Book of Common Prayer
By David.
37 Do not be preoccupied with evildoers.
Do not envy those who do wicked things.
2 They will quickly dry up like grass
and wither away like green plants.
3 Trust the Lord, and do good things.
Live in the land, and practice being faithful.
4 Be happy with the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Entrust your ways to the Lord.
Trust him, and he will act ⌞on your behalf⌟.
6 He will make your righteousness shine like a light,
your just cause like the noonday sun.
7 Surrender yourself to the Lord, and wait patiently for him.
Do not be preoccupied with ⌞an evildoer⌟ who succeeds in his way
when he carries out his schemes.
8 Let go of anger, and leave rage behind.
Do not be preoccupied.
It only leads to evil.
9 Evildoers will be cut off ⌞from their inheritance⌟,
but those who wait with hope for the Lord will inherit the land.
10 In a little while a wicked person will vanish.
Then you can carefully examine where he was,
but there will be no trace of him.
11 Oppressed people will inherit the land
and will enjoy unlimited peace.
12 The wicked person plots against a righteous one
and grits his teeth at him.
13 The Lord laughs at him
because he has seen that his time is coming.
14 Wicked people pull out their swords and bend their bows
to kill oppressed and needy people,
to slaughter those who are decent.
15 ⌞But⌟ their own swords will pierce their hearts,
and their bows will be broken.
16 The little that the righteous person has is better
than the wealth of many wicked people.
17 The arms of wicked people will be broken,
but the Lord continues to support righteous people.
18 The Lord knows the daily ⌞struggles⌟ of innocent people.
Their inheritance will last forever.
19 They will not be put to shame in trying times.
Even in times of famine they will be satisfied.
20 But wicked people will disappear.
The Lord’s enemies will vanish like the best part of a meadow.
They will vanish like smoke.
21 A wicked person borrows, but he does not repay.
A righteous person is generous and giving.
22 Those who are blessed by him will inherit the land.
Those who are cursed by him will be cut off.
23 A person’s steps are directed by the Lord,
and the Lord delights in his way.
24 When he falls, he will not be thrown down headfirst
because the Lord holds on to his hand.
25 I have been young, and now I am old,
but I have never seen a righteous person abandoned
or his descendants begging for food.
26 He is always generous and lends freely.
His descendants are a blessing.
27 Avoid evil, do good, and live forever.
28 The Lord loves justice,
and he will not abandon his godly ones.
They will be kept safe forever,
but the descendants of wicked people will be cut off.
29 Righteous people will inherit the land
and live there permanently.
30 The mouth of the righteous person reflects on wisdom.
His tongue speaks what is fair.
31 The teachings of his God are in his heart.
His feet do not slip.
32 The wicked person watches the righteous person
and seeks to kill him.
33 But the Lord will not abandon him to the wicked person’s power
or condemn him when he is brought to trial.
34 Wait with hope for the Lord, and follow his path,
and he will honor you by giving you the land.
When wicked people are cut off, you will see it.
35 I have seen a wicked person ⌞acting like⌟ a tyrant,
spreading himself out like a large cedar tree.
36 But he moved on, and now there is no trace of him.
I searched for him, but he could not be found.
37 Notice the innocent person,
and look at the decent person,
because the peacemaker has a future.
38 But rebels will be completely destroyed.
The future of wicked people will be cut off.
39 The victory for righteous people comes from the Lord.
He is their fortress in times of trouble.
40 The Lord helps them and rescues them.
He rescues them from wicked people.
He saves them because they have taken refuge in him.
16 My face is red from crying,
and dark shadows encircle my eyes,
17 although my hands have done nothing violent,
and my prayer is sincere.
Job Appeals His Case to Heaven
18 “Earth, don’t cover my blood.
Don’t ever let my cry ⌞for justice⌟ be stopped.
19 Even now, look! My witness is in heaven,
and the one who testifies for me is above,
20 the spokesman for my thoughts.[a]
My eyes drip ⌞with tears⌟ to God
22 because in a few short years I will take the path of no return.[b]
21 But my witness will plead for a human in front of God.
The Son of Man will plead for his friend!
Job Pleads with God to Declare Him Honest
17 “My spirit is broken.
My days have been snuffed out.
The cemetery ⌞is waiting⌟ for me.
13 If I look for the grave as my home
and make my bed in the darkness,
14 if I say to the pit, ‘You are my father,’
and to the worm, ‘You are my mother and sister,’
15 then where is my hope?
Can you see any hope left in me?
16 Will hope go down with me to the gates of the grave?
Will my hope rest with me in the dust?”
13 Barnabas, Simeon (called the Black), Lucius (from Cyrene), Manaen (a close friend of Herod since childhood), and Saul were prophets and teachers in the church in Antioch.
2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set Barnabas and Saul apart for me. I want them to do the work for which I called them.” 3 After fasting and praying, Simeon, Lucius, and Manaen placed their hands on Barnabas and Saul, and released them ⌞from their work in Antioch⌟.
4 After Barnabas and Saul were sent by the Holy Spirit, they went to the city of Seleucia and from there sailed to the island of Cyprus. 5 Arriving in the city of Salamis, they began to spread God’s word in the synagogues. John Mark had gone along to help them. 6 They went through the whole island as far as the city of Paphos.
In Paphos they met a Jewish man named Barjesus. He was an astrologer who claimed to be a prophet. 7 He was associated with an intelligent man, Sergius Paulus, who was the governor of the island. The governor sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear God’s word. 8 Elymas, whose name means astrologer, opposed them and tried to distort the meaning of the faith so that the governor wouldn’t believe.
9 But Saul, also known as Paul, was filled with the Holy Spirit. He stared at Elymas 10 and said, “You are full of dirty tricks and schemes, you son of the devil! You hate everything that has God’s approval. Quit trying to distort the truth about the way the Lord wants people to live. 11 The Lord is against you now. For a while you will be blind, unable to see the light of day.”
Suddenly, Elymas couldn’t see a thing. He tried to find people to lead him. 12 When the governor saw what had happened, he believed. The Lord’s teachings amazed him.
Jesus Gives Sight to a Blind Man
9 As Jesus walked along, he saw a man who had been born blind. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, why was this man born blind? Did he or his parents sin?”
3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned. Instead, he was born blind so that God could show what he can do for him. 4 We must do what the one who sent me wants us to do while it is day. The night when no one can do anything is coming. 5 As long as I’m in the world, I’m light for the world.”
6 After Jesus said this, he spit on the ground and mixed the spit with dirt. Then he smeared it on the man’s eyes 7 and told him, “Wash it off in the pool of Siloam.” (Siloam means “sent.”) The blind man washed it off and returned. He was able to see.
8 His neighbors and those who had previously seen him begging asked, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?”
9 Some of them said, “He’s the one.” Others said, “No, he isn’t, but he looks like him.” But the man himself said, “I am the one.”
10 So they asked him, “How did you receive your sight?”
11 He replied, “The man people call Jesus mixed some spit with dirt, smeared it on my eyes, and told me, ‘Go to Siloam, and wash it off.’ So I went there, washed it off, and received my sight.”
12 They asked him, “Where is that man?”
The man answered, “I don’t know.”
13 Some people brought the man who had been blind to the Pharisees. 14 The day when Jesus mixed the spit and dirt and gave the man sight was a day of rest—a holy day. 15 So the Pharisees asked the man again how he received his sight.
The man told the Pharisees, “He put a mixture of spit and dirt on my eyes. I washed it off, and now I can see.”
16 Some of the Pharisees said, “The man who did this is not from God because he doesn’t follow the traditions for the day of rest—a holy day.” Other Pharisees asked, “How can a man who is a sinner perform miracles like these?” So the Pharisees were divided in their opinions.
17 They asked the man who had been born blind another question: “What do you say about the man who gave you sight?”
The man answered, “He’s a prophet.”
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