Book of Common Prayer
49 Remember thy word to thy servant,
in which thou hast made me hope.
50 This is my comfort in my affliction
that thy promise gives me life.
51 Godless men utterly deride me,
but I do not turn away from thy law.
52 When I think of thy ordinances from of old,
I take comfort, O Lord.
53 Hot indignation seizes me because of the wicked,
who forsake thy law.
54 Thy statutes have been my songs
in the house of my pilgrimage.
55 I remember thy name in the night, O Lord,
and keep thy law.
56 This blessing has fallen to me,
that I have kept thy precepts.
57 The Lord is my portion;
I promise to keep thy words.
58 I entreat thy favor with all my heart;
be gracious to me according to thy promise.
59 When I think of thy ways,
I turn my feet to thy testimonies;
60 I hasten and do not delay
to keep thy commandments.
61 Though the cords of the wicked ensnare me,
I do not forget thy law.
62 At midnight I rise to praise thee,
because of thy righteous ordinances.
63 I am a companion of all who fear thee,
of those who keep thy precepts.
64 The earth, O Lord, is full of thy steadfast love;
teach me thy statutes!
65 Thou hast dealt well with thy servant,
O Lord, according to thy word.
66 Teach me good judgment and knowledge,
for I believe in thy commandments.
67 Before I was afflicted I went astray;
but now I keep thy word.
68 Thou art good and doest good;
teach me thy statutes.
69 The godless besmear me with lies,
but with my whole heart I keep thy precepts;
70 their heart is gross like fat,
but I delight in thy law.
71 It is good for me that I was afflicted,
that I might learn thy statutes.
72 The law of thy mouth is better to me
than thousands of gold and silver pieces.
The Folly of Trust in Riches
To the choirmaster. 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;
the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.
4 I will incline my ear to a proverb;
I will solve my riddle to the music of the lyre.
5 Why should I fear in times of trouble,
when the iniquity of my persecutors surrounds me,
6 men who trust in their wealth
and boast of the abundance of their riches?
7 Truly no man can ransom himself,[a]
or give to God the price of his life,
8 for the ransom of his[b] life is costly,
and can never suffice,
9 that he should continue to live on for ever,
and never see the Pit.
10 Yea, he shall see that even the wise die,
the fool and the stupid alike must perish
and leave their wealth to others.
11 Their graves[c] are their homes for ever,
their dwelling places to all generations,
though they named lands their own.
12 Man cannot abide in his pomp,
he is like the beasts that perish.
13 This is the fate of those who have foolish confidence,
the end of those[d] who are pleased with their portion.Selah
14 Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;
Death shall be their shepherd;
straight to the grave they descend,[e]
and their form shall waste away;
Sheol shall be their home.[f]
15 But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
for he will receive me.Selah
16 Be not afraid when one becomes rich,
when the glory[g] of his house increases.
17 For when he dies he will carry nothing away;
his glory[h] will not go down after him.
18 Though, while he lives, he counts himself happy,
and though a man gets praise when he does well for himself,
19 he will go to the generation of his fathers,
who will never more see the light.
20 Man cannot abide in his pomp,
he is like the beasts that perish.
Denunciation of Godlessness
To the choirmaster: according to Mahalath. A Maskil of David.
53 The fool says in his heart,
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;
there is none that does good.
2 God looks down from heaven
upon the sons of men
to see if there are any that are wise,
that seek after God.
3 They have all fallen away;
they are all alike depraved;
there is none that does good,
no, not one.
4 Have those who work evil no understanding,
who eat up my people as they eat bread,
and do not call upon God?
5 There they are, in great terror,
in terror such as has not been!
For God will scatter the bones of the ungodly;[a]
they will be put to shame,[b] for God has rejected them.
6 O that deliverance for Israel would come from Zion!
When God restores the fortunes of his people,
Jacob will rejoice and Israel be glad.
Fourth Vision: Joshua and Satan
3 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?” 3 Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments. 4 And the angel said to those who were standing before him, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with rich apparel.” 5 And I said, “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments; and the angel of the Lord was standing by.
6 And the angel of the Lord enjoined Joshua, 7 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: If you will walk in my ways and keep my charge, then you shall rule my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you the right of access among those who are standing here. 8 Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who sit before you, for they are men of good omen: behold, I will bring my servant the Branch. 9 For behold, upon the stone which I have set before Joshua, upon a single stone with seven facets, I will engrave its inscription, says the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the guilt of this land in a single day. 10 In that day, says the Lord of hosts, every one of you will invite his neighbor under his vine and under his fig tree.”
The Heavenly Worship
4 After this I looked, and lo, in heaven an open door! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up hither, and I will show you what must take place after this.” 2 At once I was in the Spirit, and lo, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne! 3 And he who sat there appeared like jasper and carnelian, and round the throne was a rainbow that looked like an emerald.[a] 4 Round the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders,[b] clad in white garments, with golden crowns upon their heads. 5 From the throne issue flashes of lightning, and voices and peals of thunder, and before the throne burn seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God; 6 and before the throne there is as it were a sea of glass, like crystal.
And round the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures,[c] full of eyes in front and behind: 7 the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like a flying eagle. 8 And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all round and within, and day and night they never cease to sing,
“Holy, holy, holy,[d] is the Lord God Almighty,
who was and is and is to come!”
The Faithful or the Unfaithful Slave
45 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? 46 Blessed is that servant whom his master when he comes will find so doing. 47 Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. 48 But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ 49 and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eats and drinks with the drunken, 50 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, 51 and will punish[a] him, and put him with the hypocrites; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.
The Revised Standard Version of the Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1965, 1966 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.