Book of Common Prayer

Psalm 37

[A Psalm] of David.

¹ Fret not yourself because of evildoers, neither be envious against those who work unrighteousness (that which is not upright or in right standing with God).

² For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.

³ Trust (lean on, rely on, and be confident) in the Lord and do good; so shall you dwell in the land and feed surely on His faithfulness, and truly you shall be fed.

⁴ Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart.

⁵ Commit your way to the Lord [roll and repose each care of your load on Him]; trust (lean on, rely on, and be confident) also in Him and He will bring it to pass.

⁶ And He will make your uprightness and right standing with God go forth as the light, and your justice and right as [the shining sun of] the noonday.

⁷ Be still and rest in the Lord; wait for Him and patiently lean yourself upon Him; fret not yourself because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked devices to pass.

⁸ Cease from anger and forsake wrath; fret not yourself—it tends only to evildoing.

⁹ For evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait and hope and look for the Lord [in the end] shall inherit the earth.^(A)

¹⁰ For yet a little while, and the evildoers will be no more; though you look with care where they used to be, they will not be found.^(B)

¹¹ But the meek [in the end] shall inherit the earth and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.^(C)

¹² The wicked plot against the [uncompromisingly] righteous (the upright in right standing with God); they gnash at them with their teeth.

¹³ The Lord laughs at [the wicked], for He sees that their own day [of defeat] is coming.

¹⁴ The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows to cast down the poor and needy, to slay those who walk uprightly (blameless in conduct and in conversation).

¹⁵ The swords [of the wicked] shall enter their own hearts, and their bows shall be broken.

¹⁶ Better is the little that the [uncompromisingly] righteous have than the abundance [of possessions] of many who are wrong and wicked.^(D)

¹⁷ For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but the Lord upholds the [consistently] righteous.

¹⁸ The Lord knows the days of the upright and blameless, and their heritage will abide forever.

¹⁹ They shall not be put to shame in the time of evil; and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.

²⁰ But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs [that is consumed in smoke] and as the glory of the pastures. They shall vanish; like smoke shall they consume away.

²¹ The wicked borrow and pay not again [for they may be unable], but the [uncompromisingly] righteous deal kindly and give [for they are able].

²² For such as are blessed of God shall [in the end] inherit the earth, but they that are cursed of Him shall be cut off.^(E)

²³ The steps of a [good] man are directed and established by the Lord when He delights in his way [and He busies Himself with his every step].

²⁴ Though he falls, he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord grasps his hand in support and upholds him.

²⁵ I have been young and now am old, yet have I not seen the [uncompromisingly] righteous forsaken or their seed begging bread.

²⁶ All day long they are merciful and deal graciously; they lend, and their offspring are blessed.

²⁷ Depart from evil and do good; and you will dwell forever [securely].

²⁸ For the Lord delights in justice and forsakes not His saints; they are preserved forever, but the offspring of the wicked [in time] shall be cut off.

²⁹ [Then] the [consistently] righteous shall inherit the land and dwell upon it forever.

³⁰ The mouth of the [uncompromisingly] righteous utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks with justice.

³¹ The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide.

³² The wicked lie in wait for the [uncompromisingly] righteous and seek to put them to death.

³³ The Lord will not leave them in their hands, or [suffer them to] condemn them when they are judged.

³⁴ Wait for and expect the Lord and keep and heed His way, and He will exalt you to inherit the land; [in the end] when the wicked are cut off, you shall see it.

³⁵ I have seen a wicked man in great power and spreading himself like a green tree in its native soil,

³⁶ Yet he passed away, and behold, he was not; yes, I sought and inquired for him, but he could not be found.

³⁷ Mark the blameless man and behold the upright, for there is a happy end for the man of peace.

³⁸ As for transgressors, they shall be destroyed together; in the end the wicked shall be cut off.

³⁹ But the salvation of the [consistently] righteous is of the Lord; He is their Refuge and secure Stronghold in the time of trouble.

⁴⁰ And the Lord helps them and delivers them; He delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they trust and take refuge in Him.

²⁴ So David hid himself in the field, and when the New Moon [festival] came, the king sat down to eat food.

²⁵ The king sat, as at other times, on his seat by the wall, and Jonathan sat opposite, and Abner sat by Saul’s side, but David’s place was empty.

²⁶ Yet Saul said nothing that day, for he thought, Something has befallen him and he is not clean—surely he is not clean.

²⁷ But on the morrow, the second day after the new moon, David’s place was empty; and Saul said to Jonathan his son, Why has not the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today?

²⁸ And Jonathan answered, David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem.

²⁹ He said, Let me go, I pray, for our family holds a sacrifice in the city and my brother commanded me to be there. Now, if I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away and see my brothers. That is why he has not come to the king’s table.

³⁰ Then Saul’s anger was kindled against Jonathan and he said to him, You son of a perverse, rebellious woman, do not I know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of your mother who bore you?

³¹ For as long as the son of Jesse lives upon the earth, you shall not be established nor shall your kingdom. So now send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die.

³² Jonathan answered Saul his father, Why should he be killed? What has he done?

³³ But Saul cast his spear at him to smite him, by which Jonathan knew that his father had determined to kill David.

³⁴ So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and ate no food that second day of the month, for he grieved for David because his father had disgraced him.

³⁵ In the morning Jonathan went out into the field at the time appointed with David, and a little lad was with him.

³⁶ And he said to his lad, Run, find the arrows which I shoot. And as the lad ran, he shot an arrow beyond him.

³⁷ When the lad came to the place where Jonathan had shot the arrow, Jonathan called to [him], Is not the arrow beyond you?

³⁸ And Jonathan cried after the lad, Make speed, haste, stay not! The lad gathered up the arrow and came to his master.

³⁹ But the lad knew nothing; only Jonathan and David knew the matter.

⁴⁰ Jonathan gave his weapons to his lad and told him, Go, carry them to the city.

⁴¹ And as soon as the lad was gone, David arose from beside the heap of stones and fell on his face to the ground and bowed himself three times. And they kissed one another and wept with one another until David got control of himself.

⁴² And Jonathan told David, Go in peace, forasmuch as we have sworn to each other in the name of the Lord, saying, The Lord shall be between me and you, and between my descendants and yours forever. And Jonathan arose and departed into the city.

13 Now in the church (assembly) at Antioch there were prophets (inspired interpreters of the will and purposes of God) and teachers: Barnabas, Symeon who was called Niger [Black], Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a member of the court of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

² While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, Separate now for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.

³ Then after fasting and praying, they put their hands on them and sent them away.

⁴ So then, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from [that port] they sailed away to Cyprus.

⁵ When they arrived at Salamis, they preached the Word of God [concerning the attainment through Christ of salvation in the kingdom of God] in the synagogues of the Jews. And they had John [Mark] as an attendant to assist them.

⁶ When they had passed through the entire island of Cyprus as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain Jewish wizard or sorcerer, a false prophet named Bar-Jesus.

⁷ He was closely associated with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, who was an intelligent and sensible man of sound understanding; he summoned to him Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the Word of God [concerning salvation in the kingdom of God attained through Christ].

⁸ But Elymas ^[a]the wise man—for that is the translation of his name [^[b]which he had given himself]—opposed them, seeking to keep the proconsul from accepting the faith.

⁹ But Saul, who is also called Paul, filled with and controlled by the Holy Spirit, looked steadily at [Elymas]

¹⁰ And said, You master in every form of deception and recklessness, unscrupulousness, and wickedness, you son of the devil, you enemy of everything that is upright and good, will you never stop perverting and making crooked the straight paths of the Lord and plotting against His saving purposes?^(A)

¹¹ And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind, [so blind that you will be] unable to see the sun for a time. Instantly there fell upon him a mist and a darkness, and he groped about seeking persons who would lead him by the hand.

¹² Then the proconsul believed (became a Christian) when he saw what had occurred, for he was astonished and deeply touched at the teaching concerning the Lord and from Him.

²³ One Sabbath He was going along beside the fields of standing grain, and as they made their way, His disciples began to ^[a]pick off the grains.^(A)

²⁴ And the Pharisees said to Him, Look! Why are they doing what is not permitted or lawful on the Sabbath?

²⁵ And He said to them, Have you never [even] read what David did when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were accompanying him?—

²⁶ How he went into the house of God when Abiathar was the high priest, and ate the sacred loaves set forth [before God], which it is not permitted or lawful for any but the priests to eat, and [how he] also gave [them] to those who were with him?^(B)

²⁷ And Jesus said to them, The Sabbath was made on account and for the sake of man, not man for the Sabbath;^(C)

²⁸ So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.

3 Again Jesus went into a synagogue, and a man was there who had one withered hand [^[b]as the result of accident or disease].

² And [the Pharisees] kept watching Jesus [closely] to see whether He would cure him on the Sabbath, so that they might get a charge to bring against Him [^[c]formally].

³ And He said to the man who had the withered hand, Get up [and stand here] in the midst.

⁴ And He said to them, Is it lawful and right on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to take it? But they kept silence.

⁵ And He glanced around at them with vexation and anger, grieved at the hardening of their hearts, and said to the man, Hold out your hand. He held it out, and his hand was [completely] restored.

⁶ Then the Pharisees went out and immediately held a consultation with the Herodians against Him, how they might [devise some means to] put Him to death.