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.
5 I am the Lord. There is no other God;
I am the only God.
I will ·make you strong [or arm you for battle; L gird you],
even though you don’t know me,
6 so that everyone will know
there is ·no other God [none besides me].
From the ·east [rising of the sun] to ·the west [its setting] they will know
I alone am the Lord.
7 I make the light
and create the darkness.
I bring ·peace [prosperity; wholeness; C Hebrew shalom], and I ·cause [create] ·troubles [disaster; calamity].
I, the Lord, do all these things.
8 “·Sky [Heavens] above, make ·victory [or righteousness] fall like rain;
clouds, pour down ·victory [or righteousness].
Let the earth ·receive it [open up],
and let salvation grow,
and let ·victory [or righteousness] grow with it.
I, the Lord, have created it.
9 “·How terrible it will be for [L Woe to] those who argue with ·the God who made them [their Maker].
·They are like a piece of broken pottery [L A potsherd] among ·many pieces [L potsherds of the earth].
·The clay does not [L Does the clay…?] ask the potter [64:8; Rom. 9:20],
‘What are you doing?’
The thing that is made doesn’t say to its maker,
‘You have no ·hands [or skill].’
10 ·How terrible it will be for [L Woe to] the child who says to his father,
‘·Why are you giving me life [or What have you fathered]?’
·How terrible it will be for [L Woe to] the child who says to his mother,
‘·Why are you giving birth to me [or What have you given birth to]?’”
11 This is what the Lord,
the Holy One of Israel [1:4], and its Maker, says:
“You ask me about what will happen.
·You [or Do you…?; or How dare you…!] question me about my children.
·You [or Do you…?; or How dare you…!] give me orders about ·what I have made [the work of my hands].
12 I made the earth
and all the people living on it.
With my own hands I stretched out the ·skies [heavens],
and I commanded all ·the armies in the sky [or the stars in the sky; T their host].
13 I will ·bring [raise/stir up] ·Cyrus [L him; 44:28] ·to do good things [or for my righteous purpose; in my righteousness],
and I will make his ·work easy [ways/paths straight].
He will rebuild my city
and set my ·people [L exiles] free
without any payment or ·reward [gift; or bribe].
The Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts] says this.”
14 The Lord says,
“The ·goods made in [L labor of] Egypt and the ·products [merchandise; or revenue] of ·Cush [Ethiopia]
and the tall people of Seba [43:3]
will ·come to [or be brought to] you
and will become yours.
·The Sabeans [L They] will walk behind you,
coming along in chains [C Israel is depicted as a great empire, receiving tribute from other nations].
They will bow down before you
and pray to you [C because they recognize Israel as God’s representative], saying,
‘God is with you,
and there is no other God.’”
15 God and Savior of Israel,
·you are [or how, then, can you be…?] a God ·that people cannot see [L who hides himself].
16 All the people who make idols will be put to great shame;
they will go off together in ·disgrace [humiliation; or confusion].
17 But Israel will be saved by the Lord,
and that salvation will continue forever.
Never again will Israel be ·put to shame [shamed; disgraced].
15 So be very careful how you ·live [walk]. Do not ·live [walk] like those who are ·not wise [foolish], but ·live wisely [like those who are wise]. 16 ·Take advantage of every opportunity [or Make the most of your time; L …redeeming the time/season], because ·these are evil times [L the days are evil]. 17 So do not be ·foolish [ignorant] but ·learn what the Lord wants you to do [or understand the Lord’s will]. 18 Do not be drunk with wine, which ·will ruin you [is debauchery/reckless living], but be filled with the Spirit. 19 ·Speak [L …speaking] to each other with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music in your hearts to the Lord. 20 ·Always give [L …always giving] thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Wives and Husbands
21 ·Yield [Submit; Be subject; L …yielding/submitting; C grammatically linked to the previous sentence, and so part of being filled with the Spirit] to each other out of ·reverence [respect; fear; awe] for Christ.
22 Wives, ·yield to [submit to; be subject to; L to] your husbands, as you do to the Lord, 23 because the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church. And he is the Savior of the body, which is the church. 24 As the church ·yields [submits; is subject] to Christ, so you wives should ·yield [submit; be subject] to your husbands in everything [Col. 3:18; 1 Pet. 3:1–6].
25 Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church [Col. 3:19; 1 Pet. 3:7] and gave himself for her 26 to ·make her holy [sanctify her], cleansing her in the washing of water by the word [C the “washing” may be (1) baptism, (2) spiritual cleansing (Titus 3:5), or (3) an analogy drawn from the Jewish prenuptial bath (Ezek. 16:8–14); the “word” may be (1) the Gospel, (2) a baptismal formula, or (3) the confession of the one baptized]. 27 He did this so that he could present the church to himself ·like a bride in all her beauty [in splendor; glorious], with no ·evil or sin [L stain or wrinkle] or any other ·wrong thing in it [L such thing], but ·pure [holy] and ·without fault [blameless]. 28 In the same way, husbands should love their wives as they love their own bodies. The man who loves his wife loves himself. 29 [L For] No one ever hates his own ·body [T flesh], but feeds and takes care of it. And that is what Christ does for the church, 30 because we are ·parts [members] of his body. 31 The Scripture says, “·So [For this reason] a man will leave his father and mother and be ·united [joined] with his wife, and the two will become one ·body [flesh; Gen. 2:24].” 32 This ·secret [mystery] is ·very important [or great; profound]—I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 ·But [However; In any case; or To sum up] each one of you must love his wife as he loves himself, and a wife must ·respect [reverence; v. 21] her husband.
Use What You Have(A)
21 Then Jesus said to them, “Do you hide a lamp under a ·bowl [basket] or under a bed? No! You put the lamp on a lampstand. 22 [For] Everything that is hidden will be ·made clear [revealed; disclosed] and every ·secret [concealed] thing will be ·made known [brought to light/into the open]. 23 ·Let those with ears use them and listen! [L “If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”]
24 [And he said to them,] “·Think carefully about [Pay attention to] what you hear. ·The way you give to others is the way God will give to you [or The standard you use to judge others will be the standard used for you; L With the measure you measure, it will be measured to you], ·but God will give you even more [and even more will be added to you]. 25 Those who ·have understanding [L have] will be given more. But those who do not ·have understanding [L have], even what they have will be taken away from them. [C The Greek does not say what they have; but the context suggests spiritual understanding to comprehend the mysteries of the kingdom (v. 11).]
Jesus Tells a Story About Seed
26 Then Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is like someone who ·plants seed in [scatters seed on] the ground. 27 Night and day, whether the person is asleep or awake, the seed still [sprouts and] grows, but the person does not know how it grows. 28 By itself the earth produces grain. First the ·plant [blade; stalk] grows, then the head, and then ·all the [the ripe] grain in the head. 29 When the grain is ready, the farmer cuts it [with a sickle], because this is the harvest time.”
A Story About Mustard Seed(B)
30 Then Jesus said, “How can I show you what the kingdom of God is like? What ·story [parable; see 3:23] can I use to explain it? 31 The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed, the smallest seed you plant in the ground. [C The mustard seed was the smallest seed known to Jesus’ hearers.] 32 But when planted, this seed grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants. It produces large branches, and the wild birds can make nests in its shade.”
33 Jesus used many ·stories [parables] like these to teach the crowd God’s ·message [word]—as much as they could ·understand [hear]. 34 He always used ·stories [parables] to teach them. But when he and his ·followers [disciples] were alone, Jesus explained everything to them.
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