Book of Common Prayer
God Will Reward Fairly
Of David.
37 Don’t be upset because of evil people.
Don’t be jealous of those who do wrong,
2 because like the grass, they will soon dry up.
Like green plants, they will soon die away.
3 Trust the Lord and do good.
Live in the land and feed on truth.
4 Enjoy serving the Lord,
and he will give you what you want.
5 Depend on the Lord;
trust him, and he will take care of you.
6 Then your goodness will shine like the sun,
and your fairness like the noonday sun.
7 Wait and trust the Lord.
Don’t be upset when others get rich
or when someone else’s plans succeed.
8 Don’t get angry.
Don’t be upset; it only leads to trouble.
9 Evil people will be sent away,
but those who trust the Lord will inherit the land.
10 In a little while the wicked will be no more.
You may look for them, but they will be gone.
11 People who are not proud will inherit the land
and will enjoy complete peace.
12 The wicked make evil plans against good people.
They grind their teeth at them in anger.
13 But the Lord laughs at the wicked,
because he sees that their day is coming.
14 The wicked draw their swords
and bend their bows
to kill the poor and helpless,
to kill those who are honest.
15 But their swords will stab their own hearts,
and their bows will break.
16 It is better to have little and be right
than to have much and be wrong.
17 The power of the wicked will be broken,
but the Lord supports those who do right.
18 The Lord watches over the lives of the innocent,
and their reward will last forever.
19 They will not be ashamed when trouble comes.
They will be full in times of hunger.
20 But the wicked will die.
The Lord’s enemies will be like the flowers of the fields;
they will disappear like smoke.
21 The wicked borrow and don’t pay back,
but those who do right give freely to others.
22 Those whom the Lord blesses will inherit the land,
but those he curses will be sent away.
23 When people’s steps follow the Lord,
God is pleased with their ways.
24 If they stumble, they will not fall,
because the Lord holds their hand.
25 I was young, and now I am old,
but I have never seen good people left helpless
or their children begging for food.
26 Good people always lend freely to others,
and their children are a blessing.
27 Stop doing evil and do good,
so you will live forever.
28 The Lord loves justice
and will not leave those who worship him.
He will always protect them,
but the children of the wicked will die.
29 Good people will inherit the land
and will live in it forever.
30 Good people speak with wisdom,
and they say what is fair.
31 The teachings of their God are in their heart,
so they do not fail to keep them.
32 The wicked watch for good people
so that they may kill them.
33 But the Lord will not take away his protection
or let good people be judged guilty.
34 Wait for the Lord’s help
and follow him.
He will honor you and give you the land,
and you will see the wicked sent away.
35 I saw a wicked and cruel man
who looked strong like a healthy tree in good soil.
36 But he died and was gone;
I looked for him, but he couldn’t be found.
37 Think of the innocent person,
and watch the honest one.
The man who has peace
will have children to live after him.
38 But sinners will be destroyed;
in the end the wicked will die.
39 The Lord saves good people;
he is their strength in times of trouble.
40 The Lord helps them and saves them;
he saves them from the wicked,
because they trust in him for protection.
9 Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fall from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the deep hole that leads to the bottomless pit. 2 Then it opened up the hole that leads to the bottomless pit, and smoke came up from the hole like smoke from a big furnace. Then the sun and sky became dark because of the smoke from the hole. 3 Then locusts came down to the earth out of the smoke, and they were given the power to sting like scorpions.[a] 4 They were told not to harm the grass on the earth or any plant or tree. They could harm only the people who did not have the sign of God on their foreheads. 5 These locusts were not given the power to kill anyone, but to cause pain to the people for five months. And the pain they felt was like the pain a scorpion gives when it stings someone. 6 During those days people will look for a way to die, but they will not find it. They will want to die, but death will run away from them.
7 The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore what looked like crowns of gold, and their faces looked like human faces. 8 Their hair was like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. 9 Their chests looked like iron breastplates, and the sound of their wings was like the noise of many horses and chariots hurrying into battle. 10 The locusts had tails with stingers like scorpions, and in their tails was their power to hurt people for five months. 11 The locusts had a king who was the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in the Hebrew language is Abaddon and in the Greek language is Apollyon.[b]
12 The first trouble is past; there are still two other troubles that will come.
The Good Samaritan
25 Then an expert on the law stood up to test Jesus, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to get life forever?”
26 Jesus said, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?”
27 The man answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.”[a] Also, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.”[b]
28 Jesus said to him, “Your answer is right. Do this and you will live.”
29 But the man, wanting to show the importance of his question, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 Jesus answered, “As a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, some robbers attacked him. They tore off his clothes, beat him, and left him lying there, almost dead. 31 It happened that a priest was going down that road. When he saw the man, he walked by on the other side. 32 Next, a Levite[c] came there, and after he went over and looked at the man, he walked by on the other side of the road. 33 Then a Samaritan[d] traveling down the road came to where the hurt man was. When he saw the man, he felt very sorry for him. 34 The Samaritan went to him, poured olive oil and wine[e] on his wounds, and bandaged them. Then he put the hurt man on his own donkey and took him to an inn where he cared for him. 35 The next day, the Samaritan brought out two coins,[f] gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of this man. If you spend more money on him, I will pay it back to you when I come again.’”
36 Then Jesus said, “Which one of these three men do you think was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by the robbers?”
37 The expert on the law answered, “The one who showed him mercy.”
Jesus said to him, “Then go and do what he did.”
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.