Book of Common Prayer
49 Remember the word you gave me.
Through it you gave me hope.
50 This is my comfort in my misery:
Your promise gave me a new life.
51 Arrogant people have mocked me with cruelty,
yet I have not turned away from your teachings.
52 I remembered your regulations from long ago, O Yahweh,
and I found comfort in them.
53 I am burning with anger because of wicked people,
who abandon your teachings.
54 Your laws have become like psalms to me
in this place where I am only a foreigner.
55 At night I remember your name, O Yahweh,
and I follow your teachings.
56 This has happened to me
because I have obeyed your guiding principles.
57 You are my inheritance, O Yahweh.
I promised to hold on to your words.
58 With all my heart I want to win your favor.
Be kind to me as you promised.
59 I have thought about my life,
and I have directed my feet back to your written instructions.
60 Without any hesitation I hurry to obey your commandments.
61 Though the ropes of wicked people are tied around me,
I never forget your teachings.
62 At midnight I wake up to give thanks to you
for the regulations, which are based on your righteousness.
63 I am a friend to everyone who fears you
and to everyone who follows your guiding principles.
64 Your mercy, O Yahweh, fills the earth.
Teach me your laws.
65 You have treated me well, O Yahweh,
as you promised.
66 Teach me to use good judgment and knowledge,
because I believe in your commandments.
67 Before you made me suffer, I used to wander off,
but now I hold on to your word.
68 You are good, and you do good things.
Teach me your laws.
69 Arrogant people have smeared me with lies,
yet I obey your guiding principles with all my heart.
70 Their hearts are cold and insensitive,
yet I am happy with your teachings.
71 It was good that I had to suffer
in order to learn your laws.
72 The teachings that come from your mouth are worth more to me
than thousands in gold or silver.
Psalm 49
For the choir director; a psalm by Korah’s descendants.
1 Listen to this, all you people.
Open your ears, all who live in the world—
2 common people and important ones,
rich people and poor ones.
3 My mouth will speak wise sayings,
the insights I have carefully considered.
4 I will turn my attention to a proverb.
I will explain my riddle with the music of a lyre.
5 Why should I be afraid in times of trouble,
when slanderers surround me with evil?
6 They trust their riches
and brag about their abundant wealth.
7 No one can ever buy back another person
or pay Elohim a ransom for his life.
8 The price to be paid for his soul is too costly.
He must always give up
9 in order to live forever and never see the pit.
10 Indeed, one can see that wise people die,
that foolish and stupid people meet the same end.
They leave their riches to others.
11 Although they named their lands after themselves,
their graves[a] have become their homes for ages to come,
their dwelling places throughout every generation.
12 But mortals will not continue here with what they treasure.
They are like animals that die.
13 This is the final outcome for fools and their followers
who are delighted by what they say: Selah
14 Like sheep, they are driven to hell
with death as their shepherd.
(Decent people will rule them in the morning.)
Their forms will decay in the grave,
far away from their comfortable homes.
15 But Elohim will buy me back from the power of hell
because he will take me. Selah
16 Do not be afraid when someone becomes rich,
when the greatness of his house increases.
17 He will not take anything with him when he dies.
His greatness cannot follow him.
18 Even though he blesses himself while he is alive
(and they praise you when you do well for yourself),
19 he must join the generation of his ancestors,
who will never see light again.
20 Mortals, with what they treasure, still don’t have understanding.
They are like animals that die.
Psalm 53[a]
For the choir director; according to mahalath,[b] a maskil by David.
1 Godless fools say in their hearts,
“There is no Elohim.”
They are corrupt.
They do disgusting things.
There is no one who does good things.
2 Elohim looks down from heaven on Adam’s descendants
to see if there is anyone who acts wisely,
if there is anyone who seeks help from Elohim.
3 Everyone has fallen away.
Together they have become rotten to the core.
No one, not even one person, does good things.
4 Are all those troublemakers,
those who devour my people as if they were devouring food,
so ignorant that they do not call on Elohim?
5 There they are—panic-stricken—
but there was no reason to panic,
because Elohim has scattered the bones
of those who set up camp against you.[c]
You put them to shame.
After all, Elohim has rejected them.
6 If only salvation for Israel would come from Zion!
When Elohim restores the fortunes of his people,
Jacob will rejoice.
Israel will be glad.
Elijah Prophesies a Drought
17 Elijah, who was from Tishbe but had settled in Gilead, said to Ahab, “I solemnly swear, as Yahweh Elohim of Israel whom I serve lives, there will be no dew or rain during the next few years unless I say so.”
2 Then Yahweh spoke his word to Elijah: 3 “Leave here, turn east, and hide beside the Cherith River, which is east of the Jordan River. 4 You can drink from the stream, and I’ve commanded ravens to feed you there.”
5 Elijah left and did what the word of Yahweh had told him. He went to live by the Cherith River, which is east of the Jordan River. 6 Ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and in the evening. And he drank from the stream.
7 But after some time the stream dried up because no rain had fallen in the land.
Elijah and the Widow at Zarephath
8 Then Yahweh spoke his word to Elijah: 9 “Get up, go to Zarephath (which belongs to Sidon), and stay there. I’ve commanded a widow there to feed you.”
10 He got up and went to Zarephath. As he came to the town’s entrance, a widow was gathering wood. He called to her, “Please bring me a drink of water.” 11 As she was going to get it, he called to her again, “Please bring me a piece of bread too.”
12 She said, “I solemnly swear, as Yahweh your Elohim lives, I didn’t bake any bread. I have one handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I’m gathering wood. I’m going to prepare something for myself and my son so that we can eat it and then die.”
13 Then Elijah told her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home, and do as you’ve said. But first make a small loaf and bring it to me. Then prepare something for yourself and your son. 14 This is what Yahweh Elohim of Israel says: Until Yahweh sends rain on the land, the jar of flour will never be empty and the jug will always contain oil.”
15 She did what Elijah had told her. So she, Elijah, and her family had food for a long time. 16 The jar of flour never became empty, and the jug always contained olive oil, as Yahweh had promised through Elijah.
17 Afterwards, the son of the woman who owned the house got sick. He got so sick that finally no life was left in him. 18 The woman asked Elijah, “What do you and I have in common, man of Elohim?[a] Did you come here to remind me of my sin and kill my son?”
19 He said to her, “Give me your son.” Elijah took him from her arms, carried him to the upstairs room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed. 20 Then he called to Yahweh, “Yahweh my Elohim, have you brought misery on the widow I’m staying with by killing her son?” 21 Then Elijah stretched himself over the boy three times and called to Yahweh, “Yahweh my Elohim, please make this child’s life return to him.” 22 Yahweh heard Elijah’s request, and the child’s life returned to him. He was alive again.
23 Elijah took the child, brought him down from the upstairs room of the house, and gave him to his mother. He said, “Look! Your son is alive.”
24 The woman said to Elijah, “Now I’m convinced that you are a man of Elohim and that the word of Yahweh from your mouth is true.”
Have the Same Attitude as Christ
2 So then, as Christians, do you have any encouragement? Do you have any comfort from love? Do you have any spiritual relationships? Do you have any sympathy and compassion? 2 Then fill me with joy by having the same attitude and the same love, living in harmony, and keeping one purpose in mind. 3 Don’t act out of selfish ambition or be conceited. Instead, humbly think of others as being better than yourselves. 4 Don’t be concerned only about your own interests, but also be concerned about the interests of others. 5 Have the same attitude that Christ Yeshua had.
6 Although he was in the form of God and equal with God,
he did not take advantage of this equality.
7 Instead, he emptied himself by taking on the form of a servant,
by becoming like other humans,
by having a human appearance.
8 He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death,
death on a cross.
9 This is why God has given him an exceptional honor—
the name honored above all other names—
10 so that at the name of Yeshua everyone in heaven, on earth,
and in the world below will kneel
11 and confess that Yeshua Christ is Lord
to the glory of God the Father.
The Wise Men Visit
2 Yeshua was born in Bethlehem in Judea when Herod was king. After Yeshua’s birth wise men[a] from the east arrived in Jerusalem. 2 They asked, “Where is the one who was born to be the king of the Jews? We saw his star rising and have come to worship him.”
3 When King Herod and all Jerusalem heard about this, they became disturbed. 4 He called together all the chief priests and the experts in the Scriptures and tried to find out from them where the Messiah was supposed to be born.
5 They told him, “In Bethlehem in Judea. The prophet wrote about this:
6 Bethlehem in the land of Judah,
you are by no means least among the leaders of Judah.
A leader will come from you.
He will shepherd my people Israel.”
7 Then Herod secretly called the wise men and found out from them exactly when the star had appeared. 8 As he sent them to Bethlehem, he said, “Go and search carefully for the child. When you have found him, report to me so that I may go and worship him too.”
9 After they had heard the king, they started out. The star they had seen rising led them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 They were overwhelmed with joy to see the star. 11 When they entered the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary. So they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.[b]
12 God warned them in a dream not to go back to Herod. So they left for their country by another road.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.