Book of Common Prayer
The Heritage of the Righteous and the Calamity of the Wicked
A Psalm of David.
37 Do(A) not fret because of evildoers,
Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.
2 For they shall soon be cut down (B)like the grass,
And wither as the green herb.
3 Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
4 (C)Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your (D)heart.
5 (E)Commit[a] your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
6 (F)He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,
And your justice as the noonday.
7 Rest in the Lord, (G)and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who (H)prospers in his way,
Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.
8 (I)Cease from anger, and forsake wrath;
(J)Do not fret—it only causes harm.
9 For evildoers shall be [b]cut off;
But those who wait on the Lord,
They shall (K)inherit the earth.
10 For (L)yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more;
Indeed, (M)you will look carefully for his place,
But it shall be no more.
11 (N)But the meek shall inherit the earth,
And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
12 The wicked plots against the just,
(O)And gnashes at him with his teeth.
13 (P)The Lord laughs at him,
For He sees that (Q)his day is coming.
14 The wicked have drawn the sword
And have bent their bow,
To cast down the poor and needy,
To slay those who are of upright conduct.
15 Their sword shall enter their own heart,
And their bows shall be broken.
16 (R)A little that a righteous man has
Is better than the riches 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 upright,
And their inheritance shall be forever.
19 They shall not be ashamed in the evil time,
And in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.
20 But the wicked shall perish;
And the enemies of the Lord,
Like the splendor of the meadows, shall vanish.
Into smoke they shall vanish away.
21 The wicked borrows and does not repay,
But (S)the righteous shows mercy and gives.
22 (T)For those blessed by Him shall inherit the earth,
But those cursed by Him shall be [c]cut off.
23 (U)The steps of a good man are [d]ordered by the Lord,
And He delights in his way.
24 (V)Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down;
For the Lord upholds him with His hand.
25 I have been young, and now am old;
Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken,
Nor his descendants begging bread.
26 (W)He is [e]ever merciful, and lends;
And his descendants are blessed.
27 Depart from evil, and do good;
And dwell forevermore.
28 For the Lord loves justice,
And does not forsake His saints;
They are preserved forever,
But the descendants of the wicked shall be cut off.
29 (X)The righteous shall inherit the land,
And dwell in it forever.
30 (Y)The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom,
And his tongue talks of justice.
31 The law of his God is in his heart;
None of his steps shall [f]slide.
32 The wicked (Z)watches the righteous,
And seeks to slay him.
33 The Lord (AA)will not leave him in his hand,
Nor condemn him when he is judged.
34 (AB)Wait on the Lord,
And keep His way,
And He shall exalt you to inherit the land;
When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it.
35 I have seen the wicked in great power,
And spreading himself like a native green tree.
36 Yet [g]he passed away, and behold, he was no more;
Indeed I sought him, but he could not be found.
37 Mark the blameless man, and observe the upright;
For the future of that man is peace.
38 (AC)But the transgressors shall be destroyed together;
The future of the wicked shall be cut off.
Isaiah Sent to King Ahaz(A)
7 Now it came to pass in the days of (B)Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to make war against (C)it, but could not [a]prevail against it. 2 And it was told to the house of David, saying, “Syria’s forces are [b]deployed in Ephraim.” So his heart and the heart of his people were moved as the trees of the woods are moved with the wind.
3 Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and [c]Shear-Jashub your son, at the end of the aqueduct from the upper pool, on the highway to the Fuller’s Field, 4 and say to him: [d]‘Take heed, and [e]be (D)quiet; do not fear or be fainthearted for these two stubs of smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria, and the son of Remaliah. 5 Because Syria, Ephraim, and the son of Remaliah have plotted evil against you, saying, 6 “Let us go up against Judah and [f]trouble it, and let us make a gap in its wall for ourselves, and set a king over them, the son of Tabel”— 7 thus says the Lord God:
(E)“It shall not stand,
Nor shall it come to pass.
8 (F)For the head of Syria is Damascus,
And the head of Damascus is Rezin.
Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be [g]broken,
So that it will not be a people.
9 The head of Ephraim is Samaria,
And the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son.
(G)If you will not believe,
Surely you shall not be established.” ’ ”
The Great Apostasy
2 Now, brethren, (A)concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (B)and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, 2 (C)not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of [a]Christ had come. 3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come (D)unless the falling away comes first, and (E)the man of [b]sin is revealed, (F)the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and (G)exalts himself (H)above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits [c]as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. 7 For (I)the [d]mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only [e]He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, (J)whom the Lord will consume (K)with the breath of His mouth and destroy (L)with the brightness of His coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is (M)according to the working of Satan, with all power, (N)signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among (O)those who perish, because they did not receive (P)the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And (Q)for this reason God will send them strong delusion, (R)that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but (S)had pleasure in unrighteousness.
The Plot to Kill Jesus(A)
22 Now (B)the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called Passover. 2 And (C)the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might kill Him, for they feared the people.
3 (D)Then Satan entered Judas, surnamed Iscariot, who was numbered among the (E)twelve. 4 So he went his way and conferred with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray Him to them. 5 And they were glad, and (F)agreed to give him money. 6 So he promised and sought opportunity to (G)betray Him to them in the absence of the multitude.
Jesus and His Disciples Prepare the Passover
7 (H)Then came the Day of Unleavened Bread, when the Passover must be [a]killed. 8 And He sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat.”
9 So they said to Him, “Where do You want us to prepare?”
10 And He said to them, “Behold, when you have entered the city, a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him into the house which he enters. 11 Then you shall say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, “Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?” ’ 12 Then he will show you a large, furnished upper room; there make ready.”
13 So they went and (I)found it just as He had said to them, and they prepared the Passover.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.