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.
God’s Anger with Israel’s Arrogance
8 The Lord sends a [a]message against Jacob,
And it falls on Israel.
9 And all the people know it,
That is, (A)Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria,
Asserting in pride and in (B)arrogance of heart:
10 “The bricks have fallen down,
But we will (C)rebuild with smooth stones;
The sycamores have been cut down,
But we will replace them with cedars.”
11 Therefore the Lord raises against them adversaries from (D)Rezin
And spurs their enemies on,
12 The Arameans on the east and the (E)Philistines on the west;
And they (F)devour Israel with [b]gaping jaws.
(G)In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away
And His hand is still stretched out.
13 Yet the people (H)do not turn back to Him who struck them,
Nor do they (I)seek the Lord of hosts.
14 So the Lord cuts off (J)head and tail from Israel,
Both palm branch and bulrush (K)in a single day.
15 The head is (L)the elder and honorable man,
And the prophet who teaches (M)falsehood is the tail.
16 (N)For those who guide this people are leading them astray;
And those who are guided by them are [c]brought to confusion.
17 Therefore the Lord does (O)not take pleasure in their young men,
(P)Nor does He have pity on their [d]orphans or their widows;
For every one of them is (Q)godless and an (R)evildoer,
And every (S)mouth is speaking foolishness.
(T)In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away
And His hand is still stretched out.
The Rise of False Prophets
2 But (A)false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be (B)false teachers (C)among you, who will (D)secretly introduce (E)destructive heresies, even (F)denying the (G)Master who (H)bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. 2 Many will follow their (I)sensuality, and because of them (J)the way of the truth will be (K)maligned; 3 and in their (L)greed they will (M)exploit you with (N)false words; (O)their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.
4 For (P)if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and (Q)committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment; 5 and did not spare (R)the ancient world, but preserved (S)Noah, a [a]preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a (T)flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6 and if He (U)condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an (V)example to those who would (W)live ungodly lives thereafter; 7 and if He (X)rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the (Y)sensual conduct of (Z)unprincipled men 8 (for by what he saw and heard that (AA)righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds), 9 (AB)then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from [b]temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the (AC)day of judgment, 10 and especially those who [c](AD)indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and (AE)despise authority.
Daring, (AF)self-willed, they do not tremble when they (AG)revile angelic [d]majesties,
Preaching of John the Baptist
1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, (A)the Son of God.
2 (B)As it is written in Isaiah the prophet:
“(C)Behold, I send My messenger [a]ahead of You,
Who will prepare Your way;
3 (D)The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
‘Make ready the way of the Lord,
Make His paths straight.’”
4 John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness [b](E)preaching a baptism of repentance for the (F)forgiveness of sins. 5 And all the country of Judea was going out to him, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. 6 John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore (G)a leather belt around his waist, and [c]his diet was locusts and wild honey. 7 And he was [d]preaching, and saying, “After me One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to stoop down and untie the thong of His sandals. 8 I baptized you [e]with water; but He will baptize you [f]with the Holy Spirit.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.