Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 37
Do Not Fret Because of Evildoers
Heading
By David.
Do Not Be Frustrated by the Wicked
1 Do not fret because of evildoers.
Do not be envious of those who do wrong,
2 for like grass they will wither quickly.
Like green plants they will wilt.
Trust in God’s Goodness
3 Trust in the Lord, and do good.
Dwell in the land and feed on faithfulness.[a]
4 Take pleasure in the Lord,
and he will grant your heart’s desires.
5 Commit your way to the Lord.
Trust in him, and he will act.
6 He will make your righteousness shine like light,
your justice like noon.
7 Be silent before the Lord. Wait patiently for him.
Do not fret when an evil man succeeds in his ways,
when he carries out his wicked schemes.
Consider the Final Destiny of the Wicked
8 Let go of anger and abandon rage.
Do not fret—it leads only to evil.
9 For evildoers will be cut off,
but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the earth.
10 After a little while the wicked will be no more.
When you search for them at their place, they are not there.
11 But the meek[b] will inherit the earth.
They will enjoy plenty of peace.
12 The wicked person plots against the righteous.
He gnashes his teeth at him,
13 but the Lord laughs at the wicked,
because he sees that his day is coming.
14 The wicked draw their sword,
and they bend their bow
to make the poor and needy fall,
to slaughter those whose ways are upright.
15 Their swords will pierce their hearts,
and their bows will be broken.
Be Satisfied With God’s Blessings
16 Better the little that one righteous person has
than the wealth of many wicked people,
17 because the arms of the wicked will be broken,
but the Lord upholds the righteous.
18 The Lord knows the days of the blameless.
Their inheritance will last forever.
19 They will not be ashamed in time of disaster.
In days of famine they will be full.
20 Surely the wicked will perish.
The enemies of the Lord will be
like beautiful flowers in the pastures.
But they will vanish. Like smoke they will vanish.
Continue to Live a Godly Life
21 The wicked borrow and do not repay,
but the righteous are gracious and give.
22 So those God blesses will inherit the earth,
but those he curses will be cut off.
23 By the Lord the steps of a person are made secure.
Then he will delight in his way.
24 Though he falls, he will not stay down,
because the Lord holds him by his hand.
25 I was a young man. Now I am old.
But I have never seen a righteous person forsaken
or his children begging for bread.
26 Every day he is gracious and lends.
His children will be blessed.
27 Turn back from evil and do good.
Then you will remain forever.
28 For the Lord loves justice.
He will not forsake his favored ones.[c]
They will be protected forever,
but the descendants of the wicked will be cut off.
29 The righteous will inherit the earth.
They will dwell on it forever.
30 The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom.
His tongue speaks what is just.
31 The law of his God is in his heart.
His steps do not slip.
Review of the Theme
32 The wicked spy on the righteous one and seek to kill him.
33 The Lord will not leave him in their hand.
He will not let him be condemned when he is put on trial.
34 Wait for the Lord and keep to his way.
He will raise you up to take possession of the earth.
When the wicked are cut off, you will see it.
35 I saw a wicked, ruthless man.
He was rooted like a green plant in its native soil,
36 but he passed away. Just like that, he was gone!
I searched for him, but he could not be found.
37 Take note of the blameless. Look at the upright.
Yes, there is a future for the man of peace.
38 But rebels will be completely destroyed.
The future of the wicked will be cut off.
39 The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord.
He is their stronghold in times of stress.
40 The Lord helps them and delivers them.
He delivers them from the wicked.
He saves them, because they have taken refuge in him.
14 So the people set out from their tents to cross the Jordan, and the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant went ahead of the people. 15 As soon as the priests carrying the ark came to the Jordan, and as soon as their feet dipped into the edge of the water (the Jordan is full and overflows all its banks during all the days of the grain harvest), 16 the waters flowing down from upstream came to a standstill. The waters piled up in one heap, very far away, at Adam, the town that is next to Zarethan, and the waters flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah, that is, the Salt Sea,[a] were completely cut off. So the people crossed the Jordan opposite Jericho. 17 The priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord stood on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel was crossing over on dry ground, until the entire nation had finished crossing the Jordan.
The Monument
4 When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord told Joshua, 2 “Take twelve men from the people, one man from each tribe, 3 and give them the following orders: ‘Pick up twelve stones from here in the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the feet of the priests are standing securely. Carry them over with you and put them at the place where you will stay tonight.’”
4 So Joshua called the twelve men whom he had selected from the people of Israel—a man from each tribe. 5 Joshua said to them, “Go to the middle of the Jordan in front of the Ark of the Lord your God. There each man is to lift up one stone on his shoulder. The number will correspond to the number of the tribes descended from the sons of Israel, 6 so that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in the future, ‘What do these stones mean for you?’ 7 Then you shall respond to them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off in front of the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord. When the ark passed through the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones will serve as a permanent memorial for the people of Israel.”
Offer Your Bodies to God as Living Sacrifices
12 Therefore I urge you, brothers,[a] by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice—holy and pleasing to God—which is your appropriate worship. 2 Also, do not continue to conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, so that you test and approve what is the will of God—what is good, pleasing, and perfect.
Humbly Use the Gifts God Gave You
3 So by the grace given to me, I tell everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought, but think in a way that results in sound judgment, as God distributed a measure of faith to each of you. 4 For we have many members in one body, and not all the members have the same function. 5 In the same way, though we are many, we are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.
6 We have different gifts, according to the grace God has given us. If the gift is prophecy, do it in complete agreement with the faith.[b] 7 If it is serving, then serve. If it is teaching, then teach. 8 If it is encouraging, then encourage. If it is contributing, be generous. If it is leadership, be diligent. If it is showing mercy, do it cheerfully.
The Plot to Kill Jesus
26 When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, 2 “You know that after two days it will be the Passover, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”
3 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people assembled in the palace of the high priest, whose name was Caiaphas. 4 They plotted together how to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. 5 But they said, “Not during the Festival, or else there might be a riot among the people.”
Mary Anoints Jesus
6 When Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, 7 a woman approached him holding an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume. She poured it on his head as he was reclining at the table. 8 But when his disciples saw this, they were upset and said, “Why this waste? 9 This perfume could have been sold for a lot of money and given to the poor.”
10 Jesus was aware of this and said to them, “Why are you causing trouble for this woman? She has done a beautiful thing for me. 11 You are always going to have the poor with you, but you are not always going to have me. 12 When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. 13 Amen I tell you: Wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told in memory of her.”
Judas Plans to Betray Jesus
14 Then one of the Twelve, the one named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?” They paid him thirty pieces of silver. 16 From that time on Judas was looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.