Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 37[a]
A song of David.
1 Don’t be worried with evil workers
or envy the gains of people with all-wrong-upside-down ways.
2 Soon enough they will wither like grass,
like green herbs fading in summer’s heat.
3 Believe in the Eternal, and do what is good—
live in the land He provides; roam, and rest in God’s faithfulness.
4 Take great joy in the Eternal!
His gifts are coming, and they are all your heart desires!
5 Commit your path to the Eternal; let Him direct you.
Put your confidence in Him, and He will follow through with you.
6 He will spread out righteousness for you
as a sunrise spreads radiance over the land;
He will deliver justice for you into the light of the high sun.
7 Be still. Be patient. Expect the Eternal to arrive and set things right.
Don’t get upset when you see the worldly ones rising up the ladder.
Don’t be bothered by those who are anchored in wicked ways.
8 So turn from anger. Don’t rage,
and don’t worry—these ways frame the doorway to evil.
9 Besides, those who act from evil motives will be cut off from the land;
but those who wait, hoping in the Eternal, will enjoy its riches.
10 You’ll see . . . the wicked won’t know what hit them;
you’ll blink, and they’ll be gone;
you’ll go out looking for them, but you won’t find them.
11 But the humble-hearted will inherit the land;
they will take pleasure in its peace and enjoy its abundance.
12 How that wicked man devises evil against God’s righteous ones!
He grits his teeth, consumed by hate for the upright.
13 But oh, how the Lord laughs at him!
He knows the wicked man will get his; the day is coming.
14 The wicked unsheathe their swords, pull taut their bows;
the poor and needy are their victims,
and evil is on the prowl to kill those with integrity, God’s beloved.
15 But their swords will bend back to pierce their own hearts—
yes, their bows will snap in two.
16 The righteous are better off with the little God blessed them with
than living under the curse of the wealth of the wicked.
17 Their time is short, their arms will be broken,
but the Eternal will hold His righteous children high.
18 All their days are measured and known by the Eternal;
their inheritance is kept safe forever.
19 When calamity comes, they will escape with their dignity.
When famine invades the nations, they will be fed to their fill.
20 But immoral ones will find their lives cut short;
they’ll vanish as quickly as wildflowers in the fields.
Yes, enemies of the Eternal will vanish
like smoke into the cool night air.
21 Evil people borrow and never repay their debts,
while the good give generously from their hearts.
22 For God’s blessed children will inherit the land,
but those cursed by Him stand to gain nothing.
23 If you are right with God, He strengthens you for the journey;
the Eternal will be pleased with your life.
24 And even though you trip up, you will not fall on your face
because He holds you by the hand.
25 Through my whole life (young and old),
I have never witnessed God forsaking those who do right,
nor have I seen their children begging for crumbs,
26 Because they are always giving and sharing;
truly, their children are a joyful blessing.
27 Walk away from evil. Do good
so you, too, will enjoy never-ending life
28 Because the Eternal cherishes justice
and will not abandon those loyal to Him.
He will guard and care for them forever,
but any child born of evil will be rooted out, cut down, and destroyed.
29 Those leading God-pleasing lives will inherit His land
and settle there forever.
30 Wisdom fills the mouth of the right-living;
justice and truth roll from their tongues.
31 The True God’s law is imprinted upon their hearts,
and they do not stumble.
32 The wicked stalk God’s good ones,
looking to kill them,
33 But the Eternal will never leave them to the dogs of evil,
nor will they be found guilty when the verdict is read.
34 Wait for the Eternal. Keep to His path. Mind His will.
He will come for you, exalt you; you will inherit the land.
Before your very eyes you will see the end of the wicked.
35 I passed by a wicked man with a cold-blooded nature;
I looked, and he seemed as large as a cedar of Lebanon.
36 But then again, I passed that same way and there was nothing left of him.
I went out looking for him, but he was nowhere to be found.
37 Keep your eye on the innocent. Model your life after the blameless.
Everyone who loves peace has a future.
38 But sinners will be doomed.
The forecast for the wicked: utter destruction.
There will be none left, not one child of darkness.
39 The Eternal saves His faithful;
He lends His strength in hard times;
40 The Eternal comes and frees them—
frees them from evildoers and saves them for eternity—
simply because they seek shelter in Him.
One of the most important ways faith is communicated is from parent to child. Most people who do find a lifelong faith come into it by the time they are young adults, and the most significant influence on them is what they’ve seen modeled at home. Stories and experiences are a compelling influence on the faith of children.
The first stage in building this sense of covenant loyalty to God was to eliminate every trace of pagan worship from the land. None of the Canaanites’ existing religious fixtures could be used for worship. The altars other nations used to offer their sacrifices were dedicated explicitly to other gods, like Baal and Asherah, through their distinctive designs and decorations. The True God could not be represented in the shape of any created thing since He is the creator of everything!
Moses: 6 Remember: you’re a people set apart for the Eternal your God; He is your God and has chosen you to be His own possession—His special people—out of all the peoples on the earth. 7 The Eternal didn’t become devoted to you and choose you because you were the most numerous of all the peoples—in fact, you were the least! 8 Instead, He brought you out of Egypt with overwhelming power and liberated you from slavery to Pharaoh the king because He loved you and was keeping the oath He swore to your ancestors. 9 I want you to know that the Eternal your God is the only true God. He’s the faithful God who keeps His covenants and shows loyal love for a thousand generations to those who in return love Him and keep His commands. 10 But He holds personally accountable those who hate Him, and He destroys them; He does not delay when anyone hates Him, but He holds them personally accountable. 11 Therefore, be very careful to obey the commands and rules and judgments I’m giving you today.
1 Paul, servant of God and emissary[a] of Jesus, the Anointed One, on behalf of the faith that is accepted by God’s chosen people and the knowledge of the undeniable truth that leads to godliness.
Paul is ready to defend the truth. He knows it is pure and honorable. He knows that it comes from and leads back to God. In contrast, Paul perceives the constant threat of false teaching that produces chaos, overturns entire families, and is filled with myths and instructions taught by those outside the faith. This counter-truth is filled with lusts and passions that tear down others, and it results in petty debates over family trees with fights and disagreements over the law. The line is clearly drawn between them. Paul leaves no room to sit on the fence; there is no partial truth—the future of the church is at stake.
2 We rest in this hope we’ve been given—the hope that we will live forever with our God—the hope that He proclaimed ages and ages ago (even before time began). And our God is no liar; He is not even capable of uttering lies. 3 So we can be sure that it is in His exact right time that He released His word into the world—through the preaching that God our Savior has commanded into my care.
His word brings into the world the absolute clarity of God’s perspective and life-saving knowledge.
4 To you, Titus, my dear son birthed through our shared faith: may grace and peace rest upon you from God the Father and Jesus the Anointed, our Savior.
5 I left you on Crete so you could sort out the chaos and the unfinished business and appoint elders over communities in each and every city according to my earlier orders. 6 Here’s what you should look for in an elder: he should be above suspicion; if he is married, he should be the husband of one wife, raise children who believe, and be a person who can’t be accused of rough and raucous living. 7 It is necessary that any overseer you appoint be blameless, as he is entrusted with God’s mission. Look for someone who isn’t pompous or quick to anger, who is not a drunkard, violent, or chasing after seedy gain or worldly fame. 8 Find a person who lovingly opens his home to others; who honors goodness; who is thoughtful, fair, devout, self-controlled; and 9 who clings to the faithful word that was taught because he must be able, not only to encourage people with sound teaching, but also to challenge those who are against it.
10 You see antagonists everywhere; they are rebellious, loose-lipped, and deceitful (especially those who are from the circumcised lot). 11 Their talk must be quashed—their mouths sealed up because impure teaching is flying out of their lips and overturning entire families for the sake of their own squalid gain. 12 I’ll tell you, even their own prophet was heard saying, “Chronic liars, foul beasts, and lazy gluttons—that’s who you’ll meet in Crete.” 13 And he’s right! This is why we have to scold them, sometimes severely, so they will be sound in the faith 14 and be able to ignore Jewish myths as well as any commandments given by those who turn away from the truth.
15 Listen: to those who are pure, all things are pure. But to those who are tainted, stained, and unbelieving, nothing is pure because their minds and their consciences are polluted. 16 They claim, “I know God,” but their actions are a slap to His face. They are wretched, disobedient, and useless to any worthwhile cause.
The mystery of Jesus’ identity occupies His contemporaries and will continue to occupy generations of believers for centuries to come. As the twelve journey with Him, it gradually becomes clearer who this man is, where He comes from, and how His existence will profoundly affect the rest of human history. The question of “Who is this man?” cannot be answered overnight.
29 The morning after this conversation, John sees Jesus coming toward him. In eager astonishment, he shouts out:
John the Baptist: Look! This man is more than He seems! He is the Lamb sent from God, the sacrifice to erase the sins of the world! 30 He is the One I have been saying will come after me, who existed long before me and is much greater than I am. 31 No one recognized Him—myself included. But I came baptizing[a] with water so that He might be revealed to Israel. 32 As I watched, the Spirit came down like a dove from heaven and rested on Him. 33 I didn’t recognize Him at first, but the One who sent me to baptize told me, “The One who will baptize with the Holy Spirit will be the person you see the Spirit come down and rest upon.” 34 I have seen this with my own eyes and can attest that this One is the Son of God!
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.