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.
14 So when the people set out from their tents to cross the Jordan with the priests carrying (A)the ark of the covenant before the people, 15 and when those who carried the ark came into the Jordan, and the feet of the priests carrying the ark were dipped in the edge of the water (for the (B)Jordan overflows all its banks all the days of harvest), 16 (C)the waters which were [a]flowing down from above stood and rose up in (D)one heap, a great distance away at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan; and those which were [b]flowing down toward the sea of the (E)Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. So the people crossed opposite Jericho. 17 And the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm (F)on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground, until all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan.
Memorial Stones from Jordan
4 Now when all the nation had finished crossing the (G)Jordan, the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying, 2 “(H)Take for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from each tribe, 3 and command them, saying, ‘Take up for yourselves twelve stones from here out of the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet are standing firm, and carry them over with you and lay them down in (I)the lodging place where you will lodge tonight.’” 4 So Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the sons of Israel, one man from each tribe; 5 and Joshua said to them, “[c]Cross again to the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel. 6 [d]Let this be a sign among you, so that (J)when your children ask [e]later, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ 7 then you shall say to them, ‘Because the (K)waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.’ So these stones shall become a (L)memorial to the sons of Israel forever.”
Dedicated Service
12 Therefore (A)I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to (B)present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, [a]acceptable to God, which is your [b]spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not (C)be conformed to (D)this [c]world, but be transformed by the (E)renewing of your mind, so that you may [d](F)prove what the will of God is, that which is good and [e]acceptable and perfect.
3 For through (G)the grace given to me I say to everyone among you (H)not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to (I)each a measure of faith. 4 For (J)just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, 5 so we, (K)who are many, are (L)one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Since we have gifts that (M)differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly: if (N)prophecy, [f]according to the proportion of his faith; 7 if [g](O)service, in his serving; or he who (P)teaches, in his teaching; 8 or he who (Q)exhorts, in his exhortation; he who gives, with [h](R)liberality; (S)he who [i]leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with (T)cheerfulness.
The Plot to Kill Jesus
26 (A)When Jesus had finished all these words, He said to His disciples, 2 “(B)You know that after two days (C)the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man is to be (D)handed over for crucifixion.”
3 (E)Then the chief priests and the elders of the people were gathered together in (F)the court of the high priest, named (G)Caiaphas; 4 and they (H)plotted together to seize Jesus by stealth and kill Him. 5 But they were saying, “Not during the festival, (I)otherwise a riot might occur among the people.”
The Precious Ointment
6 (J)Now when Jesus was in (K)Bethany, at the home of Simon the leper, 7 (L)a woman came to Him with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume, and she poured it on His head as He reclined at the table. 8 But the disciples were indignant when they saw this, and said, “Why this waste? 9 For this perfume might have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor.” 10 But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you bother the woman? For she has done a good deed to Me. 11 For you always have (M)the poor with you; but you do not always have Me. 12 For when she poured this perfume on My body, she did it (N)to prepare Me for burial. 13 Truly I say to you, (O)wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.”
Judas’s Bargain
14 (P)Then one of the twelve, named (Q)Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, “What are you willing to give me [a]to [b](R)betray Him to you?” And (S)they weighed out thirty [c]pieces of silver to him. 16 From then on he began looking for a good opportunity to [d]betray [e]Jesus.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.