Book of Common Prayer
ז Zayin
49 Remember Your word to Your servant;
You have given me hope through it.
50 This is my comfort in my affliction:(A)
Your promise has given me life.
51 The arrogant constantly ridicule me,
but I do not turn away from Your instruction.(B)
52 Lord, I remember Your judgments from long ago
and find comfort.
53 Rage seizes me(C) because of the wicked
who reject Your instruction.(D)
54 Your statutes are the theme of my song
during my earthly life.[a]
55 Yahweh, I remember Your name(E) in the night,(F)
and I obey Your instruction.
56 This is my practice:
I obey Your precepts.(G)
ח Khet
57 The Lord is my portion;[b](H)
I have promised to keep Your words.
58 I have sought Your favor(I) with all my heart;
be gracious to me(J) according to Your promise.
59 I thought about my ways(K)
and turned my steps back to Your decrees.
60 I hurried, not hesitating
to keep Your commands.
61 Though the ropes of the wicked(L)
were wrapped around me,
I did not forget Your instruction.(M)
62 I rise at midnight to thank You(N)
for Your righteous judgments.(O)
63 I am a friend to all who fear You,(P)
to those who keep Your precepts.
64 Lord, the earth is filled with Your faithful love;(Q)
teach me Your statutes.(R)
ט Tet
65 Lord, You have treated Your servant well,
just as You promised.
66 Teach me good judgment and discernment,(S)
for I rely on Your commands.
67 Before I was afflicted I went astray,(T)
but now I keep Your word.
68 You are good,(U) and You do what is good;(V)
teach me Your statutes.
69 The arrogant have smeared me with lies,(W)
but I obey Your precepts with all my heart.(X)
70 Their hearts are hard and insensitive,(Y)
but I delight in Your instruction.(Z)
71 It was good for me to be afflicted(AA)
so that I could learn Your statutes.
72 Instruction from Your lips(AB) is better for me
than thousands of gold and silver pieces.
Psalm 49
Misplaced Trust in Wealth
For the choir director. A psalm of the sons of Korah.
1 Hear this, all you peoples;
listen, all who inhabit the world,(A)
2 both low and high,[a]
rich and poor together.(B)
3 My mouth speaks wisdom;
my heart’s meditation brings understanding.(C)
4 I turn my ear to a proverb;
I explain my riddle with a lyre.(D)
5 Why should I fear in times of trouble?
The iniquity of my foes surrounds me.(E)
6 They trust in their wealth
and boast of their abundant riches.(F)
7 Yet these cannot redeem a person[b]
or pay his ransom to God(G)—
8 since the price of redeeming him is too costly,
one should forever stop trying[c](H)—
9 so that he may live forever
and not see the Pit.(I)
10 For one can see that wise men die;
foolish and stupid men also pass away.(J)
Then they leave their wealth to others.(K)
11 Their graves are their eternal homes,[d]
their homes from generation to generation,
though they have named estates after themselves.(L)
12 But despite his assets,[e] man will not last;
he is like the animals that perish.(M)
13 This is the way of those who are arrogant,
and of their followers,
who approve of their words.[f](N)
14 Like sheep they are headed for Sheol;
Death will shepherd them.
The upright will rule over them in the morning,(O)
and their form will waste away in Sheol,[g]
far from their lofty abode.(P)
15 But God will redeem my life
from the power of Sheol,
for He will take me.(Q)
16 Do not be afraid when a man gets rich,
when the wealth[h] of his house increases.(R)
17 For when he dies, he will take nothing at all;
his wealth[i] will not follow him down.(S)
18 Though he praises himself during his lifetime—
and people praise you when you do well for yourself(T)—
19 he will go to the generation of his fathers;
they will never see the light.(U)
20 A man with valuable possessions[j]
but without understanding
is like the animals that perish.(V)
Psalm 53
A Portrait of Sinners
For the choir director: on Mahalath.[a](A) A Davidic Maskil.
1 The fool says in his heart, “God does not exist.”
They are corrupt, and they do vile deeds.
There is no one who does good.(B)
2 God looks down from heaven on the human race
to see if there is one who is wise,
one who seeks God.(C)
3 All have turned away;
all alike have become corrupt.
There is no one who does good,
not even one.(D)
Hagar and Ishmael
16 Abram’s wife Sarai had not borne any children for him, but she owned an Egyptian slave named Hagar. 2 Sarai said to Abram, “Since the Lord has prevented me from bearing children, go to my slave; perhaps through her I can build a family.” And Abram agreed to what Sarai said.[a] 3 So Abram’s wife Sarai took Hagar, her Egyptian slave, and gave her to her husband Abram as a wife for him. This happened after Abram had lived in the land of Canaan 10 years. 4 He slept with[b] Hagar, and she became pregnant. When she realized that she was pregnant, she treated her mistress with contempt. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for my suffering![c] I put my slave in your arms,[d] and ever since she saw that she was pregnant, she has treated me with contempt. May the Lord judge between me and you.”(A)
6 Abram replied to Sarai, “Here, your slave is in your hands; do whatever you want with her.” Then Sarai mistreated her so much that she ran away from her.
7 The Angel of the Lord(B) found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. 8 He said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?”
She replied, “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai.”
9 Then the Angel of the Lord said to her, “You must go back to your mistress and submit to her mistreatment.”[e] 10 The Angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will greatly multiply your offspring,(C) and they will be too many to count.”
11 Then the Angel of the Lord said to her:
You have conceived and will have a son.
You will name him Ishmael,[f]
for the Lord has heard your cry of affliction.
12 This man will be like a wild donkey.
His hand will be against everyone,
and everyone’s hand will be against him;
he will live at odds with[g] all his brothers.(D)
13 So she called the Lord who spoke to her: The God Who Sees,[h] for she said, “In this place, have I actually seen(E) the One who sees me?”[i] 14 That is why she named the spring, “A Well of the Living One Who Sees Me.”[j] It is located between Kadesh and Bered.
15 Therefore, He is the mediator(A) of a new covenant,[a](B) so that those who are called might receive the promise(C) of the eternal inheritance, because a death has taken place for redemption from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.(D) 16 Where a will exists, the death of the one who made it must be established. 17 For a will is valid only when people die, since it is never in force while the one who made it is living. 18 That is why even the first covenant was inaugurated with blood. 19 For when every command had been proclaimed by Moses to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, along with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll itself and all the people,(E) 20 saying, This is the blood of the covenant that God has commanded for you.(F)[b] 21 In the same way, he sprinkled the tabernacle and all the articles of worship with blood.(G) 22 According to the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.(H)
23 Therefore it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves to be purified with better sacrifices than these.(I) 24 For the Messiah did not enter a sanctuary made with hands (only a model[c] of the true one) but into heaven itself, so that He might now appear in the presence of God for us.(J) 25 He did not do this to offer Himself many times, as the high priest enters the sanctuary yearly with the blood of another.(K) 26 Otherwise, He would have had to suffer many times since the foundation of the world. But now He has appeared one time, at the end of the ages,(L) for the removal of sin by the sacrifice of Himself.(M) 27 And just as it is appointed for people to die once—and after this, judgment(N)— 28 so also the Messiah, having been offered once to bear the sins of many,(O) will appear a second time,(P) not to bear sin, but[d] to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him.(Q)
19 Then Jesus replied, “I assure you: The Son is not able to do anything on His own, but only what He sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father[a] does, the Son also does these things in the same way.(A) 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows Him everything He is doing, and He will show Him greater works(B) than these so that you will be amazed. 21 And just as the Father raises(C) the dead and gives them life, so the Son also gives life to anyone He wants to.(D) 22 The Father,(E) in fact, judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son, 23 so that all people will honor the Son just as they honor the Father.(F) Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.(G)
Life and Judgment
24 “I assure you: Anyone who hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life(H) and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life.
25 “I assure you: An hour is coming, and is now here,(I) when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.(J) 26 For just as the Father has life in Himself, so also He has granted to the Son(K) to have life in Himself. 27 And He has granted Him the right to pass judgment,(L) because He is the Son of Man.(M) 28 Do not be amazed at this, because a time is coming when all who are in the graves will hear His voice 29 and come out—those who have done good things, to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked things, to the resurrection of judgment.
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