Book of Common Prayer
God Will Reward Fairly
Of David.
37 Don’t be ·upset [worried; angry] because of evil people.
Don’t be jealous of those who do wrong [Prov. 24:1, 19],
2 because like the grass, they will ·soon [quickly] ·dry up [wither].
Like green plants, they will soon ·die [fade] away.
3 ·Trust [L Have confidence in] the Lord [Prov. 3:5] and do good.
·Live [Reside; Settle] in the land and ·feed on truth [or find reliable pastureland].
4 Enjoy serving the Lord,
and he will give you ·what you want [L the requests of your heart].
5 ·Depend on [L Commit your way to] the Lord;
·trust [have confidence in] him, and he will take care of you [Prov. 16:3; 1 Pet. 5:7].
6 Then your ·goodness [righteousness] will shine like the ·sun [L light],
and your ·fairness [justice] like the noonday sun.
7 ·Wait [L Be quiet before] and ·trust [L wait for] the Lord.
Don’t be ·upset [worried; angry] ·when others get rich [L with the prosperity/success of their way]
or when ·someone else’s plans succeed [or they do evil deeds].
8 ·Don’t get angry [L Hold back from anger; Abandon wrath].
Don’t be ·upset [worried; angry]; it only leads to ·trouble [or evil].
9 Evil people will be ·sent away [L cut off],
but those who ·trust [wait/pin their hope on] the Lord will inherit the land.
10 In a little while the wicked will be no more.
You may look for them, but they will be ·gone [or no more].
11 ·People who are not proud [L The humble/meek] will inherit the land [Matt. 5:5]
and will enjoy ·complete peace [or much prosperity].
12 The wicked make evil plans against ·good [righteous] people.
They ·grind [gnash] their teeth at them [C in anger].
13 But the Lord laughs at the wicked,
because he sees that their day [C of judgment] is coming.
14 The wicked draw their swords
and ·bend [string] their bows
to ·kill [L fell] the poor and helpless,
to ·kill [slaughter] those ·who are honest [L whose way is straight].
15 But their swords will ·stab [L enter] their own hearts,
and their bows will break.
16 It is better to have little and be ·right [or righteous]
than to have much and be ·wrong [or wicked; Prov. 15:16; 16:8, 19].
17 The ·power [L arm] of the wicked will be broken,
but the Lord ·supports [upholds] those who ·do right [are righteous].
18 The Lord ·watches over [L knows] the ·lives [L days] of the ·innocent [blameless],
and their ·reward [inheritance] will last forever.
19 They will not be ashamed ·when trouble comes [L in the day of evil/trouble].
They will be ·full [satisfied; satiated] in times of ·hunger [famine].
20 But the wicked will ·die [perish].
The Lord’s enemies will be like the ·beauty [best] of the ·fields [L pastures; C flowers or animals];
·they will disappear [L vanishing, they will vanish] ·like [or in] smoke.
21 The wicked borrow and don’t pay back,
but ·those who do right [the righteous] give freely to others.
22 Those whom ·the Lord [L he] blesses will inherit the land,
but those he curses will be ·sent away [L cut off].
23 When people’s steps ·follow [L are made firm/established by] the Lord [Prov. 24:16],
God ·is pleased with [delights in] their ways.
24 If they stumble, they will not fall,
because the Lord ·holds [upholds] their hand.
25 I was young, and now I am old,
but I have never seen ·good [righteous] people ·left helpless [abandoned; forsaken; Gen. 28:15; Matt. 28:20]
or their ·children [seed] ·begging for [seeking] food [Prov. 10:3].
26 Good people always lend freely to others,
and their ·children [seed] are a blessing.
27 ·Stop doing [Turn aside from] evil and do good,
so you will ·live [dwell] forever.
28 The Lord loves ·justice [judgment]
and will not ·leave [abandon; forsake] ·those who worship him [his loyal ones/saints].
He will always ·protect [keep; guard] them,
but the ·children [seed] of the wicked will ·die [L be cut off].
29 ·Good [Righteous] people will inherit the land
and will ·live [dwell] in it forever.
30 ·Good people speak with [L The mouth of the righteous mutters] wisdom,
and ·they say what is fair [L their tongue speaks justice/judgment].
31 The ·teachings [instructions; laws] of their God are in their heart [Jer. 31:33],
so ·they do not fail to keep them [L their steps do not slip/slide/totter].
32 The wicked watch for ·good [righteous] people
·so that they may [L to seek to] kill them [Prov. 1:8–19].
33 But the Lord will not ·take away his protection [L abandon/forsake them to their hand/power/control]
or let ·good people be judged guilty [them be condemned when brought to trial].
34 ·Wait for [Hope in] the Lord
and ·follow him [L keep/guard his way].
He will ·honor [exalt] you and ·give you [you will inherit] the land,
and you will see the wicked ·sent away [or destroyed].
35 I saw a wicked and ·cruel [oppressive] man
who ·looked [flourished] like a luxurious cedar tree [C strong and healthy].
36 But he ·died [passed on] and was ·gone [no more];
I ·looked for [sought] him, but he couldn’t be found.
37 ·Think of [Observe] the ·innocent [blameless] person,
and watch the ·honest [upright; virtuous] one.
The man who has peace
will have ·children to live after him [posterity].
38 But sinners will be destroyed;
·in the end [or the posterity of] the wicked will ·die [L be cut off].
39 The Lord ·saves [rescues; T delivers] ·good [righteous] people;
he is their strength in times of ·trouble [distress].
40 The Lord helps them and ·saves [rescues; T delivers] them;
he ·saves [rescues; T delivers] them from the wicked,
because they ·trust [take refuge] in him for protection.
Trouble with Aram
7 ·When [L In the days of] Ahaz, son of Jotham and grandson of Uzziah, was king of Judah [C 735–715 bc], Rezin king of Aram [C 740–733 bc; Aram is the Hebrew name for Syria] and Pekah son of Remaliah, the king of Israel [C 752–732 bc], went up to Jerusalem to fight against it [C in about 735–734 bc]. But they were not able to ·defeat [or mount an attack against] the city [2 Kin. 16:5–18; 2 Chr. 28:16–21].
2 ·Ahaz king of Judah received a message [L It was reported to the house of David; C the reigning dynasty] saying, “The armies of ·Aram [Syria] and ·Israel [L Ephraim; C influential northern tribe of Israel, used here to refer to the whole northern kingdom] have joined together [C in an alliance against the Assyrian empire].”
When Ahaz heard this, ·he [L his heart] and the ·people [L heart of his people] were ·frightened [L shaken]. They shook with fear like trees of the forest blown by the wind.
3 Then the Lord told Isaiah, “You and your son Shear-Jashub [C the name means “a remnant will return”] should go and meet Ahaz at the ·place where the water flows into [end of the aqueduct/conduit of] the upper pool, on the road ·to the field where people do their laundry [or that goes to Launderer’s Field/T the fuller’s field]. 4 Tell Ahaz, ‘Be careful. Be ·calm [quiet] and don’t ·worry [fear]. Don’t be afraid of the ·fierce [burning] anger of Rezin and Aram and the son of Remaliah [C Pekah; v. 1], because they are like two ·barely burning sticks that are ready to go out [L smoldering stubs of firewood; C their power would soon be extinguished; Damascus and Israel suffered defeat by the Assyrians in 732 bc; Israel went into exile in 722 bc]. 5 [L Because] Aram has ·plotted [planned evil] with ·Israel [L Ephraim; v. 2] and the son of Remaliah against you, saying, 6 “Let’s ·fight against [invade; attack] Judah and ·tear it apart [or terrorize it]. We will ·divide the land [or conquer it; or breach its walls; L break it open] for ourselves and make the son of Tabeel the new king of Judah [C replacing the legitimate king from David’s dynasty with a usurper].” 7 But I, the Lord God, say,
“‘·Their plan will not succeed [L It will not stand];
it will not happen,
8 because ·Aram is led by the city of Damascus [L the head of Aram/Syria is Damascus; C its capital],
and ·Damascus is led by its weak king, [L the head of Damascus is] Rezin.
Within sixty-five years ·Israel [L Ephraim; v. 2] will no longer be a nation [C probably 670 bc, when Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, brought foreign settlers into Israel; their intermarriage with the remaining Israelites produced the Samaritans].
9 ·Israel is led by the city of Samaria [L The head of Ephraim is Samaria; C its capital],
and ·Samaria is led by its weak king, [L the head of Samaria is] the son of Remaliah [C these human kings were no match for God].
If ·your faith is not strong [you do not stand firm in faith],
you will not ·have strength enough to last [endure/stand firm at all; C the words translated “your faith is strong” and “have strength enough to last” are related in Hebrew].’”
Evil Things Will Happen
2 Brothers and sisters, ·we have something to say about [L concerning] the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and ·the time when we will meet [our assembly/being gathered] together with him. 2 ·Do not [We ask/request that you don’t] become ·easily [quickly] ·upset [unsettled; shaken] in your thinking or ·afraid [disturbed; alarmed] if you hear that the day of the Lord has already come [C the time of Christ’s return and the judgments associated with it]. Someone may have said this ·in a prophecy [L by a spirit; or by the Spirit] or ·in a message [or by word of mouth] or in a letter as if it came from us [C a forged letter]. 3 Do not let anyone ·fool [deceive] you in any way. That day of the Lord [v. 2] will not come until the ·turning away from God [great rebellion; apostasy; Matt. 24:11–12; 1 Tim. 4:1; 2 Tim. 3:1–5; 2 Pet. 2:3; Jude 18] happens and the Man of ·Evil[a] [Wickedness; L Lawlessness; C probably the Antichrist; 1 John 2:18; Rev. 13], ·who is on his way to hell [L the son of destruction; John 17:12], appears. 4 He will ·be against [defy; oppose] and ·put himself above [exalt himself against] any so-called god or ·anything that [any object that; or any place where] people worship [Is. 14:13–14; Ezek. 28:2–9; Dan. 11:36] ·and [or so that] he will even go into the Temple of God and sit there and ·say that he is [present himself as] God.
5 Don’t you remember that when I was with you I told you that all this would happen? 6 And ·now [so] you know what is ·stopping that Man of Evil [L restraining him; holding him back; 2:3] so he will ·appear [be revealed] at ·the right [the proper; L his own] time. 7 The ·secret power [or mystery] of ·evil [lawlessness; wickedness] is already ·working in the world [or at work], but there is one who is ·stopping that power [restraining it]. And ·he [or it] will continue to ·stop [restrain] it until ·he [or it] is taken out of the way [C this restrainer may be the Holy Spirit or human government, among other possibilities]. 8 Then that ·Man of Evil [L evil/lawless one; 2:3] will ·appear [be revealed], and the Lord Jesus[b] will ·kill [destroy] him with the breath that comes from his mouth [Is. 11:4] and will ·destroy [annihilate; put an end to] him with the ·glory [brightness; splendor; or appearance; manifestation] of his ·coming [arrival; presence]. 9 ·The Man of Evil [L …who; 2:3] will ·come [arrive] ·by the power [or at the instigation; L in accordance with the work/activity] of Satan ·and will have [or with; accompanied by] ·all kinds [or every kind] of ·false [counterfeit] ·miracles [powers], signs, and wonders. 10 He will use every ·kind of evil to trick [or wicked deception against/toward] those who are ·lost [perishing; heading toward destruction], because they refused to love the truth that would save them. 11 For this reason God sends them ·something powerful that leads them away from the truth [L a powerful/compelling/effective deception/error] so they will believe ·a lie [what is false]. 12 So all those will be ·judged guilty [condemned] who did not believe the truth, but ·enjoyed doing [delighted in; approved of] ·evil [wickedness; unrighteousness; injustice].
Judas Betrays Jesus(A)
22 It was almost time for the Feast of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover Feast [C celebrating God’s rescue of Israel from Egypt; Ex. 12]. 2 The ·leading [T chief] priests and ·teachers of the law [scribes] were trying to find a way to ·kill [destroy; eliminate] Jesus, ·because [or but] they were afraid of the people [C because of Jesus’ popularity].
3 [L Then] Satan entered Judas [L who was called] Iscariot, one of ·Jesus’ twelve apostles [L the Twelve]. 4 Judas went to the ·leading [T chief] priests and the officers of the Temple guard and talked to them about a way to ·hand Jesus over [betray Jesus] to them. 5 They were ·pleased [delighted] and agreed to give Judas money. 6 He ·agreed [consented] and watched for ·the best [an opportune] time to ·hand Jesus over [betray Jesus] to them when he was away from the crowd.
Jesus Eats the Passover Meal(B)
7 The Day of Unleavened Bread came when the Passover lambs had to be sacrificed. 8 Jesus said to Peter and John, “Go and prepare the Passover meal for us to eat.”
9 They asked, “Where do you want us to prepare it?” 10 Jesus said to them, “[Pay attention; L Look; T Behold] After you go into the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him into the house that he enters, 11 and tell the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher says: “Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover meal with my ·followers [disciples]?”’ 12 Then he will show you a large, furnished room upstairs. Prepare the Passover meal there.”
13 So Peter and John left and found everything as Jesus had said. And they prepared the Passover meal.
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