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.
5 I (A)am the Lord, and (B)there is no other;
There is no God besides Me.
(C)I will gird you, though you have not known Me,
6 (D)That they may (E)know from the rising of the sun to its setting
That there is none besides Me.
I am the Lord, and there is no other;
7 I form the light and create darkness,
I make peace and (F)create calamity;
I, the Lord, do all these things.’
8 “Rain(G) down, you heavens, from above,
And let the skies pour down righteousness;
Let the earth open, let them bring forth salvation,
And let righteousness spring up together.
I, the Lord, have created it.
9 “Woe to him who strives with (H)his Maker!
Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth!
(I)Shall the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’
Or shall your handiwork say, ‘He has no hands’?
10 Woe to him who says to his father, ‘What are you begetting?’
Or to the woman, ‘What have you brought forth?’ ”
11 Thus says the Lord,
The Holy One of Israel, and his Maker:
(J)“Ask Me of things to come concerning (K)My sons;
And concerning (L)the work of My hands, you command Me.
12 (M)I have made the earth,
And (N)created man on it.
I—My hands—stretched out the heavens,
And (O)all their host I have commanded.
13 (P)I have raised him up in righteousness,
And I will [a]direct all his ways;
He shall (Q)build My city
And let My exiles go free,
(R)Not for price nor reward,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
The Lord, the Only Savior
14 Thus says the Lord:
(S)“The labor of Egypt and merchandise of Cush
And of the Sabeans, men of stature,
Shall come over to you, and they shall be yours;
They shall walk behind you,
They shall come over (T)in chains;
And they shall bow down to you.
They will make supplication to you, saying, (U)‘Surely God is in you,
And there is no other;
(V)There is no other God.’ ”
15 Truly You are God, (W)who hide Yourself,
O God of Israel, the Savior!
16 They shall be (X)ashamed
And also disgraced, all of them;
They shall go in confusion together,
Who are makers of idols.
17 (Y)But Israel shall be saved by the Lord
With an (Z)everlasting salvation;
You shall not be ashamed or (AA)disgraced
Forever and ever.
Walk in Wisdom
15 (A)See then that you walk [a]circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 (B)redeeming the time, (C)because the days are evil.
17 (D)Therefore do not be unwise, but (E)understand (F)what the will of the Lord is. 18 And (G)do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another (H)in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making (I)melody in your heart to the Lord, 20 (J)giving thanks always for all things to God the Father (K)in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 (L)submitting to one another in the fear of [b]God.
Marriage—Christ and the Church(M)
22 Wives, (N)submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For (O)the husband is head of the wife, as also (P)Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. 24 Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands (Q)in everything.
25 (R)Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and (S)gave Himself for her, 26 that He might [c]sanctify and cleanse her (T)with the washing of water (U)by the word, 27 (V)that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, (W)not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. 28 So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. 30 For (X)we are members of His body, [d]of His flesh and of His bones. 31 (Y)“For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the (Z)two shall become one flesh.” 32 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. 33 Nevertheless (AA)let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she (AB)respects her husband.
Light Under a Basket(A)
21 (B)Also He said to them, “Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? Is it not to be set on a lampstand? 22 (C)For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light. 23 (D)If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”
24 Then He said to them, “Take heed what you hear. (E)With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given. 25 (F)For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”
The Parable of the Growing Seed
26 And He said, (G)“The kingdom of God is as if a man should [a]scatter seed on the ground, 27 and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and (H)grow, he himself does not know how. 28 For the earth (I)yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. 29 But when the grain ripens, immediately (J)he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
The Parable of the Mustard Seed(K)
30 Then He said, (L)“To what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it? 31 It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth; 32 but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade.”
Jesus’ Use of Parables
33 (M)And with many such parables He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it. 34 But without a parable He did not speak to them. And when they were alone, (N)He explained all things to His disciples.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.