Book of Common Prayer
Security of Those Who Trust in the Lord, and Insecurity of the Wicked.
A Psalm of David.
37 (A)Do not fret because of evildoers,
Be not (B)envious toward wrongdoers.
2 For they will (C)wither quickly like the grass
And (D)fade like the green herb.
3 (E)Trust in the Lord and do good;
(F)Dwell in the land and [a](G)cultivate faithfulness.
4 (H)Delight yourself in the Lord;
And He will (I)give you the desires of your heart.
5 (J)Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him, and He will do it.
6 He will bring forth (K)your righteousness as the light
And your judgment (L)as the noonday.
7 [b]Rest in the Lord and (M)wait [c]patiently for Him;
(N)Do not fret because of him who (O)prospers in his way,
Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.
8 Cease from anger and (P)forsake wrath;
Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing.
9 For (Q)evildoers will be cut off,
But those who wait for the Lord, they will (R)inherit the land.
10 Yet (S)a little while and the wicked man will be no more;
And you will look carefully for (T)his place and he will not be there.
11 But (U)the humble will inherit the land
And will delight themselves in (V)abundant prosperity.
12 The wicked (W)plots against the righteous
And (X)gnashes at him with his teeth.
13 The Lord (Y)laughs at him,
For He sees (Z)his day is coming.
14 The wicked have drawn the sword and (AA)bent their bow
To cast down the (AB)afflicted and the needy,
To (AC)slay those who are upright in conduct.
15 Their sword will enter their own heart,
And their (AD)bows will be broken.
16 (AE)Better is the little of the righteous
Than the abundance of many wicked.
17 For the (AF)arms of the wicked will be broken,
But the Lord (AG)sustains the righteous.
18 The Lord (AH)knows the days of the [d]blameless,
And their (AI)inheritance will be forever.
19 They will not be ashamed in the time of evil,
And (AJ)in the days of famine they will have abundance.
20 But the (AK)wicked will perish;
And the enemies of the Lord will be like the [e]glory of the pastures,
They vanish—(AL)like smoke they vanish away.
21 The wicked borrows and does not pay back,
But the righteous (AM)is gracious and gives.
22 For (AN)those blessed by Him will (AO)inherit the land,
But those (AP)cursed by Him will be cut off.
23 (AQ)The steps of a man are established by the Lord,
And He (AR)delights in his way.
24 When (AS)he falls, he will not be hurled headlong,
Because (AT)the Lord is the One [f]who holds his hand.
25 I have been young and now I am old,
Yet (AU)I have not seen the righteous forsaken
Or (AV)his [g]descendants begging bread.
26 All day long (AW)he is gracious and lends,
And (AX)his [h]descendants are a blessing.
27 (AY)Depart from evil and do good,
[i]So you will abide (AZ)forever.
28 For the Lord (BA)loves [j]justice
And (BB)does not forsake His godly ones;
They are (BC)preserved forever,
But the [k](BD)descendants of the wicked will be cut off.
29 The righteous will (BE)inherit the land
And (BF)dwell in it forever.
30 The mouth of the righteous (BG)utters wisdom,
And his tongue (BH)speaks justice.
31 The (BI)law of his God is in his heart;
His (BJ)steps do not slip.
32 The (BK)wicked spies upon the righteous
And (BL)seeks to kill him.
33 The Lord will (BM)not leave him in his hand
Or (BN)let him be condemned when he is judged.
34 (BO)Wait for the Lord and keep His way,
And He will exalt you to inherit the land;
When the (BP)wicked are cut off, you will see it.
35 I have (BQ)seen a wicked, violent man
Spreading himself like a (BR)luxuriant [l]tree in its native soil.
36 Then [m]he passed away, and lo, he (BS)was no more;
I sought for him, but he could not be found.
37 Mark the [n](BT)blameless man, and behold the (BU)upright;
For the man of peace will have a [o](BV)posterity.
38 But transgressors will be altogether (BW)destroyed;
The [p]posterity of the wicked will be (BX)cut off.
39 But the (BY)salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;
He is their strength (BZ)in time of trouble.
40 (CA)The Lord helps them and delivers them;
He (CB)delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
Because they (CC)take refuge in Him.
Daniel Interprets Handwriting on the Wall
13 Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king spoke and said to Daniel, “Are you that Daniel who is one of the [a](A)exiles from Judah, whom my father the king (B)brought from Judah? 14 Now I have heard about you that [b]a spirit of the gods is in you, and that illumination, insight and extraordinary wisdom have been found in you. 15 Just now the (C)wise men and the conjurers were brought in before me that they might read this inscription and make its interpretation known to me, but they (D)could not declare the interpretation of the [c]message. 16 But I personally have heard about you, that you are able to give interpretations and solve difficult problems. Now if you are able to read the inscription and make its (E)interpretation known to me, you will be (F)clothed with purple and wear a necklace of gold around your neck, and you will have authority as the [d]third ruler in the kingdom.”
17 Then Daniel answered and said before the king, “[e]Keep your (G)gifts for yourself or give your rewards to someone else; however, I will read the inscription to the king and make the interpretation known to him. 18 [f]O king, the (H)Most High God (I)granted [g]sovereignty, (J)grandeur, glory and majesty to Nebuchadnezzar your father. 19 Because of the grandeur which He bestowed on him, all the peoples, nations and men of every [h]language feared and trembled before him; (K)whomever he wished he killed and whomever he wished he spared alive; and whomever he wished he elevated and whomever he wished he humbled. 20 But when his heart was (L)lifted up and his spirit became so [i](M)proud that he behaved arrogantly, he was (N)deposed from his royal throne and his glory was taken away from him. 21 He was also (O)driven away from [j]mankind, and his heart was made like that of beasts, and his dwelling place was with the (P)wild donkeys. He was given grass to eat like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until he recognized that the (Q)Most High God is ruler over the realm of mankind and that He sets over it whomever He wishes. 22 Yet you, his [k]son, Belshazzar, have (R)not humbled your heart, [l]even though you knew all this, 23 but you have (S)exalted yourself against the (T)Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines have been drinking wine from them; and you have praised the (U)gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which do not see, hear or understand. But the God (V)in whose hand are your life-breath and all your (W)ways, you have not glorified. 24 Then the [m](X)hand was sent from Him and this inscription was written out.
25 “Now this is the inscription that was written out: ‘[n]MENĒ, [o]MENĒ, [p]TEKĒL, [q]UPHARSIN.’ 26 This is the interpretation of the [r]message: ‘MENĒ’—God has numbered your kingdom and (Y)put an end to it. 27 ‘TEKĒL’—you have been (Z)weighed on the scales and found deficient. 28 ‘PERĒS’—your kingdom has been divided and given over to the (AA)Medes and [s]Persians.”
29 Then Belshazzar gave orders, and they (AB)clothed Daniel with purple and put a necklace of gold around his neck, and issued a proclamation concerning him that he now had authority as the [t]third ruler in the kingdom.
30 That same night (AC)Belshazzar the Chaldean king was (AD)slain.
This Is Written That You May Know
13 (A)These things I have written to you who (B)believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have (C)eternal life. 14 This is (D)the confidence which we have [a]before Him, that, (E)if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, (F)we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.
16 If anyone sees his brother [b]committing a sin not leading to death, (G)he shall ask and [c]God will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. (H)There is a sin leading to death; (I)I do not say that he should make request for this. 17 (J)All unrighteousness is sin, and (K)there is a sin not leading to death.
18 (L)We know that (M)no one who is [d]born of God sins; but He who was [e]born of God (N)keeps him, and (O)the evil one does not (P)touch him. 19 (Q)We know that (R)we are of God, and that (S)the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. 20 And (T)we know that (U)the Son of God has come, and has (V)given us understanding so that we may know (W)Him who is true; and we (X)are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. (Y)This is the true God and (Z)eternal life.
The First Disciples
5 (A)Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around Him and listening to the word of God, He was standing by (B)the lake of Gennesaret; 2 and He saw two boats lying at the edge of the lake; but the fishermen had gotten out of them and were washing their nets. 3 And (C)He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little way from the land. And He sat down and began teaching the [a]people from the boat. 4 When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and (D)let down your nets for a catch.” 5 Simon answered and said, “(E)Master, (F)we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but [b]I will do as You say and let down the nets.” 6 When they had done this, (G)they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break; 7 so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ [c]feet, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!” 9 For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken; 10 and so also were [d]James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “(H)Do not fear, from now on you will be (I)catching men.” 11 When they had brought their boats to land, (J)they left everything and followed Him.
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