Book of Common Prayer
ז ZAYIN
49 Remember the word to Your servant,
Upon which You have caused me to hope.
50 This is my (A)comfort in my affliction,
For Your word has given me life.
51 The proud have me in great derision,
Yet I do not turn aside from Your law.
52 I remembered Your judgments of old, O Lord,
And have comforted myself.
53 (B)Indignation has taken hold of me
Because of the wicked, who forsake Your law.
54 Your statutes have been my songs
In the house of my pilgrimage.
55 (C)I remember Your name in the night, O Lord,
And I keep Your law.
56 This has become mine,
Because I kept Your precepts.
ח HETH
57 (D)You are my portion, O Lord;
I have said that I would keep Your words.
58 I entreated Your favor with my whole heart;
Be merciful to me according to Your word.
59 I (E)thought about my ways,
And turned my feet to Your testimonies.
60 I made haste, and did not delay
To keep Your commandments.
61 The cords of the wicked have bound me,
But I have not forgotten Your law.
62 (F)At midnight I will rise to give thanks to You,
Because of Your righteous judgments.
63 I am a companion of all who fear You,
And of those who keep Your precepts.
64 (G)The earth, O Lord, is full of Your mercy;
Teach me Your statutes.
ט TETH
65 You have dealt well with Your servant,
O Lord, according to Your word.
66 Teach me good judgment and (H)knowledge,
For I believe Your commandments.
67 Before I was (I)afflicted I went astray,
But now I keep Your word.
68 You are (J)good, and do good;
Teach me Your statutes.
69 The proud have (K)forged[a] a lie against me,
But I will keep Your precepts with my whole heart.
70 (L)Their heart is [b]as fat as grease,
But I delight in Your law.
71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted,
That I may learn Your statutes.
72 (M)The law of Your mouth is better to me
Than thousands of coins of gold and silver.
The Confidence of the Foolish
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.
49 Hear this, all peoples;
Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,
2 Both low and high,
Rich and poor together.
3 My mouth shall speak wisdom,
And the meditation of my heart shall give understanding.
4 I will incline my ear to a proverb;
I will disclose my [a]dark saying on the harp.
5 Why should I fear in the days of evil,
When the iniquity at my heels surrounds me?
6 Those who (A)trust in their wealth
And boast in the multitude of their riches,
7 None of them can by any means redeem his brother,
Nor (B)give to God a ransom for him—
8 For (C)the redemption of their souls is costly,
And it shall cease forever—
9 That he should continue to live eternally,
And (D)not [b]see the Pit.
10 For he sees wise men die;
Likewise the fool and the senseless person perish,
And leave their wealth to others.
11 [c]Their inner thought is that their houses will last forever,
Their dwelling places to all generations;
They (E)call their lands after their own names.
12 Nevertheless man, though in honor, does not [d]remain;
He is like the beasts that perish.
13 This is the way of those who are (F)foolish,
And of their posterity who approve their sayings. Selah
14 Like sheep they are laid in the grave;
Death shall feed on them;
(G)The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning;
(H)And their beauty shall be consumed in [e]the grave, far from their dwelling.
15 But God (I)will redeem my soul from the power of [f]the grave,
For He shall (J)receive me. Selah
16 Do not be afraid when one becomes rich,
When the glory of his house is increased;
17 For when he dies he shall carry nothing away;
His glory shall not descend after him.
18 Though while he lives (K)he blesses himself
(For men will praise you when you do well for yourself),
19 He shall go to the generation of his fathers;
They shall never see (L)light.[g]
20 A man who is in honor, yet does not understand,
(M)Is like the beasts that perish.
Folly of the Godless, and the Restoration of Israel(A)
To the Chief Musician. Set to “Mahalath.” A [a]Contemplation of David.
53 The (B)fool has said in his heart,
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity;
(C)There is none who does good.
2 God looks down from heaven upon the children of men,
To see if there are any who understand, who (D)seek God.
3 Every one of them has turned aside;
They have together become corrupt;
There is none who does good,
No, not one.
Hagar and Ishmael
16 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, (A)had borne him no children. And she had (B)an Egyptian maidservant whose name was (C)Hagar. 2 (D)So Sarai said to Abram, “See now, the Lord (E)has restrained me from bearing children. Please, (F)go in to my maid; perhaps I shall [a]obtain children by her.” And Abram (G)heeded the voice of Sarai. 3 Then Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife, after Abram (H)had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan. 4 So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress became (I)despised in her [b]eyes.
5 Then Sarai said to Abram, [c]“My wrong be upon you! I gave my maid into your embrace; and when she saw that she had conceived, I became despised in her eyes. (J)The Lord judge between you and me.”
6 (K)So Abram said to Sarai, “Indeed your maid is in your hand; do to her as you please.” And when Sarai dealt harshly with her, (L)she fled from her presence.
7 Now the (M)Angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, (N)by the spring on the way to (O)Shur. 8 And He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from, and where are you going?”
She said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.”
9 The Angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress, and (P)submit yourself under her hand.” 10 Then the Angel of the Lord said to her, (Q)“I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude.” 11 And the Angel of the Lord said to her:
“Behold, you are with child,
(R)And you shall bear a son.
You shall call his name [d]Ishmael,
Because the Lord has heard your affliction.
12 (S)He shall be a wild man;
His hand shall be against every man,
And every man’s hand against him.
(T)And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.”
13 Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, You-Are-[e]the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, “Have I also here [f]seen Him (U)who sees me?” 14 Therefore the well was called (V)Beer Lahai Roi;[g] observe, it is (W)between Kadesh and Bered.
15 And for this reason (A)He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that (B)those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.
The Mediator’s Death Necessary
16 For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. 17 For (C)a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives. 18 (D)Therefore not even the first covenant was dedicated without blood. 19 For when Moses had spoken every [a]precept to all the people according to the law, (E)he took the blood of calves and goats, (F)with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20 saying, (G)“This is the (H)blood of the covenant which God has commanded you.” 21 Then likewise (I)he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry. 22 And according to the law almost all things are [b]purified with blood, and (J)without shedding of blood there is no [c]remission.
Greatness of Christ’s Sacrifice
23 Therefore it was necessary that (K)the copies of the things in the heavens should be [d]purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For (L)Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are [e]copies of (M)the true, but into heaven itself, now (N)to appear in the presence of God for us; 25 not that He should offer Himself often, as (O)the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another— 26 He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. 27 (P)And as it is appointed for men to die once, (Q)but after this the judgment, 28 so (R)Christ was (S)offered once to bear the sins (T)of many. To those who (U)eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.
19 Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, (A)the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. 20 For (B)the Father loves the Son, and (C)shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel. 21 For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, (D)even so the Son gives life to whom He will. 22 For the Father judges no one, but (E)has committed all judgment to the Son, 23 that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. (F)He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.
Life and Judgment Are Through the Son
24 “Most assuredly, I say to you, (G)he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, (H)but has passed from death into life. 25 Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when (I)the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. 26 For (J)as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have (K)life in Himself, 27 and (L)has given Him authority to execute judgment also, (M)because He is the Son of Man. 28 Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will (N)hear His voice 29 (O)and come forth—(P)those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.