Book of Common Prayer
Zayin.
49
Remember [always] the word and promise to Your servant,
In which You have made me hope.
50
This is my comfort in my affliction,
That Your word has revived me and given me life.(A)
51
The arrogant utterly ridicule me,
Yet I do not turn away from Your law.
52
I have remembered [carefully] Your ancient ordinances, O Lord,
And I have taken comfort.
53
Burning indignation has seized me because of the wicked,
Who [a]reject Your law.
54
Your statutes are my songs
In the house of my pilgrimage.
55
O Lord, I remember Your name in the night,
And keep Your law.
56
This has become mine [as the gift of Your grace],
That I observe Your precepts [accepting them with loving obedience].
Heth.
57
The Lord is my portion;
I have promised to keep Your words.
58
I sought Your favor with all my heart;
Be merciful and gracious to me according to Your promise.
59
I considered my ways
And turned my feet to [follow and obey] Your testimonies.
60
I hurried and did not delay
To keep Your commandments.
61
The cords of the wicked have encircled and ensnared me,
But I have not forgotten Your law.
62
At midnight I will rise to give thanks to You
Because of Your righteous ordinances.
63
I am a companion of all who [reverently] fear You,
And of those who keep and honor Your precepts.
64
The earth, O Lord, is full of Your lovingkindness and goodness;
Teach me Your statutes.
Teth.
65
You have dealt well with Your servant,
O Lord, according to Your promise.
66
Teach me good judgment (discernment) and knowledge,
For I have believed and trusted and relied on Your commandments.
67
Before I was afflicted I went astray,
But now I keep and honor Your word [with loving obedience].
68
You are good and do good;
Teach me Your statutes.
69
The arrogant have forged a lie against me,
But I will keep Your precepts with all my heart.
70
Their heart is insensitive like fat [their minds are dull and brutal],
But I delight in Your law.
71
It is good for me that I have been afflicted,
That I may learn Your statutes.
72
The law from Your mouth is better to me
Than thousands of gold and silver pieces.
The Folly of Trusting in Riches.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.
49 Hear this, all peoples;
Listen carefully, all 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 and consent to a proverb;
On the lyre I will unfold my riddle.
5
Why should I fear in the days of evil,
When the wickedness of those who would betray me surrounds me [on every side],
6
Even those who trust in and rely on their wealth
And boast of the abundance of their riches?
7
None of them can by any means redeem [either himself or] his brother,
Nor give to God a ransom for him—
8
For the ransom of his soul is too costly,
And he should cease trying forever—
9
So that he should live on eternally,
That he should never see the pit (grave) and undergo decay.
10
For he sees that even wise men die;
The fool and the stupid alike perish
And leave their wealth to others.(A)
11
Their inward thought is that their houses will continue forever,
And their dwelling places to all generations;
They have named their lands after their own names [ignoring God].
12
But man, with all his [self] honor and pomp, will not endure;
He is like the beasts that perish.
13
This is the fate of those who are foolishly confident,
And of those after them who approve [and are influenced by] their words. Selah.
14
Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead);
Death will be their shepherd;
And the upright shall rule over them in the morning,
And their form and beauty shall [a]be for Sheol to consume,
So that they have no dwelling [on earth].
15
But God will redeem my life from the power of Sheol,
For He will receive me. Selah.
16
Be not afraid when [an ungodly] man becomes rich,
When the wealth and glory of his house are increased;
17
For when he dies he will carry nothing away;
His glory will not descend after him.
18
Though while he lives he counts himself happy and prosperous—
And though people praise you when you do well for yourself—
19
He shall go to the generation of his fathers;
They shall never again see the light.
20
A man [who is held] in honor,
Yet who lacks [spiritual] understanding and a teachable heart, is like the beasts that perish.
Folly and Wickedness of Men.
To the Chief Musician; in a mournful strain. A skillful song, or didactic or reflective poem of David.
53 The [empty-headed] fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt and evil, and have committed repulsive injustice;
There is no one who does good.
2
God has looked down from heaven upon the children of men
To see if there is anyone who understands,
Who seeks after God [who requires Him, who longs for Him as essential to life].
3
Every one of them has turned aside and fallen away;
Together they have become filthy and corrupt;
There is no one who does good, no, not even one.(A)
4
Have workers of wickedness no knowledge or no understanding?
They eat up My people as though they ate bread
And have not called upon God.
5
There they were, in great terror and dread, where there had been no terror or dread;
For God scattered the bones of him who besieged you;
You have put them to shame, because God has rejected them.
6
Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!
When God restores [the fortunes of] His people,
Let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.
Salvation Reaches to the End of the Earth
49 Listen to [a]Me, O islands and coastlands,
And pay attention, you peoples from far away.
The Lord has called Me from the womb;
From the body of My mother He has named Me.
2
He has made My mouth like a sharp sword,
In the shadow of His hand He has kept Me hidden;
And He has made Me a sharpened arrow,
In His quiver He has hidden Me.
3
And [the Lord] said to Me, “You are My [b]Servant, Israel,
In Whom I will show My glory.”(A)
4
Then I said, “I have labored in vain,
I have spent My strength for nothing and vanity (pride, uselessness);
However My justice is with the Lord,
And My reward is with My God.”
5
And now says the Lord, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant,
To bring Jacob back to Him and that Israel might be gathered to Him,
—For I am honored in the eyes of the Lord,
And My God is My strength—
6
He says, “It is too trivial a thing that You should be My Servant
To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the [c]survivors of Israel;
I will also make You a light to the nations
That My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
7
This is what the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, Israel’s Holy One says,
To the thoroughly despised One,
To the One hated by the nation
To the Servant of rulers,
“[d]Kings will see and arise,
Princes shall also 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,
“In a [e]favorable time I have answered You,
And in a day of salvation I have helped You;
And I will keep watch over You and give You for a covenant of the people,
To restore the land [from its present state of ruin] and to apportion and give as inheritances the deserted hereditary lands,(B)
9
Saying to those who are bound and captured, ‘Go forth,’
And to those who are in [spiritual] darkness, ‘Show yourselves [come into the light of the Savior].’
They will feed along the roads [on which they travel],
And their pastures will be on all the bare heights.
10
“They will not hunger or thirst,
Nor will the scorching heat or sun strike them down;
For He who has compassion on them will lead them,
And He will guide them to springs of water.(C)
11
“And I will make all My mountains a roadway,
And My highways will be raised.
12
“In fact, these will come from far away;
And, lo, these shall come from the north and from the west,
And these from the land of [f]Aswan (southern Egypt).”
Peter (Cephas) Opposed by Paul
11 Now when Cephas (Peter) came to Antioch, I opposed him face to face [about his conduct there], because he stood condemned [by his own actions]. 12 Before certain men came from James, he used to eat [his meals] with the Gentiles; but when the men [from Jerusalem] arrived, he began to withdraw and separate himself [from the Gentile believers], because he was afraid of those from the [a]circumcision. 13 The rest of the Jews joined him in this hypocrisy [ignoring their knowledge that Jewish and Gentile Christians were united, under the new covenant, into one faith], with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. 14 But when I saw that they were not being straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I told Cephas (Peter) in front of everyone, “If you, being a Jew, live [as you have been living] like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how is it that you are [now virtually] forcing the Gentiles to live like Jews [if they want to eat with you]?”
15 [I went on to say] “We are Jews by birth and not sinners from among the Gentiles; 16 yet we know that a man is not [b]justified [and placed in right standing with God] by works of the Law, but [only] through faith in [God’s beloved Son,] Christ Jesus. And even we [as Jews] have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the Law. By observing the Law no one will ever be justified [declared free of the guilt of sin and its penalty].(A) 17 But if, while we seek to be justified in Christ [by faith], we ourselves are found to be sinners, does that make Christ an advocate or promoter of our sin? Certainly not! 18 For if I [or anyone else should] rebuild [through word or by practice] what I once tore down [the belief that observing the Law is essential for salvation], I prove myself to be a transgressor. 19 For through the Law I died to the Law and its demands on me [because salvation is provided through the death and resurrection of Christ], so that I might [from now on] live to God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ [that is, in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body I live by faith [by adhering to, relying on, and completely trusting] in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. 21 I do not ignore or nullify the [gracious gift of the] grace of God [His amazing, unmerited favor], for if righteousness comes through [observing] the Law, then Christ died needlessly. [His suffering and death would have had no purpose whatsoever.]”
13 And they were casting out many demons and were anointing with oil many who were sick, and healing them.
John’s Fate Recalled
14 King Herod [Antipas] heard about this, for Jesus’ name and reputation had become well known. People were saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why these miraculous powers are at work in Him.” 15 But others were saying, “He is [a]Elijah!” And others were saying, “It is a prophet, like one of the prophets [of old].” 16 But when Herod heard [of it], he kept saying, “John, whom I beheaded, has risen [from the dead]!”
17 For Herod himself had sent [guards] and had John arrested and shackled in prison because of [b]Herodias, the wife of his [half-] brother Philip, because he (Herod) had married her.(A) 18 For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful [under Mosaic Law] for you to have your brother’s wife.”(B) 19 Herodias had a grudge against John and wanted to kill him, but she could not, 20 because Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he continually kept him safe. When he heard John [speak], he was very perplexed; but he enjoyed listening to him. 21 But an opportune time [finally] came [for Herodias]. Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his officials (nobles, courtiers) and [c]military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. 22 Now [Salome] the daughter of Herodias came in and danced [for the men]. She pleased and beguiled Herod and his dinner guests; and the king said to the [d]girl, “Ask me for whatever you want and I will give it to you.” 23 And he swore to her, “Whatever you ask me, I will give it to you; [e]up to half of my kingdom.”(C) 24 She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?” And Herodias replied, “The head of John the Baptist!” 25 And she rushed back to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter!” 26 The king was deeply grieved, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests [who might have regarded him as weak], he was unwilling to [break his word and] refuse her. 27 So the king immediately sent for an executioner and commanded him to bring back John’s head. And he went and had John beheaded in the prison, 28 and brought back 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 took away John’s body and laid it in a tomb.
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