
27 TEKEL[c] means that you have been weighed in the balance and found deficient.
28 PERES[d][e] means that your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”
29 Then Belshazzar gave an order, and they clothed Daniel in purple, placed a gold chain around his neck,(O) and issued a proclamation concerning him that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.
30 That very night Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans was killed,
13 I have written these things to you who believe in the name(A) of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.
Effective Prayer
14 Now this is the confidence we have before Him: Whenever we ask(B) anything according to His will, He hears us.(C) 15 And if we know that He hears whatever we ask,(D) we know that we have what we have asked Him for.(E)
16 If anyone sees his brother committing a sin that does not bring death, he should ask, and God[a] will give life to him—to those who commit sin that doesn’t bring death. There is sin[b] that brings death. I am not saying he should pray about that. 17 All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin that does not bring death.
Conclusion
18 We know that everyone who has been born of God does not sin, but the One[c] who is born of God keeps him,[d][e](F) and the evil one does not touch him.
19 We know that we are of God, and the whole world is under the sway of the evil one.
20 And we know that the Son of God has come(G) and has given us understanding so that we may know the true One.[f] We are in the true One—that is, in His Son Jesus Christ.(H) He is the true God and eternal life.
21 Little children, guard yourselves from idols.
The First Disciples
5 As the crowd was pressing in on Jesus to hear God’s word,(A) He was standing by Lake Gennesaret.[a](B) 2 He saw two boats at the edge of the lake;[b] the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats,(C) which belonged to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from the land. Then He sat down and was teaching the crowds from the boat.
4 When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and let down[c] your nets for a catch.”(D)
5 “Master,”(E) Simon replied, “we’ve worked hard all night long and caught nothing! But at Your word, I’ll let down the nets.”[d]
6 When they did this, they caught a great number of fish, and their nets[e] began to tear. 7 So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them; they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.
8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, because I’m a sinful man, Lord!” 9 For he and all those with him were amazed[f] at the catch of fish they took, 10 and so were James and John, Zebedee’s sons, who were Simon’s partners.
“Don’t be afraid,”(F) Jesus told Simon. “From now on you will be catching people!”(G) 11 Then they brought the boats to land, left everything, and followed Him.(H)
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.