Book of Common Prayer
49-50 Never forget your promises to me your servant, for they are my only hope. They give me strength in all my troubles; how they refresh and revive me! 51 Proud men hold me in contempt for obedience to God, but I stand unmoved. 52 From my earliest youth I have tried to obey you; your Word has been my comfort.
53 I am very angry with those who spurn your commands. 54 For these laws of yours have been my source of joy and singing through all these years of my earthly pilgrimage. 55 I obey them even at night and keep my thoughts, O Lord, on you. 56 What a blessing this has been to me—to constantly obey.
57 Jehovah is mine! And I promise to obey! 58 With all my heart I want your blessings. Be merciful just as you promised. 59-60 I thought about the wrong direction in which I was headed, and turned around and came running back to you. 61 Evil men have tried to drag me into sin, but I am firmly anchored to your laws.
62 At midnight I will rise to give my thanks to you for your good laws. 63 Anyone is my brother who fears and trusts the Lord and obeys him. 64 O Lord, the earth is full of your loving-kindness! Teach me your good paths.
65 Lord, I am overflowing with your blessings, just as you promised. 66 Now teach me good judgment as well as knowledge. For your laws are my guide. 67 I used to wander off until you punished me; now I closely follow all you say. 68 You are good and do only good; make me follow your lead.
69 Proud men have made up lies about me, but the truth is that I obey your laws with all my heart. 70 Their minds are dull and stupid, but I have sense enough to follow you.
71-72 The punishment you gave me was the best thing that could have happened to me, for it taught me to pay attention to your laws. They are more valuable to me than millions in silver and gold!
49 1-2 Listen, everyone! High and low, rich and poor, all around the world—listen to my words, 3 for they are wise and filled with insight.
4 I will tell in song accompanied by harps the answer to one of life’s most perplexing problems:
5 There is no need to fear when times of trouble come, even though surrounded by enemies! 6 They trust in their wealth and boast about how rich they are, 7 yet not one of them, though rich as kings, can ransom his own brother from the penalty of sin! For God’s forgiveness does not come that way.[a] 8-9 For a soul is far too precious to be ransomed by mere earthly wealth. There is not enough of it in all the earth to buy eternal life for just one soul, to keep it out of hell.[b]
10 Rich man! Proud man! Wise man! You must die like all the rest! You have no greater lease on life than foolish, stupid men. You must leave your wealth to others. 11 You name your estates after yourselves as though your lands could be forever yours and you could live on them eternally. 12 But man with all his pomp must die like any animal. 13 Such is the folly of these men, though after they die they will be quoted as having great wisdom.
14 Death is the shepherd of all mankind. And “in the morning” those who are evil will be the slaves of those who are good. For the power of their wealth is gone when they die;[c] they cannot take it with them.
15 But as for me, God will redeem my soul from the power of death, for he will receive me. 16 So do not be dismayed when evil men grow rich and build their lovely homes. 17 For when they die, they carry nothing with them! Their honors will not follow them. 18 Though a man calls himself happy all through his life—and the world loudly applauds success— 19 yet in the end he dies like everyone else and enters eternal darkness.
20 For man with all his pomp[d] must die like any animal.
53 Only a fool would say to himself, “There is no God.” And why does he say it?[a] Because of his wicked heart, his dark and evil deeds. His life is corroded with sin.
2 God looks down from heaven, searching among all mankind to see if there is a single one who does right and really seeks for God. 3 But all have turned their backs on him; they are filthy with sin—corrupt and rotten through and through. Not one is good, not one! 4 How can this be? Can’t they understand anything? For they devour my people like bread and refuse to come to God. 5 But soon unheard-of terror will fall on them. God will scatter the bones of these, your enemies. They are doomed, for God has rejected them.
6 Oh, that God would come from Zion now and save Israel! Only when the Lord himself restores them can they ever be really happy again.
23 When Abigail saw David, she quickly dismounted and bowed low before him.
24 “I accept all blame in this matter, my lord,” she said. “Please listen to what I want to say. 25 Nabal is a bad-tempered boor, but please don’t pay any attention to what he said. He is a fool—just like his name means. But I didn’t see the messengers you sent. 26 Sir, since the Lord has kept you from murdering and taking vengeance into your own hands, I pray by the life of God, and by your own life too, that all your enemies shall be as cursed as Nabal is. 27 And now, here is a present I have brought to you and your young men. 28 Forgive me for my boldness in coming out here. The Lord will surely reward you with eternal royalty for your descendants, for you are fighting his battles; and you will never do wrong throughout your entire life. 29 Even when you are chased by those who seek your life, you are safe in the care of the Lord your God, just as though you were safe inside his purse! But the lives of your enemies shall disappear like stones from a sling! 30-31 When the Lord has done all the good things he promised you and has made you king of Israel, you won’t want the conscience of a murderer who took the law into his own hands! And when the Lord has done these great things for you, please remember me!”
32 David replied to Abigail, “Bless the Lord God of Israel who has sent you to meet me today! 33 Thank God for your good sense! Bless you for keeping me from murdering the man and carrying out vengeance with my own hands. 34 For I swear by the Lord, the God of Israel who has kept me from hurting you, that if you had not come out to meet me, not one of Nabal’s men would be alive tomorrow morning.”
35 Then David accepted her gifts and told her to return home without fear, for he would not kill her husband. 36 When she arrived home she found that Nabal had thrown a big party. He was roaring drunk, so she didn’t tell him anything about her meeting with David until the next morning. 37-38 By that time he was sober, and when his wife told him what had happened, he had a stroke and lay paralyzed[a] for about ten days, then died, for the Lord killed him.
39 When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, “Praise the Lord! God has paid back Nabal and kept me from doing it myself; he has received his punishment for his sin.”
Then David wasted no time in sending messengers to Abigail to ask her to become his wife. 40 When the messengers arrived at Carmel and told her why they had come, 41 she readily agreed to his request. 42 Quickly getting ready, she took along five of her serving girls as attendants, mounted her donkey, and followed the men back to David. So she became his wife.
43 David also married Ahinoam from Jezreel. 44 King Saul, meanwhile, had forced David’s wife Michal, Saul’s daughter, to marry a man from Gallim named Palti (the son of Laish).
19 Yet only a few days later, some Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium and turned the crowds into a murderous mob that stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, apparently dead. 20 But as the believers stood around him, he got up and went back into the city!
The next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe. 21 After preaching the Good News there and making many disciples, they returned again to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, 22 where they helped the believers to grow in love for God and each other. They encouraged them to continue in the faith in spite of all the persecution, reminding them that they must enter into the Kingdom of God through many tribulations. 23 Paul and Barnabas also appointed elders in every church and prayed for them with fasting, turning them over to the care of the Lord in whom they trusted.
24 Then they traveled back through Pisidia to Pamphylia, 25 preached again in Perga, and went on to Attalia.
26 Finally they returned by ship to Antioch, where their journey had begun and where they had been committed to God for the work now completed.
27 Upon arrival they called together the believers and reported on their trip, telling how God had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles too. 28 And they stayed there with the believers at Antioch for a long while.
35 As evening fell, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” 36 So they took him just as he was and started out, leaving the crowds behind (though other boats followed). 37 But soon a terrible storm arose. High waves began to break into the boat until it was nearly full of water and about to sink. 38 Jesus was asleep at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. Frantically they wakened him, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you even care that we are all about to drown?”
39 Then he rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Quiet down!” And the wind fell, and there was a great calm!
40 And he asked them, “Why were you so fearful? Don’t you even yet have confidence in me?”
41 And they were filled with awe and said among themselves, “Who is this man, that even the winds and seas obey him?”
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.