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.
23 Now when Abigail saw David, she (A)dismounted quickly from the donkey, fell on her face before David, and bowed down to the ground. 24 So she fell at his feet and said: “On me, my lord, on me let this iniquity be! And please let your maidservant [a]speak in your ears, and hear the words of your maidservant. 25 Please, let not my lord [b]regard this scoundrel Nabal. For as his name is, so is he: [c]Nabal is his name, and folly is with him! But I, your maidservant, did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent. 26 Now therefore, my lord, (B)as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, since the Lord has (C)held you back from coming to bloodshed and from (D)avenging[d] yourself with your own hand, now then, (E)let your enemies and those who seek harm for my lord be as Nabal. 27 And now (F)this present which your maidservant has brought to my lord, let it be given to the young men who follow my lord. 28 Please forgive the trespass of your maidservant. For (G)the Lord will certainly make for my lord an enduring house, because my lord (H)fights the battles of the Lord, (I)and evil is not found in you throughout your days. 29 Yet a man has risen to pursue you and seek your life, but the life of my lord shall be (J)bound in the bundle of the living with the Lord your God; and the lives of your enemies He shall (K)sling out, as from the pocket of a sling. 30 And it shall come to pass, when the Lord has done for my lord according to all the good that He has spoken concerning you, and has appointed you (L)ruler over Israel, 31 that this will be no grief to you, nor offense of heart to my lord, either that you have shed blood without cause, or that my lord has avenged himself. But when the Lord has dealt well with my lord, then remember your maidservant.”
32 Then David said to Abigail: (M)“Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me! 33 And blessed is your advice and blessed are you, because you have (N)kept me this day from coming to bloodshed and from avenging myself with my own hand. 34 For indeed, as the Lord God of Israel lives, who has (O)kept me back from hurting you, unless you had hurried and come to meet me, surely (P)by morning light no males would have been left to Nabal!” 35 So David received from her hand what she had brought him, and said to her, (Q)“Go up in peace to your house. See, I have heeded your voice and (R)respected your person.”
36 Now Abigail went to Nabal, and there he was, (S)holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk; therefore she told him nothing, little or much, until morning light. 37 So it was, in the morning, when the wine had gone from Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became like a stone. 38 Then it happened, after about ten days, that the Lord (T)struck Nabal, and he died.
39 So when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, (U)“Blessed be the Lord, who has (V)pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and has (W)kept His servant from evil! For the Lord has (X)returned the wickedness of Nabal on his own head.”
And David sent and proposed to Abigail, to take her as his wife. 40 When the servants of David had come to Abigail at Carmel, they spoke to her saying, “David sent us to you, to ask you to become his wife.”
41 Then she arose, bowed her face to the earth, and said, “Here is your maidservant, a servant to (Y)wash the feet of the servants of my lord.” 42 So Abigail rose in haste and rode on a donkey, [e]attended by five of her maidens; and she followed the messengers of David, and became his wife. 43 David also took Ahinoam (Z)of Jezreel, (AA)and so both of them were his wives.
44 But Saul had given (AB)Michal his daughter, David’s wife, to [f]Palti the son of Laish, who was from (AC)Gallim.
Stoning, Escape to Derbe
19 (A)Then Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there; and having persuaded the multitudes, (B)they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be (C)dead. 20 However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went into the city. And the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe.
Strengthening the Converts
21 And when they had preached the gospel to that city (D)and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, 22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, (E)exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, (F)“We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.” 23 So when they had (G)appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed. 24 And after they had passed through Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia. 25 Now when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. 26 From there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work which they had completed.
27 Now when they had come and gathered the church together, (H)they reported all that God had done with them, and that He had (I)opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. 28 So they stayed there a long time with the disciples.
Wind and Wave Obey Jesus(A)
35 (B)On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” 36 Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. 37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. 38 But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, (C)“Teacher, (D)do You not care that we are perishing?”
39 Then He arose and (E)rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, (F)“Peace,[a] be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. 40 But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? (G)How[b] is it that you have no faith?” 41 And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.