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Psalm 37

Exhortation to Patience and Trust

Of David.
¹ Do not fret because of the wicked;
   do not be 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;
   so you will live in the land, and enjoy security.
⁴ Take delight 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 make your vindication shine like the light,
   and the justice of your cause like the noonday.

⁷ Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him;
   do not fret over those who prosper in their way,
   over those who carry out evil devices.

⁸ Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath.
   Do not fret—it leads only to evil.
⁹ For the wicked shall be cut off,
   but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.

¹⁰ Yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more;
   though you look diligently for their place, they will not be there.
¹¹ But the meek shall inherit the land,
   and delight in abundant prosperity.

¹² The wicked plot against the righteous,
   and gnash their teeth at them;
¹³ but the Lord laughs at the wicked,
   for he sees that their day is coming.

¹⁴ The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows
   to bring down the poor and needy,
   to kill those who walk uprightly;
¹⁵ their sword shall enter their own heart,
   and their bows shall be broken.

¹⁶ Better is a little that the righteous person 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 abide for ever;

14 When the people set out from their tents to cross over the Jordan, the priests bearing the ark of the covenant were in front of the people. ¹⁵Now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest. So when those who bore the ark had come to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the edge of the water, ¹⁶the waters flowing from above stood still, rising up in a single heap far off at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, while those flowing towards the sea of the Arabah, the Dead Sea,^* were wholly cut off. Then the people crossed over opposite Jericho. ¹⁷While all Israel were crossing over on dry ground, the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, until the entire nation finished crossing over the Jordan.

Twelve Stones Set Up at Gilgal

4When the entire nation had finished crossing over the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua: ²‘Select twelve men from the people, one from each tribe, ³and command them, “Take twelve stones from here out of the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet stood, carry them over with you, and lay them down in the place where you camp tonight.” ’ ⁴Then Joshua summoned the twelve men from the Israelites, whom he had appointed, one from each tribe. ⁵Joshua said to them, ‘Pass on before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder, one for each of the tribes of the Israelites, ⁶so that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, “What do those stones mean to you?” ⁷then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off in front of the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the Israelites a memorial for ever.’

The New Life in Christ

12I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters,^* by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual^* worship. ²Do not be conformed to this world,^* but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.^*

3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgement, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. ⁴For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, ⁵so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. ⁶We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ⁷ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; ⁸the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.

The Plot to Kill Jesus

26When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, ²‘You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.’

3 Then the chief priests and the elders of the people gathered in the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, ⁴and they conspired to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. ⁵But they said, ‘Not during the festival, or there may be a riot among the people.’

The Anointing at Bethany

6 Now while Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper,^{* 7}a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very costly ointment, and she poured it on his head as he sat at the table. ⁸But when the disciples saw it, they were angry and said, ‘Why this waste? ⁹For this ointment could have been sold for a large sum, and the money given to the poor.’ ¹⁰But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, ‘Why do you trouble the woman? She has performed a good service for me. ¹¹For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. ¹²By pouring this ointment on my body she has prepared me for burial. ¹³Truly I tell you, wherever this good news^* is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in remembrance of her.’

Judas Agrees to Betray Jesus

14 Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests ¹⁵and said, ‘What will you give me if I betray him to you?’ They paid him thirty pieces of silver. ¹⁶And from that moment he began to look for an opportunity to betray him.