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 get upset because of evildoers,
Do not be (B)envious of wrongdoers.
2 For they will (C)wither quickly like the grass,
And (D)decay like the green plants.
3 (E)Trust in the Lord and do good;
(F)Live 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 out (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 get upset because of one who is (O)successful in his way,
Because of the person who carries out wicked schemes.
8 Cease from anger and (P)abandon wrath;
Do not get upset; it leads only to evildoing.
9 For (Q)evildoers will be eliminated,
But those who wait for the Lord, they will (R)inherit the land.
10 Yet (S)a little while and the wicked person 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 that (Z)his day is coming.
14 The wicked have drawn the sword and (AA)bent their bow
To take down the (AB)afflicted and the needy,
To (AC)kill off 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 plenty.
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 eliminated.
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 down,
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 for bread.
26 All day long (AW)he is gracious and lends,
And (AX)his [h]descendants are a blessing.
27 (AY)Turn from evil and do good,
So that you will dwell (AZ)forever.
28 For the Lord (BA)loves [i]justice
And (BB)does not abandon His godly ones;
They are (BC)protected forever,
But the [j](BD)descendants of the wicked will be eliminated.
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 eliminated, you will see it.
35 I have (BQ)seen a wicked, violent person
Spreading himself like a (BR)luxuriant [k]tree in its native soil.
36 Then he passed away, and behold, he (BS)was no more;
I searched for him, but he could not be found.
37 Observe the [l](BT)blameless person, and look at the (BU)upright;
For the person of peace will have (BV)a future.
38 But wrongdoers will altogether be (BW)destroyed;
The future of the wicked will be (BX)eliminated.
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 rescues them;
He (CB)rescues them from the wicked and saves them,
Because they (CC)take refuge in Him.
6 For you are (A)a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be (B)a people for His personal possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the [a]earth.
7 “(C)The Lord did not [b]make you His beloved nor choose you because you were greater in number than any of the peoples, since you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but because the Lord loved you and kept the (D)oath which He swore to your forefathers, (E)the Lord brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of [c]slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 Know therefore that the Lord your God, (F)He is God, (G)the faithful God, (H)who keeps [d]His covenant and [e]His faithfulness to a thousand generations for those who (I)love Him and keep His commandments; 10 but He (J)repays those who hate Him to [f]their faces, to eliminate [g]them; He will not hesitate toward him who hates Him, He will repay him to his face. 11 Therefore, you shall keep the commandment, the statutes, and the judgments which I am commanding you today, to do them.
Salutation
1 Paul, (A)a bond-servant of God and an (B)apostle of Jesus Christ, [a]for the faith of those (C)chosen of God and (D)the knowledge of the truth which is (E)according to godliness, 2 in (F)the hope of eternal life, which God, (G)who cannot lie, (H)promised [b](I)long ages ago, 3 but (J)at the proper time revealed His word in (K)the proclamation (L)with which I was entrusted (M)according to the commandment of (N)God our Savior;
4 To (O)Titus, (P)my true [c]son [d]in a (Q)common faith: (R)Grace and peace from God the Father and (S)Christ Jesus our Savior.
Qualifications of Elders
5 For this reason I left you in (T)Crete, that you would set in order what remains and (U)appoint (V)elders in every city as I directed you, 6 namely, (W)if any man is beyond reproach, the (X)husband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of (Y)indecent behavior or (Z)rebellion. 7 For the [e](AA)overseer must be beyond reproach as (AB)God’s steward, not (AC)self-willed, not quick-tempered, not (AD)overindulging in wine, not [f]a bully, (AE)not greedy for money, 8 but (AF)hospitable, (AG)loving what is good, self-controlled, righteous, holy, disciplined, 9 (AH)holding firmly the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to [g]exhort in (AI)sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict it.
10 (AJ)For there are many (AK)rebellious people, (AL)empty talkers and deceivers, especially (AM)those of the circumcision, 11 who must be silenced because they are upsetting (AN)whole families, teaching (AO)things they should not teach (AP)for the sake of [h]dishonest gain. 12 One of them, a prophet of their own, said, “(AQ)Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” 13 This testimony is true. For this reason (AR)reprimand them (AS)severely so that they may be (AT)sound in the faith, 14 not paying attention to Jewish (AU)myths and (AV)commandments of men who (AW)turn away from the truth. 15 (AX)To the pure, all things are pure; but (AY)to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their (AZ)mind and their conscience are defiled. 16 (BA)They profess to know God, but by their deeds they (BB)deny Him, being (BC)detestable and (BD)disobedient and (BE)worthless (BF)for any good deed.
29 The next day he *saw Jesus coming to him, and *said, “Behold, (A)the Lamb of God who (B)takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is He in behalf of whom I said, ‘(C)After me is coming a Man who has proved to be [a]my superior, (D)because He existed before me.’ 31 And I did not recognize [b]Him, but so that He would be revealed to Israel, I came baptizing [c]in water.” 32 And John (E)testified, saying, “(F)I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. 33 And I did not recognize [d]Him, but He who sent me to baptize [e]in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, (G)this is the One who baptizes [f]in the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I myself have seen, and have testified that this is (H)the [g]Son of God.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.