Book of Common Prayer
49 Remember your promise to me, your servant;
it gives me hope.
50 When I suffer, this comforts me:
Your promise gives me life.
51 Proud people always make fun of me,
but I do not reject your teachings.
52 I remember your laws from long ago,
and they comfort me, Lord.
53 I become angry with wicked people
who do not keep your teachings.
54 I sing about your demands
wherever I live.
55 Lord, I remember you at night,
and I will obey your teachings.
56 This is what I do:
I follow your orders.
57 Lord, you are my share in life;
I have promised to obey your words.
58 I prayed to you with all my heart.
Have mercy on me as you have promised.
59 I thought about my life,
and I decided to follow your rules.
60 I hurried and did not wait
to obey your commands.
61 Wicked people have tied me up,
but I have not forgotten your teachings.
62 In the middle of the night, I get up to thank you
because your laws are right.
63 I am a friend to everyone who fears you,
to anyone who obeys your orders.
64 Lord, your love fills the earth.
Teach me your demands.
65 You have done good things for your servant,
as you have promised, Lord.
66 Teach me wisdom and knowledge
because I trust your commands.
67 Before I suffered, I did wrong,
but now I obey your word.
68 You are good, and you do what is good.
Teach me your demands.
69 Proud people have made up lies about me,
but I will follow your orders with all my heart.
70 Those people have no feelings,
but I love your teachings.
71 It was good for me to suffer
so I would learn your demands.
72 Your teachings are worth more to me
than thousands of pieces of gold and silver.
Trusting Money Is Foolish
For the director of music. A psalm of the sons of Korah.
49 Listen to this, all you nations;
listen, all you who live on earth.
2 Listen, both great and small,
rich and poor together.
3 What I say is wise,
and my heart speaks with understanding.
4 I will pay attention to a wise saying;
I will explain my riddle on the harp.
5 Why should I be afraid of bad days?
Why should I fear when evil people surround me?
6 They trust in their money
and brag about their riches.
7 No one can buy back the life of another.
No one can pay God for his own life,
8 because the price of a life is high.
No payment is ever enough.
9 Do people live forever?
Don’t they all face death?
10 See, even wise people die.
Fools and stupid people also die
and leave their wealth to others.
11 Their graves will always be their homes.
They will live there from now on,
even though they named places after themselves.
12 Even rich people do not live forever;
like the animals, people die.
13 This is what will happen to those who trust in themselves
and to their followers who believe them. Selah
14 Like sheep, they must die,
and death will be their shepherd.
Honest people will rule over them in the morning,
and their bodies will rot in a grave far from home.
15 But God will save my life
and will take me from the grave. Selah
16 Don’t be afraid of rich people
because their houses are more beautiful.
17 They don’t take anything to the grave;
their wealth won’t go down with them.
18 Even though they were praised when they were alive—
and people may praise you when you succeed—
19 they will go to where their ancestors are.
They will never see light again.
20 Rich people with no understanding
are just like animals that die.
The Unbelieving Fool
For the director of music. By mahalath. A maskil of David.
53 Fools say to themselves,
“There is no God.”
Fools are evil and do terrible things;
none of them does anything good.
2 God looked down from heaven on all people
to see if anyone was wise,
if anyone was looking to God for help.
3 But all have turned away.
Together, everyone has become evil;
none of them does anything good.
Not a single person.
4 Don’t the wicked understand?
They destroy my people as if they were eating bread.
They do not ask God for help.
5 The wicked are filled with terror
where there had been nothing to fear.
God will scatter the bones of your enemies.
You will defeat them,
because God has rejected them.
6 I pray that victory will come to Israel from Mount Zion!
May God bring them back.
Then the people of Jacob will rejoice,
and the people of Israel will be glad.
False Prophets
13 Prophets or those who tell the future with dreams might come to you and say they will show you a miracle or a sign. 2 The miracle or sign might even happen, and then they might say, “Let’s serve other gods” (gods you have not known) “and let’s worship them.” 3 But you must not listen to those prophets or dreamers. The Lord your God is testing you, to find out if you love him with your whole being. 4 Serve only the Lord your God. Respect him, keep his commands, and obey him. Serve him and be loyal to him. 5 The prophets or dreamers must be killed, because they said you should turn against the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt and saved you from the land where you were slaves. They tried to turn you from doing what the Lord your God commanded you to do. You must get rid of the evil among you.
6 Someone might try to lead you to serve other gods—it might be your brother, your son or daughter, the wife you love, or a close friend. The person might say, “Let’s go and worship other gods.” (These are gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known, 7 gods of the people who live around you, either nearby or far away, from one end of the land to the other.) 8 Do not give in to such people. Do not listen or feel sorry for them, and do not let them go free or protect them. 9 You must put them to death. You must be the first one to start to kill them, and then everyone else must join in. 10 You must throw stones at them until they die, because they tried to turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, where you were slaves. 11 Then everyone in Israel will hear about this and be afraid, and no one among you will ever do such an evil thing again.
Paul’s Joy
2 Open your hearts to us. We have not done wrong to anyone, we have not ruined the faith of anyone, and we have not cheated anyone. 3 I do not say this to blame you. I told you before that we love you so much we would live or die with you. 4 I feel very sure of you and am very proud of you. You give me much comfort, and in all of our troubles I have great joy.
5 When we came into Macedonia, we had no rest. We found trouble all around us. We had fighting on the outside and fear on the inside. 6 But God, who comforts those who are troubled, comforted us when Titus came. 7 We were comforted, not only by his coming but also by the comfort you gave him. Titus told us about your wish to see me and that you are very sorry for what you did. He also told me about your great care for me, and when I heard this, I was much happier.
8 Even if my letter made you sad, I am not sorry I wrote it. At first I was sorry, because it made you sad, but you were sad only for a short time. 9 Now I am happy, not because you were made sad, but because your sorrow made you change your lives. You became sad in the way God wanted you to, so you were not hurt by us in any way. 10 The kind of sorrow God wants makes people change their hearts and lives. This leads to salvation, and you cannot be sorry for that. But the kind of sorrow the world has brings death. 11 See what this sorrow—the sorrow God wanted you to have—has done to you: It has made you very serious. It made you want to restore yourselves. It made you angry and afraid. It made you want to see me. It made you care. It made you want to do the right thing. In every way you have regained your innocence. 12 I wrote that letter, not because of the one who did the wrong or because of the person who was hurt. I wrote the letter so you could see, before God, the great care you have for us. 13 That is why we were comforted.
Not only were we very comforted, we were even happier to see that Titus was so happy. All of you made him feel much better. 14 I bragged to Titus about you, and you showed that I was right. Everything we said to you was true, and you have proved that what we bragged about to Titus is true. 15 And his love for you is stronger when he remembers that you were all ready to obey. You welcomed him with respect and fear. 16 I am very happy that I can trust you fully.
God’s Kingdom Is Within You
20 Some of the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will the kingdom of God come?”
Jesus answered, “God’s kingdom is coming, but not in a way that you will be able to see with your eyes. 21 People will not say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ because God’s kingdom is within[a] you.”
22 Then Jesus said to his followers, “The time will come when you will want very much to see one of the days of the Son of Man. But you will not see it. 23 People will say to you, ‘Look, there he is!’ or, ‘Look, here he is!’ Stay where you are; don’t go away and search.
When Jesus Comes Again
24 “When the Son of Man comes again, he will shine like lightning, which flashes across the sky and lights it up from one side to the other. 25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by the people of this time. 26 When the Son of Man comes again, it will be as it was when Noah lived. 27 People were eating, drinking, marrying, and giving their children to be married until the day Noah entered the boat. Then the flood came and killed them all. 28 It will be the same as during the time of Lot. People were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, and building. 29 But the day Lot left Sodom,[b] fire and sulfur rained down from the sky and killed them all. 30 This is how it will be when the Son of Man comes again.
31 “On that day, a person who is on the roof and whose belongings are in the house should not go inside to get them. A person who is in the field should not go back home. 32 Remember Lot’s wife.[c] 33 Those who try to keep their lives will lose them. But those who give up their lives will save them. 34 I tell you, on that night two people will be sleeping in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be left. 35 There will be two women grinding grain together; one will be taken, and the other will be left. [ 36 Two people will be in the field. One will be taken, and the other will be left.]”[d]
37 The followers asked Jesus, “Where will this be, Lord?”
Jesus answered, “Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather.”
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.