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.
There Is a Time for Everything
3 There is a time for everything,
and everything on earth has its special season.
2 There is a time to be born
and a time to die.
There is a time to plant
and a time to pull up plants.
3 There is a time to kill
and a time to heal.
There is a time to destroy
and a time to build.
4 There is a time to cry
and a time to laugh.
There is a time to be sad
and a time to dance.
5 There is a time to throw away stones
and a time to gather them.
There is a time to hug
and a time not to hug.
6 There is a time to look for something
and a time to stop looking for it.
There is a time to keep things
and a time to throw things away.
7 There is a time to tear apart
and a time to sew together.
There is a time to be silent
and a time to speak.
8 There is a time to love
and a time to hate.
There is a time for war
and a time for peace.
God Controls His World
9 Do people really gain anything from their work? 10 I saw the hard work God has given people to do. 11 God has given them a desire to know the future. He does everything just right and on time, but people can never completely understand what he is doing. 12 So I realize that the best thing for them is to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live. 13 God wants all people to eat and drink and be happy in their work, which are gifts from God. 14 I know that everything God does will continue forever. People cannot add anything to what God has done, and they cannot take anything away from it. God does it this way to make people respect him.
15 What happens now has happened in the past,
and what will happen in the future has happened before.
God makes the same things happen again and again.
Paul Shows that Peter Was Wrong
11 When Peter came to Antioch, I challenged him to his face, because he was wrong. 12 Peter ate with the non-Jewish people until some Jewish people sent from James came to Antioch. When they arrived, Peter stopped eating with those who weren’t Jewish, and he separated himself from them. He was afraid of the Jews. 13 So Peter was a hypocrite, as were the other Jewish believers who joined with him. Even Barnabas was influenced by what these Jewish believers did. 14 When I saw they were not following the truth of the Good News, I spoke to Peter in front of them all. I said, “Peter, you are a Jew, but you are not living like a Jew. You are living like those who are not Jewish. So why do you now try to force those who are not Jewish to live like Jews?”
15 We were not born as non-Jewish “sinners,” but as Jews. 16 Yet we know that a person is made right with God not by following the law, but by trusting in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus, that we might be made right with God because we trusted in Christ. It is not because we followed the law, because no one can be made right with God by following the law.
17 We Jews came to Christ, trying to be made right with God, and it became clear that we are sinners, too. Does this mean that Christ encourages sin? No! 18 But I would really be wrong to begin teaching again those things that I gave up. 19 It was the law that put me to death, and I died to the law so that I can now live for God. 20 I was put to death on the cross with Christ, and I do not live anymore—it is Christ who lives in me. I still live in my body, but I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself to save me. 21 By saying these things I am not going against God’s grace. Just the opposite, if the law could make us right with God, then Christ’s death would be useless.
How John the Baptist Was Killed
14 At that time Herod, the ruler of Galilee, heard the reports about Jesus. 2 So he said to his servants, “Jesus is John the Baptist, who has risen from the dead. That is why he can work these miracles.”
3 Sometime before this, Herod had arrested John, tied him up, and put him into prison. Herod did this because of Herodias, who had been the wife of Philip, Herod’s brother. 4 John had been telling Herod, “It is not lawful for you to be married to Herodias.” 5 Herod wanted to kill John, but he was afraid of the people, because they believed John was a prophet.
6 On Herod’s birthday, the daughter of Herodias danced for Herod and his guests, and she pleased him. 7 So he promised with an oath to give her anything she wanted. 8 Herodias told her daughter what to ask for, so she said to Herod, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.” 9 Although King Herod was very sad, he had made a promise, and his dinner guests had heard him. So Herod ordered that what she asked for be done. 10 He sent soldiers to the prison to cut off John’s head. 11 And they brought it on a platter and gave it to the girl, and she took it to her mother. 12 John’s followers came and got his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.