Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 37[a]
Fate of the Wicked and Reward of the Righteous
1 Of David.
Do not fume because of evildoers
or envy those who do wrong.
2 They will wither quickly like the grass
and fade away like the green herb.[b]
3 Put your trust in the Lord and do good,
that you may dwell in the land[c] and be secure.
4 Take delight in the Lord,
and he will grant you what your heart[d] desires.
5 Commit your way to the Lord;
place your trust in him, and he will act.
6 He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,
and the justice of your cause, like the noonday.[e]
7 Wait quietly for the Lord
and be patient until he comes.
Do not fret over the man who prospers
because of his evil schemes.
8 Refrain from anger and turn away from wrath;
do not fret—it does nothing but harm.
9 For evildoers will be destroyed,
but those who wait for the Lord will inherit the land.[f]
10 In a short while, the wicked will be no more;
no matter how diligently you search, you will not be able to find him.
11 But the meek[g] will possess the land
and enjoy an abundance of peace.
12 The wicked man plots against the righteous
and grinds his teeth at the sight of them.
13 But the Lord laughs at them,
knowing that their day[h] is approaching.
14 The wicked draw their swords
and string their bows
to bring down the poor[i] and the needy
and to slaughter those who are upright.
15 Their swords will enter their own hearts,[j]
and their bows will be shattered.
16 Preferable is the little that the righteous possess
than the great wealth of the wicked.
17 For the power of the wicked will be overcome,
but the Lord protects the righteous.
18 The Lord looks after the lives of the upright,[k]
and their heritage will last forever.
19 They will not be confounded in times of evil,
and in days of famine they eat their fill.
20 But the wicked will perish,
all those who are enemies of the Lord.
Like the beauty of the meadows[l] they will wither away;
like smoke they will disappear.
21 The wicked man borrows but neglects to repay,
whereas the righteous man is generous in giving.
22 For those blessed by the Lord will possess the land,
but those who are cursed will perish.
23 The Lord makes a man’s steps secure
when he approves of his conduct.
24 Even if he stumbles, he will never fall headlong,
for the Lord holds him by the hand.[m]
25 From my youth until my present old age,
I have never seen the righteous man abandoned
or his children reduced to begging for bread.
26 He is always compassionate and generous in lending,
and his children will be blessed.[n]
27 If you shun evil and do good,
you will dwell in the land forever.
28 For the Lord loves the just,[o]
and he will not forsake his faithful ones.
Those who follow evil paths will be destroyed,
and the children of the wicked will be cut off,
29 whereas the righteous will inherit the land
and dwell in it forever.[p]
30 [q]The mouth of the righteous man utters wisdom,
and his tongue speaks what is right.
31 The law of his God is in his heart,
and his steps do not waver.
32 [r]The wicked man keeps close watch on the righteous
and seeks an opportunity to kill him.
33 But the Lord will not abandon the righteous
to the power of the wicked,
nor will he allow him to be condemned
when he is brought to trial.
34 Wait for the Lord
and follow the path he has laid out;
then he will exalt you to inherit the land,
and you will see the destruction of the wicked.
35 [s]I have seen a wicked man inflicting terror
and towering like a verdant tree.
36 I passed by again, and he was gone;
I searched for him, but he was not to be found.
37 [t]Pay attention to the innocent and behold the upright,
for the man of peace will have a future.
38 But the wicked will be completely destroyed,
and their children will be cut off.
39 [u]The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;
he is their refuge in times of trouble.
40 The Lord will help them and deliver them;
he will rescue them from the wicked and save them
because they flee to him for refuge.
24 David’s Absence. So David hid himself in the field. When the new moon celebration began and the king sat down to eat, 25 the king sat in his usual place by the wall. Jonathan sat facing him, and Abner was sitting by Saul’s side, but David’s place was empty. 26 Saul did not say anything that day, because he thought, “Something must have happened to him so that he is impure, surely he is unclean.”[a]
27 But the next day, the second day of the month, David’s place was still empty. Saul asked Jonathan, his son, “Why did the son of Jesse not come to eat yesterday nor today?” 28 Jonathan answered Saul, “David begged me for permission to go to Bethlehem. 29 He said to me, ‘Please let me go, for our family is offering a sacrifice in the city. My brother has told me to be there. If I have found favor with you, please, let me leave to go to see my brothers.’This is why he has not come to the king’s table.” 30 Saul became angry at Jonathan and he said to him, “You son of a perverse and rebellious woman. I knew that you sided with the son of Jesse to your own shame and the shame of your mother’s nakedness. 31 For as long as the son of Jesse lives upon the earth, neither you nor your kingdom will be stable. Send for him and bring him to me, for he must die.”[b] 32 Jonathan answered Saul, his father, saying, “Why must he die? What has he done?” 33 Saul cast a javelin at him to kill him. Jonathan thus knew that his father intended to kill David.
34 Jonathan was enraged and he got up from table. He did not eat on the second day of the month because he was angry at his father for the shameful way he had treated David.
35 Jonathan Warns David. The next morning, Jonathan went out into the field at the time he had arranged with David. He had a small boy with him. 36 He said to the boy, “Run, find the arrows that I shoot.” The boy ran off, and he shot an arrow beyond him. 37 When the boy arrived at the place that Jonathan had shot the arrow, Jonathan said, “Is the arrow not ahead of you?” 38 Then Jonathan cried out to the boy, “Hurry, run, do not stop!” The boy picked up Jonathan’s arrows and returned to his master. 39 (The boy did not know anything about this, only Jonathan and David knew what was happening.)
40 Jonathan gave his weapons to his boy and said, “Go, carry them into the city.” 41 After the boy had left, David got up from the south side of the place, and he bowed down three times before him, face to the ground. They kissed one another, and they wept over one another, David more so. 42 Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, since we have both sworn in the name of the Lord saying, ‘May the Lord be between me and you, between my descendants and your descendants, forever.’ ” He got up and left, and Jonathan went back into the city.
Antioch[a]
Paul’s First Missionary Journey[b]
Chapter 13
Barnabas and Paul Sent Out on Mission.[c] 1 In the Church at Antioch, there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 On one occasion, while they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set Barnabas and Saul apart for me to do the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then, after completing their fasting and prayer, they laid their hands on them and sent them off.
4 Having been sent on their mission by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia,[d] and from there they set sail for Cyprus. 5 When they arrived in Salamis,[e] they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues, while John served as their assistant.
At Cyprus Facing a Proconsul and a Magician.[f] 6 When they had traveled through the whole island as far as Paphos,[g] they encountered a magician named Bar-Jesus, who was a Jewish false prophet. 7 He was an attendant of the proconsul Sergius Paulus, a learned man who had summoned Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. 8 However, the magician Elymas (for that is the translation of his name) opposed them in an attempt to prevent the proconsul’s conversion to the faith.
9 Then Saul, also known as Paul,[h] filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at Elymas 10 and said, “You offspring of the devil, you enemy of righteousness, filled with every kind of deceit and fraud, will you never cease to pervert the straight paths of the Lord? 11 Now take note of how the hand of the Lord will strike you. You will be blind, and for a period of time you will not be able to see the sun.” Immediately, he was enveloped in a dark mist, and he groped about for someone to lead him by the hand. 12 When the proconsul saw what had happened, he became a believer, having been deeply impressed by the teaching of the Lord.
23 Picking Grain on the Sabbath.[a] One day, as Jesus was passing through a field of grain on the Sabbath, his disciples began to pick some heads of grain as they walked along. 24 The Pharisees said to him, “Behold, why are your disciples doing what is forbidden on the Sabbath?”
25 He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? 26 He entered the house of God when Abiathar[b] was high priest and ate the sacred bread that only the priests were permitted to eat, and he shared it with his companions.” 27 Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.[c] 28 That is why the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
Chapter 3
A Man with a Withered Hand.[d] 1 Again, Jesus entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. 2 They watched him closely to see whether he would cure him on the Sabbath so that they might accuse him.
3 He said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” 4 Then he said to the onlookers, “Is it lawful to do good or to do evil on the Sabbath, to save life or to kill?” But they offered no reply. 5 Looking at them with anger, he was saddened at the hardness of their hearts, and he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6 Then the Pharisees went out and immediately began to plot with the Herodians how they might put him to death.
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