Book of Common Prayer
49 [a]Remember the word you gave to your servant
by which you have given me hope.
50 This is my consolation in my distress:
your word gives me life.
51 The arrogant[b] overwhelm me with scorn,
but I refuse to turn away from your law.
52 I recall your judgments of old, O Lord,
and I am greatly comforted.
53 I am filled with fury against the wicked,
those who forsake your law.
54 Your decrees have become my songs
wherever I make my dwelling.
55 Even during the night I remember your name[c]
and observe your teaching, O Lord.
56 This is my practice:
I obey your commandments.
Heth
57 [d]My portion, I have said, O Lord,
is to observe your words.[e]
58 With all my heart[f] I seek your favor;
fulfill your word and be gracious to me.
59 I have reflected on my ways
and resolved to follow your statutes.
60 I will make haste and not delay
to observe your precepts.
61 Though the nets of the wicked entrap me,
I do not forget your law.
62 At midnight I rise to offer praise to you
for the righteousness of your judgments.
63 I am a friend to all who fear you,
all who observe your commands.
64 The earth overflows with your kindness,[g] O Lord;
teach me your decrees.
Teth
65 [h]You have dealt kindly with your servant
in accord with your word, O Lord.
66 Grant me good judgment and knowledge,
for I place my trust in your precepts.
67 Before I was afflicted[i] I went astray,
but now I observe your word.
68 You are good, and what you do is good;
teach me your decrees.
69 The arrogant[j] spread lies about me,
but with all my heart I observe your commands.
70 Their hearts are gross and insensitive,[k]
but I find my delight in your law.
71 It was a blessing for me to be afflicted,
so that I might learn your decrees.
72 The law from your mouth is more precious to me
than thousands of gold and silver pieces.
Yodh
Psalm 49[a]
Deceptive Riches
1 For the director.[b] A psalm of the sons of Korah.
2 [c]Hear this, all you peoples;
listen carefully, all you inhabitants of the world,
3 whether lowborn or highborn,
rich and poor alike.
4 My mouth will speak words of wisdom,
and the utterance of my heart[d] will give understanding.
5 I will listen carefully to a proverb,
and with the harp[e] I will interpret my riddle.
6 Why should I be afraid in evil times
when I am beset by the wickedness of my foes,[f]
7 those who place their trust in their wealth
and boast of the abundance of their riches?
8 [g]For no one can ever redeem himself
or pay a ransom to God for his release.
9 The price to ransom a life would be too costly;
no one would ever have enough
10 to enable him to live on forever
and avoid being consigned to the pit.
11 [h]For all can see that the wise die,
just as the foolish and the stupid also pass away,
and all leave their wealth to others.[i]
12 Their graves are their eternal homes,
their dwelling places for all generations,
even though they had named lands after themselves.
13 Despite his riches,
a man cannot escape death;
he is like the beasts that perish.[j]
14 Such is the destiny of those who trust in themselves alone,
the fate of those who are pleased with their lot.[k] Selah
15 Like sheep[l] they are destined for the netherworld,
with death as their shepherd.
They descend straight to the grave
where their bodies will waste away;
the netherworld will be their home.
16 But God will ransom me from the netherworld;
he will take me[m] to himself. Selah
17 [n]Do not be afraid when someone becomes rich
and the splendor of his house increases.
18 When he dies, he will take nothing with him;
his wealth will not accompany him below.[o]
19 Although during his lifetime he considered himself blessed:
“They will praise me because I have done well,”
20 he will end up joining the company of his ancestors
who will never again see the light.[p]
21 Despite his riches,
a man who does not have wisdom
is like the beasts that perish.[q]
Psalm 53[a]
Foolishness of the Wicked
1 For the director.[b] According to Mahalath. A maskil of David.
2 [c]The fool says in his heart,
“There is no God.”
Such are depraved and their deeds are vile;
there is no one who does what is right.
3 God looks down from heaven
upon the entire human race,
to see if there are any who act with wisdom,
if even a single one seeks God.
4 But they have all turned aside;
all alike are corrupt.
There is no one who does what is right,
not even one.
5 Have all these evildoers no understanding?
They devour my people as they eat bread,
and they never call out to God.
6 Later, they will be filled with terror,
and with good reason,[d]
although now they do not fear.
For God will scatter the bones
of those who attack you;
they will be put to shame,
for God has rejected them.
7 Who will bring about the salvation of Israel
that is to come out of Zion?[e]
When God restores the fortunes of his people,
Jacob will rejoice and Israel will exult.
Chapter 16
Abram’s Son Ishmael.[a] 1 Now Sarai, the wife of Abram, did not have any children. She had an Egyptian slave named Hagar. 2 Sarai said to Abram, “Behold, the Lord has kept me from having children; sleep with my slave. Maybe I can have children through her.”
Abram did what Sarai had told him to do. 3 Thus, ten years after Abram had begun to live in the land of Canaan, Sarai, the wife of Abram, took Hagar the Egyptian, her slave, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she became pregnant.
But once she realized that she was pregnant, she no longer treated her mistress with respect. 5 Therefore, Sarai said to Abram, “May this affront fall upon you! I gave you my maid to embrace, but when she realized that she was pregnant, she stopped treating me with respect. Let the Lord judge between you and me.”
6 Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your slave is in your hands. Do with her as you see fit.” Sarai then maltreated her so much that Hagar ran away.
7 The angel of the Lord[b] found her near a spring in the desert. The spring was on the road to Shur. 8 The angel said to her, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She answered, “I am running away from my mistress Sarai.”
9 The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress and be obedient to her.” 10 The angel of the Lord continued, “I will multiply the number of your descendants so much that you will not be able to count them.”
11 The angel of the Lord added,
“Behold, you are pregnant:
you will bear a son
and call him Ishmael,
for the Lord has listened to you in your distress.
12 He will be a wild donkey of a man;
his hand will be against all
and the hands of all will be against him.
He will be opposed to all of his brothers.”
13 Hagar gave a name to the Lord who had spoken to her, “You are the God of the Vision.”[c] Therefore, she said, “Here I remained alive after having received this vision.” 14 Because of this, the well is called Beer-lahai-roi. It is between Kedesh and Bered.
15 A Covenant Sealed with the Blood of Christ.[a] For this reason, he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who have been called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since his death has served to redeem the sins that were committed under the first covenant.
16 Now when a will is involved, it is obligatory to prove the death of the one who made it. 17 For a will takes effect only at death, since it has no force while the one who made it is still alive.
18 Hence, not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. 19 For when all the commandments of the Law had been proclaimed by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, together with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20 saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God has commanded you to observe.”
21 And in the same way, he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the liturgical vessels. 22 Indeed, under the Law almost everything is purified by blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
23 Therefore, it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves required still greater sacrifices.
24 Once and for All.[b] For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made by human hands, a mere copy of the true one, but he entered into heaven itself, so that he now appears in the presence of God on our behalf.
25 Nor was it his purpose to offer himself again and again, as the high priest enters into the sanctuary year after year with the blood that is not his own. 26 For then he would have had to suffer over and over again since the creation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once and for all at the end of the ages to abolish sin by sacrificing himself.
27 And just as human beings are destined to die but once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to take away the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to bring salvation to those who are eagerly waiting for him.
19 The Work of the Son.[a] Jesus replied to them, saying,
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
the Son can do nothing by himself;
he can do only what he sees the Father doing.
For whatever the Father does,
the Son also does.
20 For the Father loves the Son
and shows him everything
that he himself is doing.
And he will show him
even greater works than these,
so that you might be astonished.
21 “Indeed, just as the Father raises the dead
and gives them life,
so does the Son give life
to anyone he chooses.
22 The Father judges no one,
for he has entrusted all judgment to the Son,
23 so that all may honor the Son
as they honor the Father.
Anyone who does not honor the Son
does not honor the Father who sent him.
24 “Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever hears my words
and believes in the one who sent me
possesses eternal life.
He will not come to judgment
but has passed from death to life.
25 “Amen, amen, I say to you,
the hour is coming,
indeed it is already here,
when the dead will hear
the voice of the Son of God,
and all those who hear it will live.
26 For just as the Father has life in himself,
so also he has granted the Son to have life in himself.
27 And he has also granted him
the power to pass judgment,
because he is the Son of Man.
28 “Do not be astonished at this,
for the hour is coming
when all those who are in their graves
will hear his voice
29 and will come forth from their graves.
Those who have done good deeds
will rise to life,
while those who have done evil
will rise to judgment.
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