Book of Common Prayer
The Protection of the Righteous and the Destruction of the Wicked
Of David.[a]
37 Do not fret because of evildoers;
do not be envious of doers of wickedness.
2 For like the grass they will dry up quickly,
and like green vegetation they will wither.
3 Trust Yahweh and do good.
Abide in the land and feed on faithfulness.[b]
4 Take pleasure in Yahweh as well,
and he will give to you the requests of your heart.
5 Commit to[c] Yahweh your way;
Trust also on him and he will act.
6 Then he will bring forth your righteousness like the light,
and your justice like the noonday.
7 Be quiet before Yahweh and wait for him.
Do not fret about one who succeeds in his way,
about a man making plots.
8 Refrain from anger and forsake wrath.
Do not fret; it only brings evil.
9 For evildoers will be cut off,
but those who wait for Yahweh—
they will possess the land.
10 And[d] yet a little while and the wicked will not be,
and you will look carefully upon his place, but he will not be.
11 But the afflicted will possess the land,
and they will take pleasure in an abundance of peace.
12 The wicked plans evil against the righteous,
and gnashes at him with his teeth.
13 The Lord laughs at him,
for he sees that his day is coming.
14 The wicked have drawn the sword and have bent their bow
to throw down the poor and the needy,
to kill those upright in their way.
15 Their sword will enter into their own heart,
and their bows shall be broken.
16 The little belonging to the righteous is better
than the wealth of many wicked.
17 For the arms of the wicked shall be broken,
but Yahweh supports the righteous.
18 Yahweh knows the days of the blameless,
and their inheritance will be forever.
19 They will not be put to shame in distressing times,[e]
and in the days of famine they will be satisfied.
20 But the wicked will perish,
and the enemies of Yahweh will be like the splendor of the pastures.
They vanish; in smoke they vanish.
21 The wicked borrows and does not repay,
but the righteous is gracious and gives.
22 For those blessed by him shall possess the land,
but those cursed by him shall be cut off.
23 The steps of a man are established by Yahweh,
and he takes pleasure in his way.
24 Though he fall, he will not be cast headlong,
for Yahweh supports him with his hand.
25 I was a youth, but I am now old;
yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken
or his children begging for[f] bread.
26 All the day he is gracious and lends,
and his children are a blessing.
27 Turn aside from evil and do good
and so abide forever.
28 For Yahweh loves justice
and will not forsake his faithful ones.
They are protected forever.
But the children of the wicked will be cut off.
29 The righteous will possess the land
and abide in it forever.
30 The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,
and his tongue speaks justice.
31 The law of his God is in his heart.
His steps will not slip.
32 The wicked watches for the righteous
and seeks to kill him.
33 Yahweh will not abandon him into his hand,
and he will not let him be condemned when he is judged.
34 Wait for Yahweh and keep his way,
and he will exalt you to possess the land.
When the wicked are cut off, you will see it.
35 I have seen the wicked acting violently
and spreading himself out
like a luxuriant native tree.
36 Then he passed on[g] and behold, he was not.
And I sought him, but he could not be found.
37 Observe the blameless and look at the upright,
for there is a future for a man of peace.
38 But transgressors shall be destroyed altogether.
The future of the wicked shall be cut off.
39 And[h] the salvation of the righteous is from Yahweh,
their refuge in the time of trouble.
40 And Yahweh helps them and he rescues them.
He rescues them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him.
Daniel Deciphers and Interprets the Writing
13 Then Daniel was brought in before the king, and the king spoke[a] and said to Daniel, “You are Daniel who are one of the exiles[b] of Judah[c] whom my predecessor,[d] the king, brought from Judah.[e] 14 And I have heard that a spirit of the gods is in you and enlightenment and insight and excellent wisdom was found in you. 15 And now the wise men and the conjurers[f] were brought in before me so that they could read this writing in order to make its explanation[g] known to me, but they were not able to disclose the explanation[h] of the matter. 16 But I have heard concerning you that you are able to produce interpretations[i] and to solve riddles; now if you are able to read the writing and to make known its explanation[j] to me, you will be clothed in purple and a necklace of gold will be placed around your neck and you will rule as third in command in the kingdom.”
17 Then Daniel answered and said before the king, “Let your gifts be for yourself or your rewards give to another; nevertheless, I will read the writing to the king and I will make known to him the explanation.[k] 18 O king,[l] the Most High God gave the kingdom and the greatness and the glory and the majesty to Nebuchadnezzar your predecessor.[m] 19 And because of the greatness that he gave to him, all the peoples, the nations and languages trembled and feared before him; whomever he wanted he killed, and whomever he wanted he let live, and whomever he wanted he honored, and whomever he wanted he humbled. 20 But when[n] his heart became arrogant and his spirit became hard so as to act proudly, he was deposed from the throne of his kingdom and the[o] glory was taken away from him.[p] 21 And he was driven away from human society[q] and his mind was made like the animals[r] and his dwelling was with the wild asses; and he was given[s] grass like oxen to eat, and with[t] the dew of heaven his body was bathed, until he acknowledged that the Most High God is sovereign over the kingdom of humankind, and whoever[u] he wants he sets over it.
22 “But you his successor,[v] Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart even though[w] you knew all this. 23 And now you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven, and the vessels of his temple you have brought in before you, and you and your lords,[x] your wives and your concubines, have been drinking wine from[y] them, and you have praised the gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone[z] that do not see and do not hear and do not know, but the God who holds your life in his hand[aa] and all of your ways come from him,[ab] you have not honored. 24 So then the palm of the hand was sent out from his presence and this writing was inscribed.
25 “Now this was the writing that was inscribed: ‘Mene, Mene, Tekel and Parsin.’
26 “This is the explanation of the matter:[ac] ‘Mene’—God has numbered your kingdom and brought an end to it.
27 “‘Tekel’—you have been weighed on scales and you have been found wanting.[ad]
28 “‘Peres’—your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and Persians.’”
29 Then Belshazzar commanded, and they clothed Daniel with purple and placed a necklace of gold around his neck, and they made a proclamation concerning him that he would be the third ruler in authority in the kingdom. 30 That same night[ae] Belshazzar, the Chaldean king, was killed.
Our Assurance of Eternal Life
13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life.
14 And this is the confidence that we have before him: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked from him. 16 If anyone should see his brother sinning a sin not leading to death, he should ask, and he will grant life to him, to those who sin not leading to death. (There is a sin leading to death; I do not say that he should ask about that. 17 All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not leading to death.)
18 We know that everyone who is fathered by God does not sin, but the one fathered by God, he protects him, and the evil one does not touch him. 19 We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. 20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, in order that we may know the one who is true, and we are in the one who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. This one is the true God and eternal life. 21 Little children, guard yourselves from idols.
Jesus Calls His First Disciples
5 Now it happened that while the crowd was pressing around him and hearing the word of God, he was standing beside the lake of Gennesaret,[a] 2 and he saw two boats there beside the lake, but the fishermen had gotten out of them and[b] were washing their nets. 3 And he got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and[c] asked him to put out from the land a little. And he sat down and[d] began to teach[e] the crowds from the boat. 4 And when he stopped speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 And Simon answered and[f] said, “Master, although we[g] worked hard through the whole night, we caught nothing. But at your word I will let down the nets.” 6 And when they[h] did this, they caught a very large number of fish, and their nets began to tear.[i] 7 And they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and[j] help them, and they came and filled both the boats so that they began to sink. 8 And when he[k] saw it,[l] Simon Peter fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, Lord, because I am a sinful man!”[m] 9 For amazement had seized him and all those who were with him at the catch of fish that they had caught, 10 and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were business partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid! From now on you will be catching people!” 11 And after they[n] brought their[o] boats to the land, they left everything and[p] followed him.
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