Book of Common Prayer
God Will Reward Fairly
Of David.
37 Don’t be upset because of evil people.
Don’t be jealous of those who do wrong.
2 Like the grass, they will soon dry up.
Like green plants, they will soon die away.
3 Trust the Lord and do good.
Live in the land and enjoy its safety.
4 Enjoy serving the Lord.
And he will give you what you want.
5 Depend on the Lord.
Trust him, and he will take care of you.
6 Then your goodness will shine like the sun.
Your fairness will shine like the noonday sun.
7 Wait and trust the Lord.
Don’t be upset when others get rich
or when someone else’s plans succeed.
8 Don’t get angry.
Don’t be upset; it only leads to trouble.
9 Evil people will be sent away.
But people who trust the Lord will inherit the land.
10 In a little while there will be no more wicked people.
You may look for them, but they will be gone.
11 People who are not proud will inherit the land.
They will enjoy complete peace.
12 The wicked make evil plans against good people.
They grind their teeth at them in anger.
13 But the Lord laughs at the wicked.
He sees that their day is coming.
14 The wicked draw their swords.
They bend their bows.
They try to kill the poor and helpless.
They want to kill those who are honest.
15 But their swords will stab their own hearts.
Their bows will break.
16 It’s better to have little and be right
than to have much and be wrong.
17 The power of the wicked will be broken.
But the Lord supports those who do right.
18 The Lord watches over the lives of the innocent.
Their reward will last forever.
19 They will not be ashamed when trouble comes.
They will be full in times of hunger.
20 But the wicked will die.
The Lord’s enemies will be like the flowers of the fields.
They will disappear like smoke.
21 The wicked people borrow but don’t pay back.
But those who do right give freely to others.
22 Those people the Lord blesses will inherit the land.
But those he curses will be sent away.
23 When a man’s steps follow the Lord,
God is pleased with his ways.
24 If he stumbles, he will not fall,
because the Lord holds his hand.
25 I was young, and now I am old.
But I have never seen the Lord leave good people helpless.
I have never seen their children begging for food.
26 Good people always lend freely to others.
And their children are a blessing.
27 Stop doing evil and do good.
Then you will live forever.
28 The Lord loves justice.
He will not leave those who worship him.
He will always protect them.
But the children of the wicked will die.
29 Good people will inherit the land.
They will live in it forever.
30 A good person speaks with wisdom.
He says what is fair.
31 The teachings of his God are in his heart.
He does not fail to keep them.
32 The wicked watch for good people.
They want to kill them.
33 The Lord will not take away his protection.
He will not judge good people guilty.
34 Wait for the Lord’s help
and follow him.
He will honor you and give you the land.
And you will see the wicked people sent away.
35 I saw a wicked and cruel man.
He looked strong like a healthy tree in good soil.
36 But he died and was gone.
I looked for him, but he couldn’t be found.
37 Think of the innocent person.
Watch the honest one.
The man who has peace
will have children to live after him.
38 But sinners will be destroyed.
In the end the wicked will die.
39 The Lord saves good people.
He is their strong city in times of trouble.
40 The Lord helps them and saves them.
He saves them from the wicked
because they trust in him for protection.
13 So they brought Daniel to the king. The king said to him, “Is your name Daniel? Are you one of the captives my father the king brought from Judah? 14 I have heard that the spirit of the gods is in you. And I have heard that you are very wise and have knowledge and understanding. 15 The wise men and magicians were brought to me to read this writing on the wall. I wanted those men to explain to me what it means. But they could not explain it. 16 I have heard that you are able to explain what things mean. And you can find the answers to hard problems. Read this writing on the wall and explain it to me. If you can, I will give you purple clothes fit for a king. And I will put a gold chain around your neck. And you will become the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”
17 Then Daniel answered the king, “You may keep your gifts for yourself. Or you may give those rewards to someone else. I will read the writing on the wall for you. And I will explain to you what it means.
18 “My king, the Most High God made your father Nebuchadnezzar a great, important and powerful king. 19 God made him very important. So all the people, nations and those who spoke every language were very afraid of Nebuchadnezzar. If he wanted a person to die, he put that person to death. And if he wanted a person to live, he let that person live. If he wanted to promote a person, he promoted him. And if he wanted a person to be unimportant, he made him unimportant.
20 “But Nebuchadnezzar became too proud and stubborn. So he was taken off his royal throne. His glory was taken away. 21 Then Nebuchadnezzar was forced away from people. His mind became like the mind of an animal. He lived with the wild donkeys and was fed grass like an ox. He became wet with dew. These things happened to him until he learned his lesson: The Most High God rules over the kingdoms of men. And the Most High God sets anyone he wants over those kingdoms.
22 “But, Belshazzar, you already knew these things. You are a descendant of Nebuchadnezzar. But still you have not been sorry for what you have done. 23 Instead, you have turned against the Lord of heaven. You ordered the drinking cups from the Temple of the Lord to be brought to you. Then you and your royal guests drank wine from them. Your wives and your slave women also drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood and stone. They are not really gods. They cannot see or hear or understand anything. But you did not honor God. He is the One who has power over your life and everything you do. 24 So God sent the hand that wrote on the wall.
25 “These are the words that were written on the wall: ‘Mene, mene, tekel, parsin.’
26 “This is what these words mean: Mene: God has counted the days until your kingdom will end. 27 Tekel: You have been weighed on the scales and found not good enough. 28 Parsin: Your kingdom is being divided. It will be given to the Medes and the Persians.”
29 Then Belshazzar gave an order for Daniel to be dressed in purple clothes. A gold chain was put around his neck. And he was announced to be the third highest ruler in the kingdom. 30 That very same night Belshazzar, king of the Babylonian people, was killed.
We Have Eternal Life Now
13 I write this letter to you who believe in the Son of God. I write so that you will know that you have eternal life now. 14 We can come to God with no doubts. This means that when we ask God for things (and those things agree with what God wants for us), then God cares about what we say. 15 God listens to us every time we ask him. So we know that he gives us the things that we ask from him.
16 Suppose someone sees his brother in Christ sinning (sin that does not lead to eternal death). That person should pray for his brother who is sinning. Then God will give the brother life. I am talking about people whose sin does not lead to eternal death. There is sin that leads to death. I do not mean that a person should pray about that sin. 17 Doing wrong is always sin. But there is sin that does not lead to eternal death.
18 We know that anyone who is God’s child does not continue to sin. The Son of God keeps him safe, and the Evil One cannot hurt him. 19 We know that we belong to God. But the Evil One controls the whole world. 20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding. Now we can know God, the One who is true. And our lives are in that true God and in his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the true God, and he is eternal life. 21 So, dear children, keep yourselves away from false gods.
Jesus’ First Followers
5 One day Jesus was standing beside Lake Galilee. Many people were pressing all around him. They wanted to hear the word of God. 2 Jesus saw two boats at the shore of the lake. The fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. 3 Jesus got into one of the boats, the one which belonged to Simon.[a] Jesus asked Simon to push off a little from the land. Then Jesus sat down in the boat and continued to teach the people on the shore.
4 When Jesus had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Take the boat into deep water. If you will put your nets in the water, you will catch some fish.”
5 Simon answered, “Master, we worked hard all night trying to catch fish, but we caught nothing. But you say to put the nets in the water; so I will.” 6 The fishermen did as Jesus told them. And they caught so many fish that the nets began to break. 7 They called to their friends in the other boat to come and help them. The friends came, and both boats were filled so full that they were almost sinking.
8-9 The fishermen were all amazed at the many fish they caught. When Simon Peter saw what had happened, he bowed down before Jesus and said, “Go away from me, Lord. I am a sinful man!” 10 James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were amazed too. (James and John were Simon’s partners.)
Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid. From now on you will be fishermen for men.” 11 When the men brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed Jesus.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.