Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 37[a]
The Fate of Sinners and the Reward of the Just
1 Of David.
Aleph
Do not be provoked by evildoers;
do not envy those who do wrong.(A)
2 Like grass they wither quickly;
like green plants they wilt away.(B)
Beth
3 Trust in the Lord and do good
that you may dwell in the land[b] and live secure.(C)
4 Find your delight in the Lord
who will give you your heart’s desire.(D)
Gimel
5 Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him and he will act(E)
6 And make your righteousness shine like the dawn,
your justice like noonday.(F)
Daleth
7 Be still before the Lord;
wait for him.
Do not be provoked by the prosperous,
nor by malicious schemers.
He
8 Refrain from anger; abandon wrath;
do not be provoked; it brings only harm.
9 Those who do evil will be cut off,
but those who wait for the Lord will inherit the earth.(G)
Waw
10 Wait a little, and the wicked will be no more;
look for them and they will not be there.
11 But the poor will inherit the earth,(H)
will delight in great prosperity.
Zayin
12 The wicked plot against the righteous
and gnash their teeth at them;
13 But my Lord laughs at them,(I)
because he sees that their day is coming.
Heth
14 The wicked unsheath their swords;
they string their bows
To fell the poor and oppressed,
to slaughter those whose way is upright.(J)
15 Their swords will pierce their own hearts;
their bows will be broken.
Teth
16 Better the meagerness of the righteous one
than the plenty of the wicked.(K)
17 The arms of the wicked will be broken,
while the Lord will sustain the righteous.
Yodh
18 The Lord knows the days of the blameless;
their heritage lasts forever.
19 They will not be ashamed when times are bad;
in days of famine they will be satisfied.
Kaph
20 The wicked perish,
enemies of the Lord;
They shall be consumed like fattened lambs;
like smoke they disappear.(L)
Lamedh
21 The wicked one borrows but does not repay;
the righteous one is generous and gives.
22 For those blessed by the Lord will inherit the earth,
but those accursed will be cut off.
Mem
23 The valiant one whose steps are guided by the Lord,
who will delight in his way,(M)
24 May stumble, but he will never fall,
for the Lord holds his hand.
Nun
25 Neither in my youth, nor now in old age
have I seen the righteous one abandoned(N)
or his offspring begging for bread.
26 All day long he is gracious and lends,
and his offspring become a blessing.
Samekh
27 Turn from evil and do good,
that you may be settled forever.(O)
28 For the Lord loves justice
and does not abandon the faithful.
Ayin
When the unjust are destroyed,
and the offspring of the wicked cut off,
29 The righteous will inherit the earth
and dwell in it forever.(P)
Pe
30 The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom;(Q)
his tongue speaks what is right.
31 God’s teaching is in his heart;(R)
his steps do not falter.
Sadhe
32 The wicked spies on the righteous
and seeks to kill him.
33 But the Lord does not abandon him in his power,
nor let him be condemned when tried.
Qoph
34 Wait eagerly for the Lord,
and keep his way;(S)
He will raise you up to inherit the earth;
you will see when the wicked are cut off.
Resh
35 I have seen a ruthless scoundrel,
spreading out like a green cedar.(T)
36 When I passed by again, he was gone;
though I searched, he could not be found.
Shin
37 Observe the person of integrity and mark the upright;
Because there is a future for a man of peace.(U)
38 Sinners will be destroyed together;
the future of the wicked will be cut off.
Taw
39 The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord,
their refuge in a time of distress.(V)
40 The Lord helps and rescues them,
rescues and saves them from the wicked,
because they take refuge in him.
6 For you are a people holy to the Lord, your God; the Lord, your God, has chosen you from all the peoples on the face of the earth to be a people specially his own.(A) 7 It was not because you are more numerous than all the peoples that the Lord set his heart on you and chose you; for you are really the smallest of all peoples.(B) 8 It was because the Lord loved you and because of his fidelity to the oath he had sworn to your ancestors, that the Lord brought you out with a strong hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.(C) 9 (D)Know, then, that the Lord, your God, is God: the faithful God who keeps covenant mercy to the thousandth generation toward those who love him and keep his commandments,(E) 10 but who repays with destruction those who hate him; he does not delay with those who hate him, but makes them pay for it. 11 Therefore carefully observe the commandment, the statutes and the ordinances which I command you today.
I. Address
Chapter 1
Greeting.[a] 1 Paul, a slave of God and apostle of Jesus Christ for the sake of the faith of God’s chosen ones and the recognition of religious truth,(A) 2 in the hope of eternal life that God, who does not lie, promised before time began,(B) 3 who indeed at the proper time revealed his word in the proclamation with which I was entrusted by the command of God our savior,(C) 4 to Titus, my true child in our common faith: grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our savior.(D)
II. Pastoral Charge
Titus in Crete. 5 [b]For this reason I left you in Crete so that you might set right what remains to be done and appoint presbyters in every town, as I directed you, 6 (E)on condition that a man be blameless, married only once, with believing children who are not accused of licentiousness or rebellious. 7 For a bishop as God’s steward must be blameless, not arrogant, not irritable, not a drunkard, not aggressive, not greedy for sordid gain, 8 but hospitable, a lover of goodness, temperate, just, holy, and self-controlled, 9 holding fast to the true message as taught so that he will be able both to exhort with sound doctrine and to refute opponents.(F) 10 [c]For there are also many rebels, idle talkers and deceivers, especially the Jewish Christians.[d] 11 It is imperative to silence them, as they are upsetting whole families by teaching for sordid gain what they should not. 12 One of them, a prophet of their own, once said, “Cretans have always been liars, vicious beasts, and lazy gluttons.”[e] 13 That testimony is true. Therefore, admonish them sharply, so that they may be sound in the faith,(G) 14 instead of paying attention to Jewish myths and regulations of people who have repudiated the truth.(H) 15 To the clean all things are clean, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is clean; in fact, both their minds and their consciences are tainted.(I) 16 They claim to know God, but by their deeds they deny him. They are vile and disobedient and unqualified for any good deed.
John the Baptist’s Testimony to Jesus. 29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God,[a] who takes away the sin of the world.(A) 30 [b]He is the one of whom I said,(B) ‘A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.’ 31 I did not know him,[c] but the reason why I came baptizing with water was that he might be made known to Israel.” 32 John testified further, saying, “I saw the Spirit come down like a dove[d] from the sky and remain upon him. 33 I did not know him,(C) but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain, he is the one who will baptize with the holy Spirit.’(D) 34 [e](E)Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.”
The First Disciples.(F)
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