Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
This psalm is for Solomon.
A prayer for the king[a]
72 God, please help the king
to judge people in a right way.
Help the king's son to be honest and fair,
as you are.[b]
2 Then he will rule your people in a good way,
so that even poor people receive justice.
3 The mountains and the hills will bring peace,
so that the people can live honest lives.
4 Please help the king to judge poor people fairly.
May he save the children of weak people,
and destroy those cruel people who hurt them.
5 May people always respect your authority, God,
through all time,
as long as the sun and the moon remain in the sky.[c]
6 May the king be a blessing to his people,
like rain that falls on grass that lies in the fields.
May he be like rain
that brings water to the soil.
7 While he rules as king,
those people who serve God will do well.
There will be peace in all the land,
for as long as the moon remains in the sky.
8 May the king rule everywhere,
from sea to sea,
and from the Euphrates river to the ends of the earth.[d]
9 Then people who live in the desert
will bend down to respect him.
His enemies will fall down
with their faces in the dust.
10 Kings from Spain and from other far places
will pay taxes to him.
Kings from Sheba and from Seba
will bring gifts to him.
11 All kings will bend down in front of him.
People from all nations will serve him.
12 He will rescue the poor person
who calls out to him for help.
He will save weak people
who have nobody to help them.
13 He will be kind to people who are poor and weak.
He will save them from death.
14 He will rescue them from cruel people who hurt them.
Their lives are important to him.
15 Long live the king!
May people come from Sheba to give gold to him.
May people always pray for him.
May people praise him all the time.
16 May there always be plenty of grain
that grows in the land.
May the crops grow well
on the tops of the mountains.
May the fruit trees give a lot of fruit,
as they do in Lebanon.
May all the crops grow well,
like grass that grows in a field.
17 May the king be famous for ever!
May people remember him
for as long as the sun continues to shine.
May people from all nations use his name
when they bless one another.
May they all say that God has blessed the king!
18 Praise the Lord, Israel's God,
as he deserves.
Only he does such wonderful things.
19 Praise his great name for ever!
May his glory fill the whole earth!
Amen! May that all happen!
20 This is the end of the prayers of Jesse's son, David.[e]
The king tells his wise men to explain his dream
2 When Nebuchadnezzar had been king for two years, he had many dreams. He had trouble in his mind and he could not sleep.
2 He told his servants that they must bring the magicians, enchanters,[a] diviners and wise men to him. He wanted them to explain his dream. So they came in and they stood in front of the king. 3 Then the king said to them, ‘I have had a dream that gives me trouble in my mind. I want to know what the dream means.’
4 Then the wise men answered the king. (This is in the Aramaic language.[b]) They said, ‘King, live for ever! We are your servants. Tell us the dream. Then we will tell you what it means.’
5 The king replied to the wise men, ‘I have decided what to do. You must tell me what my dream was. Then you must tell me what it means. If not, I will punish you with death! My soldiers will cut you into pieces. They will knock down your houses so that they become heaps of stones. 6 You must tell me about the dream and you must tell me what it means. If you do that, I will give to you many gifts and great honour. So you must tell me my dream, and tell me what it means.’
7 They answered the king again, ‘We are your servants, so please tell us your dream. Then we will tell you what it means.’
8 The king said to them, ‘You know that I will not change my mind. So you are just trying to get more time. 9 If you do not tell me the dream, I will certainly punish you with death. You have agreed among yourselves to tell me lies. You want to deceive me until you can think of something better. So now, tell me the dream. Then I will believe you when you tell me what it means.’
10 The wise men answered the king, ‘There is nobody on earth who can know your dream! No king has ever asked anyone to do anything like this. No magician, enchanter or wise man could do that. Even the greatest and most powerful king has never asked anyone to do this. 11 You are asking us to do something much too difficult! Nobody can do it, except the gods. And they do not live among men.’
12 This made the king very angry. So he said to his soldiers, ‘Kill all the wise men in Babylon.’ 13 He sent a message to command them to kill all his wise men.
Some men went to look for Daniel and his friends too. They wanted to punish them with death. 14 But Daniel spoke carefully to Arioch. He was the captain of the king's soldiers who had gone to kill the wise men of Babylon. 15 Daniel said to Arioch, ‘Why is the king's command so cruel?’ Then Arioch explained everything to Daniel. 16 So Daniel went to see the king. He asked the king for more time. Then he would be able to tell the king what the dream meant.
God shows the dream to Daniel
17 Then Daniel went to his home. He told his friends, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah what had happened. 18 He told them that they should pray to God in heaven. They should pray that God would help them with this problem. They should ask God to keep them safe. Then they would not die with all the other wise men of Babylon. 19 During the night, Daniel had a vision. God showed him the secret of the king's dream. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven.
Live in a way that pleases God
17 So I say this to you. I am sure that I have the Lord's authority to say it. You must not live any longer like the Gentile people who do not know God. They do whatever their silly ideas teach them to do. 18 They cannot understand God's true message because their minds are in the dark. They have not accepted the life that God gives. They have decided that they do not want to know about God. They do not even try to understand. 19 They do not feel ashamed when they do all kinds of disgusting things. They do more and more bad things just to please themselves.
20 But when you learned about Christ, you did not learn to do things like that! 21 I am sure that you have heard about him properly. People taught you the true message that comes from Jesus. 22 They taught you to change the way that you live. You must put away the nature that you had before. That old nature deceived you. As a result, you wanted to do things that would destroy you. 23 Instead, let God's Spirit make you think in a new way. 24 Take up the new nature that God has prepared for you. That nature is like God's own nature. Then you will live in a truly good way that pleases God.
25 So you must stop telling lies. Each of you must say only true things to one another. Remember that all of us belong to one another, like parts of the same body. 26 When you are angry, do not do anything bad as a result. Once the day comes to an end, do not continue to be angry. 27 Do not give the Devil a chance to hurt you like that.
28 Any of you who robbed people before must now stop taking things. Instead, you should work hard with your own hands. Then you will be able to share what you have with people who are poor.
29 Do not say bad things that hurt or insult people. Instead, say only good things that will help people. Your words should help people to become strong when they hear them.
30 Do not do anything that will make God's Holy Spirit sad. God gave his Holy Spirit to you to show that you belong to him. As a result you know that God will make you completely free one day.
31 Do not be jealous of other people. Do not become angry or shout at them. Do not quarrel with other people or insult them. Do not do anything or say anything that will hurt other people. 32 Instead, help one another and be kind to each other. Forgive one another. Remember that God has forgiven you because of what Christ has done.
Be very careful how you live
5 You are God's children and he loves you very much. So you must try to be like him.
EasyEnglish Bible Copyright © MissionAssist 2019 - Charitable Incorporated Organisation 1162807. Used by permission. All rights reserved.