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.
Cyrus’s Proclamation
1 (A)Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he (B)sent a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying:
2 “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and (C)He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 3 Whoever there is among you of all His people, may his God be with him! Let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel; (D)He is the God who is in Jerusalem. 4 Every survivor, at whatever place he may [a]live, let the men of [b]that place support him with silver and gold, with goods and cattle, together with a freewill offering for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.’”
Holy Vessels Restored
5 Then the heads of fathers’ households of Judah and Benjamin and the priests and the Levites arose, (E)even everyone whose spirit God had stirred to go up and rebuild the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem. 6 All those about them [c](F)encouraged them with articles of silver, with gold, with goods, with cattle and with valuables, aside from all that was given as a freewill offering. 7 (G)Also King Cyrus brought out the articles of the house of the Lord, (H)which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and put in the house of his gods; 8 and Cyrus, king of Persia, had them brought out by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and he counted them out to (I)Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah. 9 Now this was their number: 30 (J)gold dishes, 1,000 silver dishes, 29 [d]duplicates; 10 30 gold bowls, 410 silver bowls of a second kind and 1,000 other articles. 11 All the articles of gold and silver numbered 5,400. Sheshbazzar brought them all up with the exiles who went up from Babylon to Jerusalem.
Instructions and Greetings
16 Now concerning (A)the collection for (B)the saints, as (C)I directed the churches of (D)Galatia, so do you also. 2 On (E)the first day of every week each one of you is to [a]put aside and save, as he may prosper, so that (F)no collections be made when I come. 3 When I arrive, (G)whomever you may approve, I will send them with letters to carry your gift to Jerusalem; 4 and if it is fitting for me to go also, they will go with me.
5 But I (H)will come to you after I go through (I)Macedonia, for I (J)am going through Macedonia; 6 and perhaps I will stay with you, or even spend the winter, so that you may (K)send me on my way wherever I may go. 7 For I do not wish to see you now (L)just in passing; for I hope to remain with you for some time, (M)if the Lord permits. 8 But I will remain in (N)Ephesus until (O)Pentecost; 9 for a (P)wide door [b]for effective service has opened to me, and (Q)there are many adversaries.
15 But Jesus, [a]aware of this, withdrew from there. Many followed Him, and (A)He healed them all, 16 and (B)warned them not to [b]tell who He was. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet:
18 “(C)Behold, My [c]Servant whom I [d]have chosen;
(D)My Beloved in whom My soul [e]is well-pleased;
(E)I will put My Spirit upon Him,
(F)And He shall proclaim [f]justice to the [g]Gentiles.
19 “(G)He will not quarrel, nor cry out;
Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.
20 “(H)A battered reed He will not break off,
And a smoldering wick He will not put out,
Until He [h]leads [i]justice to victory.
21 “(I)And in His name the [j]Gentiles will hope.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.