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.
The Writing on the Wall Explained
13 Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king spoke, and said to Daniel, “Are you that Daniel [a]who is one of the captives from Judah, whom my [b]father the king brought from Judah? 14 I have heard of you, that (A)the [c]Spirit of God is in you, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you. 15 Now (B)the wise men, the astrologers, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing and make known to me its interpretation, but they could not give the interpretation of the thing. 16 And I have heard of you, that you can give interpretations and [d]explain enigmas. (C)Now if you can read the writing and make known to me its interpretation, you shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around your neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.”
17 Then Daniel answered, and said before the king, “Let your gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another; yet I will read the writing to the king, and make known to him the interpretation. 18 O king, (D)the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your [e]father a kingdom and majesty, glory and honor. 19 And because of the majesty that He gave him, (E)all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him. Whomever he wished, he (F)executed; whomever he wished, he kept alive; whomever he wished, he set up; and whomever he wished, he put down. 20 (G)But when his heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him. 21 Then he was (H)driven from the sons of men, his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys. They fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, (I)till he [f]knew that the Most High God rules in the kingdom of men, and appoints over it whomever He chooses.
22 “But you his son, Belshazzar, (J)have not humbled your heart, although you knew all this. 23 (K)And you have [g]lifted yourself up against the Lord of heaven. They have brought the (L)vessels of [h]His house before you, and you and your lords, your wives and your concubines, have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, (M)which do not see or hear or know; and the God who holds your breath in His hand (N)and owns all your ways, you have not glorified. 24 Then the [i]fingers of the hand were sent from Him, and this writing was written.
25 “And this is the inscription that was written:
[j]MENE, MENE, [k]TEKEL, [l]UPHARSIN.
26 This is the interpretation of each word. MENE: God has numbered your kingdom, and finished it; 27 TEKEL: (O)You have been weighed in the balances, and found wanting; 28 PERES: Your kingdom has been divided, and given to the (P)Medes and (Q)Persians.”[m] 29 Then Belshazzar gave the command, and they clothed Daniel with purple and put a chain of gold around his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him (R)that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.
Belshazzar’s Fall
30 (S)That very night Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was slain.
13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, [a]and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.
Confidence and Compassion in Prayer
14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that (A)if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
16 If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and (B)He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. (C)There is sin leading to death. (D)I do not say that he should pray about that. 17 (E)All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death.
Knowing the True—Rejecting the False
18 We know that (F)whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God (G)keeps[b] [c]himself, and the wicked one does not touch him.
19 We know that we are of God, and (H)the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.
20 And we know that the (I)Son of God has come and (J)has given us an understanding, (K)that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. (L)This is the true God (M)and eternal life.
21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.
Four Fishermen Called as Disciples(A)
5 So (B)it was, as the multitude pressed about Him to (C)hear the word of God, that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, 2 and saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets. 3 Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He (D)sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat.
4 When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, (E)“Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”
5 But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught (F)nothing; nevertheless (G)at Your word I will let down the net.” 6 And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. 7 So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, (H)“Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!”
9 For he and all who were with him were (I)astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken; 10 and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. (J)From now on you will catch men.” 11 So when they had brought their boats to land, (K)they [a]forsook all and followed Him.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.