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.
War against Jerusalem
7 Now it came about in the days of (A)Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that (B)Rezin the king of Aram and (C)Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but (D)could not [a]conquer it. 2 When it was reported to the (E)house of David, saying, “The Arameans [b](F)have camped in (G)Ephraim,” his heart and the hearts of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake [c]with the wind.
3 Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and your son [d]Shear-jashub, at the end of the (H)conduit of the upper pool, on the highway to the [e]fuller’s field, 4 and say to him, ‘Take care and be (I)calm, have no (J)fear and (K)do not be fainthearted because of these two stubs of smoldering (L)firebrands, on account of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and the (M)son of Remaliah. 5 Because (N)Aram, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has planned evil against you, saying, 6 “Let us go up against Judah and [f]terrorize it, and make for ourselves a breach in [g]its walls and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,” 7 thus says the Lord [h]God: “(O)It shall not stand nor shall it come to pass. 8 For the head of Aram is (P)Damascus and the head of Damascus is Rezin (now within another 65 years Ephraim will be shattered, so that it is no longer a people), 9 and the head of Ephraim is Samaria and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. (Q)If you will not believe, you surely shall not [i]last.”’”
Man of Lawlessness
2 Now we request you, (A)brethren, with regard to the [a](B)coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our (C)gathering together to Him, 2 that you not be quickly shaken from your [b]composure or be disturbed either by a (D)spirit or a [c](E)message or a (F)letter as if from us, to the effect that (G)the day of the Lord (H)has come. 3 (I)Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the [d](J)apostasy comes first, and the (K)man of lawlessness is revealed, the (L)son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above [e](M)every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, (N)displaying himself as being God. 5 Do you not remember that (O)while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? 6 And you know (P)what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. 7 For (Q)the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only (R)he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. 8 Then that lawless one (S)will be revealed whom the Lord will slay (T)with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the (U)appearance of His [f]coming; 9 that is, the one whose [g]coming is in accord with the activity of (V)Satan, with all power and [h](W)signs and false wonders, 10 and with [i]all the deception of wickedness for (X)those who perish, because they did not receive the love of (Y)the truth so as to be saved. 11 For this reason (Z)God [j]will send upon them [k]a (AA)deluding influence so that they will believe [l]what is false, 12 in order that they all may be [m]judged who (AB)did not believe the truth, but [n](AC)took pleasure in wickedness.
Preparing the Passover
22 (A)Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is called the (B)Passover, was approaching. 2 The chief priests and the scribes (C)were seeking how they might put Him to death; for they were afraid of the people.
3 (D)And (E)Satan entered into Judas who was called Iscariot, [a]belonging to the number of the twelve. 4 And he went away and discussed with the chief priests and (F)officers how he might betray Him to them. 5 They were glad and agreed to give him money. 6 So he consented, and began seeking a good opportunity to betray Him to them [b]apart from the crowd.
7 (G)Then came the first day of Unleavened Bread on which (H)the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. 8 And Jesus sent (I)Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, so that we may eat it.” 9 They said to Him, “Where do You want us to prepare it?” 10 And He said to them, “When you have entered the city, a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him into the house that he enters. 11 And you shall say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, “Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?”’ 12 And he will show you a large, furnished upper room; prepare it there.” 13 And they left and found everything just as He had told them; and they prepared the Passover.
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