Book of Common Prayer
The Protection of the Righteous and the Destruction of the Wicked
Of David.[a]
37 Do not fret because of evildoers;
do not be envious of doers of wickedness.
2 For like the grass they will dry up quickly,
and like green vegetation they will wither.
3 Trust Yahweh and do good.
Abide in the land and feed on faithfulness.[b]
4 Take pleasure in Yahweh as well,
and he will give to you the requests of your heart.
5 Commit to[c] Yahweh your way;
Trust also on him and he will act.
6 Then he will bring forth your righteousness like the light,
and your justice like the noonday.
7 Be quiet before Yahweh and wait for him.
Do not fret about one who succeeds in his way,
about a man making plots.
8 Refrain from anger and forsake wrath.
Do not fret; it only brings evil.
9 For evildoers will be cut off,
but those who wait for Yahweh—
they will possess the land.
10 And[d] yet a little while and the wicked will not be,
and you will look carefully upon his place, but he will not be.
11 But the afflicted will possess the land,
and they will take pleasure in an abundance of peace.
12 The wicked plans evil against the righteous,
and gnashes at him with his teeth.
13 The Lord laughs at him,
for he sees that his day is coming.
14 The wicked have drawn the sword and have bent their bow
to throw down the poor and the needy,
to kill those upright in their way.
15 Their sword will enter into their own heart,
and their bows shall be broken.
16 The little belonging to the righteous is better
than the wealth of many wicked.
17 For the arms of the wicked shall be broken,
but Yahweh supports the righteous.
18 Yahweh knows the days of the blameless,
and their inheritance will be forever.
19 They will not be put to shame in distressing times,[e]
and in the days of famine they will be satisfied.
20 But the wicked will perish,
and the enemies of Yahweh will be like the splendor of the pastures.
They vanish; in smoke they vanish.
21 The wicked borrows and does not repay,
but the righteous is gracious and gives.
22 For those blessed by him shall possess the land,
but those cursed by him shall be cut off.
23 The steps of a man are established by Yahweh,
and he takes pleasure in his way.
24 Though he fall, he will not be cast headlong,
for Yahweh supports him with his hand.
25 I was a youth, but I am now old;
yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken
or his children begging for[f] bread.
26 All the day he is gracious and lends,
and his children are a blessing.
27 Turn aside from evil and do good
and so abide forever.
28 For Yahweh loves justice
and will not forsake his faithful ones.
They are protected forever.
But the children of the wicked will be cut off.
29 The righteous will possess the land
and abide in it forever.
30 The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,
and his tongue speaks justice.
31 The law of his God is in his heart.
His steps will not slip.
32 The wicked watches for the righteous
and seeks to kill him.
33 Yahweh will not abandon him into his hand,
and he will not let him be condemned when he is judged.
34 Wait for Yahweh and keep his way,
and he will exalt you to possess the land.
When the wicked are cut off, you will see it.
35 I have seen the wicked acting violently
and spreading himself out
like a luxuriant native tree.
36 Then he passed on[g] and behold, he was not.
And I sought him, but he could not be found.
37 Observe the blameless and look at the upright,
for there is a future for a man of peace.
38 But transgressors shall be destroyed altogether.
The future of the wicked shall be cut off.
39 And[h] the salvation of the righteous is from Yahweh,
their refuge in the time of trouble.
40 And Yahweh helps them and he rescues them.
He rescues them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him.
24 So David hid himself in the field. When the new moon came,[a] the king was seated at the feast.[b] 25 The king sat at his seat as before,[c] the seat by the wall, and Jonathan got up, and Abner sat beside Saul, but David’s place was empty. 26 But Saul said nothing on that day, for he thought, “Something happened to him.[d] He is not ceremonially clean; surely he is not clean.” 27 And then[e] on the next day, the second day of the new moon, that David’s place was empty. So Saul asked Jonathan his son, “Why did the son of Jesse not come either yesterday or today to the feast?” 28 Jonathan answered Saul, “David earnestly asked permission from me to go up to Bethlehem. 29 He said, ‘Send me away, please, for our clan sacrifice is in the city, and my brother commanded[f] me to be present. So then, if I have found favor in your eyes, please let me slip away and see my brothers.’ Therefore he has not come to the table of the king.” 30 Then Saul became angry[g] at Jonathan and said to him, “You son of a perverse, rebellious woman![h] Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your shame and to the shame of your mother’s nakedness? 31 For as long as[i] the son of Jesse is alive on the earth, you and your kingdom will not be established! So then, send and bring him to me, for he will surely die!”[j] 32 But Jonathan answered his father Saul and said to him, “Why should he be put to death? What has he done?” 33 Then Saul hurled his[k] spear at him to kill him. So Jonathan knew that his father had decided[l] to kill David.
34 Jonathan got up from the table enraged,[m] and did not eat on the second day of the new moon because he was upset about David, because his father had disgraced him. 35 And then[n] in the morning Jonathan went out to the field for the appointment with David, and a young boy[o] was with him. 36 He said to his servant,[p] “Run, please find the arrows that I am shooting!” The boy[q] ran, and he shot the arrow to pass over him. 37 When the boy came up to the place of the arrow that Jonathan had shot, Jonathan called out after the boy and said, “Is not the arrow beyond you?”[r] 38 Then Jonathan called out after the boy, “Quick, hurry, do not linger!” And Jonathan’s servant collected the arrows and came to his master. 39 But the boy did not know anything about this; only Jonathan and David knew the matter. 40 Jonathan gave his weapons to his servant and said to him, “Go, bring them to the city.” 41 The boy left, and then David got up from the south side,[s] and he fell on his face to the ground and bowed three times. And they kissed each other[t] and wept together,[u] but David wept the most. 42 Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, because we have sworn, the two of us, an oath in the name of Yahweh, saying, “Yahweh will be between me and you, and between my offspring and your offspring forever.”[v] Then he got up and left, and Jonathan went into the city.
Barnabas and Saul Sent Out from Antioch
13 Now there were prophets and teachers in Antioch in the church that was there: Barnabas, and Simeon (who was called Niger), and Lucius the Cyrenian, and Manaen (a close friend of Herod the tetrarch), and Saul. 2 And while[a] they were serving the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart now for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then, after they[b] had fasted and prayed and placed their[c] hands on them, they sent them[d] away.
Confronting a Magician on Cyprus
4 Therefore, sent out by the Holy Spirit, they came down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed away to Cyprus. 5 And when they[e] came to Salamis, they began to proclaim the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. And they also had John as assistant. 6 And when they[f] had crossed over the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a certain man, a magician, a Jewish false prophet whose name was Bar-Jesus, 7 who was with the proconsul Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and[g] wished to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the magician (for his name is translated in this way) opposed them, attempting to turn the proconsul away from the faith. 9 But Saul (also called Paul), filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him 10 and[h] said, “O you who are full of all deceit and of all unscrupulousness, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness! Will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord! 11 And now behold, the hand of the Lord is against you, and you will be blind, not seeing the sun for a while.[i] And immediately mist and darkness fell over him, and he was going around looking for people[j] to lead him[k] by the hand. 12 Then when[l] the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, because he[m] was astounded at the teaching about[n] the Lord.
Plucking Grain on the Sabbath
23 And it happened that he was going through the grain fields on the Sabbath, and his disciples began to make their way while[a] plucking off the heads of grain. 24 And the Pharisees began to say[b] to him, “Behold, why are they doing what is not permitted on the Sabbath?” 25 And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he had need and he and those who were with him were hungry— 26 how he entered into the house of God in the time of Abiathar the high priest and ate the bread of the presentation, which it is not permitted to eat (except the priests) and also gave it[c] to those who were with him?” 27 And he said to them, “The Sabbath was established for people, and not people for the Sabbath. 28 So then, the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”
A Man with a Withered Hand Healed
3 And he entered into the synagogue again, and a man who had a withered hand was there. 2 And they were watching him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath, in order that they could accuse him. 3 And he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come into the middle.” 4 And he said to them, “Is it permitted on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. 5 And looking around at them with anger, grieved at the hardness of their hearts, he said to the man, “Stretch out your[d] hand.” And he stretched it[e] out, and his hand was restored. 6 And the Pharisees went out immediately with the Herodians and began to conspire[f] against him with regard to how they could destroy him.
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