Book of Common Prayer
49 Remember your promise to me, your servant;
it gives me hope.
50 When I suffer, this comforts me:
Your promise gives me life.
51 Proud people always make fun of me,
but I do not reject your teachings.
52 I remember your laws from long ago,
and they comfort me, Lord.
53 I become angry with wicked people
who do not keep your teachings.
54 I sing about your demands
wherever I live.
55 Lord, I remember you at night,
and I will obey your teachings.
56 This is what I do:
I follow your orders.
57 Lord, you are my share in life;
I have promised to obey your words.
58 I prayed to you with all my heart.
Have mercy on me as you have promised.
59 I thought about my life,
and I decided to follow your rules.
60 I hurried and did not wait
to obey your commands.
61 Wicked people have tied me up,
but I have not forgotten your teachings.
62 In the middle of the night, I get up to thank you
because your laws are right.
63 I am a friend to everyone who fears you,
to anyone who obeys your orders.
64 Lord, your love fills the earth.
Teach me your demands.
65 You have done good things for your servant,
as you have promised, Lord.
66 Teach me wisdom and knowledge
because I trust your commands.
67 Before I suffered, I did wrong,
but now I obey your word.
68 You are good, and you do what is good.
Teach me your demands.
69 Proud people have made up lies about me,
but I will follow your orders with all my heart.
70 Those people have no feelings,
but I love your teachings.
71 It was good for me to suffer
so I would learn your demands.
72 Your teachings are worth more to me
than thousands of pieces of gold and silver.
Trusting Money Is Foolish
For the director of music. A psalm of the sons of Korah.
49 Listen to this, all you nations;
listen, all you who live on earth.
2 Listen, both great and small,
rich and poor together.
3 What I say is wise,
and my heart speaks with understanding.
4 I will pay attention to a wise saying;
I will explain my riddle on the harp.
5 Why should I be afraid of bad days?
Why should I fear when evil people surround me?
6 They trust in their money
and brag about their riches.
7 No one can buy back the life of another.
No one can pay God for his own life,
8 because the price of a life is high.
No payment is ever enough.
9 Do people live forever?
Don’t they all face death?
10 See, even wise people die.
Fools and stupid people also die
and leave their wealth to others.
11 Their graves will always be their homes.
They will live there from now on,
even though they named places after themselves.
12 Even rich people do not live forever;
like the animals, people die.
13 This is what will happen to those who trust in themselves
and to their followers who believe them. Selah
14 Like sheep, they must die,
and death will be their shepherd.
Honest people will rule over them in the morning,
and their bodies will rot in a grave far from home.
15 But God will save my life
and will take me from the grave. Selah
16 Don’t be afraid of rich people
because their houses are more beautiful.
17 They don’t take anything to the grave;
their wealth won’t go down with them.
18 Even though they were praised when they were alive—
and people may praise you when you succeed—
19 they will go to where their ancestors are.
They will never see light again.
20 Rich people with no understanding
are just like animals that die.
The Unbelieving Fool
For the director of music. By mahalath. A maskil of David.
53 Fools say to themselves,
“There is no God.”
Fools are evil and do terrible things;
none of them does anything good.
2 God looked down from heaven on all people
to see if anyone was wise,
if anyone was looking to God for help.
3 But all have turned away.
Together, everyone has become evil;
none of them does anything good.
Not a single person.
4 Don’t the wicked understand?
They destroy my people as if they were eating bread.
They do not ask God for help.
5 The wicked are filled with terror
where there had been nothing to fear.
God will scatter the bones of your enemies.
You will defeat them,
because God has rejected them.
6 I pray that victory will come to Israel from Mount Zion!
May God bring them back.
Then the people of Jacob will rejoice,
and the people of Israel will be glad.
God Calls His Special Servant
49 All of you people in faraway places, listen to me.
Listen, all you nations far away.
Before I was born, the Lord called me to serve him.
The Lord named me while I was still in my mother’s womb.
2 He made my tongue like a sharp sword.
He hid me in the shadow of his hand.
He made me like a sharp arrow.
He hid me in the holder for his arrows.
3 He told me, “Israel, you are my servant.
I will show my glory through you.”
4 But I said, “I have worked hard for nothing;
I have used all my power, but I did nothing useful.
But the Lord will decide what my work is worth;
God will decide my reward.”
5 The Lord made me in the body of my mother
to be his servant,
to lead the people of Jacob back to him
so that Israel might be gathered to him.
The Lord will honor me,
and I will get my strength from my God.
6 Now he told me,
“You are an important servant to me
to bring back the tribes of Jacob,
to bring back the people of Israel who are left alive.
But, more importantly, I will make you a light for all nations
to show people all over the world the way to be saved.”
7 The Lord who saves you
is the Holy One of Israel.
He speaks to the one who is hated by the people,
to the servant of rulers.
This is what he says: “Kings will see you and stand to honor you;
great leaders will bow down before you,
because the Lord can be trusted.
He is the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”
The Day of Salvation
8 This is what the Lord says:
“At the right time I will hear your prayers.
On the day of salvation I will help you.
I will protect you,
and you will be the sign of my agreement with the people.
You will bring back the people to the land
and give the land that is now ruined back to its owners.
9 You will tell the prisoners, ‘Come out of your prison.’
You will tell those in darkness, ‘Come into the light.’
The people will eat beside the roads,
and they will find food even on bare hills.
10 They will not be hungry or thirsty.
Neither the hot sun nor the desert wind will hurt them.
The God who comforts them will lead them
and guide them by springs of water.
11 I will make my mountains into roads,
and the roads will be raised up.
12 Look, people are coming to me from far away,
from the north and from the west,
from Aswan in southern Egypt.”
Paul Shows that Peter Was Wrong
11 When Peter came to Antioch, I challenged him to his face, because he was wrong. 12 Peter ate with the non-Jewish people until some Jewish people sent from James came to Antioch. When they arrived, Peter stopped eating with those who weren’t Jewish, and he separated himself from them. He was afraid of the Jews. 13 So Peter was a hypocrite, as were the other Jewish believers who joined with him. Even Barnabas was influenced by what these Jewish believers did. 14 When I saw they were not following the truth of the Good News, I spoke to Peter in front of them all. I said, “Peter, you are a Jew, but you are not living like a Jew. You are living like those who are not Jewish. So why do you now try to force those who are not Jewish to live like Jews?”
15 We were not born as non-Jewish “sinners,” but as Jews. 16 Yet we know that a person is made right with God not by following the law, but by trusting in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus, that we might be made right with God because we trusted in Christ. It is not because we followed the law, because no one can be made right with God by following the law.
17 We Jews came to Christ, trying to be made right with God, and it became clear that we are sinners, too. Does this mean that Christ encourages sin? No! 18 But I would really be wrong to begin teaching again those things that I gave up. 19 It was the law that put me to death, and I died to the law so that I can now live for God. 20 I was put to death on the cross with Christ, and I do not live anymore—it is Christ who lives in me. I still live in my body, but I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself to save me. 21 By saying these things I am not going against God’s grace. Just the opposite, if the law could make us right with God, then Christ’s death would be useless.
13 They forced many demons out and put olive oil on many sick people and healed them.
How John the Baptist Was Killed
14 King Herod heard about Jesus, because he was now well known. Some people said,[a] “He is John the Baptist, who has risen from the dead. That is why he can work these miracles.”
15 Others said, “He is Elijah.”[b]
Other people said, “Jesus is a prophet, like the prophets who lived long ago.”
16 When Herod heard this, he said, “I killed John by cutting off his head. Now he has risen from the dead!”
17 Herod himself had ordered his soldiers to arrest John and put him in prison in order to please his wife, Herodias. She had been the wife of Philip, Herod’s brother, but then Herod had married her. 18 John had been telling Herod, “It is not lawful for you to be married to your brother’s wife.” 19 So Herodias hated John and wanted to kill him. But she couldn’t, 20 because Herod was afraid of John and protected him. He knew John was a good and holy man. Also, though John’s preaching always bothered him, he enjoyed listening to John.
21 Then the perfect time came for Herodias to cause John’s death. On Herod’s birthday, he gave a dinner party for the most important government leaders, the commanders of his army, and the most important people in Galilee. 22 When the daughter of Herodias[c] came in and danced, she pleased Herod and the people eating with him.
So King Herod said to the girl, “Ask me for anything you want, and I will give it to you.” 23 He promised her, “Anything you ask for I will give to you—up to half of my kingdom.”
24 The girl went to her mother and asked, “What should I ask for?”
Her mother answered, “Ask for the head of John the Baptist.”
25 At once the girl went back to the king and said to him, “I want the head of John the Baptist right now on a platter.”
26 Although the king was very sad, he had made a promise, and his dinner guests had heard it. So he did not want to refuse what she asked. 27 Immediately the king sent a soldier to bring John’s head. The soldier went and cut off John’s head in the prison 28 and brought it back on a platter. He gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. 29 When John’s followers heard this, they came and got John’s body and put it in a tomb.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.