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.
16 I have cried so much that my face is red.
There are dark circles around my eyes.
17 But I have not been cruel.
And when I pray, I speak honestly to God.
18 The earth should not hide my blood!
People should remember how I have suffered.
They should not forget that I asked for justice.
19 But even now, I know that I have a friend in heaven.
He knows that I am not guilty.
He speaks on my behalf.
20 My friends have turned against me.
I cry with many tears as I pray to God.
21 I need someone to speak to God on my behalf.
He should ask God not to punish me,
as someone might try to help his friends.
22 I only have a few more years to live.
I will die and I will never again return to this earth.
Job continues to speak
17 I am very weak and I will soon die.
Then my friends will bury me in my grave.
13 The only home that I hope to go to is my grave.
I will lie down to sleep there in the dark.
14 I will say to the grave,
“You are my father.”
I will say to the worms that eat me,
“Hello, my mother. Hello, my sister.”
15 I can hope for nothing that is better than that.
No one can find anything better for me.
16 When I go to the world of dead people,
all my hope will have finished.
Everything that I had hoped for will lie with me in the dust.’
The believers in Antioch send Saul and Barnabas to Cyprus
13 There were some prophets among the group of believers in Antioch. They taught the other believers more about Jesus. Barnabas and Simeon were two of these men. (People also called Simeon ‘Niger’.)[a] There was Lucius who had lived in Cyrene. There was also Manaen who had lived together with the ruler Herod when they were children. And there was Saul.
2 One day, the believers were meeting together. They were praising the Lord God and they were praying. They also fasted for a time. During that time, the Holy Spirit said to them, ‘I have chosen Barnabas and Saul to do a special work for me. Let them go now and do it.’
3 The believers continued to pray and to fast. Then the leaders put their hands on Barnabas and Saul and they prayed for them. They sent them away to start this new work.
What happened in Cyprus
4 The Holy Spirit sent Barnabas and Saul away from Antioch. They travelled to the town of Seleucia, which is near the coast. From there they travelled on a ship to an island called Cyprus. 5 They arrived at a town called Salamis. There they went into the Jewish meeting places and they told the people God's message about Jesus. John Mark went with Barnabas and Saul to help them with their work.
6 They travelled across the whole island and they arrived at a town called Paphos. There they met a man called Bar-Jesus.[b] He was a Jew. He used magic to do surprising things. He said that he was a prophet from God. But his messages were not true.
7 The ruler of Cyprus was called Sergius Paulus. Bar-Jesus was his friend. Sergius Paulus understood things well. So he asked Barnabas and Saul to come to him. He wanted them to tell him God's message. 8 Bar-Jesus was also called Elymas. That was his name in the Greek language. He did not like what Barnabas and Saul were saying. He did not want Sergius Paulus to believe in Jesus. So he tried to stop him. 9 Then God filled Saul with the power of his Holy Spirit. (Saul was also now called Paul.[c] ) Paul looked straight at Elymas and he said, 10 ‘You are a servant of the Devil! You are against everything that is right. Your mind is full of lies and other bad things. You try to change the true message of the Lord and make it into lies. You must stop doing that! 11 The Lord will now punish you. You will become blind for a time. You will not even see the light of the sun.’
When Paul said that, immediately something like a dark cloud covered Elymas's eyes. He could not find his own way. He needed someone to lead him by the hand. 12 Sergius Paulus saw what had happened to Elymas. He was very surprised about the things that Barnabas and Paul taught him about the Lord Jesus. And so he believed in Jesus.
Jesus makes a blind man able to see
9 While Jesus was walking along, he saw a certain man. This man had been blind since he was born. 2 Jesus' disciples asked him, ‘Teacher, why was this man blind when he was born? Was it because he himself did something wrong? Or was it because his parents did something wrong?’ 3 Jesus answered, ‘It was not because either this man or his parents did something wrong. It happened so that God could show his great work in this man. 4 While it is still day, we must continue to work. God has sent me and we must do his work. We must work now because it will be night soon. Then nobody can work. 5 While I am still here in the world, I am the world's light.’
6 When Jesus had finished speaking, he spat on the ground. He mixed it with dirt on the ground so that he made mud. Then he put some of the mud on the eyes of the blind man. 7 Jesus said to him, ‘Go and wash in the Siloam pool.’ (The name Siloam means ‘Sent’.) So the man went there and he washed himself. When he returned, now he could see.
8 People began to talk about him. Some of these people lived near him. Others had seen him when he was asking for money. They said, ‘This is the man who sat here. He asked people to give him money. Isn't that right?’ 9 Some people said, ‘Yes, it is him.’ But other people said, ‘No, it is someone who seems to be like him.’ But the man himself said, ‘I am that man.’
10 They asked him, ‘How did your eyes now become able to see?’ 11 He answered, ‘The man called Jesus made some mud. He put the mud on my eyes. Then he sent me to wash in the Siloam pool. So I went there and I washed. Then I could see.’
12 They asked him, ‘Where is this man?’ He replied, ‘I do not know.’
The Pharisees talk to the man who had been blind
13 The people brought the man who had been blind to the Pharisees. 14 It was a Jewish day of rest when Jesus had done this miracle. He had used mud to make the man's eyes able to see. 15 So the Pharisees asked the man again, ‘How did you become able to see?’ The man replied, ‘Jesus put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I can see.’
16 So some of the Pharisees said, ‘This man Jesus cannot have come from God. He does not obey the rules about our day of rest.’ But other Pharisees said, ‘Nobody who is bad could do great things like this!’ So they did not agree with each other. 17 The Pharisees spoke again to the man who had been blind. They said to him, ‘What do you yourself say about this man? It was your eyes he has now made able to see.’ The man replied, ‘He is a prophet.’
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