Book of Common Prayer
Zayin.
49 Remember the word to Your servant,
[a]In which You have made me hope.
50 This is my (A)comfort in my affliction,
That Your word has [b]revived me.
51 The arrogant (B)utterly deride me,
Yet I do not (C)turn aside from Your law.
52 I have (D)remembered Your ordinances from [c]of old, O Lord,
And comfort myself.
53 Burning (E)indignation has seized me because of the wicked,
Who (F)forsake Your law.
54 Your statutes are my songs
In the house of my (G)pilgrimage.
55 O Lord, I (H)remember Your name (I)in the night,
And keep Your law.
56 This has become mine,
[d]That I (J)observe Your precepts.
Heth.
57 The Lord is my (K)portion;
I have [e]promised to (L)keep Your words.
58 I (M)sought Your favor (N)with all my heart;
(O)Be gracious to me (P)according to Your [f]word.
59 I (Q)considered my ways
And turned my feet to Your testimonies.
60 I hastened and did not delay
To keep Your commandments.
61 The (R)cords of the wicked have encircled me,
But I have (S)not forgotten Your law.
62 At (T)midnight I shall rise to give thanks to You
Because of Your (U)righteous ordinances.
63 I am a (V)companion of all those who [g]fear You,
And of those who keep Your precepts.
64 (W)The earth is full of Your lovingkindness, O Lord;
(X)Teach me Your statutes.
Teth.
65 You have dealt well with Your servant,
O Lord, according to Your word.
66 Teach me good [h](Y)discernment and knowledge,
For I believe in Your commandments.
67 (Z)Before I was afflicted I went astray,
But now I keep Your word.
68 You are (AA)good and (AB)do good;
(AC)Teach me Your statutes.
69 The arrogant [i]have (AD)forged a lie against me;
With all my heart I will (AE)observe Your precepts.
70 Their heart is [j](AF)covered with fat,
But I (AG)delight in Your law.
71 It is (AH)good for me that I was afflicted,
That I may learn Your statutes.
72 The (AI)law of Your mouth is better to me
Than thousands of gold and silver pieces.
The Folly of Trusting in Riches.
For the choir director. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.
49 (A)Hear this, all peoples;
Give ear, all (B)inhabitants of the world,
2 Both (C)low and high,
Rich and poor together.
3 My mouth will (D)speak wisdom,
And the meditation of my heart will be (E)understanding.
4 I will incline my ear to (F)a proverb;
(G)I will [a]express my (H)riddle on the harp.
5 Why should I (I)fear in days of adversity,
When the iniquity of my [b]foes surrounds me,
6 Even those who (J)trust in their wealth
And boast in the abundance of their riches?
7 No man can by any means (K)redeem his brother
Or give to God a (L)ransom for him—
8 For (M)the redemption of [c]his soul is costly,
And he should cease trying forever—
9 That he should (N)live on eternally,
That he should not [d](O)undergo decay.
10 For he sees that even (P)wise men die;
The (Q)stupid and the senseless alike perish
And (R)leave their wealth to others.
11 Their [e](S)inner thought is that their houses (T)are forever
And their dwelling places to all generations;
They have (U)called their lands after their own names.
12 But (V)man in his [f]pomp will not endure;
He is like the [g]beasts that [h]perish.
13 This is the (W)way of those who are foolish,
And of those after them who (X)approve their words. [i]Selah.
14 As sheep they are appointed (Y)for [j]Sheol;
Death shall be their shepherd;
And the (Z)upright shall rule over them in the morning,
And their form shall be for [k]Sheol (AA)to consume
[l]So that they have no habitation.
15 But God will (AB)redeem my soul from the [m]power of [n]Sheol,
For (AC)He will receive me. Selah.
16 Do not be afraid (AD)when a man becomes rich,
When the [o]glory of his house is increased;
17 For when he dies he will (AE)carry nothing away;
His [p]glory will not descend after him.
18 Though while he lives he (AF)congratulates [q]himself—
And though men praise you when you do well for yourself—
19 [r]He shall (AG)go to the generation of his fathers;
They will never see (AH)the light.
20 (AI)Man in his [s]pomp, yet without understanding,
Is (AJ)like the [t]beasts that [u]perish.
Folly and Wickedness of Men.
For the choir director; according to [a]Mahalath. A [b]Maskil of David.
53 (A)The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God,”
They are corrupt, and have committed abominable injustice;
(B)There is no one who does good.
2 God has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men
To see if there is (C)anyone who [c]understands,
Who (D)seeks after God.
3 (E)Every one of them has turned aside; together they have become corrupt;
There is no one who does good, not even one.
4 Have the workers of wickedness (F)no knowledge,
Who eat up My people as though they ate bread
And have not called upon God?
5 There they were in great [d]fear (G)where no [e]fear had been;
For God (H)scattered the bones of [f]him who encamped against you;
You (I)put them to shame, because (J)God had rejected them.
6 Oh, that (K)the salvation of Israel [g]would come out of Zion!
When God [h]restores His captive people,
[i]Let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.
13 The (A)Lord spoke further to me, saying, ‘I have seen this people, and indeed, it is a [a](B)stubborn people. 14 (C)Let Me alone, that I may destroy them and (D)blot out their name from under heaven; and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.’
15 “(E)So I turned and came down from the mountain while the mountain was burning with fire, and the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands. 16 And I saw that you had indeed sinned against the Lord your God. You had made for yourselves a molten calf; you had turned aside quickly from the way which the Lord had commanded you. 17 I took hold of the two tablets and threw them from my hands and smashed them before your eyes. 18 (F)I fell down before the Lord, (G)as at the first, forty days and nights; (H)I neither ate bread nor drank water, (I)because of all your sin which you had committed in doing what was evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke Him to anger. 19 For (J)I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure with which the Lord was wrathful against you in order to destroy you, (K)but the Lord listened to me that time also. 20 The Lord was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him; so I also prayed for Aaron at the same time. 21 (L)I took your [b]sinful thing, the calf which you had made, and burned it with fire and crushed it, grinding it very small until it was as fine as dust; and I threw its dust into the brook that came down from the mountain.
The Peril of Unbelief
12 (A)Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart [a]that falls away from (B)the living God. 13 But (C)encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the (D)deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partakers of Christ, (E)if we hold fast the beginning of our (F)assurance firm until the end, 15 while it is said,
16 For who (H)provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, (I)did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? 17 And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, (J)whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did He swear (K)that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were (L)disobedient? 19 So we see that they were not able to enter because of (M)unbelief.
23 Now when He was in Jerusalem at (A)the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name, (B)observing His signs which He was doing. 24 But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for (C)He knew all men, 25 and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, (D)for He Himself knew what was in man.
The New Birth
3 Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named (E)Nicodemus, a (F)ruler of the Jews; 2 this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “(G)Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these [a](H)signs that You do unless (I)God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one (J)is born [b]again he cannot see (K)the kingdom of God.”
4 Nicodemus *said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of (L)water and the Spirit he cannot enter into (M)the kingdom of God. 6 (N)That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born [c]again.’ 8 (O)The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
9 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you (P)the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, (Q)we speak of what we know and (R)testify of what we have seen, and (S)you do not accept our testimony. 12 If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 (T)No one has ascended into heaven, but (U)He who descended from heaven: (V)the Son of Man. 14 As (W)Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must (X)the Son of Man (Y)be lifted up; 15 so that whoever [d]believes will (Z)in Him have eternal life.
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