Psalm 49-50

New King James Version

The Confidence of the Foolish

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.

49 Hear this, all peoples;
Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,
²Both low and high,
Rich and poor together.
³My mouth shall speak wisdom,
And the meditation of my heart shall give understanding.
⁴I will incline my ear to a proverb;
I will disclose my ^[a]dark saying on the harp.

⁵Why should I fear in the days of evil,
When the iniquity at my heels surrounds me?
⁶Those who ^(A)trust in their wealth
And boast in the multitude of their riches,
⁷None of them can by any means redeem his brother,
Nor ^(B)give to God a ransom for him—
⁸For ^(C)the redemption of their souls is costly,
And it shall cease forever—
⁹That he should continue to live eternally,
And ^(D)not ^[b]see the Pit.

¹⁰For he sees wise men die;
Likewise the fool and the senseless person perish,
And leave their wealth to others.
¹¹^[c]Their inner thought is that their houses will last forever,
Their dwelling places to all generations;
They ^(E)call their lands after their own names.
¹²Nevertheless man, though in honor, does not ^[d]remain;
He is like the beasts that perish.

¹³This is the way of those who are ^(F)foolish,
And of their posterity who approve their sayings. Selah
¹⁴Like sheep they are laid in the grave;
Death shall feed on them;
^(G)The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning;
^(H)And their beauty shall be consumed in ^[e]the grave, far from their dwelling.
¹⁵But God ^(I)will redeem my soul from the power of ^[f]the grave,
For He shall ^(J)receive me. Selah

¹⁶Do not be afraid when one becomes rich,
When the glory of his house is increased;
¹⁷For when he dies he shall carry nothing away;
His glory shall not descend after him.
¹⁸Though while he lives ^(K)he blesses himself
(For men will praise you when you do well for yourself),
¹⁹He shall go to the generation of his fathers;
They shall never see ^(L)light.^[g]
²⁰A man who is in honor, yet does not understand,
^(M)Is like the beasts that perish.

God the Righteous Judge

A Psalm of Asaph.

50 The ^(N)Mighty One, God the Lord,
Has spoken and called the earth
From the rising of the sun to its going down.
²Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
^(O)God will shine forth.
³Our God shall come, and shall not keep silent;
^(P)A fire shall devour before Him,
And it shall be very tempestuous all around Him.

⁴^(Q)He shall call to the heavens from above,
And to the earth, that He may judge His people:
⁵“Gather ^(R)My saints together to Me,
^(S)Those who have ^[h]made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.”
⁶Let the ^(T)heavens declare His righteousness,
For ^(U)God Himself is Judge. Selah

⁷“Hear, O My people, and I will speak,
O Israel, and I will testify against you;
^(V)I am God, your God!
⁸^(W)I will not ^[i]rebuke you ^(X)for your sacrifices
Or your burnt offerings,
Which are continually before Me.
⁹^(Y)I will not take a bull from your house,
Nor goats out of your folds.
¹⁰For every beast of the forest is Mine,
And the cattle on a thousand hills.
¹¹I know all the birds of the mountains,
And the wild beasts of the field are Mine.

¹²“If I were hungry, I would not tell you;
^(Z)For the world is Mine, and all its fullness.
¹³^(AA)Will I eat the flesh of bulls,
Or drink the blood of goats?
¹⁴^(AB)Offer to God thanksgiving,
And ^(AC)pay your vows to the Most High.
¹⁵^(AD)Call upon Me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”

¹⁶But to the wicked God says:
“What right have you to declare My statutes,
Or take My covenant in your mouth,
¹⁷^(AE)Seeing you hate instruction
And cast My words behind you?
¹⁸When you saw a thief, you ^(AF)consented^[j] with him,
And have been a ^(AG)partaker with adulterers.
¹⁹You give your mouth to evil,
And ^(AH)your tongue frames deceit.
²⁰You sit and speak against your brother;
You slander your own mother’s son.
²¹These things you have done, and I kept silent;
^(AI)You thought that I was altogether like you;
But I will rebuke you,
And ^(AJ)set them in order before your eyes.

²²“Now consider this, you who ^(AK)forget God,
Lest I tear you in pieces,
And there be none to deliver:
²³Whoever offers praise glorifies Me;
And ^(AL)to him who orders his conduct aright
I will show the salvation of God.”

Footnotes

Psalm 49:4 riddle
Psalm 49:9 experience corruption
Psalm 49:11 LXX, Syr., Tg., Vg. Their graves shall be their houses forever
Psalm 49:12 So with MT, Tg.; LXX, Syr., Vg. understand (cf. v. 20)
Psalm 49:14 Or Sheol
Psalm 49:15 Or Sheol
Psalm 49:19 The light of life
Psalm 50:5 Lit. cut
Psalm 50:8 reprove
Psalm 50:18 LXX, Syr., Tg., Vg. ran

Mark 1:1-28

New King James Version

John the Baptist Prepares the Way^(A)

1 The ^(B)beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, ^(C)the Son of God. ²As it is written in ^[a]the Prophets:

^(D)“Behold, I send My messenger before Your face,
Who will prepare Your way before You.”
³“The^(E) voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
Make His paths straight.’ ”

⁴^(F)John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance ^[b]for the remission of sins. ⁵^(G)Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.

⁶Now John was ^(H)clothed with camel’s hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. ⁷And he preached, saying, ^(I)“There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose. ⁸^(J)I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you ^(K)with the Holy Spirit.”

John Baptizes Jesus^(L)

⁹^(M)It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰^(N)And immediately, coming up ^[c]from the water, He saw the heavens ^[d]parting and the Spirit ^(O)descending upon Him like a dove. ¹¹Then a voice came from heaven, ^(P)“You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Satan Tempts Jesus^(Q)

¹²^(R)Immediately the Spirit ^[e]drove Him into the wilderness. ¹³And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; ^(S)and the angels ministered to Him.

Jesus Begins His Galilean Ministry^(T)

¹⁴^(U)Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, ^(V)preaching the gospel ^[f]of the kingdom of God, ¹⁵and saying, ^(W)“The time is fulfilled, and ^(X)the kingdom of God ^[g]is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

Four Fishermen Called as Disciples^(Y)

¹⁶^(Z)And as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. ¹⁷Then Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become ^(AA)fishers of men.” ¹⁸^(AB)They immediately left their nets and followed Him.

¹⁹When He had gone a little farther from there, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the boat mending their nets. ²⁰And immediately He called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went after Him.

Jesus Casts Out an Unclean Spirit^(AC)

²¹^(AD)Then they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the ^(AE)synagogue and taught. ²²^(AF)And they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

²³Now there was a man in their synagogue with an ^(AG)unclean spirit. And he cried out, ²⁴saying, “Let us alone! ^(AH)What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I ^(AI)know who You are—the ^(AJ)Holy One of God!”

²⁵But Jesus ^(AK)rebuked him, saying, ^[h]“Be quiet, and come out of him!” ²⁶And when the unclean spirit ^(AL)had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him. ²⁷Then they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, ^[i]“What is this? What new ^[j]doctrine is this? For with authority He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.” ²⁸And immediately His ^(AM)fame spread throughout all the region around Galilee.