Book of Common Prayer
David wrote this song.
Trust the Lord[a]
37 Do not become upset
because of what wicked people do.
Do not be jealous of people that do bad things.
2 Remember that they are soon gone!
They are like grass that quickly becomes dry.
They will soon die like green plants in hot weather.
3 Trust in the Lord and do good things.
Then you will live safely in the land.
4 Be happy that the Lord is your friend.
He will give you what you most want.
5 Let the Lord be your guide into the future.
Trust in him and he will help you.
6 He will show everyone that you are righteous.
People will know that you are a good person,
as clearly as the sun shines at noon.
7 Be patient as you wait for the Lord to help you.
Trust him to bring help.
Do not become upset when bad people seem to do well,
when their wicked ideas really happen.
8 Do not become angry or upset!
It will only bring trouble for you.
9 Wicked people will disappear one day!
But people who trust the Lord for help
will live safely in the land that he has given to them.
10 Evil people will soon be gone.
You may look for them,
but you will not find them.
11 Humble people will live safely in the land.
They will live in peace and they will enjoy good things.
12 Wicked people think about how to hurt righteous people.
They show their teeth to frighten good people.
13 But my Lord laughs at those wicked people,
because he knows that their day of punishment will come.
14 Wicked people get out their swords,
and they prepare to shoot their arrows.
They try to make poor and helpless people fall down.
They try to destroy people who do what is right.
15 But their swords will go into their own hearts.
Their bows will break in pieces.
16 It is better to do what is right and only have a few things,
than to be wicked and have many things.
17 The Lord keeps righteous people safe,
but he will destroy the power of wicked people.
18 If anyone lives a completely good life,
the Lord takes care of them.
His gifts to them will last for ever.
19 When times of trouble come,
they will still be safe.
In a time of famine,
they will have enough to eat.
20 But wicked people will die.
They are the Lord's enemies.
They will disappear like smoke from a fire that burns them up.
21 If you lend money to a wicked person,
he will not give it back to you.
But righteous people are kind to others
and they give things freely.
22 Yes, people that the Lord blesses
will live safely in the land.
But people that he has cursed
will disappear.
23 If the way that somebody lives pleases the Lord,
the Lord will lead him into good things.
24 Even if that person trips, he will not fall.
The Lord will hold his hand.
25 I was young once and now I am old.
But in all my life, I have never seen any good man that God has left alone.
I have not seen his children so hungry
that they ask people for food.
26 Good people are always kind.
They lend things to other people.
Their children also bring God's blessing.
27 Turn away from evil things!
Do what is right!
Then you will live safely in the land for ever.
28 The Lord loves justice.
He will never leave those who serve him.
He will take care of them for ever,
but he will remove the children of wicked people.
29 God's righteous people will take the land for themselves.
They will live there for ever.
30 Righteous people speak wise words.
What they say brings justice.
31 They think about God's Law all the time,
so that they do not make mistakes.
32 Evil people wait for a chance to kill righteous people.
33 But the Lord will not leave his righteous people,
so that their enemies have power over them.
When evil people accuse them,
the Lord will show that they are not guilty.
34 Be patient and continue to trust the Lord.
Obey his commands.
Then he will give you honour,
so that you live safely in the land.
You will see that the Lord destroys wicked people.
35 I have seen cruel, wicked people become very powerful,
like trees that grow well in good soil.
36 But soon after that,
I see that they have disappeared!
I looked for them,
but I could not find them anywhere.
37 Think about people who are honest
and who do what is right.
Those who help people to live in peace
will live to enjoy their children.
38 But God will destroy people that turn against him.
Evil people will not have descendants.
39 The Lord will make righteous people safe.
He will take care of them in times of trouble.
40 The Lord helps them.
He saves them from wicked people.
He keeps them safe
because they turn to him for help.
Belshazzar asks Daniel to explain the message
13 So they brought Daniel to stand in front of the king. The king said to him, ‘Are you one of the men that my father, the king, brought here from Judah? Is your name Daniel? 14 I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you. You are very wise and clever. I have heard that you understand many things. 15 I told my wise men and enchanters to read these words. I asked them to tell me what the words mean. But they could not explain the message to me. 16 I have heard that you can tell people what their dreams mean. And I have heard that you can find the answer to difficult problems. So can you read these words? Can you tell me what they mean? If you can do that, then I will put valuable purple clothes on you. You will have a gold chain around your neck. You will become the third ruler in the kingdom.’
Daniel warns the king
17 Then Daniel answered the king, ‘You can keep your gifts for yourself. You can make someone else important. But I will read the words for the king, and I will tell him what they mean. 18 I tell you this, King Belshazzar. The powerful God who rules over everything gave authority to your father, Nebuchadnezzar, to rule as king. God made him very great and very famous, so that he ruled with power. People respected him as a great king. 19 Because God made him so great, the people in every nation, who spoke every language, were very afraid of him. If he wanted to kill someone, he could kill them. And if he wanted to save someone, he could let them live. If he wanted to make someone important, he did that. And if he wanted to make someone poor, he did that too. 20 But he became very proud and he boasted about his power. So God took away his kingdom. People did not respect him any longer as king. 21 They chased him away from his home. His mind became like an animal's mind. He lived with the wild donkeys. He ate grass like cows do. Dew from the sky made his body wet. He lived in that way until he understood that the powerful God above rules over human kingdoms. God gives authority to rule to anyone that he chooses.
22 King Belshazzar, you are Nebuchadnezzar's son, and you knew all that. But you did not become humble. 23 You thought that you were greater than the Lord of heaven. So you told your servants to bring the valuable cups that belong to God's temple. You yourself, your wives, your other women and your important friends drank wine from those cups. You praised your gods that were made from silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood and stone. Those are idols that cannot see or hear. They cannot understand anything. But you worshipped them instead of the true God. He is the God who gives life to you. He has power over everything that you do. 24 Because of that, God sent the hand that wrote this message.
25 These are the words:
Mene, Mene, Tekel and Parsin.
26 This is what the words mean:
Mene means “counted”. It shows that God has counted the days of your kingdom. Now these days are finished. Your kingdom has come to an end.
27 Tekel means “weighed”. It shows that God has weighed you. But the scales show that you are too light.
28 Peres means “separate”.[a] It shows that God has cut your kingdom into two separate parts. He has given it to the people from Media and Persia.’
29 When Belshazzar heard that, he caused his servants to put purple clothes on Daniel. They put a gold chain round his neck to show that he was an important person. The king told everyone that Daniel had become the third ruler in the kingdom.
30 That same night, Belshazzar, the king of the Babylonians, died. His enemies killed him.
Christians have true life with God
13 I have written these things to you who believe that Jesus is the Son of God. I want you to know that you have true life with God for ever. 14 Also, we can trust God to help us when we turn to him. We know that he will hear us. When we ask for anything that he wants us to have, he listens to us. 15 Since we know that, we also know that God will give to us the things that we ask for. It is like we have already received those things from him.
16 If you see that another Christian is doing something bad, this is what you should do. If it is a sin that does not cause death, pray that God will help him. Then God will help that person to live for ever with him. That is for a sin which does not cause death. But there is a sin that causes death. If another Christian does that, I am not saying that you should pray for God to help that person. 17 Any wrong thing that a person does is sin. But not all sins cause death.[a]
18 Nobody who has become a child of God continues to do wrong things. Instead, the Son of God keeps him safe.[b] Satan cannot do anything against a child of God. 19 We know that we belong to God. We know that Satan rules all the people who belong to this world. 20 We also know that the Son of God has come into the world. He has helped us to understand what is true. As a result, we know the only true God. We live together with this true God, because we belong to his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the true God. He is the one who gives us life with God for ever.
21 My little children, be careful to keep away from idols.[c]
Jesus asks some men to go with him
5 One day, Jesus was standing on the shore of Lake Gennesaret.[a] A crowd was pushing to get near to him. They were listening to him. He was speaking God's message to them.
2 Jesus saw two fishing boats at the edge of the lake. The fishermen had left the boats there and they were now washing their nets.[b]
3 One of the boats belonged to Simon. Jesus climbed into it. He asked Simon to push it away from the shore. Jesus sat in the boat and he started to teach the people.[c]
4 When Jesus had finished teaching, he said to Simon, ‘Now take the boat out into deep water. Then put the nets into the water to catch some fish.’
5 Simon replied, ‘Teacher, we worked all last night and we did not catch anything. But because you say it, I will put the nets into the water again.’ 6 So they went in their boats and they put the nets down into the water. When they did that, they caught many fish. There were so many fish that the nets began to break. 7 So they made signs to the fishermen in the other boat. They told the other fishermen to come and help. So the other men came in their boat. They filled both boats with the fish. There were so many fish that the boats began to go down under the water. 8 When Simon saw all the fish, he went down on his knees in front of Jesus. ‘Sir,’ he said, ‘I am a bad man. So please go away from me.’[d]
9 Simon and his friends were very surprised. They were all surprised because they had caught so many fish. 10 Zebedee's sons, James and John, were fishermen who worked with Simon. They were also surprised. Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid. You have been catching fish. From now on you will catch people!’[e]
11 After that, they went and they pulled their boats up on the shore. Then they left everything behind and they went with Jesus.
EasyEnglish Bible Copyright © MissionAssist 2019 - Charitable Incorporated Organisation 1162807. Used by permission. All rights reserved.