Book of Common Prayer
ZAYIN
49 Remember the word that you have spoken to me, your servant.
You have made me put my hope in it.
50 When I have trouble,
your promise gives me peace in my mind.
It makes my life strong again.
51 Proud people laugh at me all the time.
But I do not turn away from your Law.
52 Lord, I remember the rules that you made long ago.
When I do that, I feel happy.
53 When wicked people turn against your Law,
I become very angry.
54 Wherever I live, I sing songs about your rules.
55 In the night, Lord, I think about who you are.
I will continue to obey your Law.
56 This is what I do every day:
I obey your teaching.
HETH
57 Lord, you are everything that I need.
I promise to obey your rules.
58 I ask you, ‘Please, please take care of me.
Be kind and forgive me,
as you have promised to do.’
59 I have thought about the way that I live.
I have decided to return to your teaching.
60 I will be quick to obey your commands.
I will not be slow to do that.
61 Wicked people try to catch me in their traps,
but I will not forget your Law.
62 I get up in the middle of the night to praise you.
I thank you for your fair rules.
63 I am a friend of everyone who respects you,
and who obeys your teaching.
64 Lord, your faithful love is everywhere!
Please teach me your commands.
TETH
65 Lord, you have blessed me, your servant,
as you have promised to do.
66 Teach me to understand what is right,
because I trust your commands.
67 Before you showed me what was right, I made mistakes,
but now I obey your teaching.
68 You are good and you do good things.
So please teach me your laws.
69 Proud people have told many lies against me,
but I love to obey your rules.
70 Those people do not understand anything,
but your Law makes me very happy.
71 When I suffered, it was good for me.
It helped me to learn your commands.
72 The rules that you have taught me are very valuable.
They are more valuable to me
than thousands of pieces of gold and silver.
The sons of Korah wrote this psalm for the music leader.
Riches cannot save you
49 Listen to this, people from every nation.
Yes, listen carefully,
everyone who lives in this world!
2 All people must listen, whoever you are,
whether you are rich people or poor people.
3 I will speak wise words to you.
When you know my thoughts,
you will understand things better.
4 I have studied proverbs.
I explain what they mean
as I make music on my harp.
5 When trouble comes,
why am I afraid?
When cruel people are all round me,
and they want to hurt me,
why am I afraid?
6 Those people think that their money will keep them safe.
They are proud about their riches.
7 Nobody can pay the price to save another person.
Nobody can pay God the price for their life.
8 A human life costs too much to buy it back.
Nobody could ever pay enough.
9 So nobody can live for ever.
Everyone goes to their grave one day.
10 Surely you see that even wise people die,
in the way that fools and stupid people also die.
Then their money will belong to someone else.
11 Their graves will be their homes for ever.
They had their own land,
which was called by their name,
12 but people do not live for ever,
even if they are very rich.
They will die, just like the animals.
13 The same thing will happen to fools,
and to those who copy their way of life.
Selah.
14 They will follow one another like sheep.
Death will be their shepherd
that leads them into their graves.
But when the day arrives,
righteous people will rule over them.
They will no longer live in their great houses,
but death will destroy their bodies in their graves.
15 But God will save my life from the power of death.
He will take me to a safe place with him.
Selah.
16 If somebody becomes rich
and he has more and more things,
do not be afraid![a]
17 He cannot take anything with him when he dies.
His riches cannot go with him into death.
18 While he lived, he was happy with his life.
He thought, ‘People will praise me,
because I am rich.’
19 But he will join his ancestors in death.
He will never see the light of day again.
20 Rich people do not always understand the truth.
They will die, just like the animals.
David wrote this special song for the music leader. Use the music called Mahalath.
People are wicked[a]
53 A fool thinks that there is no God.
People like that are bad.
They do evil things.
None of them does anything that is good.
2 God looks down from heaven
at the people on earth.
He wants to see if there is anyone who is really wise
and who wants to know God.
3 But they have all turned away.
They have all become evil.
Nobody does anything that is good,
not even one person.
4 People who do wicked things understand nothing.
They destroy my people
as easily as they eat bread.
They never pray to God.
5 But now they are very afraid
when there is nothing to be afraid of!
God has completely won against his enemies,
the people that attack you, his people.
God has turned against them,
so you are able to make them ashamed!
6 God, you are the one who saves your people, Israel!
Leave your home in Zion
and make your people strong again!
When God blesses his people,
Jacob's descendants will sing!
Yes, Israel's people will be very happy![b]
The woman and the great red snake
12 A very wonderful thing then appeared in the sky. I saw a woman who was wearing the sun like her clothes. The moon was under her feet. A crown of 12 stars was on her head. 2 She was pregnant. She screamed with pain as she tried to give birth to her baby.
3 Then another wonderful thing appeared in the sky. It was a very big red dragon. It had seven heads and ten horns. There was a crown on each head. 4 Its tail beat away a third of the stars from the sky. It threw them down on the earth. Then the dragon stood in front of the woman who would soon give birth to her baby. He was waiting there to eat her child as soon as he was born. 5 The woman gave birth to a son. He was a man who would rule all the nations of the world with strong authority. Then someone quickly took her child away. He went up to God and to his throne. 6 The woman ran away into the wilderness. God had prepared a special place to keep her safe there for 1,260 days.
Jesus warns some Pharisees
37 While Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to eat a meal with him. So Jesus went to the Pharisee's house and he sat down at the table. 38 Jesus did not wash his hands before he ate the meal. This surprised the Pharisee. 39 So the Lord Jesus said to him, ‘You Pharisees are like someone who only cleans the outside of his cup and his plate. You only clean the part that people can see. But inside, your mind is full of bad thoughts.[a] You like to take things from other people. 40 What fools you are! God made the inside of you as well as the outside. He knows all about you. 41 So be ready to give things to poor people. Then you will be really clean, on the inside as well as the outside.
42 It will be very bad for you Pharisees! When you grow spices to cook with food, you give a tenth part of these small things to God. You are right to obey this rule. But you do not do the most important things. You do not help people in a good way. You do not really love God. You should have done the important things as well as the other little things.
43 Yes, it will be very bad for you Pharisees! You like to sit in the best seats in the meeting place. And you like people to praise you in the market place.
44 It will be very bad for you. You want to seem good to other people, but you are bad on the inside. You are like a grave that has nothing to show that it is there. People walk on that place because they do not know that there is a dead person there.’[b]
45 Then a teacher of God's Law spoke out. ‘Teacher,’ he said, ‘when you say these things, you are also saying bad things about us.’
46 Jesus replied, ‘It will be very bad for you as well, teachers of God's Law. You give rules to people to obey. Those rules are like things that are too heavy for people to carry.[c] You do not even help people to carry them. Not even with one finger do you help them!
47 Yes, it will be very bad for you! A long time ago, your ancestors killed God's prophets. Now, you build up beautiful stones to show the place where they buried them. 48 You know that your ancestors killed the prophets. Now you build up the places where they buried them. So you show that you agree with your ancestors. You agree with what they did. 49 God is wise. Because you do not obey what is true, he said, “I will send my prophets and apostles to go to them. But they will kill some of my servants. They will hurt others of them.” 50 Since the beginning of the world, people have killed God's prophets. But God will punish the people who are alive today for all those murders. 51 Abel was the first to die like this and Zechariah was the last. They even killed Zechariah in the yard of the temple, near the altar.[d] Yes, God will punish the people who are alive today for all those murders.
52 It will be very bad for you teachers of God's Law! You have studied God's message. But you do not then accept it. You have also stopped people who really wanted to know God's message. Then they could not go on to accept it and go into God's kingdom.’
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