Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 37[a]
Of David.
1 Do not fret because of those who are evil
or be envious(A) of those who do wrong;(B)
2 for like the grass they will soon wither,(C)
like green plants they will soon die away.(D)
3 Trust in the Lord and do good;
dwell in the land(E) and enjoy safe pasture.(F)
4 Take delight(G) in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.(H)
5 Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him(I) and he will do this:
6 He will make your righteous reward(J) shine like the dawn,(K)
your vindication like the noonday sun.
7 Be still(L) before the Lord
and wait patiently(M) for him;
do not fret(N) when people succeed in their ways,(O)
when they carry out their wicked schemes.(P)
8 Refrain from anger(Q) and turn from wrath;
do not fret(R)—it leads only to evil.
9 For those who are evil will be destroyed,(S)
but those who hope(T) in the Lord will inherit the land.(U)
10 A little while, and the wicked will be no more;(V)
though you look for them, they will not be found.
11 But the meek will inherit the land(W)
and enjoy peace and prosperity.(X)
12 The wicked plot(Y) against the righteous
and gnash their teeth(Z) at them;
13 but the Lord laughs at the wicked,
for he knows their day is coming.(AA)
14 The wicked draw the sword(AB)
and bend the bow(AC)
to bring down the poor and needy,(AD)
to slay those whose ways are upright.
15 But their swords will pierce their own hearts,(AE)
and their bows will be broken.(AF)
16 Better the little that the righteous have
than the wealth(AG) of many wicked;
17 for the power of the wicked will be broken,(AH)
but the Lord upholds(AI) the righteous.
18 The blameless spend their days under the Lord’s care,(AJ)
and their inheritance will endure forever.(AK)
19 In times of disaster they will not wither;
in days of famine they will enjoy plenty.
20 But the wicked will perish:(AL)
Though the Lord’s enemies are like the flowers of the field,
they will be consumed, they will go up in smoke.(AM)
21 The wicked borrow and do not repay,
but the righteous give generously;(AN)
22 those the Lord blesses will inherit the land,
but those he curses(AO) will be destroyed.(AP)
23 The Lord makes firm the steps(AQ)
of the one who delights(AR) in him;
24 though he may stumble, he will not fall,(AS)
for the Lord upholds(AT) him with his hand.
25 I was young and now I am old,
yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken(AU)
or their children begging(AV) bread.
26 They are always generous and lend freely;(AW)
their children will be a blessing.[b](AX)
27 Turn from evil and do good;(AY)
then you will dwell in the land forever.(AZ)
28 For the Lord loves the just
and will not forsake his faithful ones.(BA)
Wrongdoers will be completely destroyed[c];
the offspring of the wicked will perish.(BB)
29 The righteous will inherit the land(BC)
and dwell in it forever.(BD)
30 The mouths of the righteous utter wisdom,(BE)
and their tongues speak what is just.
31 The law of their God is in their hearts;(BF)
their feet do not slip.(BG)
32 The wicked lie in wait(BH) for the righteous,(BI)
intent on putting them to death;
33 but the Lord will not leave them in the power of the wicked
or let them be condemned(BJ) when brought to trial.(BK)
34 Hope in the Lord(BL)
and keep his way.(BM)
He will exalt you to inherit the land;
when the wicked are destroyed,(BN) you will see(BO) it.
35 I have seen a wicked and ruthless man
flourishing(BP) like a luxuriant native tree,
36 but he soon passed away and was no more;
though I looked for him, he could not be found.(BQ)
13 So Daniel was brought before the king, and the king said to him, “Are you Daniel, one of the exiles my father the king brought from Judah?(A) 14 I have heard that the spirit of the gods(B) is in you and that you have insight, intelligence and outstanding wisdom.(C) 15 The wise men and enchanters were brought before me to read this writing and tell me what it means, but they could not explain it.(D) 16 Now I have heard that you are able to give interpretations and to solve difficult problems.(E) If you can read this writing and tell me what it means, you will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around your neck,(F) and you will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”(G)
17 Then Daniel answered the king, “You may keep your gifts for yourself and give your rewards to someone else.(H) Nevertheless, I will read the writing for the king and tell him what it means.
18 “Your Majesty, the Most High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar(I) sovereignty and greatness and glory and splendor.(J) 19 Because of the high position he gave him, all the nations and peoples of every language dreaded and feared him. Those the king wanted to put to death, he put to death;(K) those he wanted to spare, he spared; those he wanted to promote, he promoted; and those he wanted to humble, he humbled.(L) 20 But when his heart became arrogant and hardened with pride,(M) he was deposed from his royal throne(N) and stripped(O) of his glory.(P) 21 He was driven away from people and given the mind of an animal; he lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like the ox; and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until he acknowledged that the Most High God is sovereign(Q) over all kingdoms on earth and sets over them anyone he wishes.(R)
22 “But you, Belshazzar, his son,[a] have not humbled(S) yourself, though you knew all this. 23 Instead, you have set yourself up against(T) the Lord of heaven. You had the goblets from his temple brought to you, and you and your nobles, your wives(U) and your concubines drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand.(V) But you did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life(W) and all your ways.(X) 24 Therefore he sent the hand that wrote the inscription.
25 “This is the inscription that was written:
mene, mene, tekel, parsin
26 “Here is what these words mean:
Mene[b]: God has numbered the days(Y) of your reign and brought it to an end.(Z)
27 Tekel[c]: You have been weighed on the scales(AA) and found wanting.(AB)
28 Peres[d]: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes(AC) and Persians.”(AD)
29 Then at Belshazzar’s command, Daniel was clothed in purple, a gold chain was placed around his neck,(AE) and he was proclaimed the third highest ruler in the kingdom.(AF)
30 That very night Belshazzar,(AG) king(AH) of the Babylonians,[e] was slain,(AI)
Concluding Affirmations
13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God(A) so that you may know that you have eternal life.(B) 14 This is the confidence(C) we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.(D) 15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know(E) that we have what we asked of him.(F)
16 If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life.(G) I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death.(H) I am not saying that you should pray about that.(I) 17 All wrongdoing is sin,(J) and there is sin that does not lead to death.(K)
18 We know that anyone born of God(L) does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one(M) cannot harm them.(N) 19 We know that we are children of God,(O) and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.(P) 20 We know also that the Son of God has come(Q) and has given us understanding,(R) so that we may know him who is true.(S) And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.(T)
Jesus Calls His First Disciples(A)
5 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret,[a] the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God.(B) 2 He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.(C)
4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”(D)
5 Simon answered, “Master,(E) we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything.(F) But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”
6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.(G) 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.
8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”(H) 9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.
Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid;(I) from now on you will fish for people.” 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.(J)
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