Book of Common Prayer
Confidence in the Law of the Lord
49 Remember your promise to me, your servant;
it has given me hope.
50 Even in my suffering I was comforted
because your promise gave me life.
51 The proud are always scornful of me,
but I have not departed from your law.
52 I remember your judgments of long ago,
and they bring me comfort, O Lord.
53 When I see the wicked breaking your law,
I am filled with anger.
54 During my brief earthly life
I compose songs about your commands.
55 In the night I remember you, Lord,
and I think about your law.
56 I find my happiness
in obeying your commands.
Devotion to the Law of the Lord
57 You are all I want, O Lord;
I promise to obey your laws.
58 I ask you with all my heart
to have mercy on me, as you have promised!
59 I have considered my conduct,
and I promise to follow your instructions.
60 Without delay I hurry
to obey your commands.
61 The wicked have laid a trap for me,
but I do not forget your law.
62 In the middle of the night I wake up
to praise you for your righteous judgments.
63 I am a friend of all who serve you,
of all who obey your laws.
64 Lord, the earth is full of your constant love;
teach me your commandments.
The Value of the Law of the Lord
65 You have kept your promise, Lord,
and you are good to me, your servant.
66 Give me wisdom and knowledge,
because I trust in your commands.
67 Before you punished me, I used to go wrong,
but now I obey your word.
68 How good you are—how kind!
Teach me your commands.
69 The proud have told lies about me,
but with all my heart I obey your instructions.
70 They have no understanding,
but I find pleasure in your law.
71 My punishment was good for me,
because it made me learn your commands.
72 The law that you gave means more to me
than all the money in the world.
The Foolishness of Trusting in Riches[a]
49 Hear this, everyone!
Listen, all people everywhere,
2 great and small alike,
rich and poor together.
3 My thoughts will be clear;
I will speak words of wisdom.
4 I will turn my attention to proverbs
and explain their meaning as I play the harp.
5 I am not afraid in times of danger
when I am surrounded by enemies,
6 by evil people who trust in their riches
and boast of their great wealth.
7 We can never redeem ourselves;
we cannot pay God the price for our lives,
8 because the payment for a human life is too great.
What we could pay would never be enough
9 to keep us from the grave,
to let us live forever.
10 (A)Anyone can see that even the wise die,
as well as the foolish and stupid.
They all leave their riches to their descendants.
11 Their graves[b] are their homes forever;
there they stay for all time,
though they once had lands of their own.
12 Our greatness cannot keep us from death;
we will still die like the animals.
13 See what happens to those who trust in themselves,
the fate of those[c] who are satisfied with their wealth—
14 they are doomed to die like sheep,
and Death will be their shepherd.
The righteous will triumph over them,
as their bodies quickly decay
in the world of the dead far from their homes.[d]
15 But God will rescue me;
he will save me from the power of death.
16 Don't be upset when someone becomes rich,
when his wealth grows even greater;
17 he cannot take it with him when he dies;
his wealth will not go with him to the grave.
18 Even if someone is satisfied with this life
and is praised because he is successful,
19 he will join all his ancestors in death,
where the darkness lasts forever.
20 Our greatness cannot keep us from death;
we will still die like the animals.
Human Wickedness[a](A)
53 (B)Fools say to themselves,
“There is no God.”
They are all corrupt,
and they have done terrible things;
there is no one who does what is right.
2 God looks down from heaven at people
to see if there are any who are wise,
any who worship him.
3 But they have all turned away;
they are all equally bad.
Not one of them does what is right,
not a single one.
4 “Don't they know?” God asks.
“Are these evildoers ignorant?
They live by robbing my people,
and they never pray to me.”
5 But then they will become terrified,
as they have never been before,
for God will scatter the bones of the enemies of his people.
God has rejected them,
and so Israel will totally defeat them.
6 How I pray that victory
will come to Israel from Zion.
How happy the people of Israel will be
when God makes them prosperous again!
The Fate of the Wicked
16 Even when righteous people are dead and gone, they put to shame the wicked people who live on after them. In their old age the wicked will be disgraced by young people who have already achieved perfection. 17 The wise may die young, but the wicked will never understand that this is the Lord's way of taking them off to safety. 18 They make light of a wise person's death, but the Lord will soon be laughing at them. When they die, they will not be given an honorable burial. Even the dead will hold them in scorn and disgust forever. 19 God will throw them to the ground and make them speechless. Like buildings shaken from their foundations, they will be reduced to piles of ruins. They will be in torment. People will soon forget all about them. 20 They will come in fear to the Judgment, where their sins will be counted; they will stand condemned by their own lawless actions.
The Regrets of the Wicked
5 On that day someone righteous, full of confidence, will stand before those who oppressed him and made light of his labors. 2 They will be amazed to see him safe and will tremble with terrible fear. 3 Then they will regret what they did, and groaning in anguish they will say to each other:
4 This is the one we made fun of. We thought he was a joke. What fools we were! We thought he was crazy to live the way he did, and when he died, we didn't honor him. 5 And now here he is, one of God's own children, with a place of his own among God's people. 6 We were the ones who wandered off the right road. We never lived in the light of righteousness; we never caught the first glimmer of its light. 7 All our lives we wandered across unmarked deserts, instead of following the road which the Lord wanted us to travel. And this lawlessness led us to ruin. 8 We were so proud of ourselves—we bragged about how rich we were—and now, what good has it done us?
Paul's Work as a Servant of the Church
24 And now I am happy about my sufferings for you, for by means of my physical sufferings I am helping to complete what still remains of Christ's sufferings on behalf of his body, the church. 25 And I have been made a servant of the church by God, who gave me this task to perform for your good. It is the task of fully proclaiming his message, 26 which is the secret he hid through all past ages from all human beings but has now revealed to his people. 27 God's plan is to make known his secret to his people, this rich and glorious secret which he has for all peoples. And the secret is that Christ is in you, which means that you will share in the glory of God. 28 So we preach Christ to everyone. With all possible wisdom we warn and teach them in order to bring each one into God's presence as a mature individual in union with Christ. 29 To get this done I toil and struggle, using the mighty strength which Christ supplies and which is at work in me.
2 Let me tell you how hard I have worked for you and for the people in Laodicea and for all others who do not know me personally. 2 I do this in order that they may be filled with courage and may be drawn together in love, and so have the full wealth of assurance which true understanding brings. In this way they will know God's secret, which is Christ himself.[a] 3 He is the key that opens all the hidden treasures of God's wisdom and knowledge.
4 I tell you, then, do not let anyone deceive you with false arguments, no matter how good they seem to be. 5 For even though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, and I am glad as I see the resolute firmness with which you stand together in your faith in Christ.
Fullness of Life in Christ
6 Since you have accepted Christ Jesus as Lord, live in union with him. 7 Keep your roots deep in him, build your lives on him, and become stronger in your faith, as you were taught. And be filled with thanksgiving.
Love for Enemies(A)
27 “But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, and pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If anyone hits you on one cheek, let him hit the other one too; if someone takes your coat, let him have your shirt as well. 30 Give to everyone who asks you for something, and when someone takes what is yours, do not ask for it back. 31 (B)Do for others just what you want them to do for you.
32 “If you love only the people who love you, why should you receive a blessing? Even sinners love those who love them! 33 And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you receive a blessing? Even sinners do that! 34 And if you lend only to those from whom you hope to get it back, why should you receive a blessing? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount! 35 (C)No! Love your enemies and do good to them; lend and expect nothing back. You will then have a great reward, and you will be children of the Most High God. For he is good to the ungrateful and the wicked. 36 Be merciful just as your Father is merciful.
Judging Others(D)
37 “Do not judge others, and God will not judge you; do not condemn others, and God will not condemn you; forgive others, and God will forgive you. 38 Give to others, and God will give to you. Indeed, you will receive a full measure, a generous helping, poured into your hands—all that you can hold. The measure you use for others is the one that God will use for you.”
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.