Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 37[a]
By David.
37 Do not fret[b] when wicked men seem to succeed.[c]
Do not envy evildoers.
2 For they will quickly dry up like grass,
and wither away like plants.[d]
3 Trust in the Lord and do what is right.
Settle in the land and maintain your integrity.[e]
4 Then you will take delight in the Lord,[f]
and he will answer your prayers.[g]
5 Commit your future to the Lord.[h]
Trust in him, and he will act on your behalf.[i]
6 He will vindicate you in broad daylight,
and publicly defend your just cause.[j]
7 Wait patiently for the Lord![k]
Wait confidently[l] for him!
Do not fret over the apparent success of a sinner,[m]
a man who carries out wicked schemes.
8 Do not be angry and frustrated.[n]
Do not fret. That only leads to trouble.
9 Wicked men[o] will be wiped out,[p]
but those who rely on the Lord are the ones who will possess the land.[q]
10 Evil men will soon disappear;[r]
you will stare at the spot where they once were, but they will be gone.[s]
11 But the oppressed will possess the land
and enjoy great prosperity.[t]
12 Evil men plot against the godly[u]
and viciously attack them.[v]
13 The Lord laughs in disgust[w] at them,
for he knows that their day is coming.[x]
14 Evil men draw their swords
and prepare their bows,
to bring down[y] the oppressed and needy,
and to slaughter those who are godly.[z]
15 Their swords will pierce[aa] their own hearts,
and their bows will be broken.
16 The little bit that a godly man owns is better than
the wealth of many evil men,[ab]
17 for evil men will lose their power,[ac]
but the Lord sustains[ad] the godly.
18 The Lord watches over the innocent day by day,[ae]
and they possess a permanent inheritance.[af]
19 They will not be ashamed when hard times come;[ag]
when famine comes they will have enough to eat.[ah]
20 But[ai] evil men will die;
the Lord’s enemies will be incinerated[aj]—
they will go up in smoke.[ak]
21 Evil men borrow, but do not repay their debt,
but the godly show compassion and are generous.[al]
22 Surely[am] those favored by the Lord[an] will possess the land,
but those rejected[ao] by him will be wiped out.[ap]
23 The Lord grants success to the one
whose behavior he finds commendable.[aq]
24 Even if[ar] he trips, he will not fall headlong,[as]
for the Lord holds[at] his hand.
25 I was once young, now I am old.
I have never seen the godly abandoned,
or their children[au] forced to search for food.[av]
26 All day long they show compassion and lend to others,[aw]
and their children[ax] are blessed.
27 Turn away from evil. Do what is right.[ay]
Then you will enjoy lasting security.[az]
28 For the Lord promotes[ba] justice,
and never abandons[bb] his faithful followers.
They are permanently secure,[bc]
but the children[bd] of the wicked are wiped out.[be]
29 The godly will possess the land
and will dwell in it permanently.
30 The godly speak wise words
and promote justice.[bf]
31 The law of their God controls their thinking;[bg]
their[bh] feet do not slip.
32 The wicked set an ambush for the godly
and try to kill them.[bi]
33 But the Lord does not surrender the godly,
or allow them to be condemned in a court of law.[bj]
34 Rely[bk] on the Lord. Obey his commands.[bl]
Then he will permit you[bm] to possess the land;
you will see the demise of the wicked.[bn]
35 I have seen ruthless, wicked people[bo]
growing in influence, like a green tree grows in its native soil.[bp]
36 But then one passes by, and suddenly they have disappeared.[bq]
I looked for them, but they could not be found.
37 Take note of the one who has integrity. Observe the upright.
For the one who promotes peace has a future.[br]
38 Sinful rebels are totally destroyed;[bs]
the wicked have no future.[bt]
39 But the Lord delivers the godly;[bu]
he protects them in times of trouble.[bv]
40 The Lord helps them and rescues them;
he rescues them from the wicked and delivers them,[bw]
for they seek his protection.
14 So when the people left their tents to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went[a] ahead of them. 15 When the ones carrying the ark reached the Jordan, and the feet of the priests carrying the ark touched the surface[b] of the water—(the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest time)[c]— 16 the water coming downstream toward them stopped flowing.[d] It piled up far upstream[e] at Adam (the city near Zarethan); there was no water at all flowing to the sea of the rift valley (the Salt Sea).[f] The people crossed the river opposite Jericho. 17 The priests carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firmly on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan. All Israel crossed over on dry ground until the entire nation was on the other side.[g]
Israel Commemorates the Crossing
4 When the entire nation was on the other side,[h] the Lord told Joshua, 2 “Select for yourselves twelve men from the people, one per tribe. 3 Instruct them, ‘Pick up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests[i] stand firmly, and carry them over with you and put them in the place where you camp tonight.’”
4 Joshua summoned the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one per tribe. 5 Joshua told them, “Go in front of the ark of the Lord your God to the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to put a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the Israelite tribes. 6 The stones[j] will be a reminder to you.[k] When your children ask someday, ‘Why are these stones important to you?’ 7 tell them how the water of the Jordan stopped flowing[l] before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the water of the Jordan stopped flowing.[m] These stones will be a lasting memorial for the Israelites.”
Consecration of the Believer’s Life
12 Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters,[a] by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice—alive, holy, and pleasing to God[b]—which is your reasonable service. 2 Do not be conformed[c] to this present world,[d] but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve[e] what is the will of God—what is good and well-pleasing and perfect.
Conduct in Humility
3 For by the grace given to me I say to every one of you not to think more highly of yourself than you ought to think, but to think with sober discernment, as God has distributed to each of you[f] a measure of faith.[g] 4 For just as in one body we have many members, and not all the members serve the same function, 5 so we who are many are one body in Christ, and individually we are members who belong to one another. 6 And we have different gifts[h] according to the grace given to us. If the gift is prophecy, that individual must use it in proportion to his faith.[i] 7 If it is service, he must serve; if it is teaching, he must teach; 8 if it is exhortation, he must exhort; if it is contributing, he must do so with sincerity; if it is leadership, he must do so with diligence; if it is showing mercy, he must do so with cheerfulness.
The Plot Against Jesus
26 When[a] Jesus had finished saying all these things, he told his disciples, 2 “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be handed over[b] to be crucified.”[c] 3 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people met together in the palace of the high priest, who was named Caiaphas. 4 They[d] planned to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. 5 But they said, “Not during the feast, so that there won’t be a riot among the people.”[e]
Jesus’ Anointing
6 Now while Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper,[f] 7 a woman came to him with an alabaster jar[g] of expensive perfumed oil,[h] and she poured it on his head as he was at the table.[i] 8 When[j] the disciples saw this, they became indignant and said, “Why this waste? 9 It[k] could have been sold at a high price and the money[l] given to the poor!” 10 When[m] Jesus learned of this, he said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She[n] has done a good service for me. 11 For you will always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me![o] 12 When[p] she poured this oil on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. 13 I tell you the truth,[q] wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.”
The Plan to Betray Jesus
14 Then one of the twelve, the one named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, “What will you give me to betray him into your hands?”[r] So they set out thirty silver coins for him. 16 From that time[s] on, Judas[t] began looking for an opportunity to betray him.
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