Book of Common Prayer
ז Zayin
49 Remember your word to your servant;
you have given me hope through it.
50 This is my comfort in my affliction:(A)
Your promise has given me life.
51 The arrogant constantly ridicule me,
but I do not turn away from your instruction.(B)
52 Lord, I remember your judgments from long ago
and find comfort.
53 Fury seizes me(C) because of the wicked
who reject your instruction.(D)
54 Your statutes are the theme of my song
during my earthly life.[a]
55 Lord, I remember your name(E) in the night,(F)
and I obey your instruction.
56 This is my practice:
I obey your precepts.(G)
ח Cheth
57 The Lord is my portion;[b](H)
I have promised to keep your words.
58 I have sought your favor(I) with all my heart;
be gracious to me(J) according to your promise.
59 I thought about my ways(K)
and turned my steps back to your decrees.
60 I hurried, not hesitating
to keep your commands.
61 Though the ropes of the wicked(L)
were wrapped around me,
I did not forget your instruction.(M)
62 I rise at midnight to thank you(N)
for your righteous judgments.(O)
63 I am a friend to all who fear you,(P)
to those who keep your precepts.
64 Lord, the earth is filled with your faithful love;(Q)
teach me your statutes.(R)
ט Teth
65 Lord, you have treated your servant well,
just as you promised.
66 Teach me good judgment and discernment,(S)
for I rely on your commands.
67 Before I was afflicted I went astray,(T)
but now I keep your word.
68 You are good,(U) and you do what is good;(V)
teach me your statutes.
69 The arrogant have smeared me with lies,(W)
but I obey your precepts with all my heart.(X)
70 Their hearts are hard and insensitive,(Y)
but I delight in your instruction.(Z)
71 It was good for me to be afflicted(AA)
so that I could learn your statutes.
72 Instruction from your lips(AB) is better for me
than thousands of gold and silver pieces.
Psalm 49
Misplaced Trust in Wealth
For the choir director. A psalm of the sons of Korah.
1 Hear this, all you peoples;
listen, all who inhabit the world,(A)
2 both low and high,
rich and poor together.(B)
3 My mouth speaks wisdom;
my heart’s meditation brings understanding.(C)
4 I turn my ear to a proverb;
I explain my riddle with a lyre.(D)
5 Why should I fear in times of trouble?
The iniquity of my foes surrounds me.(E)
6 They trust in their wealth
and boast of their abundant riches.(F)
7 Yet these cannot redeem a person[a]
or pay his ransom to God(G)—
8 since the price of redeeming him is too costly,
one should forever stop trying[b](H)—
9 so that he may live forever
and not see the Pit.(I)
10 For one can see that the wise die;
the foolish and stupid also pass away.(J)
Then they leave their wealth to others.(K)
11 Their graves are their permanent homes,[c]
their dwellings from generation to generation,
though they have named estates after themselves.(L)
12 But despite his assets,[d] mankind will not last;
he is like the animals that perish.(M)
13 This is the way of those who are arrogant,
and of their followers,
who approve of their words.[e](N)Selah
14 Like sheep they are headed for Sheol;
Death will shepherd them.
The upright will rule over them in the morning,(O)
and their form will waste away in Sheol,[f]
far from their lofty abode.(P)
15 But God will redeem me
from the power of Sheol,
for he will take me.(Q)Selah
16 Do not be afraid when a person gets rich,
when the wealth[g] of his house increases.(R)
17 For when he dies, he will take nothing at all;
his wealth will not follow him down.(S)
18 Though he blesses himself during his lifetime—
and you are acclaimed when you do well for yourself(T)—
19 he will go to the generation of his ancestors;
they will never see the light.(U)
20 Mankind, with his assets
but without understanding,
is like the animals that perish.(V)
Psalm 53
A Portrait of Sinners
For the choir director: on Mahalath.(A) A Maskil of David.
1 The fool says in his heart, “There’s no God.”
They are corrupt, and they do vile deeds.
There is no one who does good.(B)
2 God looks down from heaven on the human race[a]
to see if there is one who is wise,
one who seeks God.(C)
3 All have turned away;
all alike have become corrupt.
There is no one who does good,
not even one.(D)
The False Prophet
13 “If a prophet or someone who has dreams(A) arises among you and proclaims a sign or wonder to you, 2 and that sign or wonder he has promised you comes about, but he says, ‘Let’s follow other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let’s worship them,’ 3 do not listen to that prophet’s words or to that dreamer. For the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul.(B) 4 You must follow the Lord your God and fear him. You must keep his commands and listen to him; you must worship him and remain faithful[a] to him.(C) 5 That prophet or dreamer must be put to death,(D) because he has urged rebellion against the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the place of slavery,(E) to turn you from the way the Lord your God has commanded you to walk. You must purge the evil from you.(F)
Don’t Tolerate Idolatry
6 “If your brother, the son of your mother,[b] or your son or daughter, or the wife you embrace, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, ‘Let’s go and worship other gods’—which neither you nor your ancestors have known, 7 any of the gods of the peoples around you, near you or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other— 8 do not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity,[c] and do not spare him or shield him.(G) 9 Instead, you must kill him. Your hand is to be the first against him to put him to death, and then the hands of all the people.(H) 10 Stone him to death for trying to turn you away from the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.(I) 11 All Israel will hear and be afraid, and they will no longer do anything evil like this among you.(J)
Joy and Repentance
2 Make room for us in your hearts. We have wronged no one, corrupted(A) no one, taken advantage of no one. 3 I don’t say this to condemn you, since I have already said that you are in our hearts, to die together and to live together. 4 I am very frank with you; I have great pride in you. I am filled with encouragement; I am overflowing with joy in all our afflictions.
5 In fact, when we came into Macedonia,(B) we[a] had no rest. Instead, we were troubled in every way: conflicts(C) on the outside, fears(D) within. 6 But God, who comforts the downcast,(E) comforted us by the arrival of Titus, 7 and not only by his arrival but also by the comfort he received from you. He told us about your deep longing, your sorrow, and your zeal(F) for me, so that I rejoiced even more. 8 For even if I grieved you with my letter,(G) I don’t regret it. And if I regretted it—since I saw that the letter grieved you, yet only for a while— 9 I now rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because your grief led to repentance. For you were grieved as God willed, so that you didn’t experience any loss from us. 10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly grief produces death.(H) 11 For consider how much diligence this very thing—this grieving as God wills—has produced in you: what a desire to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what deep longing, what zeal, what justice! In every way you showed yourselves to be pure(I) in this matter. 12 So even though I wrote to you, it was not because of the one who did wrong, or because of the one who was wronged, but in order that your devotion to us might be made plain to you in the sight of God. 13 For this reason we have been comforted.
In addition to our own comfort, we rejoiced even more over the joy Titus(J) had, because his spirit was refreshed by all of you. 14 For if I have made any boast to him about you, I have not been disappointed; but as I have spoken everything to you in truth,(K) so our boasting to Titus has also turned out to be the truth. 15 And his affection toward you is even greater as he remembers the obedience of all of you, and how you received him with fear and trembling. 16 I rejoice that I have complete confidence in you.
The Coming of the Kingdom
20 When he was(A) asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come,(B) he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming with something observable; 21 no one will say,[a] ‘See here!’ or ‘There!’ For you see, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”[b]
22 Then he told the disciples, “The days are coming(C) when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you won’t see it.(D) 23 They will say to you,(E) ‘See there!’ or ‘See here!’ Don’t follow or run after them.(F) 24 For as the lightning flashes from horizon to horizon and lights up the sky, so the Son of Man will be in his day.(G) 25 But first it is necessary that he suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.(H)
26 “Just as it was in the days of Noah,(I) so it will be in the days of the Son of Man: 27 People went on eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage(J) until the day Noah boarded the ark,(K) and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 It will be the same as it was in the days of Lot:(L) People went on eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building. 29 But on the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed(M) them all. 30 It(N) will be like that on the day the Son of Man is revealed.(O) 31 On that day, a man on the housetop, whose belongings are in the house, must not come down to get them. Likewise the man who is in the field must not turn back. 32 Remember Lot’s wife!(P) 33 Whoever tries to make his life secure[c][d] will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.(Q) 34 I tell you, on that night(R) two will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be left. 35 Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.”[e]
37 “Where, Lord?” (S) they asked him.
He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there also the vultures(T) will be gathered.”
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