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)
The Sign of Immanuel
7 When Ahaz(A) son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, King Rezin(B) of Aram(C) and Pekah(D) son of Remaliah(E) king of Israel marched up to fight against Jerusalem, but they could not overpower it.
2 Now the house of David(F) was told, “Aram has allied itself with[a] Ephraim(G)”; so the hearts of Ahaz and his people were shaken,(H) as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind.
3 Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out, you and your son Shear-Jashub,[b](I) to meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field.(J) 4 Say to him, ‘Be careful, keep calm(K) and don’t be afraid.(L) Do not lose heart(M) because of these two smoldering stubs(N) of firewood—because of the fierce anger(O) of Rezin and Aram and of the son of Remaliah.(P) 5 Aram, Ephraim and Remaliah’s(Q) son have plotted(R) your ruin, saying, 6 “Let us invade Judah; let us tear it apart and divide it among ourselves, and make the son of Tabeel king over it.” 7 Yet this is what the Sovereign Lord says:(S)
“‘It will not take place,
it will not happen,(T)
8 for the head of Aram is Damascus,(U)
and the head of Damascus is only Rezin.(V)
Within sixty-five years
Ephraim will be too shattered(W) to be a people.
9 The head of Ephraim is Samaria,(X)
and the head of Samaria is only Remaliah’s son.
If you do not stand(Y) firm in your faith,(Z)
you will not stand at all.’”(AA)
The Man of Lawlessness
2 Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ(A) and our being gathered to him,(B) we ask you, brothers and sisters, 2 not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter(C)—asserting that the day of the Lord(D) has already come.(E) 3 Don’t let anyone deceive you(F) in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion(G) occurs and the man of lawlessness[a] is revealed,(H) the man doomed to destruction. 4 He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God(I) or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.(J)
5 Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things?(K) 6 And now you know what is holding him back,(L) so that he may be revealed at the proper time. 7 For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back(M) will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed,(N) whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth(O) and destroy by the splendor of his coming.(P) 9 The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan(Q) works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders(R) that serve the lie, 10 and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing.(S) They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.(T) 11 For this reason God sends them(U) a powerful delusion(V) so that they will believe the lie(W) 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.(X)
Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus(A)
22 Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread, called the Passover, was approaching,(B) 2 and the chief priests and the teachers of the law were looking for some way to get rid of Jesus,(C) for they were afraid of the people. 3 Then Satan(D) entered Judas, called Iscariot,(E) one of the Twelve. 4 And Judas went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard(F) and discussed with them how he might betray Jesus. 5 They were delighted and agreed to give him money.(G) 6 He consented, and watched for an opportunity to hand Jesus over to them when no crowd was present.
The Last Supper(H)(I)(J)(K)(L)
7 Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed.(M) 8 Jesus sent Peter and John,(N) saying, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.”
9 “Where do you want us to prepare for it?” they asked.
10 He replied, “As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, 11 and say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ 12 He will show you a large room upstairs, all furnished. Make preparations there.”
13 They left and found things just as Jesus had told them.(O) So they prepared the Passover.
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