Book of Common Prayer
Zayin
49 Remember your word to your servant,
upon which you have caused me to hope.
50 This is my comfort in my misery:
that your word[a] preserves my life.
51 The arrogant utterly deride me;
I have not turned aside from your law.
52 I remember your ordinances of old, O Yahweh,
and I take comfort.
53 Rage seizes me because of the wicked,
those who forsake your law.
54 Your statutes have been my songs
in the house of my sojourning.
55 I remember your name in the night, O Yahweh,
and I heed your law.
56 This has been mine,
that I have kept your precepts.
Heth
57 Yahweh is my portion;
I intend to heed your words.
58 I seek your favor[b] with my whole heart;
be gracious to me according to your word.[c]
59 I think about my ways,
and turn my feet to your testimonies.
60 I hurry and do not delay
to heed your commands.
61 The cords of the wicked surround me,
but I do not forget your law.
62 In the middle of the night I rise to give you thanks,
because of your righteous ordinances.
63 I am a companion of all who fear you
and heed your precepts.
64 The earth, O Yahweh, is full of your loyal love.
Teach me your statutes.
Teth
65 You have dealt well with your servant,
O Yahweh, according to your word.
66 Teach me good discernment and knowledge,
for I believe your commands.
67 Before I was afflicted, I was going astray,
but now I heed your word.
68 You are good and do good;
teach me your statutes.
69 The arrogant smear me with lies;[d]
I keep your precepts with my whole heart.
70 Their heart is insensitive like fat;[e]
As for me, I take delight in your law.
71 It is good for me that I was afflicted,
so that I might learn your statutes.
72 The law of your mouth is better to me
than thousands of gold and silver coins.
Wealth and the Fate of the Wicked
For the music director. Of the sons of Korah. A psalm.[a]
49 Hear this, all you peoples;
give ear, all you inhabitants of the world,
2 both low and high,
rich and poor together.
3 My mouth will speak wisdom,
and the meditation of my heart will be understanding.
4 I will incline my ear to a proverb;
I will propound[b] my riddle on a lyre.
5 Why should I fear in times of calamity,[c]
when iniquity surrounds me at my heels,
6 those who trust their wealth
and boast about the abundance of their riches?
7 Surely a man cannot redeem a brother.
He cannot give to God his ransom
8 (since[d] the redemption price for their life is costly
and it always fails),
9 so that he may stay alive forever
and not see the pit.
10 For he sees that the wise die,
together with the fool and brute they perish,
and leave their wealth to the next generation.
11 Within them they think their houses are forever,
their dwelling places from generation to generation.
They name[e] their lands by their own names.
12 But man cannot continue in his pomp.
He is like the beasts that perish.
13 This is the journey[f] of those who have foolish confidence,
and those after them who accept their sayings. Selah
14 Like sheep they are destined to Sheol;
death will shepherd them.
But the upright will rule over them in the morning,
and their forms will be for Sheol to consume,
far from his lofty abode.
15 Surely God will ransom my life
from the power[g] of Sheol,
because he will receive me. Selah
16 Do not fear when a man becomes rich,
when the wealth[h] of his house increases,
17 because when he dies he will not take away any of it.
His wealth will not follow down after him.
18 Though he congratulated his soul while he was living
—and people will praise you when you do well for yourself—
19 it[i] will go to the generation of his fathers.
Never will they see light.
20 Humankind in its pomp, but does not understand,
is like the beasts that perish.
The Folly of the Godless and Salvation for Israel
For the music director, according to Mahalath.
A maskil of David.[a]
53 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt and they have done abominable iniquity.
There is none who does good.
2 God looks down from heaven upon the children of humankind
to see whether there is one who has insight,
one who seeks God.
3 All of them[b] have turned back.
They are altogether corrupt.
There is none who does good;
there is not even one.
4 Do not evildoers know,
they who eat my people as though they were eating bread?
They do not call on God.
5 There they are very fearful[c]
where no fear had been,
because God has scattered the bones of him who encamps against you.
You have put them to shame, because God has rejected them.
6 Oh, that from Zion[d] would come salvation for Israel!
When God returns the fortunes[e] of his people,
let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.
Yahweh’s Servant Brings Salvation
49 Listen to me, coastlands,
and listen attentively, peoples from far away!
Yahweh called me from the womb;
from the body[a] of my mother he made my name known.
2 And he made[b] my mouth like a sharp sword;
he hid me in the shadow of his hand,
and he made[c] me like an sharpened arrow;
he hid me in his quiver.
3 And he said to me, “You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will show my glory.”
4 But[d] I myself said, “I have labored in[e] vain;
I have used up my strength for nothing and vanity!
Nevertheless, my justice is with Yahweh,
and my reward is with my God.”
5 And now Yahweh says,
who formed me from the womb as a servant for him,
to bring Jacob back to him,
and that Israel might not[f] be gathered,
for[g] I am honored in the eyes of Yahweh,
and my God has become my strength.
6 And he says, “It is trivial for you to be[h] a servant for me,
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to bring back the preserved of Israel.
I will give you as a light to the nations,
to be my salvation to the end of the earth.”
7 Thus says Yahweh, the redeemer of Israel, his holy one,
to the one who despises[i] life,
to the one who abhors the nation,
to the slave of rulers:
“Kings shall see and stand up;
princes, and they shall bow down,
for the sake of Yahweh, who is faithful,
the holy one of Israel, and he has chosen you.”
Yahweh Restores the Afflicted
8 Thus says Yahweh:
“I have answered you in a time of favor,
and helped you on a day of salvation,
and watched over you,
and given you as a covenant of the people,
to raise up the land,
to give the desolate hereditary property as an inheritance,
9 saying to the prisoners,[j] “Come out!”
to those who are in darkness, “Show yourselves!”
they shall feed along[k] the ways,
and their pasturage shall be on all the barren heights.
10 They shall not be hungry or thirsty,
and heat and sun shall not strike them,
for he who takes pity on them will lead them,
and he will guide them to springs of water.
11 And I will make[l] all my mountains like a road,
and my highways shall lead up.[m]
12 Look! These shall come from afar,
And look! These from the north and from the west
and these from the land of Sinim.”
Paul Confronts Peter at Antioch
11 But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was condemned. 12 For before certain people came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles, but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, because he[a] was afraid of those who were of the circumcision, 13 and the rest of the Jews also joined in this hypocrisy with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with them in their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that they were not being straightforward with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in the presence of them all, “If you, although you[b] are a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you try to compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?”
Justified by Faith in Christ
15 We are Jews by nature and not sinners from among the Gentiles, 16 but knowing that a person is not justified by the works of the law, if not by faith in Jesus Christ,[c] and we have believed in Christ Jesus so that we may be justified by faith in Christ[d] and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no human being will be justified[e]. 17 But if while seeking to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also have been found to be sinners, then is Christ an agent of sin? May it never be! 18 For if I build up again these things which I destroyed, I show myself to be a transgressor. 19 For through the law I died to the law, in order that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ, 20 and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me, and that life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not declare invalid the grace of God, for if righteousness is through the law, then Christ died to no purpose.
13 And they were expelling many demons and anointing many sick people with olive oil and healing them.[a]
Herod Kills John the Baptist
14 And King Herod heard it,[b] because his name had become known. And they were saying, “John, the one who baptizes, has been raised from the dead, and because of this these miraculous powers are at work in him.” 15 But others were saying, “He is Elijah,” and others were saying, “He is a prophet like one of the prophets.” 16 But when[c] Herod heard it,[d] he said, “John whom I beheaded—this one has been raised!” 17 For Herod himself had sent and[e] arrested John and bound him in prison because of Herodias, the wife of Philip his brother, because he had married her. 18 For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not permitted for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19 So Herodias held a grudge against him and was wanting to kill him, and was not able to do so. 20 For Herod was afraid of John, because he[f] knew him to be a righteous and holy man and protected him. And when he[g] listened to him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he listened to him gladly. 21 And a suitable day came when Herod, on his birthday, gave a banquet for his courtiers and military tribunes and the most prominent men of Galilee. 22 And when[h] the daughter of Herodias herself[i] came in and danced and pleased[j] Herod and his dinner guests,[k] the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you want, and I will give it[l] to you.” 23 And he swore to her,[m] “Anything whatever you ask me for I will give you, up to half my kingdom!” 24 And she went out and[n] said to her mother, “What should I ask for?” And she said, “The head of John the baptizer.” 25 And she came in immediately with haste to the king and[o] asked, saying, “I want you to give me the head of John the Baptist on a platter immediately.” 26 And although he[p] was deeply grieved, the king, because of his[q] oaths and dinner guests,[r] did not want to refuse her. 27 And immediately the king sent an executioner and[s] ordered him[t] to bring his head. And he went and[u] beheaded him in the prison. 28 And he brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. 29 And when[v] his disciples heard this,[w] they came and took away his corpse and placed it in a tomb.
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