Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 37[a]
By David.
1 Do not be preoccupied with evildoers.
Do not envy those who do wicked things.
2 They will quickly dry up like grass
and wither away like green plants.
3 Trust Yahweh, and do good things.
Live in the land, and practice being faithful.
4 Be happy with Yahweh,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Entrust your ways to Yahweh.
Trust him, and he will act on your behalf.
6 He will make your righteousness shine like a light,
your just cause like the noonday sun.
7 Surrender yourself to Yahweh, and wait patiently for him.
Do not be preoccupied with an evildoer who succeeds in his way
when he carries out his schemes.
8 Let go of anger, and leave rage behind.
Do not be preoccupied.
It only leads to evil.
9 Evildoers will be cut off from their inheritance,
but those who wait with hope for Yahweh will inherit the land.
10 In a little while a wicked person will vanish.
Then you can carefully examine where he was,
but there will be no trace of him.
11 Oppressed people will inherit the land
and will enjoy unlimited peace.
12 The wicked person plots against a righteous one
and grits his teeth at him.
13 Adonay laughs at him
because he has seen that his time is coming.
14 Wicked people pull out their swords and bend their bows
to kill oppressed and needy people,
to slaughter those who are decent.
15 But their own swords will pierce their hearts,
and their bows will be broken.
16 The little that the righteous person has is better
than the wealth of many wicked people.
17 The arms of wicked people will be broken,
but Yahweh continues to support righteous people.
18 Yahweh knows the daily struggles of innocent people.
Their inheritance will last forever.
19 They will not be put to shame in trying times.
Even in times of famine they will be satisfied.
20 But wicked people will disappear.
Yahweh’s enemies will vanish like the best part of a meadow.
They will vanish like smoke.
21 A wicked person borrows, but he does not repay.
A righteous person is generous and giving.
22 Those who are blessed by him will inherit the land.
Those who are cursed by him will be cut off.
23 A person’s steps are directed by Yahweh,
and Yahweh delights in his way.
24 When he falls, he will not be thrown down headfirst
because Yahweh holds on to his hand.
25 I have been young, and now I am old,
but I have never seen a righteous person abandoned
or his descendants begging for food.
26 He is always generous and lends freely.
His descendants are a blessing.
27 Avoid evil, do good, and live forever.
28 Yahweh loves justice,
and he will not abandon his godly ones.
They will be kept safe forever,
but the descendants of wicked people will be cut off.
29 Righteous people will inherit the land
and live there permanently.
30 The mouth of the righteous person reflects on wisdom.
His tongue speaks what is fair.
31 The teachings of his Elohim are in his heart.
His feet do not slip.
32 The wicked person watches the righteous person
and seeks to kill him.
33 But Yahweh will not abandon him to the wicked person’s power
or condemn him when he is brought to trial.
34 Wait with hope for Yahweh, and follow his path,
and he will honor you by giving you the land.
When wicked people are cut off, you will see it.
35 I have seen a wicked person acting like a tyrant,
spreading himself out like a large cedar tree.
36 But he moved on, and now there is no trace of him.
I searched for him, but he could not be found.
37 Notice the innocent person,
and look at the decent person,
because the peacemaker has a future.
38 But rebels will be completely destroyed.
The future of wicked people will be cut off.
39 The victory for righteous people comes from Yahweh.
He is their fortress in times of trouble.
40 Yahweh helps them and rescues them.
He rescues them from wicked people.
He saves them because they have taken refuge in him.
The Virgin Will Have a Child
7 When Ahaz, son of Jotham and grandson of Uzziah, was king of Judah, Aram’s King Rezin and Israel’s King Pekah, son of Remaliah, went to Jerusalem to attack it, but they couldn’t defeat it. 2 When word reached David’s family that the Arameans had made an alliance with Ephraim, the hearts of the king and his people were shaken as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind.
3 Then Yahweh said to Isaiah, “Go out with your son Shear Jashub to meet Ahaz at the end of the ditch of the Upper Pool on the road to the Laundryman’s Field. 4 Say to him, ‘Be careful, stay calm, and don’t be afraid. Don’t lose heart because of the fierce anger of Rezin from Aram and Remaliah’s son. These two are smoldering logs.’ 5 Aram, Ephraim, and Remaliah’s son have planned evil against you, saying, 6 ‘Let’s march against Judah, tear it apart, divide it among ourselves, and set up Tabeel’s son as its king.’ 7 This is what Adonay Yahweh says:
It won’t take place; it won’t happen.
8 The capital of Aram is Damascus,
and the leader of Damascus is Rezin.
Ephraim will be shattered within 65 years
so that it will no longer be a nation.
9 The capital of Ephraim is Samaria,
and the leader of Samaria is Remaliah’s son.
If you don’t remain faithful,
you won’t remain standing.
Don’t Be Deceived about the Day of the Lord
2 Brothers and sisters, we have this request to make of you about our Lord Yeshua Christ’s coming and our gathering to meet him. 2 Don’t get upset right away or alarmed when someone claims that we said through some spirit, conversation, or letter that the day of the Lord has already come. 3 Don’t let anyone deceive you about this in any way. That day cannot come unless a revolt takes place first, and the man of sin, the man of destruction, is revealed. 4 He opposes every so-called god or anything that is worshiped and places himself above them, sitting in God’s temple and claiming to be God.
5 Don’t you remember that I told you about these things when I was still with you? 6 You know what it is that now holds him back, so that he will be revealed when his time comes. 7 The mystery of this sin is already at work. But it cannot work effectively until the person now holding it back gets out of the way. 8 Then the man of sin will be revealed and the Lord Yeshua will destroy him by what he says. When the Lord Yeshua comes, his appearance will put an end to this man.
9 The man of sin will come with the power of Satan. He will use every kind of power, including miraculous and wonderful signs. But they will be lies. 10 He will use everything that God disapproves of to deceive those who are dying, those who refused to love the truth that would save them. 11 That’s why God will send them a powerful delusion so that they will believe a lie. 12 Then everyone who did not believe the truth, but was delighted with what God disapproves of, will be condemned.
The Plot to Kill Jesus(A)
22 The Festival of Unleavened Bread, called Passover, was near. 2 The chief priests and the experts in Moses’ Teachings were looking for some way to kill Yeshua. However, they were afraid of the people.
3 Then Satan entered Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve apostles. 4 Judas went to the chief priests and the temple guards and discussed with them how he could betray Yeshua. 5 They were pleased and agreed to give him some money. 6 So Judas promised to do it. He kept looking for an opportunity to betray Yeshua to them when there was no crowd.
The Passover(B)
7 The day came during the Festival of Unleavened Bread when the Passover lamb had to be killed. 8 Yeshua sent Peter and John and told them, “Go, prepare the Passover lamb for us to eat.”
9 They asked him, “Where do you want us to prepare it?”
10 He told them, “Go into the city, and you will meet a man carrying a jug of water. Follow him into the house he enters. 11 Tell the owner of the house that the teacher asks, ‘Where is the room where I can eat the Passover meal with my disciples?’ 12 He will take you upstairs and show you a large furnished room. Get things ready there.”
13 The disciples left. They found everything as Yeshua had told them and prepared the Passover.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.