Book of Common Prayer
Exhortation to Patience and Trust
A Psalm of David.
37 Fret not yourself because of the wicked,
be not envious of wrongdoers!
2 For they will soon fade like the grass,
and wither like the green herb.
3 Trust in the Lord, and do good;
so you will dwell in the land, and enjoy security.
4 Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him, and he will act.
6 He will bring forth your vindication as the light,
and your right as the noonday.
7 Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him;
fret not yourself over him who prospers in his way,
over the man who carries out evil devices!
8 Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!
Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
9 For the wicked shall be cut off;
but those who wait for the Lord shall possess the land.
10 Yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more;
though you look well at his place, he will not be there.
11 But the meek shall possess the land,
and delight themselves in abundant prosperity.
12 The wicked plots against the righteous,
and gnashes his teeth at him;
13 but the Lord laughs at the wicked,
for he sees that his day is coming.
14 The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows,
to bring down the poor and needy,
to slay those who walk uprightly;
15 their sword shall enter their own heart,
and their bows shall be broken.
16 Better is a little that the righteous has
than the abundance of many wicked.
17 For the arms of the wicked shall be broken;
but the Lord upholds the righteous.
18 The Lord knows the days of the blameless,
and their heritage will abide for ever;
19 they are not put to shame in evil times,
in the days of famine they have abundance.
20 But the wicked perish;
the enemies of the Lord are like the glory of the pastures,
they vanish—like smoke they vanish away.
21 The wicked borrows, and cannot pay back,
but the righteous is generous and gives;
22 for those blessed by the Lord shall possess the land,
but those cursed by him shall be cut off.
23 The steps of a man are from the Lord,
and he establishes him in whose way he delights;
24 though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong,
for the Lord is the stay of his hand.
25 I have been young, and now am old;
yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken
or his children begging bread.
26 He is ever giving liberally and lending,
and his children become a blessing.
27 Depart from evil, and do good;
so shall you abide for ever.
28 For the Lord loves justice;
he will not forsake his saints.
The righteous shall be preserved for ever,
but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.
29 The righteous shall possess the land,
and dwell upon it for ever.
30 The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,
and his tongue speaks justice.
31 The law of his God is in his heart;
his steps do not slip.
32 The wicked watches the righteous,
and seeks to slay him.
33 The Lord will not abandon him to his power,
or let him be condemned when he is brought to trial.
34 Wait for the Lord, and keep to his way,
and he will exalt you to possess the land;
you will look on the destruction of the wicked.
35 I have seen a wicked man overbearing,
and towering like a cedar of Lebanon.[a]
36 Again I[b] passed by, and lo, he was no more;
though I sought him, he could not be found.
37 Mark the blameless man, and behold the upright,
for there is posterity for the man of peace.
38 But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed;
the posterity of the wicked shall be cut off.
39 The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;
he is their refuge in the time of trouble.
40 The Lord helps them and delivers them;
he delivers them from the wicked, and saves them,
because they take refuge in him.
14 So, when the people set out from their tents, to pass over the Jordan with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people, 15 and when those who bore the ark had come to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest), 16 the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap far off, at Adam, the city that is beside Zar′ethan, and those flowing down toward the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were wholly cut off; and the people passed over opposite Jericho. 17 And while all Israel were passing over on dry ground, the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan.[a]
Twelve Stones Set Up at Gilgal
4 When all the nation had finished passing over the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, 2 “Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man, 3 and command them, ‘Take twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests’ feet stood, and carry them over with you, and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight.’” 4 Then Joshua called the twelve men from the people of Israel, whom he had appointed, a man from each tribe; 5 and Joshua said to them, “Pass on before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, 6 that this may be a sign among you, when your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ 7 Then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial for ever.”
The New Life in Christ
12 I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world[a] but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.[b]
3 For by the grace given to me I bid every one among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith which God has assigned him. 4 For as in one body we have many members, and all the members do not have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; he who teaches, in his teaching; 8 he who exhorts, in his exhortation; he who contributes, in liberality; he who gives aid, with zeal; he who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
The Plot to Kill Jesus
26 When Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said to his disciples, 2 “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of man will be delivered up to be crucified.”
3 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, who was called Ca′iaphas, 4 and took counsel together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. 5 But they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be a tumult among the people.”
The Anointing at Bethany
6 Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, 7 a woman came up to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head, as he sat at table. 8 But when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste? 9 For this ointment might have been sold for a large sum, and given to the poor.” 10 But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. 11 For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. 12 In pouring this ointment on my body she has done it to prepare me for burial. 13 Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”
Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus
14 Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, “What will you give me if I deliver him to you?” And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. 16 And from that moment he sought an opportunity to betray him.
The Revised Standard Version of the Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1965, 1966 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.