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.
The Woman and Her Son Versus the Dragon
12 And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun and with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars, 2 and who was pregnant[a] and was crying out because she[b] was having birth pains, and was in torment to give birth. 3 And another sign appeared in heaven, and behold, a great fiery red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven royal headbands.[c] 4 And his tail swept away a third of the stars from heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, in order that whenever she gave birth to her child he could devour it. 5 And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is going to shepherd all the nations with an iron rod,[d] and her child was snatched away to God and to his throne. 6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared there by God, so that they could feed her there for one thousand two hundred sixty days.
Pharisees and Legal Experts Denounced
37 And as he was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to have a meal[a] with him, and he went in and[b] reclined at table. 38 And the Pharisee, when he[c] saw it,[d] was astonished that he did not first wash before the meal. 39 But the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but your inside is full of greediness and wickedness. 40 Fools! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? 41 But give as charitable giving the things that are within, and behold, everything is clean for you.
42 “But woe to you, Pharisees, because you pay a tenth of mint and rue and every garden herb, and neglect justice and love for God! But it was necessary to do these things without neglecting those things also. 43 Woe to you, Pharisees, because you love the best seat in the synagogues and the greetings in the marketplaces! 44 Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, and the people who walk over them[e] do not know it![f]
45 And one of the legal experts answered and[g] said to him, “Teacher, when you[h] say these things, you insult us also!” 46 So he said, “Woe to you also, legal experts, because you load people with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers! 47 Woe to you, because you build the tombs of the prophets, and your fathers killed them! 48 As a result you are witnesses, and you approve of the deeds of your fathers, because they killed them and you build their tombs![i] 49 For this reason also the wisdom of God said, ‘I will send to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill and persecute,’ 50 so that the blood of all the prophets that has been shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation, 51 from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the temple building.[j] Yes, I tell you, it will be required of this generation! 52 Woe to you, legal experts, because you have taken away the key to knowledge! You did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering!”
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