Book of Common Prayer
Security of Those Who Trust in the Lord, and Insecurity of the Wicked.
A Psalm of David.
37 (A)Do not get upset because of evildoers,
Do not be (B)envious of wrongdoers.
2 For they will (C)wither quickly like the grass,
And (D)decay like the green plants.
3 (E)Trust in the Lord and do good;
(F)Live in the land and [a](G)cultivate faithfulness.
4 (H)Delight yourself in the Lord;
And He will (I)give you the desires of your heart.
5 (J)Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him, and He will do it.
6 He will bring out (K)your righteousness as the light,
And your judgment (L)as the noonday.
7 [b]Rest in the Lord and (M)wait [c]patiently for Him;
(N)Do not get upset because of one who is (O)successful in his way,
Because of the person who carries out wicked schemes.
8 Cease from anger and (P)abandon wrath;
Do not get upset; it leads only to evildoing.
9 For (Q)evildoers will be eliminated,
But those who wait for the Lord, they will (R)inherit the land.
10 Yet (S)a little while and the wicked person will be no more;
And you will look carefully for (T)his place and he will not be there.
11 But (U)the humble will inherit the land
And will delight themselves in (V)abundant prosperity.
12 The wicked (W)plots against the righteous,
And (X)gnashes at him with his teeth.
13 The Lord (Y)laughs at him,
For He sees that (Z)his day is coming.
14 The wicked have drawn the sword and (AA)bent their bow
To take down the (AB)afflicted and the needy,
To (AC)kill off those who are upright in conduct.
15 Their sword will enter their own heart,
And their (AD)bows will be broken.
16 (AE)Better is the little of the righteous
Than the abundance of many wicked.
17 For the (AF)arms of the wicked will be broken,
But the Lord (AG)sustains the righteous.
18 The Lord (AH)knows the days of the [d]blameless,
And their (AI)inheritance will be forever.
19 They will not be ashamed in the time of evil,
And (AJ)in the days of famine they will have plenty.
20 But the (AK)wicked will perish;
And the enemies of the Lord will be like the [e]glory of the pastures,
They vanish—(AL)like smoke they vanish away.
21 The wicked borrows and does not pay back,
But the righteous (AM)is gracious and gives.
22 For (AN)those blessed by Him will (AO)inherit the land,
But those (AP)cursed by Him will be eliminated.
23 (AQ)The steps of a man are established by the Lord,
And He (AR)delights in his way.
24 When (AS)he falls, he will not be hurled down,
Because (AT)the Lord is the One [f]who holds his hand.
25 I have been young and now I am old,
Yet (AU)I have not seen the righteous forsaken
Or (AV)his [g]descendants begging for bread.
26 All day long (AW)he is gracious and lends,
And (AX)his [h]descendants are a blessing.
27 (AY)Turn from evil and do good,
So that you will dwell (AZ)forever.
28 For the Lord (BA)loves [i]justice
And (BB)does not abandon His godly ones;
They are (BC)protected forever,
But the [j](BD)descendants of the wicked will be eliminated.
29 The righteous will (BE)inherit the land
And (BF)dwell in it forever.
30 The mouth of the righteous (BG)utters wisdom,
And his tongue (BH)speaks justice.
31 The (BI)Law of his God is in his heart;
His (BJ)steps do not slip.
32 The (BK)wicked spies upon the righteous
And (BL)seeks to kill him.
33 The Lord will (BM)not leave him in his hand
Or (BN)let him be condemned when he is judged.
34 (BO)Wait for the Lord and keep His way,
And He will exalt you to inherit the land;
When the (BP)wicked are eliminated, you will see it.
35 I have (BQ)seen a wicked, violent person
Spreading himself like a (BR)luxuriant [k]tree in its native soil.
36 Then he passed away, and behold, he (BS)was no more;
I searched for him, but he could not be found.
37 Observe the [l](BT)blameless person, and look at the (BU)upright;
For the person of peace will have (BV)a future.
38 But wrongdoers will altogether be (BW)destroyed;
The future of the wicked will be (BX)eliminated.
39 But the (BY)salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;
He is their strength (BZ)in time of trouble.
40 (CA)The Lord helps them and rescues them;
He (CB)rescues them from the wicked and saves them,
Because they (CC)take refuge in Him.
24 So David hid himself in the field; and when the new moon came, the king sat down to eat food. 25 Now the king sat on his seat as usual, the seat by the wall; then Jonathan stood up and Abner sat down by Saul’s side; but (A)David’s place was empty. 26 Nevertheless Saul did not say anything that day, because he thought, “It must have been an [a]accident; (B)he is not clean, undoubtedly he is not clean.” 27 But it came about the next day, the second day of the new moon, that David’s place was empty again; so Saul said to his son Jonathan, “Why has the son of Jesse not come to the meal, either yesterday or today?” 28 And Jonathan answered Saul, “(C)David earnestly requested leave of me to go to Bethlehem. 29 He said, ‘Please let me go, because our family has a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has ordered me to attend. So now, if I have found favor in your sight, please let me slip away so that I may see my brothers.’ For this reason he has not come to the king’s table.”
Saul Is Angry with Jonathan
30 Then Saul’s anger burned against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman! Do I not know that you are choosing the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness? 31 For, [b]as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom will be established. Now then, send men and bring him to me, for (D)he is [c]doomed to die!” 32 But Jonathan replied to his father Saul and said to him, “(E)Why must he be put to death? What has he done?” 33 Then (F)Saul hurled his spear at him to strike and kill him; (G)so Jonathan knew that his father had decided to put David to death. 34 Then Jonathan got up from the table in the heat of anger, and did not eat food on the second day of the new moon, because he was worried about David since his father had insulted him.
35 Now it came about in the morning that Jonathan went out to the field at the time agreed upon with David, and a little boy was with him. 36 He said to his boy, “(H)Run, find now the arrows which I am about to shoot.” The boy ran, and he shot [d]an arrow past him. 37 When the boy reached the location of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called after the boy and said, “(I)Is the arrow not beyond you?” 38 Then Jonathan called after the boy, “Hurry, be quick, do not stay!” And Jonathan’s boy picked up the arrow and came to his master. 39 But the boy was not aware of anything; only Jonathan and David knew about the matter. 40 Then Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy and said to him, “Go, bring them to the city.” 41 When the boy was gone, David got up from the south side, then he fell on his face to the ground and (J)bowed three times. And they kissed each other and wept together, until (K)David wept immeasurably. 42 Then Jonathan said to David, “(L)Go [e]in safety, since we have sworn to each other in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘(M)The Lord will be between me and you, and between my [f]descendants and your [g]descendants forever.’” [h]So David set out and went on his way, while Jonathan went into the city.
First Missionary Journey
13 Now there were (A)prophets and (B)teachers at (C)Antioch, in the (D)church that was there: (E)Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of (F)Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with (G)Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 While they were [a]serving the Lord and fasting, (H)the Holy Spirit said, “Set (I)Barnabas and Saul apart for Me for (J)the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then, when they had fasted, (K)prayed, and (L)laid their hands on them, (M)they sent them away.
4 So, being (N)sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to (O)Cyprus. 5 When they reached Salamis, they began to proclaim the word of God in (P)the synagogues of the Jews; and they also had (Q)John as their helper. 6 When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a (R)magician, a Jewish (S)false prophet whose name was Bar-Jesus, 7 who was with the (T)proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the (U)magician (for so his name is translated) was opposing them, seeking to turn the (V)proconsul away from (W)the faith. 9 But Saul, who was also known as Paul, [b](X)filled with the Holy Spirit, stared at him, 10 and said, “[c]You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you (Y)son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not stop making crooked (Z)the straight ways of the Lord? 11 Now, behold, (AA)the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and not see the sun for a time.” And immediately a mist and a darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking those who would lead him by the hand. 12 Then the (AB)proconsul believed when he saw what had happened, being amazed at (AC)the teaching of the Lord.
Question of the Sabbath
23 (A)And it happened that He was passing through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples began to make their way along while (B)picking the heads of grain. 24 The Pharisees were saying to Him, “Look, (C)why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” 25 And He *said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions became hungry; 26 how he entered the house of God in the [a]time of (D)Abiathar the high priest, and ate the [b]consecrated bread, which (E)is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests, and he also gave it to those who were with him?” 27 Jesus said to them, “(F)The Sabbath [c]was made [d]for man, and (G)not man [e]for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord, even of the Sabbath.”
Jesus Heals on the Sabbath
3 (H)He (I)entered a synagogue again; and a man was there whose hand was withered. 2 And (J)they were watching Him [f]closely to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath, (K)so that they might accuse Him. 3 He *said to the man with the withered hand, “[g]Get up and come forward!” 4 And He *said to them, “Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath or to do harm, to save a life or to kill?” But they kept silent. 5 After (L)looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He *said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6 The Pharisees went out and immediately began [h]conspiring with the (M)Herodians against Him, as to how they might put Him to death.
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