DAILY OFFICE

Psalm 37

¹ Fret not yourself because of evildoers;
    be not envious of wrongdoers!
² For they will soon fade like the grass
    and wither like the green herb.
³ Trust in the Lord, and do good;
    dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.
⁴ Delight yourself in the Lord,
    and he will give you the desires of your heart.
⁵ Commit your way to the Lord;
    trust in him, and he will act.
⁶ He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,
    and your justice as the noonday.
⁷ Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;
    fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,
    over the man who carries out evil devices!
⁸ Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!
    Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.
⁹ For the evildoers shall be cut off,
    but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.
¹⁰ In just a little while, the wicked will be no more;
    though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there.
¹¹ But the meek shall inherit the land
    and delight themselves in abundant peace.
¹² The wicked plots against the righteous
    and gnashes his teeth at him,
¹³ but the Lord laughs at the wicked,
    for he sees that his day is coming.
¹⁴ The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows
    to bring down the poor and needy,
    to slay those whose way is upright;
¹⁵ their sword shall enter their own heart,
    and their bows shall be broken.
¹⁶ Better is the little that the righteous has
    than the abundance 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 blameless,
    and their heritage will remain forever;
¹⁹ they are not put to shame in evil times;
    in the days of famine they have abundance.
²⁰ But the wicked will perish;
    the enemies of the Lord are like the glory of the pastures;
    they vanish—like smoke they vanish away.
²¹ The wicked borrows but does not pay back,
    but the righteous is generous and gives;
²² for those blessed by the Lord shall inherit the land,
    but those cursed by him shall be cut off.
²³ The steps of a man are established by the Lord,
    when he delights in his way;
²⁴ though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong,
    for the Lord upholds his hand.
²⁵ I have been young, and now am old,
    yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken
    or his children begging for bread.
²⁶ He is ever lending generously,
    and his children become a blessing.
²⁷ Turn away from evil and do good;
    so shall you dwell forever.
²⁸ For the Lord loves justice;
    he will not forsake his saints.
They are preserved forever,
    but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.
²⁹ The righteous shall inherit the land
    and dwell upon 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 do not slip.
³² The wicked watches for the righteous
    and seeks to put him to death.
³³ The Lord will not abandon him to his power
    or let him be condemned when he is brought to trial.
³⁴ Wait for the Lord and keep his way,
    and he will exalt you to inherit the land;
    you will look on when the wicked are cut off.
³⁵ I have seen a wicked, ruthless man,
    spreading himself like a green laurel tree.
³⁶ But he passed away, and behold, he was no more;
    though I sought him, he could not be found.
³⁸ But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed;
    the future of the wicked shall be cut off.
³⁹ The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;
    he is their stronghold in the time of trouble.
⁴⁰ The Lord helps them and delivers them;
    he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
    because they take refuge in him.

Proverbs 21:30-22:6

³⁰ No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel
    can avail against the Lord.
³¹ The horse is made ready for the day of battle,
    but the victory belongs to the Lord.
^22:1 A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,
    and favor is better than silver or gold.
² The rich and the poor meet together;
    the Lord is the Maker of them all.
³ The prudent sees danger and hides himself,
    but the simple go on and suffer for it.
⁴ The reward for humility and fear of the Lord
    is riches and honor and life.
⁵ Thorns and snares are in the way of the crooked;
    whoever guards his soul will keep far from them.
⁶ Train up a child in the way he should go;
    even when he is old he will not depart from it.

1 Timothy 4:1-16

¹ Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, ² through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, ³ who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. ⁴ For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, ⁵ for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer. ⁶ If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed.⁷ Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; ⁸ for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. ⁹ The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance. ¹⁰ For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe. ¹¹ Command and teach these things. ¹² Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. ¹³ Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. ¹⁴ Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. ¹⁵ Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. ¹⁶ Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

Matthew 13:24-30

²⁴ He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, ²⁵ but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. ²⁶ So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. ²⁷ And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ ²⁸ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ ²⁹ But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. ³⁰ Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers