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 misery,
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 judgments from [c]of old, Lord,
And comfort myself.
53 Burning (E)indignation has seized me because of the wicked,
Who (F)abandon Your Law.
54 Your statutes are my songs
In the house of my (G)pilgrimage.
55 Lord, I (H)remember Your name (I)in the night,
And keep Your Law.
56 This has become mine,
[d]That I (J)comply with 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 hurried and did not delay
To keep Your commandments.
61 The (R)snares of the wicked have surrounded me,
But I have (S)not forgotten Your Law.
62 At (T)midnight I will rise to give thanks to You
Because of Your (U)righteous judgments.
63 I am a (V)companion to all those who [g]fear You,
And to those who keep Your precepts.
64 (W)The earth is full of Your goodness, Lord;
(X)Teach me Your statutes.
Teth
65 You have treated Your servant well,
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 You (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)comply with Your precepts.
70 Their heart is (AF)insensitive, like fat,
But I (AG)delight in Your Law.
71 It is (AH)good for me that I was afflicted,
So 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 Foolishness of Trusting in Riches.
For the music director. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.
49 (A)Hear this, all peoples;
Listen, 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 injustice of those who betray me surrounds me,
6 Those who (J)trust in their wealth
And boast in the abundance of their riches?
7 No one can by any means (K)redeem another
Or give God a (L)ransom for him—
8 For (M)the redemption of [b]his soul is priceless,
And he should cease imagining forever—
9 That he might (N)live on eternally,
That he might not [c](O)undergo decay.
10 For he sees that even (P)wise people die;
The (Q)foolish and the stupid alike perish
And (R)leave their wealth to others.
11 Their [d](S)inner thought is that their houses (T)are forever
And their dwelling places to all generations;
They have (U)named their lands after their own names.
12 But (V)man in his splendor will not endure;
He is like the animals that [e]perish.
13 This is the (W)way of those who are foolish,
And of those after them who (X)approve their words. Selah
14 Like sheep they sink down (Y)to [f]Sheol;
Death will be their shepherd;
And the (Z)upright will rule over them in the morning,
And their form shall be for [g]Sheol (AA)to consume
[h]So that they have no lofty home.
15 But God will (AB)redeem my soul from the [i]power of [j]Sheol,
For (AC)He will receive me. Selah
16 Do not be afraid (AD)when a person becomes rich,
When the splendor of his house is increased;
17 For when he dies, he will (AE)take nothing with him;
His [k]wealth will not descend after him.
18 Though while he lives he (AF)congratulates [l]himself—
And though people praise you when you do well for yourself—
19 [m]He will (AG)go to the generation of his fathers;
They will never see (AH)the light.
20 (AI)Mankind in its splendor, yet without understanding,
Is (AJ)like the animals that [n]perish.
Foolishness and Wickedness of People.
For the music 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 mankind
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 injustice (F)no knowledge,
Who eat up My people like they ate bread,
And have not called upon God?
5 They were in great [d]fear there, (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 would come from Zion!
When God restores the fortunes of His people,
Jacob shall rejoice, Israel shall be glad.
Salvation Reaches to the Ends of the Earth
49 Listen to Me, you (A)islands,
And pay attention, you peoples from afar.
(B)The Lord called Me from the womb;
From the [a]body of My mother He named Me.
2 He has made My (C)mouth like a sharp sword,
In the (D)shadow of His hand He has concealed Me;
And He has also made Me a sharpened (E)arrow,
He has hidden Me in His quiver.
3 He said to Me, “(F)You are My Servant, Israel,
(G)In whom I will show My glory.”
4 But I said, “I have (H)labored in vain,
I have spent My strength for nothing and futility;
Nevertheless, the justice due to Me is with the Lord,
And My (I)reward is with My God.”
5 And now says (J)the Lord, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant,
To bring Jacob back to Him, so that (K)Israel might be gathered to Him
(For I am (L)honored in the sight of the Lord,
And My God is My (M)strength),
6 He says, “It is too [b]small a thing that You should be My Servant
To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the (N)protected ones of Israel;
I will also make You a (O)light [c]of the nations
So that My salvation may [d]reach to the (P)end of the earth.”
7 This is what the Lord, the (Q)Redeemer of Israel and its Holy One,
Says to the [e](R)despised One,
To the One abhorred by the nation,
To the Servant of rulers:
“(S)Kings will see and arise,
Princes will also (T)bow down,
Because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You.”
8 This is what the Lord says:
“At a (U)favorable time I answered You,
And on a day of salvation I helped You;
And I will (V)watch over You and (W)make You a covenant of the people,
To [f](X)restore the land, to give as inheritances the deserted hereditary lands;
9 Saying to those who are (Y)bound, ‘[g]Go free,’
To those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’
They will feed along the roads,
And their pasture will be on all (Z)bare heights.
10 They will (AA)not hunger or thirst,
Nor will the scorching (AB)heat or sun strike them down;
For (AC)He who has compassion on them will (AD)lead them,
And He will guide them to (AE)springs of water.
11 I will make all (AF)My mountains a road,
And My (AG)highways will be raised up.
12 Behold, these will come (AH)from afar;
And behold, these will come from the (AI)north and from the west,
And these from the land of Aswan.”
Peter (Cephas) Opposed by Paul
11 But when (A)Cephas came to (B)Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he [a]stood condemned. 12 For prior to the coming of some men from [b](C)James, he used to (D)eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to withdraw and separate himself, (E)fearing those from the circumcision. 13 The rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even (F)Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that they (G)were not [c]straightforward about (H)the truth of the gospel, I said to (I)Cephas in the presence of all, “If you, being a Jew, (J)live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?[d]
15 “We are (K)Jews by nature and not (L)sinners from the Gentiles; 16 nevertheless, knowing that (M)a person is not justified by works of [e]the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by (N)faith in Christ and not by works of [f]the Law; since (O)by works of [g]the Law no [h]flesh will be justified. 17 But if, while seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have also been found (P)sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? [i](Q)Far from it! 18 For if I rebuild what I have once destroyed, I (R)prove myself to be a wrongdoer. 19 For through [j]the Law I (S)died to [k]the Law, so that I might live for God. 20 I have been (T)crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but (U)Christ lives in me; and [l]the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in (V)the Son of God, who (W)loved me and (X)gave Himself up for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for (Y)if righteousness comes through [m]the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”
13 And they were casting out many demons and (A)were anointing with oil many sick people and healing them.
John’s Fate Recalled
14 (B)And King Herod heard about it, for His name had become well known; and people were saying, “(C)John the Baptist has risen from the dead, and that is why these miraculous powers are at work in Him.” 15 But others were saying, “He is (D)Elijah.” And others were saying, “He is (E)a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.” 16 But when Herod heard about it, he kept saying, “John, whom I beheaded, has risen!”
17 For Herod himself had sent men and had John arrested and bound in prison on account of (F)Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, because he had married her. 18 For John had been saying to Herod, “(G)It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19 And (H)Herodias held a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death, and could not do so; 20 for (I)Herod was afraid of John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he had been protecting him. And when he heard him, he was very perplexed; and yet he [a]used to enjoy listening to him. 21 An opportune day came when Herod, on his birthday, (J)held a banquet for his nobles and military commanders, and the leading people (K)of Galilee; 22 and when the daughter of (L)Herodias herself came in and danced, she pleased Herod and [b]his dinner guests; and the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you want, and I will give it to you.” 23 And he swore to her, “Whatever you ask of me, I will give it to you, up to (M)half of my kingdom.” 24 And she went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?” And she said, “The head of John the Baptist.” 25 Immediately she came in a hurry to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.” 26 And although the king was very sorry, because of his oaths and [c]his dinner guests, he was unwilling to refuse her. 27 Immediately the king sent an executioner and commanded him to bring back his head. And he went and beheaded him in the prison, 28 and brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl; and the girl gave it to her mother. 29 When his disciples heard about this, they came and carried away his body, and laid it in a tomb.
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