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 worry because of evildoers,
Nor be envious toward wrongdoers;
2
For they will wither quickly like the grass,
And fade like the green herb.
3
Trust [rely on and have confidence] in the Lord and do good;
Dwell in the land and feed [securely] on His faithfulness.
4
Delight yourself in the Lord,
And He will give you the desires and petitions of your heart.
5
Commit your way to the Lord;
Trust in Him also and He will do it.
6
He will make your righteousness [your pursuit of right standing with God] like the light,
And your judgment like [the shining of] the noonday [sun].
7
Be still before the Lord; wait patiently for Him and entrust yourself to Him;
Do not fret (whine, agonize) because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.
8
Cease from anger and abandon wrath;
Do not fret; it leads only to evil.
9
For those who do evil will be cut off,
But those who wait for the Lord, they will inherit the land.(A)
10
For yet a little while and the wicked one will be gone [forever];
Though you look carefully where he used to be, he will not be [found].(B)
11
But the humble will [at last] inherit the land
And will delight themselves in abundant prosperity and peace.(C)
12
The wicked plots against the righteous
And gnashes at him with his teeth.
13
The Lord laughs at him [the wicked one—the one who oppresses the righteous],
For He sees that his day [of defeat] is coming.
14
The wicked have drawn the sword and bent their bow
To cast down the afflicted and the needy,
To slaughter those who are upright in conduct [those with personal integrity and godly character].
15
The sword [of the ungodly] will enter their own heart,
And their bow will be broken.
16
Better is the little of the righteous [who seek the will of God]
Than the abundance (riches) of many wicked (godless).(D)
17
For the arms of the wicked will be broken,
But the Lord upholds and sustains the righteous [who seek Him].
18
The Lord knows the days of the blameless,
And their inheritance will continue forever.
19
They will not be [b]ashamed in the time of evil,
And in the days of famine they will have plenty and be satisfied.
20
But the wicked (ungodly) will perish,
And the enemies of the Lord will be like the [c]glory of the pastures and like the fat of lambs [that is consumed in smoke],
They vanish—like smoke they vanish away.
21
The wicked borrows and does not pay back,
But the righteous is gracious and kind and gives.
22
For those blessed by God will [at last] inherit the land,
But those cursed by Him will be cut off.(E)
23
The steps of a [good and righteous] man are directed and established by the Lord,
And He delights in his way [and blesses his path].
24
When he falls, he will not be hurled down,
Because the Lord is the One who holds his hand and sustains him.
25
I have been young and now I am old,
Yet I have not seen the righteous (those in right standing with God) abandoned
Or his descendants pleading for bread.
26
All day long he is gracious and lends,
And his descendants are a blessing.
27
Depart from evil and do good;
And you will dwell [securely in the land] forever.
28
For the Lord delights in justice
And does not abandon His saints (faithful ones);
They are preserved forever,
But the descendants of the wicked will [in time] be cut off.
29
The righteous will inherit the land
And live in it forever.
30
The mouth of the righteous proclaims wisdom,
And his tongue speaks justice and truth.
31
The law of his God is in his heart;
Not one of his steps will slip.
32
The wicked lies in wait for the righteous
And seeks to kill him.
33
The Lord will not leave him in his hand
Or let him be condemned when he is judged.
34
Wait for and expect the Lord and keep His way,
And He will exalt you to inherit the land;
[In the end] when the wicked are cut off, you will see it.
35
I have seen a wicked, violent man [with great power]
Spreading and flaunting himself like a cedar in its native soil,
36
Yet he passed away, and lo, he was no more;
I sought him, but he could not be found.
37
Mark the blameless man [who is spiritually complete], and behold the upright [who walks in moral integrity];
There is a [good] future for the man of peace [because a life of honor blesses one’s descendants].
38
As for transgressors, they will be completely destroyed;
The future of the wicked will be cut off.
39
But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;
He is their refuge and stronghold in the time of trouble.
40
The Lord helps them and rescues them;
He rescues them from the wicked and saves them,
Because they take refuge in Him.
Proclamation of Cyrus
1 Now in the [a]first year of [b]Cyrus king of Persia [that is, the first year he ruled Babylon], in order to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah [the prophet], the Lord stirred up (put in motion) the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying:(A)
2 “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The [c]Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and He has appointed me to build Him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. 3 Whoever there is among you of all His people, may his God be with him! Let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel; He is God who is in Jerusalem. 4 In any place where a survivor (Jewish exile) may live, let the men (Gentiles) of that place support him with silver and gold, with goods and cattle, together with freewill offerings for the house of God in Jerusalem.’”
Holy Articles Restored
5 Then the heads of the fathers’ households of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites, all those whose spirits God had stirred up, [d]arose to go up and rebuild the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem. 6 All those who were around them encouraged them with articles of silver, with gold, with goods, with cattle, and with valuable things, in addition to all that was given as a freewill offering. 7 Also King Cyrus brought out the articles of the house of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem [when he captured that city] and had put in the house of his gods. 8 And Cyrus, king of Persia, had Mithredath the treasurer bring them out, and he counted them out to [e]Sheshbazzar, the governor (leader) of Judah. 9 And they counted: 30 dishes (basins) of gold, 1,000 dishes of silver, 29 duplicates; 10 30 [small] gold bowls, 410 [small] silver bowls of a second kind, and 1,000 other articles. 11 All the articles of gold and of silver totaled 5,400. All these Sheshbazzar [the governor] brought up with the exiles who went from Babylon up to Jerusalem.
Instructions and Greetings
16 Now concerning the money collected for [the relief of] the saints [in Jerusalem], you are to do the same as I directed the churches of Galatia to do. 2 On the first day of every week each one of you is to put something aside, in proportion to his prosperity, and save it so that no collections [will need to] be made when I come. 3 When I arrive, I will send whomever you approve with letters [of authorization] to take your gift [of charity and love] to Jerusalem; 4 and if it is fitting for me to go too, they will accompany me.
5 I will visit you after I go through Macedonia, for I am only passing through Macedonia; 6 but it may be that I will stay with you [for a while], or even spend the winter, so that you may send me on my way to wherever I may go afterward. 7 For I do not wish to see you right now just in passing, but I hope to remain with you for some time [later on], if the Lord permits. 8 But I will stay in Ephesus until [a]Pentecost, 9 because a wide door for effective service has opened to me [in Ephesus, a very promising opportunity], and there are many adversaries.(A)
15 Being aware of this, Jesus left there. Many followed Him, and He healed all of them [who were sick], 16 and warned them not to tell [publicly] who He was. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah:
18
“Behold, My Servant whom I have chosen;
My Beloved in whom My soul is well-pleased;
I will put My Spirit upon Him,
And He will proclaim justice to the nations.
19
“He will not quarrel, nor cry out loudly;
Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.
20
“A battered reed He will not break,
And a smoldering wick He will not extinguish,
Until He leads justice to victory.
21
“And in His name the Gentiles (all the nations of the world) will hope [with confidence].”(A)
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