Book of Common Prayer
49 Remember your promise to me, your servant.
It gives me hope.
50 When I suffer, this comforts me:
Your promise gives me life.
51 Proud people make fun of me all the time.
But I do not reject your teachings.
52 I remember your laws from long ago.
They comfort me, Lord.
53 I become angry with wicked people.
They have not kept your teachings.
54 I sing about your demands
wherever I live.
55 Lord, I remember you at night.
I will obey your teachings.
56 This is what I do:
I follow your orders.
57 Lord, you are my share in life.
I have promised to obey your words.
58 I prayed to you with all my heart.
Be kind to me as you have promised.
59 I thought about my life,
and I decided to obey your rules.
60 I hurried and did not wait
to obey your commands.
61 Wicked people have surrounded me.
But I have not forgotten your teachings.
62 In the middle of the night, I get up to thank you
because your laws are right.
63 I am a friend to everyone who fears you.
I am a friend to anyone who follows your orders.
64 Lord, your love fills the earth.
Teach me your demands.
65 You have done good things for me, your servant,
as you have promised, Lord.
66 Teach me wisdom and knowledge
because I trust your commands.
67 Before I suffered, I did wrong.
But now I obey your word.
68 You are good, and you do what is good.
Teach me your demands.
69 Proud people have made up lies about me.
But I will follow your orders with all my heart.
70 Those people have no feelings,
but I love your teachings.
71 It was good for me to suffer
so I would learn your demands.
72 Your teachings are worth more to me
than thousands of pieces of gold and silver.
Trusting Money Is Foolish
For the director of music. A song of the sons of Korah.
49 Listen to this, all you nations.
Listen, all you who live on earth.
2 Listen, both great and small,
rich and poor together.
3 What I say is wise.
My heart speaks with understanding.
4 I will pay attention to a wise saying.
I will explain my riddle on the harp.
5 Why should I be afraid of bad days?
Why should I fear when evil men surround me?
6 They trust in their money.
They brag about their riches.
7 No one can buy back the life of another person.
No one can pay God for his own life.
8 The price of a life is high.
No payment is ever enough.
9 Do people live forever?
Don’t they all face death?
10 See, even wise men die.
Fools and stupid people also die.
They leave their wealth to others.
11 Their graves will always be their homes.
They will live there from now on,
even though they named places after themselves.
12 Even rich people do not live forever.
Like the animals, people die.
13 This is what will happen to people who trust in themselves.
And this will happen to their followers who believe them. Selah
14 Like sheep, they must die.
And death will be their shepherd.
Honest people will rule over them in the morning.
Their bodies will rot in a grave far from home.
15 But God will save my life.
He will take me from the grave. Selah
16 Don’t be afraid of a rich man
because his house is more beautiful.
17 He won’t take anything to the grave.
His wealth won’t die with him.
18 He was praised when he was alive.
(And people may praise you when you succeed.)
19 But he will go to where his ancestors are.
He will never see light again.
20 Rich people with no understanding
are just like animals that die.
The Unbelieving Fool
For the director of music. By mahalath. A maskil of David.
53 A wicked fool says to himself,
“There is no God.”
Fools are evil. They do terrible things.
None of them does anything good.
2 God looked down from heaven at all the people.
He looked to see if anyone was wise,
if anyone was looking to God for help.
3 But everyone has turned away.
Together, everyone has become evil.
None of them does anything good.
4 Don’t the wicked understand?
They destroy my people as if they were eating bread.
They have not asked God for help.
5 The wicked became filled with terror
where there had been nothing to be terrified of.
God will scatter the bones of your enemies.
You will defeat them,
because God has rejected them.
6 I pray that victory will come to Israel from Mount Zion!
May God give them back their riches.
Then the people of Jacob will rejoice.
And the people of Israel will be glad.
God Will Punish Israel
8 The Lord sent a message against the people of Jacob.
That message says that God will judge Israel.
9 Then everyone in Israel, even the leaders in Samaria,
will know that God punished them.
Those people, who are proud and who brag now, say this:
10 “These bricks have fallen,
but we will build again with cut stones.
These small trees have been chopped down.
But we will put great cedars there.”
11 But the Lord will make the enemies of Rezin strong against them.
He will stir up their enemies against them.
12 The Arameans come from the east
and the Philistines from the west.
They will eat up Israel with their armies.
But the Lord is still angry.
His hand is still raised to punish the people.
13 But the people do not return to the one who struck them.
They do not follow the Lord of heaven’s armies.
14 So the Lord will cut off Israel’s head and tail.
He will take away both the branch and stalk in one day.
15 The elders and important men are the head.
The prophets who speak lies are the tail.
16 Those who lead the people lead them in the wrong direction.
And those who follow them will be destroyed.
17 So the Lord is not happy with the young men.
He will not show mercy to the widows and orphans.
All the people are separated from God and are very evil.
They all speak lies.
But the Lord is still angry.
His hand is still raised to strike down the people.
False Teachers
2 There used to be false prophets among God’s people, just as there are now. And you will have some false teachers in your group. They will secretly teach things that are wrong—teachings that will cause people to be lost. They will even refuse to accept the Master, Jesus, who bought their freedom. And so they will quickly destroy themselves. 2 Many will follow their evil ways and say evil things about the Way of truth. 3 Those false teachers only want your money. So they will use you by telling you what is not true. But God has already judged them guilty. And they will not escape the One who will destroy them.
4 When angels sinned, God did not let them go free without punishment. God sent them to hell and put them in caves[a] of darkness. They are being held there to be judged. 5 And God punished the evil people who lived long ago. He brought a flood to the world that was full of people who were against him. But God saved Noah and seven other people with him. Noah was a man who preached about being right with God. 6 And God also punished the evil cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.[b] He burned those cities until there was nothing left but ashes. He made those cities an example to show what will happen to those who are against God. 7 But God saved Lot from those cities. Lot, a good man, was troubled because of the sinful behavior of evil people. 8 (Lot was a good man, but he lived with evil people every day. His good heart was hurt by the evil things that he saw and heard.) 9 And so the Lord knows how to save those who serve him. He will save them when troubles come. And the Lord will hold evil people and punish them, while waiting for the Judgment Day. 10 That punishment is especially for those who live by doing the evil things their sinful selves want, and for those who hate the Lord’s authority.
These false teachers do anything they want and brag about it. They are not afraid to say bad things about the glorious angels.
John Prepares for Jesus
1 This is the beginning of the Good News about Jesus Christ, the Son of God,[a] 2 as the prophet Isaiah wrote:
“I will send my messenger ahead of you.
He will prepare your way.” Malachi 3:1
3 “There is a voice of a man who
calls out in the desert:
‘Prepare the way for the Lord.
Make the road straight for him.’” Isaiah 40:3
4 John was baptizing people in the desert. He preached a baptism of changed hearts and lives for the forgiveness of sins. 5 All the people from Judea and Jerusalem were going out to John. They told about the sins they had done. Then they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 6 John wore clothes made from camel’s hair and had a leather belt around his waist. He ate locusts and wild honey. 7 This is what John preached to the people: “There is one coming later who is greater than I. I am not good enough even to kneel down and untie his sandals. 8 I baptize you with water. But the one who is coming will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.