Book of Common Prayer
A Safe Place for Those Who Trust in the Lord
37 Do not trouble yourself because of sinful men. Do not want to be like those who do wrong. 2 For they will soon dry up like the grass. Like the green plant they will soon die. 3 Trust in the Lord, and do good. So you will live in the land and will be fed. 4 Be happy in the Lord. And He will give you the desires of your heart. 5 Give your way over to the Lord. Trust in Him also. And He will do it. 6 He will make your being right and good show as the light, and your wise actions as the noon day.
7 Rest in the Lord and be willing to wait for Him. Do not trouble yourself when all goes well with the one who carries out his sinful plans. 8 Stop being angry. Turn away from fighting. Do not trouble yourself. It leads only to wrong-doing. 9 For those who do wrong will be cut off. But those who wait for the Lord will be given the earth. 10 A little while, and the sinful man will be no more. You will look for his place, and he will not be there. 11 But those who have no pride will be given the earth. And they will be happy and have much more than they need.
12 The sinful man plans against him who is right with God. And he grinds his teeth at him. 13 The Lord laughs at him because He sees his day is coming. 14 The sinful have taken up their sword and their bow, to bring down the poor and those in need, and to kill those whose ways are right. 15 Their sword will cut into their own heart, and their bows will be broken.
16 The few things that the man right with God has is better than the riches of many sinful men. 17 For the arms of the sinful will be broken. But the Lord holds up those who are right with Him. 18 The Lord knows the days of those who are without blame. And what is theirs will last forever. 19 They will not be ashamed in the time of trouble. And in days when there is no food they will have enough. 20 But the sinful will be lost forever. Those who hate the Lord will be like the beauty of the fields. They will be gone. Like smoke they will be gone. 21 The sinful ask for something, but do not return it. But those who are right with God are kind and give. 22 For those who are made happy by Him will be given the land. But those who are being punished by Him will be cut off.
23 The steps of a good man are led by the Lord. And He is happy in his way. 24 When he falls, he will not be thrown down, because the Lord holds his hand. 25 I have been young, and now I am old. Yet I have never seen the man who is right with God left alone, or his children begging for bread. 26 All day long he is kind and lets others use what he has. And his children make him happy.
27 Turn from sin, and do good, so you will live forever. 28 For the Lord loves what is fair and right. He does not leave the people alone who belong to Him. They are kept forever. But the children of the sinful will be cut off. 29 Those who are right with God will be given the land, and live on it forever. 30 The mouth of the man who is right with God speaks wisdom. And his tongue speaks what is fair and right. 31 The Law of his God is in his heart. His steps do not leave it. 32 The sinful lie in wait for the man who is right with God, and want to kill him. 33 The Lord will not leave him in his power. He will not let him be found guilty when he is judged. 34 Wait for the Lord. Keep His way. And He will give you a high place to receive the land. When the sinful are cut off, you will see it.
35 I have seen a very sinful man spreading himself like a green tree in its home land. 36 Then he passed away and was no more. I looked for him. But he could not be found. 37 Look at the man without blame. And watch the man who is right and good. For the man of peace will have much family to follow him. 38 But all the sinners will be destroyed. The family of the sinful will be cut off. 39 But the saving of those who are right with God is from the Lord. He is their strength in time of trouble. 40 The Lord helps them and takes them out of trouble. He takes them away from the sinful, and saves them, because they go to Him for a safe place.
16 My face is red from crying, and darkness is over my eyes. 17 But my hands have done nothing bad, and my prayer is pure.
18 “O earth, do not cover my blood. Let my cry have no place to rest. 19 See, even now there is One Who sees me from heaven. The One Who speaks for me is on high. 20 My friends make fun of me. My eyes pour out tears to God. 21 If only a man could give reasons to God, as a man does for his neighbor! 22 In a few years I will go the way that I cannot return.
Job Keeps On Talking
17 “My spirit is broken. My days are gone. The grave is ready for me.
13 If I look for the place of the dead as my home, I make my bed in the darkness. 14 If I say to the grave, ‘You are my father,’ and to the worm, ‘My mother and my sister,’ 15 then where is my hope? Who sees hope for me? 16 Will it go down with me to the place of the dead? Will we go down together into the dust?”
Saul and Barnabas Are Called to Be Missionaries
13 In the church in the city of Antioch there were preachers and teachers. They were Barnabas, Simeon Niger, Lucius of the country of Cyrene, Manaen of Herod’s family, and Saul. 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and eating no food so they could pray better, the Holy Spirit said, “Let Barnabas and Saul be given to Me for the work I have called them to.”
Paul and Barnabas Go to Antioch
3 These preachers and teachers went without food during that time and prayed. Then they laid their hands on Barnabas and Saul and sent them away. 4 They were sent by the Holy Spirit to the city of Seleucia. From there they went by ship to the island of Cyprus. 5 When they went to shore at the city of Salamis, they preached the Word of God in the Jewish place of worship. John Mark was with them as their helper.
6 They went over Cyprus as far as the city of Paphos. While there, they found a Jew who did witchcraft. He was a false preacher named Barjesus. 7 Sergius Paulus was the leader of the country and a man who knew much. Barjesus was with Sergius Paulus. Sergius Paulus asked Barnabas and Saul to come to him so he might hear the Word of God. 8 But Elymas (as he called himself), the man who did witchcraft, worked against Barnabas and Saul. He tried to keep the leader of the country from putting his trust in the Lord.
9 Saul, whose other name was Paul, was full of the Holy Spirit. He looked at Elymas. 10 Then Saul said, “You false preacher and trouble-maker! You son of the devil! You hate what is right! Will you always be turning people from the right ways of the Lord? 11 And now look! The hand of the Lord is on you. You will become blind. For a time you will not be able to see the sun.” At once it became dark to Elymas, and he could not see. He asked people to take him by the hand to lead him from place to place.
12 The leader of the country put his trust in the Lord because he saw what had happened. He was surprised and wondered about the teaching of the Lord.
Jesus Heals a Man Who Was Born Blind
9 As Jesus went on His way, He saw a man who had been born blind. 2 His followers asked Him, “Teacher, whose sin made this man to be born blind? Was it the sin of this man or the sin of his parents?” 3 Jesus answered, “The sin of this man or the sin of his parents did not make him to be born blind. He was born blind so the work of God would be seen in him. 4 We must keep on doing the work of Him Who sent Me while it is day. Night is coming when no man can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.”
6 After Jesus had said this, He spit on the ground. He mixed it with dust and put that mud on the eyes of the blind man. 7 Then Jesus said to him, “Go and wash in the pool of Siloam.” (Siloam means Sent.) The man went away and washed. When he came back, he could see.
8 Neighbors and others had seen him begging. They said, “Is not this the man who sat and begged?” 9 Some said, “This is the one.” Others said, “No, but he looks like him.” But the man who had been blind said, “I am the man.” 10 They said to him, “How were your eyes opened?” 11 He answered, “A Man called Jesus made mud and put it on my eyes. Then He said to me, ‘Go and wash in the pool of Siloam.’ I went and washed and I can see.” 12 Then they asked him, “Where is He?” He answered, “I do not know.”
The Proud Religious Law-Keepers Are Troubled about This Healing
13 They took the man who had been born blind to the proud religious law-keepers. 14 It was the Day of Rest when Jesus had made mud and opened his eyes. 15 Again the proud religious law-keepers asked the man who had been born blind how he had been made to see. He answered them, “Jesus put mud on my eyes. I washed and now I see!” 16 Some of the proud religious law-keepers said, “The Man Who did this is not from God because He worked on the Day of Rest.” Others said, “How can a sinful man do powerful works?” They could not agree about Jesus. 17 They spoke again to the blind man, saying, “What do you say about Him since He opened your eyes?” He answered, “He is One Who speaks for God.”
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