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.
Chapter 11
An Attempt at Unity.[a] 1 The whole world had only one language, everyone using the same words. 2 Migrating from the east, men came upon a plain in the land of Shinar where they settled.
3 They said to each other, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them in a fire.” These bricks were what they used instead of stone, and bitumen in place of cement.[b] 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build a city and a tower so high that it touches the heavens.[c] We shall make a name for ourselves and not be scattered all throughout the earth.”
5 But the Lord came down and saw the city and the tower that these men were building. 6 The Lord said, “Behold, they are a single people and they have only one language. This is only the beginning of what they will do. Now nothing that they think up will be impossible for them. 7 Let us go down and confuse their language so that they will not understand each other when they speak.”
8 The Lord scattered them over the whole earth[d] and they ceased building their city. 9 This is why it is called Babel,[e] for there the Lord confused everyone’s language. It was also from there that the Lord scattered people over the whole earth.
13 Cling Tightly to Hope.[a] When God made his promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “I will surely bless you and multiply your descendants.” 15 And so, after waiting patiently, he obtained the promise.
16 Human beings swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath given as confirmation puts an end to all argument. 17 Likewise, when God desired to show even more clearly to the heirs of his promise the unalterable nature of his purpose, he confirmed it by an oath.
18 Therefore, by these two unchangeable acts in which it was impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge in his protection have been strongly encouraged to grasp firmly the hope that has been held out to us. 19 We have this hope as the anchor of the soul, a hope that enters the sanctuary behind the veil,[b] 20 where Jesus has entered as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
The Savior of the World and the New Worship
Chapter 4
Journeying to Galilee through Samaria.[a] 1 Now when the Lord learned that the Pharisees had been informed that he had more disciples and was baptizing more people than John 2 (although actually it was not Jesus himself but his disciples who were baptizing), 3 he left Judea and set forth for Galilee.
Jesus and the Samaritan Woman.[b] 4 He had to pass through Samaria.[c] 5 So he came to a Samaritan town called Sychar,[d] near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down at the well. It was about noon.[e]
7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Give me some water to drink.” 8 His disciples had gone into the town to purchase food. 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew. How can you ask me, a Samaritan woman,[f] for some water to drink?” (Jews do not share anything in common with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus replied,
“If you recognized the gift of God
and who it is that is asking you for something to drink,
you would have asked him
and he would have given you living water.”
11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you do not have a bucket, and the well is deep.[g] Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob who gave us this well and drank from it himself along with his sons and his cattle?” 13 Jesus said to her,
“Everyone who drinks this water
will be thirsty again.
14 But whoever drinks the water that I will give him
will never be thirsty.
The water that I will give him
will become a spring of water within him
welling up to eternal life.”
15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I may not be thirsty and have to come here to draw water.”
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