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.
King Darius Finds King Cyrus’ Memorandum
6 Then King Darius gave the order to search the library where the archives were stored in Babylon. 2 A scroll was found in the palace of Ecbatana, which is in the province of Media. This was written on it:
MEMORANDUM
3 Date: Cyrus’ first year as king
From: King Cyrus
Subject: Elah’s temple in Jerusalem.
The temple should be rebuilt as a place to offer sacrifices. Its foundation should be laid. It should be 90 feet high and 90 feet wide 4 with three rows of large stones and a row of wood. The king’s palace will pay for it. 5 In addition, Cyrus took out of a temple in Babylon the gold and silver utensils that belonged to Elah’s temple. (Nebuchadnezzar had taken them out of Elah’s temple in Jerusalem and brought them into a temple in Babylon.) They should be returned to their proper place in the temple in Jerusalem. You should put each one in Elah’s temple.
6 Governor Tattenai from the province west of the Euphrates, Shethar Bozenai, and those of your group (the Persians west of the river):
You must stay away from there. 7 Don’t interfere with the work on Elah’s temple. Let the governor of the Jews and the leaders of Judah rebuild Elah’s temple on its original foundation. 8 I am issuing this decree about how you must help the Jewish leaders rebuild Elah’s temple:
The cost for this should be paid out of the king’s own money from the taxes on the province west of the Euphrates. Full payment should be made to these men so that the work is not interrupted. 9 Also, whatever the priests in Jerusalem need for burnt offerings to the Elah of heaven—young bulls, rams, lambs, wheat, salt, wine, and olive oil—should be provided for them each day. Make sure that nothing is omitted. 10 Then they can offer sacrifices that please the Elah of heaven and pray for the life of the king and his sons.
11 I am also issuing a decree that if anyone tampers with my orders, that person should be impaled on a beam torn from his own house and his house should be turned into a pile of rubble.[a] 12 May the Elah whose name is worshiped there cause the downfall of each king and nation who tries to tamper with my orders or tries to destroy the temple of the Elah in Jerusalem.
I, Darius, have issued a decree. It’s to be carried out exactly as ordered.
13 Then Governor Tattenai from the province west of the Euphrates River, Shethar Bozenai, and their group did exactly what King Darius had ordered. 14 So the Jewish leaders continued to make progress because of the message from the prophet Haggai and Zechariah, the grandson of Iddo. They finished building as the Elah of Israel had ordered and as Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes (the kings of Persia) had ordered. 15 This temple was finished on the third day of the month of Adar in the sixth year of King Darius’ reign.
The Temple Is Completed and Dedicated
16 Then the people of Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the others who had returned from exile celebrated at the dedication of Elah’s temple. 17 At the dedication of Elah’s temple, they sacrificed 100 bulls, 200 rams, and 400 lambs. They sacrificed 12 male goats as an offering for sin, one goat for each of the tribes of Israel.
18 The priests were assigned to their divisions and the Levites to their groups to lead the worship of Elah in Jerusalem by following the directions written in the Book of Moses.
The Passover Is Celebrated
19 On the fourteenth day of the first month, those who had returned from exile celebrated the Passover. 20 Since the priests and Levites had cleansed themselves, all of them were now clean.[b] They killed the Passover lambs for all the people who had returned from exile, for the rest of the priests, and for themselves. 21 The lambs were eaten by the Israelites who had returned from exile and by all who had separated themselves from the unclean practices of the non-Jews in the land to worship Yahweh Elohim of Israel. 22 So for seven days they celebrated the Festival of Unleavened Bread because Yahweh had made them joyful. Yahweh had made the king of Assyria change his mind so that he supported the people in their work on the temple of Elohim, the Elohim of Israel.
The Lamb Takes the Scroll That Has Seven Seals
5 I saw a scroll in the right hand of the one who sits on the throne. It had writing both on the inside and on the outside. It was sealed with seven seals. 2 I saw a powerful angel calling out in a loud voice, “Who deserves to open the scroll and break the seals on it?” 3 No one in heaven, on earth, or under the earth could open the scroll or look inside it. 4 I cried bitterly because no one was found who deserved to open the scroll or look inside it.
5 Then one of the leaders said to me, “Stop crying! The Lion from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has won the victory. He can open the scroll and the seven seals on it.”
6 I saw a lamb standing in the center near the throne with the four living creatures and the leaders. The lamb looked like he had been slaughtered. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent all over the world. 7 He took the scroll from the right hand of the one who sits on the throne.
8 When the lamb had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the 24 leaders bowed in front of him. Each held a harp and a gold bowl full of incense, the prayers of God’s holy people. 9 Then they sang a new song,
“You deserve to take the scroll and open the seals on it,
because you were slaughtered.
You bought people with your blood to be God’s own.
They are from every tribe, language, people, and nation.
10 You made them a kingdom and priests for our God.
They will rule as kings on the earth.”
10 The disciples asked him, “Why do you use stories as illustrations when you speak to people?”
11 Yeshua answered, “Knowledge about the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you. But it has not been given to the crowd. 12 Those who understand these mysteries will be given more knowledge, and they will excel in understanding them. However, some people don’t understand these mysteries. Even what they understand will be taken away from them. 13 This is why I speak to them this way. They see, but they’re blind. They hear, but they don’t listen. They don’t even try to understand. 14 So they make Isaiah’s prophecy come true:
‘You will hear clearly but never understand.
You will see clearly but never comprehend.
15 These people have become close-minded
and hard of hearing.
They have shut their eyes
so that their eyes never see.
Their ears never hear.
Their minds never understand.
And they never return to me for healing!’
16 “Blessed are your eyes because they see and your ears because they hear. 17 I can guarantee this truth: Many prophets and many of God’s people longed to see what you see but didn’t see it, to hear what you hear but didn’t hear it.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.