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.
Habakkuk’s Vision of the Divine Warrior
3 This is a prayer of Habakkuk the prophet:[a]
2 Lord, I have heard the report of what you did;[b]
I am awed,[c] Lord, by what you accomplished.[d]
In our time[e] repeat those deeds;[f]
in our time reveal them again.[g]
But when you cause turmoil, remember to show us mercy![h]
3 God comes[i] from Teman,[j]
the Holy One[k] from Mount Paran.[l] Selah.[m]
His splendor has covered the skies,[n]
the earth is full of his glory.[o]
4 His brightness will be as lightning;[p]
a two-pronged lightning bolt flashing from his hand.[q]
This is the outward display of his power.[r]
5 Plague will go[s] before him;
pestilence[t] will march[u] right behind him.[v]
6 He took his battle position[w] and shook[x] the earth;
with a mere look he frightened[y] the nations.
The ancient mountains disintegrated;[z]
the primeval hills were flattened.
His are ancient roads.[aa]
7 I saw the tents of Cushan overwhelmed by trouble;[ab]
the tent curtains of the land of Midian were[ac] shaking.[ad]
8 Was[ae] the Lord mad at the rivers?
Were you angry with the rivers?
Were you enraged at the sea?[af]
Such that[ag] you would climb into your horse-drawn chariots,[ah]
your victorious chariots?[ai]
9 Your bow is ready for action;[aj]
you commission your arrows.[ak] Selah.
You cause flash floods on the earth’s surface.[al]
10 When the mountains see you, they shake.
The torrential downpour sweeps through.[am]
The great deep[an] shouts out;
it lifts its hands high.[ao]
11 The sun and moon stand still in their courses;[ap]
the flash of your arrows drives them away,[aq]
the bright light of your lightning-quick spear.[ar]
12 You furiously stomp on the earth;
you angrily trample down the nations.
13 You march out to deliver your people,
to deliver your special servant.[as]
You strike the leader of the wicked nation,[at]
laying him open from the lower body to the neck.[au] Selah.
14 You pierce the heads of his warriors[av] with a spear.[aw]
They storm forward to scatter us;[ax]
they shout with joy as if they were plundering the poor with no opposition.[ay]
15 But you trample on the sea with your horses,
on the surging, raging waters.[az]
Habakkuk Declares His Confidence
16 I listened and my stomach churned;[ba]
the sound made my lips quiver.
My frame went limp, as if my bones were decaying,[bb]
and I shook as I tried to walk.[bc]
I long[bd] for the day of distress
to come upon[be] the people who attack us.
17 When[bf] the fig tree does not bud,
and there are no grapes on the vines;
when the olive trees do not produce[bg]
and the fields yield no crops;[bh]
when the sheep disappear[bi] from the pen
and there are no cattle in the stalls—
18 I will rejoice because of[bj] the Lord;
I will be happy because of the God who delivers me!
Keep Going Forward
12 Not that I have already attained this—that is, I have not already been perfected—but I strive to lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus also laid hold of me.[a] 13 Brothers and sisters,[b] I do not consider myself to have attained this. Instead I am single-minded:[c] Forgetting the things that are behind and reaching out for the things that are ahead, 14 with this goal in mind,[d] I strive toward the prize of the upward call of God[e] in Christ Jesus. 15 Therefore let those of us who are “perfect” embrace this point of view.[f] If you think otherwise, God will reveal to you the error of your ways.[g] 16 Nevertheless, let us live up to the standard[h] that we have already attained.[i]
17 Be imitators of me,[j] brothers and sisters,[k] and watch carefully those who are living this way, just as you have us as an example. 18 For many live, about whom I have often told you, and now, with tears, I tell you that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their end is destruction, their god is the belly, they exult in their shame, and they think about earthly things.[l] 20 But our citizenship is in heaven—and we also eagerly await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform these humble bodies of ours[m] into the likeness of his glorious body by means of that power by which he is able to subject all things to himself.
Jesus Prays for the Father to Glorify Him
17 When Jesus had finished saying these things, he looked upward[a] to heaven[b] and said, “Father, the time[c] has come. Glorify your Son, so that your[d] Son may glorify you— 2 just as you have given him authority over all humanity,[e] so that he may give eternal life to everyone you have given him.[f] 3 Now this[g] is eternal life[h]—that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ,[i] whom you sent. 4 I glorified you on earth by completing[j] the work you gave me to do.[k] 5 And now, Father, glorify me at your side[l] with the glory I had with you before the world was created.[m]
Jesus Prays for the Disciples
6 “I have revealed[n] your name[o] to the men[p] you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you,[q] and you gave them to me, and they have obeyed[r] your word. 7 Now they understand[s] that everything[t] you have given me comes from you, 8 because I have given them the words you have given me. They[u] accepted[v] them[w] and really[x] understand[y] that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.
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