Book of Common Prayer
David wrote this song.
Trust the Lord[a]
37 Do not become upset
because of what wicked people do.
Do not be jealous of people that do bad things.
2 Remember that they are soon gone!
They are like grass that quickly becomes dry.
They will soon die like green plants in hot weather.
3 Trust in the Lord and do good things.
Then you will live safely in the land.
4 Be happy that the Lord is your friend.
He will give you what you most want.
5 Let the Lord be your guide into the future.
Trust in him and he will help you.
6 He will show everyone that you are righteous.
People will know that you are a good person,
as clearly as the sun shines at noon.
7 Be patient as you wait for the Lord to help you.
Trust him to bring help.
Do not become upset when bad people seem to do well,
when their wicked ideas really happen.
8 Do not become angry or upset!
It will only bring trouble for you.
9 Wicked people will disappear one day!
But people who trust the Lord for help
will live safely in the land that he has given to them.
10 Evil people will soon be gone.
You may look for them,
but you will not find them.
11 Humble people will live safely in the land.
They will live in peace and they will enjoy good things.
12 Wicked people think about how to hurt righteous people.
They show their teeth to frighten good people.
13 But my Lord laughs at those wicked people,
because he knows that their day of punishment will come.
14 Wicked people get out their swords,
and they prepare to shoot their arrows.
They try to make poor and helpless people fall down.
They try to destroy people who do what is right.
15 But their swords will go into their own hearts.
Their bows will break in pieces.
16 It is better to do what is right and only have a few things,
than to be wicked and have many things.
17 The Lord keeps righteous people safe,
but he will destroy the power of wicked people.
18 If anyone lives a completely good life,
the Lord takes care of them.
His gifts to them will last for ever.
19 When times of trouble come,
they will still be safe.
In a time of famine,
they will have enough to eat.
20 But wicked people will die.
They are the Lord's enemies.
They will disappear like smoke from a fire that burns them up.
21 If you lend money to a wicked person,
he will not give it back to you.
But righteous people are kind to others
and they give things freely.
22 Yes, people that the Lord blesses
will live safely in the land.
But people that he has cursed
will disappear.
23 If the way that somebody lives pleases the Lord,
the Lord will lead him into good things.
24 Even if that person trips, he will not fall.
The Lord will hold his hand.
25 I was young once and now I am old.
But in all my life, I have never seen any good man that God has left alone.
I have not seen his children so hungry
that they ask people for food.
26 Good people are always kind.
They lend things to other people.
Their children also bring God's blessing.
27 Turn away from evil things!
Do what is right!
Then you will live safely in the land for ever.
28 The Lord loves justice.
He will never leave those who serve him.
He will take care of them for ever,
but he will remove the children of wicked people.
29 God's righteous people will take the land for themselves.
They will live there for ever.
30 Righteous people speak wise words.
What they say brings justice.
31 They think about God's Law all the time,
so that they do not make mistakes.
32 Evil people wait for a chance to kill righteous people.
33 But the Lord will not leave his righteous people,
so that their enemies have power over them.
When evil people accuse them,
the Lord will show that they are not guilty.
34 Be patient and continue to trust the Lord.
Obey his commands.
Then he will give you honour,
so that you live safely in the land.
You will see that the Lord destroys wicked people.
35 I have seen cruel, wicked people become very powerful,
like trees that grow well in good soil.
36 But soon after that,
I see that they have disappeared!
I looked for them,
but I could not find them anywhere.
37 Think about people who are honest
and who do what is right.
Those who help people to live in peace
will live to enjoy their children.
38 But God will destroy people that turn against him.
Evil people will not have descendants.
39 The Lord will make righteous people safe.
He will take care of them in times of trouble.
40 The Lord helps them.
He saves them from wicked people.
He keeps them safe
because they turn to him for help.
Cyrus sends the Jews back to Jerusalem
1 In the first year that Cyrus, king of Persia, was ruling Babylon, the Lord put a thought in his mind.[a] King Cyrus decided to send a message to everybody who lived in his kingdom. His message would cause what God had already spoken to his prophet Jeremiah to become true.[b] The message was written down and people took it all over Cyrus's kingdom. It said:
2 ‘This is what Cyrus, the king of Persia says:
The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me power over all the kingdoms of the earth. He has said that I must build a temple for him in Jerusalem, the city that is in Judah.[c] 3 Any of God's people who live among you may now return to Jerusalem. I pray that their God will be with them. They must build a temple there for the Lord, Israel's God. He is the God whose home is in Jerusalem. 4 In places where there are some Israelites who want to return, their neighbours must help them with gifts. They should give them silver, gold and other things for their journey. They should also give them animals. They may also give them special gifts for God's temple that is in Jerusalem.’
5 Then the leaders of the families of Judah and Benjamin prepared to return to Jerusalem. The priests and the Levites also prepared to go. God had put a thought in the minds of all those people that they should go. So they prepared everything that they needed to go and build the Lord's temple in Jerusalem. 6 Their neighbours gave them silver things, gold things and other valuable gifts, as well as animals. They also gave them offerings for the temple.
7 Then King Cyrus brought the valuable things that King Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the Lord's temple in Jerusalem.[d] Nebuchadnezzar had taken them from Jerusalem and brought them to Babylon. He had put them in the temple of his own gods. 8 Cyrus told his officer, Mithredath, to count all the valuable things. Mithredath was the officer who took care of all Persia's riches. As he counted the things, he gave them to Sheshbazzar, the leader of Judah's people.
9 They counted the things and they made this list:
30 gold dishes.
1,000 silver dishes.
29 special tools.
10 30 gold bowls.
410 silver bowls.
1,000 other things.
11 There were 5,400 things made from gold and silver. Sheshbazzar took them all with him when he left Babylon to return to Jerusalem with the other exiles.
Help for God's people
16 You asked me about the money that you want to give to God's people at Jerusalem. You should do it in the same way that I told the churches in Galatia.[a] 2 On the first day of every week, each of you should put some of your money in a safe place. Think about how much God has given you. Then decide how much you can give each week. If you do that, the gift will be ready when I come to you. We will not need to start doing it after I come. 3 When I arrive there, you should choose people from your group who will take your gift to Jerusalem. I will write some letters that they will take with them. The letters will explain about your gift. 4 I may also go myself, if that seems the right thing for me to do. Then they can travel with me.
5 But I must travel through Macedonia first.[b] After I have been to Macedonia, then I will come to you. 6 I will probably remain with you for some time. I may even stay for the whole winter. Then you can help me to continue my journey to the next place. I am not sure yet where that may be. 7 If I come now, I would only have a short time with you. But I want to stay with you for a longer time, if the Lord will let me do that. 8 So I will remain here at Ephesus city until the Pentecost festival.[c] 9 God has given me the chance to do a great work here. But many people are against what I am doing.
God chose Jesus to do an important job
15 Jesus knew that the Pharisees wanted to kill him. So he went away from that place. A large crowd of people followed him. He made all the sick people become well again. 16 He said to these people, ‘You must not tell anyone about me.’ 17 This happened so that what the prophet Isaiah had spoken long ago became true. Isaiah wrote what God said:
18 ‘Here is my servant.
I have chosen him to serve me.
I love him and he makes me very happy.
I will give him the strength of my Spirit.
He will tell all the nations that I will judge them fairly.
19 He will not argue with people. He will not shout at them.
People will not hear his loud voice in the streets.
20 He will not hurt weak people.
He will be kind to people who are not strong.
He will do this until there is justice everywhere.
21 All the nations will trust him to save them.’
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