Book of Common Prayer
Zayin
49 Remember the word to Your slave,
[a]In which You have made me wait.
50 This is my (A)comfort in my affliction,
That Your word has [b]revived me.
51 The arrogant (B)utterly scoff at me,
Yet I do not (C)turn aside from Your law.
52 I have (D)remembered Your judgments from [c]of old, O Yahweh,
And comfort myself.
53 Burning (E)indignation has seized me because of the wicked,
Who (F)forsake Your law.
54 Your statutes have become my songs
In the house of my (G)sojourning.
55 I (H)remember (I)in the night Your name, O Yahweh,
So I keep Your law.
56 This has become mine,
[d]That I (J)observe Your precepts.
Heth
57 Yahweh is my (K)portion;
I have [e]promised to (L)keep Your words.
58 I have (M)sought to please Your face (N)with all my heart;
(O)Be gracious to me (P)according to Your [f]word.
59 I (Q)thought upon my ways
And I turned my feet to Your testimonies.
60 I hastened and did not delay
To keep Your commandments.
61 The (R)cords of the wicked have encircled me,
But I have (S)not forgotten Your law.
62 At (T)midnight I shall rise to give thanks to You
Because of Your (U)righteous judgments.
63 I am a (V)companion of all those who [g]fear You,
And of those who keep Your precepts.
64 (W)The earth, O Yahweh, is full of Your lovingkindness;
(X)Teach me Your statutes.
Teth
65 You have dealt well with Your slave,
O Yahweh, 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 (AB)do good;
(AC)Teach me Your statutes.
69 The arrogant have (AD)smeared me with lying;
With all my heart I will (AE)observe Your precepts.
70 Their heart is [i](AF)covered with fat,
But I (AG)delight in Your law.
71 It is (AH)good for me that I was afflicted,
That I may learn Your statutes.
72 The (AI)law of Your mouth is better to me
Than thousands of gold and silver pieces.
Why Should I Fear in Days of Evil?
For the choir director. Of the sons of Korah. A Psalm.
49 (A)Hear this, all peoples;
Give ear, all (B)inhabitants of the world,
2 Both [a](C)low and [b]high,
Rich and poor together.
3 My mouth will (D)speak wisdom,
And the meditation of my heart will be (E)discernment.
4 I will incline my ear to (F)a proverb;
(G)I will [c]express my (H)riddle on the harp.
5 Why should I (I)fear in days of evil,
When the iniquity of my [d]supplanters surrounds me,
6 Even those who (J)trust in their wealth
And boast in the abundance of their riches?
7 Truly, no man can (K)redeem his brother;
He cannot give to God a (L)ransom for him—
8 For (M)the redemption price for their soul is costly,
And it ceases forever—
9 That he should (N)live on eternally,
That he should not (O)see [e]corruption.
10 For he sees that even (P)wise men die;
The [f](Q)fool and the senseless alike perish
And (R)leave their wealth to others.
11 Their [g](S)inner thought is that their houses (T)are forever
And their dwelling places [h]from generation to generation;
They have (U)called their lands after their own names.
12 But (V)man in his honor will not endure;
He is like the animals that [i]perish.
13 This is the (W)way of those who are foolish,
And of those after them who (X)are pleased [j]with their words. [k]Selah.
14 As sheep they are appointed (Y)for Sheol;
Death will shepherd them;
And the (Z)upright shall have dominion over them in the morning,
And their form shall be for Sheol (AA)to consume,
Far away from his habitation.
15 But God will (AB)redeem my soul from the [l]power of Sheol,
For (AC)He will receive me. Selah.
16 Do not be afraid (AD)when a man becomes rich,
When the [m]glory of his house increases;
17 For when he dies he will not (AE)take any of it;
His [n]glory will not descend after him.
18 For while he lives he (AF)blesses his soul—
And men will praise you when you do well for yourself—
19 But his soul shall (AG)go to the generation of his fathers;
They will eternally not see (AH)light.
20 (AI)Man in his honor, but who does not understand,
Is (AJ)like the animals that [o]perish.
There Is No One Who Does Good
For the choir director. According to [a]Mahalath. A [b]Maskil of David.
53 (A)The wicked fool says in his heart, “There is no God,”
They act corruptly, and commit abominable injustice;
(B)There is no one who does good.
2 God looks down from heaven upon the sons of men
To see if there is (C)anyone who has insight,
Anyone who (D)seeks after God.
3 (E)Every one of them has turned back; together they have become [c]worthless;
There is no one who does good, not even one.
4 Do the workers of iniquity (F)not know,
Who eat up my people as they eat bread
And do not call upon God?
5 There they were in great dread (G)where no dread had been;
For God (H)scattered the bones of [d]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 [e]would come out of Zion!
When God [f]restores His captive people,
[g]May Jacob rejoice, may Israel be glad.
Yahweh’s Anger with Israel’s Arrogance
8 The Lord sends a [a]message against Jacob,
And it falls on Israel.
9 And all the people know it,
That is, (A)Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria,
Saying in lofty pride and in (B)arrogance of heart:
10 “The bricks have fallen down,
But we will (C)rebuild with cut stones;
The sycamores have been cut in pieces,
But we will replace them with cedars.”
11 Therefore Yahweh exalts against them adversaries from (D)Rezin
And incites their enemies,
12 The Arameans on the east and the (E)Philistines on the west;
And they (F)devour Israel with [b]gaping jaws.
(G)In spite of all this, His anger does not turn back,
And His hand is still stretched out.
13 Yet the people (H)do not turn back to Him who struck them,
Nor do they (I)seek Yahweh of hosts.
14 So Yahweh cuts off (J)head and tail from Israel,
Both palm branch and bulrush (K)in a single day.
15 The head is (L)the elder and the [c]highly respected man,
And the prophet who teaches (M)falsehood is the tail.
16 (N)For those who guide this people are leading them astray;
And those who are guided by them are [d]brought to confusion.
17 Therefore the Lord (O)is not glad in their choice men,
(P)Nor does He have compassion on their [e]orphans or their widows;
For every one of them is (Q)godless and an (R)evildoer,
And every (S)mouth is speaking wicked foolishness.
(T)In spite of all this, His anger does not turn back,
And His hand is still stretched out.
The Rise of False Prophets
2 But (A)false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be (B)false teachers (C)among you, who will (D)secretly introduce (E)destructive heresies, even (F)denying the (G)Master who (H)bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. 2 And many will follow their (I)sensuality, and because of them (J)the way of the truth will be (K)maligned. 3 And in their (L)greed they will (M)exploit you with (N)false words, (O)their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.
4 For (P)if God did not spare angels who sinned, but cast them into the [a]pit and (Q)delivered them to chains of darkness, being kept for judgment; 5 and did not spare (R)the ancient world, but preserved (S)Noah, a [b]preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a (T)flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6 and if He (U)condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an (V)example to those who would (W)live ungodly lives thereafter; 7 and if He (X)rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the (Y)sensual conduct of (Z)unprincipled men 8 (for by what he saw and heard that (AA)righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds), 9 (AB)then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from [c]trial, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the (AC)day of judgment, 10 and especially those who (AD)go after the flesh in its corrupt lust and (AE)despise authority.
Daring, (AF)self-willed, they do not tremble when they (AG)blaspheme [d]glorious ones,
The Preaching of John the Baptist
1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, (A)the Son of God.
2 (B)As it is written in Isaiah the prophet:
“(C)Behold, I send My messenger [a]ahead of You,
Who will prepare Your way;
3 (D)The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
‘Make ready the way of the [b]Lord,
Make His paths straight.’”
4 [c]John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness [d](E)preaching a baptism of repentance for the (F)forgiveness of sins. 5 And all the region of Judea was going out to him, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. 6 And John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore (G)a leather belt around his waist and was eating locusts and wild honey. 7 And he was [e]preaching, saying, “After me One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to stoop down and untie the strap of His sandals. 8 I baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
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