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.
The Ten Commandments
20 Then God spoke all these words, saying,
2 “(A)I am the Lord your God, (B)who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of [a]slavery.
3 “(C)You shall have no other (D)gods [b]before Me.
4 “(E)You shall not make for yourself [c]an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth. 5 (F)You shall not worship them nor serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a (G)jealous God, (H)inflicting the [d]punishment of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing [e]favor to (I)thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
7 “(J)You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not [f]leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.
8 “Remember (K)the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 (L)For six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Lord your God; on it (M)you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male slave or your female slave, or your cattle, or your [g]resident who [h]stays with you. 11 (N)For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day; for that reason the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
12 “(O)Honor your father and your mother, so that your (P)days may be prolonged on the land which the Lord your God gives you.
13 “(Q)You shall not murder.
14 “(R)You shall not commit adultery.
15 “(S)You shall not steal.
16 “(T)You shall not [i]give false testimony against your (U)neighbor.
17 “(V)You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; (W)you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male slave, or his female slave, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
18 And (X)all the people were watching and hearing the [j]thunder and the lightning flashes, and the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it all, they trembled and stood at a distance. 19 (Y)Then they said to Moses, “Speak [k]to us yourself and we will listen; but do not have God speak [l]to us, or we will die!” 20 However, Moses said to the people, “(Z)Do not be afraid; for God has come in order (AA)to test you, and in order that (AB)the fear of Him may [m]remain with you, so that you will not sin.” 21 So the people stood at a distance, while Moses approached (AC)the thick darkness where God was.
24 (A)Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh (B)I am supplementing what is lacking [a]in Christ’s afflictions in behalf of (C)His body, which is the church. 25 (D)I [b]was made a minister of this church according to the (E)commission from God granted to me for your benefit, so that I might [c]fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, 26 that is, (F)the mystery which had been hidden from the past ages and generations, but now has been revealed to His [d]saints, 27 to whom (G)God willed to make known what (H)the wealth of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles is, the mystery that is (I)Christ in you, the (J)hope of glory. 28 We proclaim Him, (K)admonishing every person and teaching every person [e]with all (L)wisdom, so that we may (M)present every person [f](N)complete in Christ. 29 For this purpose I also (O)labor, (P)striving (Q)according to His [g]power which [h]works mightily within me.
You Are Built Up in Christ
2 For I want you to know how great a (R)struggle I have in your behalf and for those who are at (S)Laodicea, and for all those who have not [i]personally seen my face, 2 that their (T)hearts may be encouraged, having been (U)knit together in love, and that they would attain to all (V)the wealth [j]that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a (W)true knowledge of (X)God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, 3 in whom are hidden all (Y)the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 (Z)I say this so that no one will deceive you with (AA)persuasive arguments. 5 For even though I am (AB)absent in body, I am nevertheless with you in spirit, rejoicing [k]to see [l]your (AC)orderly manner and the (AD)stability of your faith in Christ.
6 Therefore, as you have received (AE)Christ Jesus the Lord, so [m](AF)walk in Him, 7 having been firmly (AG)rooted and now being (AH)built up in Him and (AI)established [n]in [o]your faith, just as you (AJ)were instructed, and overflowing [p]with gratitude.
The Temptation of Jesus
4 (A)Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness (B)to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after He had (C)fasted for forty days and forty nights, He [a]then became hungry. 3 And (D)the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the (E)Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” 4 But He answered and said, “It is written: ‘(F)Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes out of the mouth of God.’”
5 Then the devil *took Him along into (G)the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and he *said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written:
‘(H)He will give His angels orders concerning You’;
and
‘On their hands they will lift You up,
So that You do not strike Your foot against a stone.’”
7 Jesus said to him, “[b]On the other hand, it is written: ‘(I)You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
8 (J)Again, the devil *took Him along to a very high mountain and *showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; 9 and he said to Him, “(K)All these things I will give You, if You fall down and [c]worship me.” 10 Then Jesus *said to him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: ‘(L)You shall worship the Lord your God, and [d]serve Him only.’” 11 Then the devil *left Him; and behold, (M)angels came and began to serve Him.
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