Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 37[a]
By David.
37 Do not fret[b] when wicked men seem to succeed.[c]
Do not envy evildoers.
2 For they will quickly dry up like grass,
and wither away like plants.[d]
3 Trust in the Lord and do what is right.
Settle in the land and maintain your integrity.[e]
4 Then you will take delight in the Lord,[f]
and he will answer your prayers.[g]
5 Commit your future to the Lord.[h]
Trust in him, and he will act on your behalf.[i]
6 He will vindicate you in broad daylight,
and publicly defend your just cause.[j]
7 Wait patiently for the Lord![k]
Wait confidently[l] for him!
Do not fret over the apparent success of a sinner,[m]
a man who carries out wicked schemes.
8 Do not be angry and frustrated.[n]
Do not fret. That only leads to trouble.
9 Wicked men[o] will be wiped out,[p]
but those who rely on the Lord are the ones who will possess the land.[q]
10 Evil men will soon disappear;[r]
you will stare at the spot where they once were, but they will be gone.[s]
11 But the oppressed will possess the land
and enjoy great prosperity.[t]
12 Evil men plot against the godly[u]
and viciously attack them.[v]
13 The Lord laughs in disgust[w] at them,
for he knows that their day is coming.[x]
14 Evil men draw their swords
and prepare their bows,
to bring down[y] the oppressed and needy,
and to slaughter those who are godly.[z]
15 Their swords will pierce[aa] their own hearts,
and their bows will be broken.
16 The little bit that a godly man owns is better than
the wealth of many evil men,[ab]
17 for evil men will lose their power,[ac]
but the Lord sustains[ad] the godly.
18 The Lord watches over the innocent day by day,[ae]
and they possess a permanent inheritance.[af]
19 They will not be ashamed when hard times come;[ag]
when famine comes they will have enough to eat.[ah]
20 But[ai] evil men will die;
the Lord’s enemies will be incinerated[aj]—
they will go up in smoke.[ak]
21 Evil men borrow, but do not repay their debt,
but the godly show compassion and are generous.[al]
22 Surely[am] those favored by the Lord[an] will possess the land,
but those rejected[ao] by him will be wiped out.[ap]
23 The Lord grants success to the one
whose behavior he finds commendable.[aq]
24 Even if[ar] he trips, he will not fall headlong,[as]
for the Lord holds[at] his hand.
25 I was once young, now I am old.
I have never seen the godly abandoned,
or their children[au] forced to search for food.[av]
26 All day long they show compassion and lend to others,[aw]
and their children[ax] are blessed.
27 Turn away from evil. Do what is right.[ay]
Then you will enjoy lasting security.[az]
28 For the Lord promotes[ba] justice,
and never abandons[bb] his faithful followers.
They are permanently secure,[bc]
but the children[bd] of the wicked are wiped out.[be]
29 The godly will possess the land
and will dwell in it permanently.
30 The godly speak wise words
and promote justice.[bf]
31 The law of their God controls their thinking;[bg]
their[bh] feet do not slip.
32 The wicked set an ambush for the godly
and try to kill them.[bi]
33 But the Lord does not surrender the godly,
or allow them to be condemned in a court of law.[bj]
34 Rely[bk] on the Lord. Obey his commands.[bl]
Then he will permit you[bm] to possess the land;
you will see the demise of the wicked.[bn]
35 I have seen ruthless, wicked people[bo]
growing in influence, like a green tree grows in its native soil.[bp]
36 But then one passes by, and suddenly they have disappeared.[bq]
I looked for them, but they could not be found.
37 Take note of the one who has integrity. Observe the upright.
For the one who promotes peace has a future.[br]
38 Sinful rebels are totally destroyed;[bs]
the wicked have no future.[bt]
39 But the Lord delivers the godly;[bu]
he protects them in times of trouble.[bv]
40 The Lord helps them and rescues them;
he rescues them from the wicked and delivers them,[bw]
for they seek his protection.
16 my face is reddened[a] because of weeping,[b]
and on my eyelids there is a deep darkness,[c]
17 although[d] there is no violence in my hands
and my prayer is pure.
An Appeal to God as Witness
18 “O earth, do not cover my blood,[e]
nor let there be a secret[f] place for my cry.
19 Even now my witness[g] is in heaven;
my advocate[h] is on high.
20 My intercessor is my friend[i]
as my eyes pour out tears[j] to God;
21 and[k] he contends with God on behalf of man
as a man[l] pleads[m] for his friend.
22 For the years that lie ahead are few,[n]
and then I will go on the way of no return.[o]
17 My spirit is broken,[p]
my days have faded out,[q]
the grave[r] awaits me.
13 If[a] I hope for the grave to be my home,
if I spread out my bed in darkness,
14 if I cry out[b] to corruption,[c] ‘You are my father,’
and to the worm, ‘My mother,’ or ‘My sister,’
15 where then[d] is my hope?
And my hope,[e] who sees it?
16 Will[f] it[g] go down to the barred gates[h] of death?
Will[i] we descend[j] together into the dust?”
The Church at Antioch Commissions Barnabas and Saul
13 Now there were these prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch:[a] Barnabas, Simeon called Niger,[b] Lucius the Cyrenian,[c] Manaen (a close friend of Herod[d] the tetrarch[e] from childhood[f]) and Saul. 2 While they were serving[g] the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart[h] for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then, after they had fasted[i] and[j] prayed and placed their hands[k] on them, they sent them off.
Paul and Barnabas Preach in Cyprus
4 So Barnabas and Saul,[l] sent out by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia,[m] and from there they sailed to Cyprus.[n] 5 When[o] they arrived[p] in Salamis,[q] they began to proclaim[r] the word of God in the Jewish synagogues.[s] (Now they also had John[t] as their assistant.)[u] 6 When they had crossed over[v] the whole island as far as Paphos,[w] they found a magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus,[x] 7 who was with the proconsul[y] Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. The proconsul[z] summoned[aa] Barnabas and Saul and wanted to hear[ab] the word of God. 8 But the magician Elymas[ac] (for that is the way his name is translated)[ad] opposed them, trying to turn the proconsul[ae] away from the faith. 9 But Saul (also known as Paul),[af] filled with the Holy Spirit,[ag] stared straight[ah] at him 10 and said, “You who are full of all deceit and all wrongdoing,[ai] you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness—will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?[aj] 11 Now[ak] look, the hand of the Lord is against[al] you, and you will be blind, unable to see the sun for a time!” Immediately mistiness[am] and darkness came over[an] him, and he went around seeking people[ao] to lead him by the hand. 12 Then when the proconsul[ap] saw what had happened, he believed,[aq] because he was greatly astounded[ar] at the teaching about[as] the Lord.
Healing a Man Born Blind
9 Now as Jesus was passing by,[a] he saw a man who had been blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him,[b] “Rabbi, who committed the sin that caused him to be born blind, this man[c] or his parents?”[d] 3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man[e] nor his parents sinned, but he was born blind so that[f] the acts[g] of God may be revealed[h] through what happens to him.[i] 4 We must perform the deeds[j] of the one who sent me[k] as long as[l] it is daytime. Night is coming when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”[m] 6 Having said this,[n] he spat on the ground and made some mud[o] with the saliva. He[p] smeared the mud on the blind man’s[q] eyes 7 and said to him, “Go wash in the pool of Siloam”[r] (which is translated “sent”).[s] So the blind man[t] went away and washed, and came back seeing.
8 Then the neighbors and the people who had seen him previously[u] as a beggar began saying,[v] “Is this not the man[w] who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some people said,[x] “This is the man!”[y] while others said, “No, but he looks like him.”[z] The man himself[aa] kept insisting, “I am the one!”[ab] 10 So they asked him,[ac] “How then were you made to see?”[ad] 11 He replied,[ae] “The man called Jesus made mud,[af] smeared it[ag] on my eyes and told me,[ah] ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed, and was able to see.”[ai] 12 They said[aj] to him, “Where is that man?”[ak] He replied,[al] “I don’t know.”
The Pharisees’ Reaction to the Healing
13 They brought the man who used to be blind[am] to the Pharisees.[an] 14 (Now the day on which Jesus made the mud[ao] and caused him to see[ap] was a Sabbath.)[aq] 15 So the Pharisees asked him again how he had gained his sight.[ar] He replied,[as] “He put mud[at] on my eyes and I washed, and now[au] I am able to see.”
16 Then some of the Pharisees began to say,[av] “This man is not from God, because he does not observe[aw] the Sabbath.”[ax] But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform[ay] such miraculous signs?” Thus there was a division[az] among them. 17 So again they asked the man who used to be blind,[ba] “What do you say about him, since he caused you to see?”[bb] “He is a prophet,” the man replied.[bc]
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