Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 37[a]
By David.
37 Do not fret[b] when wicked men seem to succeed.[c]
Do not envy evildoers.
2 For they will quickly dry up like grass,
and wither away like plants.[d]
3 Trust in the Lord and do what is right.
Settle in the land and maintain your integrity.[e]
4 Then you will take delight in the Lord,[f]
and he will answer your prayers.[g]
5 Commit your future to the Lord.[h]
Trust in him, and he will act on your behalf.[i]
6 He will vindicate you in broad daylight,
and publicly defend your just cause.[j]
7 Wait patiently for the Lord![k]
Wait confidently[l] for him!
Do not fret over the apparent success of a sinner,[m]
a man who carries out wicked schemes.
8 Do not be angry and frustrated.[n]
Do not fret. That only leads to trouble.
9 Wicked men[o] will be wiped out,[p]
but those who rely on the Lord are the ones who will possess the land.[q]
10 Evil men will soon disappear;[r]
you will stare at the spot where they once were, but they will be gone.[s]
11 But the oppressed will possess the land
and enjoy great prosperity.[t]
12 Evil men plot against the godly[u]
and viciously attack them.[v]
13 The Lord laughs in disgust[w] at them,
for he knows that their day is coming.[x]
14 Evil men draw their swords
and prepare their bows,
to bring down[y] the oppressed and needy,
and to slaughter those who are godly.[z]
15 Their swords will pierce[aa] their own hearts,
and their bows will be broken.
16 The little bit that a godly man owns is better than
the wealth of many evil men,[ab]
17 for evil men will lose their power,[ac]
but the Lord sustains[ad] the godly.
18 The Lord watches over the innocent day by day,[ae]
and they possess a permanent inheritance.[af]
19 They will not be ashamed when hard times come;[ag]
when famine comes they will have enough to eat.[ah]
20 But[ai] evil men will die;
the Lord’s enemies will be incinerated[aj]—
they will go up in smoke.[ak]
21 Evil men borrow, but do not repay their debt,
but the godly show compassion and are generous.[al]
22 Surely[am] those favored by the Lord[an] will possess the land,
but those rejected[ao] by him will be wiped out.[ap]
23 The Lord grants success to the one
whose behavior he finds commendable.[aq]
24 Even if[ar] he trips, he will not fall headlong,[as]
for the Lord holds[at] his hand.
25 I was once young, now I am old.
I have never seen the godly abandoned,
or their children[au] forced to search for food.[av]
26 All day long they show compassion and lend to others,[aw]
and their children[ax] are blessed.
27 Turn away from evil. Do what is right.[ay]
Then you will enjoy lasting security.[az]
28 For the Lord promotes[ba] justice,
and never abandons[bb] his faithful followers.
They are permanently secure,[bc]
but the children[bd] of the wicked are wiped out.[be]
29 The godly will possess the land
and will dwell in it permanently.
30 The godly speak wise words
and promote justice.[bf]
31 The law of their God controls their thinking;[bg]
their[bh] feet do not slip.
32 The wicked set an ambush for the godly
and try to kill them.[bi]
33 But the Lord does not surrender the godly,
or allow them to be condemned in a court of law.[bj]
34 Rely[bk] on the Lord. Obey his commands.[bl]
Then he will permit you[bm] to possess the land;
you will see the demise of the wicked.[bn]
35 I have seen ruthless, wicked people[bo]
growing in influence, like a green tree grows in its native soil.[bp]
36 But then one passes by, and suddenly they have disappeared.[bq]
I looked for them, but they could not be found.
37 Take note of the one who has integrity. Observe the upright.
For the one who promotes peace has a future.[br]
38 Sinful rebels are totally destroyed;[bs]
the wicked have no future.[bt]
39 But the Lord delivers the godly;[bu]
he protects them in times of trouble.[bv]
40 The Lord helps them and rescues them;
he rescues them from the wicked and delivers them,[bw]
for they seek his protection.
5 I am the Lord, I have no peer,[a]
there is no God but me.
I arm you for battle,[b] even though you do not recognize[c] me.
6 I do this[d] so people[e] will recognize from east to west
that there is no God but me;
I am the Lord, I have no peer.
7 I am[f] the one who forms light
and creates darkness;[g]
the one who brings about peace
and creates calamity.[h]
I am the Lord, who accomplishes all these things.
8 O sky, rain down from above!
Let the clouds send down showers[i] of deliverance!
Let the earth absorb it[j] so salvation may grow,[k]
and deliverance may sprout up[l] along with it.
I, the Lord, create it.’”[m]
The Lord Gives a Warning
9 One who argues with his Creator is in grave danger,[n]
one who is like a mere[o] shard among the other shards on the ground!
The clay should not say to the potter,[p]
“What in the world[q] are you doing?
Your work lacks skill!”[r]
10 Danger awaits one who says[s] to his father,
“What in the world[t] are you fathering?”
and to his mother,
“What in the world are you bringing forth?”[u]
11 This is what the Lord says,
the Holy One of Israel,[v] the one who formed him,
concerning things to come:[w]
“How dare you question me[x] about my children!
How dare you tell me what to do with[y] the work of my own hands!
12 I made the earth;
I created the people who live[z] on it.
It was me—my hands[aa] stretched out the sky.[ab]
I give orders to all the heavenly lights.[ac]
13 It is me—I stir him up and commission him;[ad]
I will make all his ways level.
He will rebuild my city;
he will send my exiled people home,
but not for a price or a bribe,”
says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
The Lord is the Nations’ Only Hope
14 This is what the Lord says:
“The profit[ae] of Egypt and the revenue[af] of Ethiopia,
along with the Sabeans, those tall men,
will be brought to you[ag] and become yours.
They will walk behind you, coming along in chains.[ah]
They will bow down to you
and pray to you:[ai]
‘Truly God is with[aj] you; he has no peer;[ak]
there is no other God!’”
15 Yes, you are a God who keeps hidden,
O God of Israel, deliverer!
16 They will all be ashamed and embarrassed;
those who fashion idols will all be humiliated.[al]
17 Israel will be delivered once and for all by the Lord;[am]
you will never again be ashamed or humiliated.[an]
Live Wisely
15 Therefore consider carefully how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 taking advantage of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 For this reason do not be foolish, but be wise[a] by understanding[b] what the Lord’s will is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, which[c] is debauchery,[d] but be filled by the Spirit,[e] 19 speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music[f] in[g] your hearts to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for all things[h] in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 and submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.[i]
Exhortations to Households
22 [j] Wives, submit[k] to your husbands as to the Lord, 23 because the husband is the head of the wife as also Christ is the head of the church (he himself being the savior of the body). 24 But as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. 25 Husbands, love your[l] wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her 26 to sanctify her by cleansing her[m] with the washing of the water by the word, 27 so that he[n] may present the church to himself as glorious—not having a stain or wrinkle, or any such blemish, but holy and blameless.[o] 28 In the same way[p] husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one has ever hated his own body,[q] but he feeds it and takes care of it, just as Christ also does the church, 30 because we are members of his body.[r] 31 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and will be joined to his wife, and the two will become[s] one flesh.[t] 32 This mystery is great—but I am actually[u] speaking with reference to Christ and the church. 33 Nevertheless,[v] each one of you must also love his own wife as he loves himself,[w] and the wife must[x] respect[y] her husband.
The Parable of the Lamp
21 He also said to them, “A lamp[a] isn’t brought to be put under a basket[b] or under a bed, is it? Isn’t it to be placed on a lampstand? 22 For nothing is hidden except to be revealed,[c] and nothing concealed except to be brought to light. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, he had better listen!”[d] 24 And he said to them, “Take care about what you hear. The measure you use will be the measure you receive,[e] and more will be added to you. 25 For whoever has will be given more, but[f] whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.”[g]
The Parable of the Growing Seed
26 He also said, “The kingdom of God[h] is like someone who spreads seed on the ground. 27 He goes to sleep and gets up, night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28 By itself the soil produces a crop, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain[i] in the head. 29 And when the grain is ripe, he sends in the sickle[j] because the harvest has come.”[k]
The Parable of the Mustard Seed
30 He also asked, “To what can we compare the kingdom of God,[l] or what parable can we use to present it? 31 It is like a mustard seed[m] that when sown in the ground, even though it is the smallest of all the seeds in the ground— 32 when it is sown, it grows up,[n] becomes the greatest of all garden plants, and grows large branches so that the wild birds[o] can nest in its shade.”[p]
The Use of Parables
33 So[q] with many parables like these, he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear. 34 He did not speak to them without a parable. But privately he explained everything to his own disciples.
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