Book of Common Prayer
ז Zayin.
49 Remember the word unto thy servant,
[a]Because thou hast made me to hope.
50 This is my comfort in my affliction;
[b]For thy word hath quickened me.
51 The proud have had me greatly in derision:
Yet have I not swerved from thy law.
52 I have remembered thine ordinances of old, O Jehovah,
And have comforted myself.
53 [c]Hot indignation hath taken hold upon me,
Because of the wicked that forsake thy law.
54 Thy statutes have been my songs
In the house of my pilgrimage.
55 I have remembered thy name, O Jehovah, in the night,
And have observed thy law.
56 This I have had,
[d]Because I have kept thy precepts.
ח Hheth.
57 [e]Jehovah is my portion:
I have said that I would observe thy words.
58 I entreated thy favor with my whole heart:
Be merciful unto me according to thy word.
59 I thought on my ways,
And turned my feet unto thy testimonies.
60 I made haste, and delayed not,
To observe thy commandments.
61 The cords of the wicked have wrapped me round;
But I have not forgotten thy law.
62 At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto thee
Because of thy righteous ordinances.
63 I am a companion of all them that fear thee,
And of them that observe thy precepts.
64 The earth, O Jehovah, is full of thy lovingkindness:
Teach me thy statutes.
ט Teth.
65 Thou hast dealt well with thy servant,
O Jehovah, according unto thy word.
66 Teach me good judgment and knowledge;
For I have believed in thy commandments.
67 Before I was afflicted I went astray;
But now I observe thy word.
68 Thou art good, and doest good;
Teach me thy statutes.
69 The proud have forged a lie against me:
With my whole heart will I keep thy precepts.
70 Their heart is as fat as grease;
But I delight in thy law.
71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted;
That I may learn thy statutes.
72 The law of thy mouth is better unto me
Than thousands of gold and silver.
The folly of trusting in riches.
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.
49 Hear this, all ye peoples;
Give ear, all ye 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 be of understanding.
4 I will incline mine ear to a parable:
I will open my dark saying upon the harp.
5 Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil,
When [a]iniquity at my heels compasseth me about?
6 They that trust in their wealth,
And boast themselves in the multitude of their riches;
7 None of them can by any means redeem his brother,
Nor give to God a ransom for him
8 (For the redemption of their life is costly,
And it faileth for ever),
9 That he should still live alway,
That he should not see [b]corruption.
10 For [c]he shall see it. Wise men die;
The fool and the brutish alike perish,
And leave their wealth to others.
11 Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue for ever,
And their dwelling-places to all generations;
They call their lands after their own names.
12 But man being in honor abideth not:
He is like the beasts that perish.
13 This [d]their way is [e]their folly:
Yet after them men approve their sayings. Selah
14 They are appointed as a flock for Sheol;
Death shall be their shepherd:
And the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning;
And their [f]beauty shall be for Sheol to consume,
That there be no habitation for it.
15 But God will redeem my soul from the [g]power of Sheol;
For he will receive me. Selah
16 Be not thou afraid when one is made rich,
When the [h]glory of his house is increased:
17 For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away;
His glory shall not descend after him.
18 Though while he lived he blessed his soul
(And men praise thee, when thou doest well to thyself),
19 [i]He shall go to the generation of his fathers;
[j]They shall never see the light.
20 Man that is in honor, and understandeth not,
Is like the beasts that perish.
The folly and wickedness of men.
For the Chief Musician; set to Mahalath. Maschil of David.
53 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.
Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity;
There is none that doeth good.
2 God looked down from heaven upon the children of men,
To see if there were any that did [a]understand,
That did seek after God.
3 Every one of them is gone back; they are together become filthy;
There is none that doeth good, no, not one.
4 Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge,
Who eat up my people as they eat bread,
And call not upon God?
5 There were they in great fear, where no fear was;
For God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee:
Thou hast put them to shame, because God hath rejected them.
6 Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion!
When God [b]bringeth back the captivity of his people,
Then shall Jacob rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.
13 Furthermore Jehovah spake unto me, saying, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people: 14 let me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under heaven; and I will make of thee a nation mightier and greater than they. 15 So I turned and came down from the mount, and the mount was burning with fire: and the two tables of the covenant were in my two hands. 16 And I looked, and, behold, ye had sinned against Jehovah your God; ye had made you a molten calf: ye had turned aside quickly out of the way which Jehovah had commanded you. 17 And I took hold of the two tables, and cast them out of my two hands, and brake them before your eyes. 18 And I fell down before Jehovah, as at the first, forty days and forty nights; I did neither eat bread nor drink water; because of all your sin which ye sinned, in doing that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, to provoke him to anger. 19 For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure, wherewith Jehovah was wroth against you to destroy you. But Jehovah hearkened unto me that time also. 20 And Jehovah was very angry with Aaron to destroy him: and I prayed for Aaron also at the same time. 21 And I took your sin, the calf which ye had made, and burnt it with fire, and stamped it, grinding it very small, until it was as fine as dust: and I cast the dust thereof into the brook that descended out of the mount.
12 Take heed, brethren, lest haply there shall be in any one of you an evil heart of unbelief, in falling away from the living God: 13 but exhort one another day by day, so long as it is called To-day; lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin: 14 for we are become partakers [a]of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our confidence firm unto the end: 15 while it is said,
[b]To-day if ye shall hear his voice,
Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.
16 For who, when they heard, did provoke? nay, did not all they that came out of Egypt by Moses? 17 And with whom was he displeased forty years? was it not with them that sinned, whose [c]bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that were disobedient? 19 And we see that they were not able to enter in because of unbelief.
23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, during the feast, many believed on his name, beholding his signs which he did. 24 But Jesus did not trust himself unto them, for that he knew all men, 25 and because he needed not that any one should bear witness concerning [a]man; for he himself knew what was in man.
3 Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 2 the same came unto him by night, and said to him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that thou doest, except God be with him. 3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except one be born [b]anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? 5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except one be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born [c]anew. 8 [d]The wind bloweth where it will, and thou hearest the voice thereof, but knowest not whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. 9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? 10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou the teacher of Israel, and understandest not these things? 11 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that which we know, and bear witness of that which we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. 12 If I told you earthly things and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 And no one hath ascended into heaven, but he that descended out of heaven, even the Son of man, [e]who is in heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up; 15 that whosoever [f]believeth may in him have eternal life.
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