Book of Common Prayer

Security of those who trust in Jehovah, and insecurity of the wicked.

A Psalm of David.

¹³ Then was Daniel brought in before the king. The king spake and said unto Daniel, Art thou that Daniel, who art of the children of the captivity of Judah, whom the king my father brought out of Judah? ¹⁴ I have heard of thee, that the spirit of the gods is in thee, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in thee. ¹⁵ And now the wise men, the enchanters, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing, and make known unto me the interpretation thereof; but they could not show the interpretation of the thing. ¹⁶ But I have heard of thee, that thou canst give interpretations, and dissolve doubts: now if thou canst read the writing, and make known to me the interpretation thereof, thou shalt be clothed with purple, and have a chain of gold about thy neck, and shalt be the third ruler in the kingdom.

¹⁷ Then Daniel answered and said before the king, Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; nevertheless I will read the writing unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation. ¹⁸ O thou king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father the kingdom, and greatness, and glory, and majesty: ¹⁹ and because of the greatness that he gave him, all the peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him: whom he would he slew, and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he raised up, and whom he would he put down. ²⁰ But when his heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened so that he dealt proudly, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him: ²¹ and he was driven from the sons of men, and his heart was made like the beasts’, and his dwelling was with the wild asses; he was fed with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; until he knew that the Most High God ruleth in the kingdom of men, and that he setteth up over it whomsoever he will. ²² And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thy heart, though thou knewest all this, ²³ but hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou and thy lords, thy wives and thy concubines, have drunk wine from them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know; and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified. ²⁴ Then was the part of the hand sent from before him, and this writing was inscribed.

²⁵ And this is the writing that was inscribed: ^[a]mene, mene, tekel, upharsin. ²⁶ This is the interpretation of the thing: mene; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and brought it to an end. ²⁷ tekel; thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. ^28 [b]peres; thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.

²⁹ Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with purple, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.

³⁰ In that night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was slain.

¹³ These things have I written unto you, that ye may know that ye have eternal life, even unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God. ¹⁴ And this is the boldness which we have toward him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us: ¹⁵ and if we know that he heareth us whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions which we have asked of him. ¹⁶ If any man see his brother sinning a sin not unto death, ^[a]he shall ask, and God will give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is ^[b]a sin unto death: not concerning this do I say that he should make request. ¹⁷ All unrighteousness is sin: and there is ^[c]a sin not unto death.

¹⁸ We know that whosoever is begotten of God sinneth not; but he that was begotten of God keepeth ^[d]himself, and the evil one toucheth him not. ¹⁹ We know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in the evil one. ²⁰ And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. ²¹ My little children, guard yourselves from idols.

5 Now it came to pass, while the multitude pressed upon him and heard the word of God, that he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret; ² and he saw two boats standing by the lake: but the fishermen had gone out of them, and were washing their nets. ³ And he entered into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the multitudes out of the boat. ⁴ And when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Put out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. ⁵ And Simon answered and said, Master, we toiled all night, and took nothing: but at thy word I will let down the nets. ⁶ And when they had done this, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes; and their nets were breaking; ⁷ and they beckoned unto their partners in the other boat, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. ⁸ But Simon Peter, when he saw it, fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. ⁹ For he was amazed, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken; ¹⁰ and so were also ^[a]James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt ^[b]catch men. ¹¹ And when they had brought their boats to land, they left all, and followed him.