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.
5 I am the Lord and there is no other;
there is no god besides me.
I am the Lord who armed you
even though you did not know me,
6 so that it may be acknowledged from east to west
that there is no god besides me.
I am the Lord, and there is no other.
7 I form the light and create the darkness;
prosperity and disaster depend upon my will;
I, the Lord, do all these things.
8 Rain down righteousness, you heavens;
let the skies pour it down from above.
Let the earth open up
so that salvation may blossom forth,
and let justice also spring up;
I, the Lord, have created it.
9 Woe to anyone who rises up against his Maker,
or to the pot that is displeased with the potter.
Does the clay say to the one who molds it,
“What are you doing?
Your work makes no sense.”
10 Woe to anyone who asks a father,
“What are you begetting?”
or who says to a mother,
“To what have you given birth?”
11 Thus says the Lord,
the Holy One of Israel and its Maker:
How dare you question me about my children
or command me regarding the work of my hands?
12 I was the one who made the earth
and created mankind upon it.
It was my hands that stretched out the heavens
and commanded all their host.
13 I have raised this man for the triumph of justice,
and I will smooth all his paths.
He will rebuild my city
and set my exiles free
without price or ransom,
says the Lord of hosts.
14 Thus says the Lord:
The wealth of Egypt, the commerce of Ethiopia,
and the Sabeans, tall of stature,
will come over to you and belong to you;
they will follow you, wearing chains.
They will bow down before you
and pray to you, saying,
“God is with you alone, and there is no other;
there is no god aside from him.”[a]
15 Truly you are a God who is hidden,
O God of Israel, the Savior.
16 All the makers of idols are disgraced and humbled;
they perish in their shame.
17 But Israel is saved by the Lord,
a salvation that is everlasting.
You will never be put to shame or humiliated
forever and ever.
15 Therefore, take care to live as intelligent people, and do not be like those who are senseless. 16 Make the most of the present time, for this is a wicked age. 17 Do not be foolish, but recognize what is the will of the Lord. 18 Do not get drunk on wine, which can lead to debauchery.
Rather, be filled with the Spirit, 19 as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with one another. Sing and chant to the Lord in your hearts, 20 giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Christ and Christian Spouses[a]
Be Subject to One Another in Christ. Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ. 22 Wives, be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, just as Christ is the head of the Church, the body of which he is the Savior. 24 Just as the Church is subject to Christ, so also wives must be subject to their husbands in everything.25 Love One Another in Christ. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her 26 in order to sanctify her by cleansing her with water and the word,[b] 27 in order to present the Church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such flaw, but holy and without the slightest blemish.
28 In the same way, husbands should love their wives as they do their own bodies. The man who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hates his own body; rather, he nourishes it and cares for it, even as Christ does for the Church, 30 because we are members of his body.
31 For this reason
a man shall leave his father and mother
and be joined to his wife,
and the two shall become one flesh.
32 This is a great mystery. Here I am applying it to Christ and the Church. 33 However, each one of you should love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife should respect her husband.
21 The Parable of the Lamp.[a] He said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket or under a bed? To the contrary, it is placed on a lampstand. 22 For nothing is hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing is secret that will not be brought to light. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!”
24 The Parable of the Measure.[b] He also told them, “Pay careful attention to what you hear. The measure you give will be the measure you will receive, and you will receive more in addition. 25 To the one who has, more will be given; from the one who does not have, even what little he has will be taken away.”[c]
26 The Parable of the Secretly Growing Seed.[d] He went on to say, “The kingdom of God is like this. A man scatters seed on the ground. 27 Night and day, while he sleeps and while he is awake, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not understand how. 28 The ground produces fruit of its own accord—first the shoot, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. 29 And when the crop is ripe, he immediately stretches out the sickle, because the time for harvest has come.”
30 The Parable of the Mustard Seed.[e] He then said, “With what shall we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use to explain it? 31 It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth. 32 But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the greatest of all plants, and it puts forth large branches so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”
33 The Usefulness of Parables.[f] With many such parables as these he spoke the word to them so far as they were able to comprehend it. 34 He never spoke to them except in parables, but he explained everything to his disciples when they were by themselves.
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