Book of Common Prayer
ז ZAYIN
49 Remember the word to Your servant,
Upon which You have caused me to hope.
50 This is my (A)comfort in my affliction,
For Your word has given me life.
51 The proud have me in great derision,
Yet I do not turn aside from Your law.
52 I remembered Your judgments of old, O Lord,
And have comforted myself.
53 (B)Indignation has taken hold of me
Because of the wicked, who forsake Your law.
54 Your statutes have been my songs
In the house of my pilgrimage.
55 (C)I remember Your name in the night, O Lord,
And I keep Your law.
56 This has become mine,
Because I kept Your precepts.
ח HETH
57 (D)You are my portion, O Lord;
I have said that I would keep Your words.
58 I entreated Your favor with my whole heart;
Be merciful to me according to Your word.
59 I (E)thought about my ways,
And turned my feet to Your testimonies.
60 I made haste, and did not delay
To keep Your commandments.
61 The cords of the wicked have bound me,
But I have not forgotten Your law.
62 (F)At midnight I will rise to give thanks to You,
Because of Your righteous judgments.
63 I am a companion of all who fear You,
And of those who keep Your precepts.
64 (G)The earth, O Lord, is full of Your mercy;
Teach me Your statutes.
ט TETH
65 You have dealt well with Your servant,
O Lord, according to Your word.
66 Teach me good judgment and (H)knowledge,
For I believe Your commandments.
67 Before I was (I)afflicted I went astray,
But now I keep Your word.
68 You are (J)good, and do good;
Teach me Your statutes.
69 The proud have (K)forged[a] a lie against me,
But I will keep Your precepts with my whole heart.
70 (L)Their heart is [b]as fat as grease,
But I delight in Your law.
71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted,
That I may learn Your statutes.
72 (M)The law of Your mouth is better to me
Than thousands of coins of gold and silver.
The Confidence of the Foolish
To the Chief Musician. 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,
And the meditation of my heart shall give understanding.
4 I will incline my ear to a proverb;
I will disclose my [a]dark saying on the harp.
5 Why should I fear in the days of evil,
When the iniquity at my heels surrounds me?
6 Those who (A)trust in their wealth
And boast in the multitude of their riches,
7 None of them can by any means redeem his brother,
Nor (B)give to God a ransom for him—
8 For (C)the redemption of their souls is costly,
And it shall cease forever—
9 That he should continue to live eternally,
And (D)not [b]see the Pit.
10 For he sees wise men die;
Likewise the fool and the senseless person perish,
And leave their wealth to others.
11 [c]Their inner thought is that their houses will last forever,
Their dwelling places to all generations;
They (E)call their lands after their own names.
12 Nevertheless man, though in honor, does not [d]remain;
He is like the beasts that perish.
13 This is the way of those who are (F)foolish,
And of their posterity who approve their sayings. Selah
14 Like sheep they are laid in the grave;
Death shall feed on them;
(G)The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning;
(H)And their beauty shall be consumed in [e]the grave, far from their dwelling.
15 But God (I)will redeem my soul from the power of [f]the grave,
For He shall (J)receive me. Selah
16 Do not be afraid when one becomes rich,
When the glory of his house is increased;
17 For when he dies he shall carry nothing away;
His glory shall not descend after him.
18 Though while he lives (K)he blesses himself
(For men will praise you when you do well for yourself),
19 He shall go to the generation of his fathers;
They shall never see (L)light.[g]
20 A man who is in honor, yet does not understand,
(M)Is like the beasts that perish.
Folly of the Godless, and the Restoration of Israel(A)
To the Chief Musician. Set to “Mahalath.” A [a]Contemplation of David.
53 The (B)fool has said in his heart,
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity;
(C)There is none who does good.
2 God looks down from heaven upon the children of men,
To see if there are any who understand, who (D)seek God.
3 Every one of them has turned aside;
They have together become corrupt;
There is none who does good,
No, not one.
Joshua Renews the Covenant(A)
30 Now Joshua built an altar to the Lord God of Israel (B)in Mount Ebal, 31 as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the Book of the Law of Moses: (C)“an altar of whole stones over which no man has wielded an iron tool.” And (D)they offered on it burnt offerings to the Lord, and sacrificed peace offerings. 32 And there, in the presence of the children of Israel, (E)he wrote on the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written. 33 Then all Israel, with their elders and officers and judges, stood on either side of the ark before the priests, the Levites, (F)who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, (G)the stranger as well as he who was born among them. Half of them were in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, (H)as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded before, that they should bless the people of Israel. 34 And afterward (I)he read all the words of the law, (J)the blessings and the cursings, according to all that is written in the (K)Book of the Law. 35 There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded which Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, (L)with the women, the little ones, (M)and the strangers who were living among them.
13 Therefore let us not judge one another [a]anymore, but rather resolve this, (A)not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way.
The Law of Love
14 I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus (B)that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. 15 Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. (C)Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died. 16 (D)Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil; 17 (E)for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and (F)peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 For he who serves Christ in [b]these things (G)is acceptable to God and approved by men.
19 (H)Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which (I)one may [c]edify another. 20 (J)Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. (K)All things indeed are pure, (L)but it is evil for the man who eats with [d]offense. 21 It is good neither to eat (M)meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles [e]or is offended or is made weak. 22 [f]Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. (N)Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. 23 But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for (O)whatever is not from faith is [g]sin.
Jesus Faces the Sanhedrin(A)
57 (B)And those who had laid hold of Jesus led Him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled. 58 But (C)Peter followed Him at a distance to the high priest’s courtyard. And he went in and sat with the servants to see the end.
59 Now the chief priests, [a]the elders, and all the council sought (D)false testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, 60 [b]but found none. Even though (E)many false witnesses came forward, they found none. But at last (F)two [c]false witnesses came forward 61 and said, “This fellow said, (G)‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and to build it in three days.’ ”
62 (H)And the high priest arose and said to Him, “Do You answer nothing? What is it these men testify against You?” 63 But (I)Jesus kept silent. And the high priest answered and said to Him, (J)“I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!”
64 Jesus said to him, “It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, (K)hereafter you will see the Son of Man (L)sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
65 (M)Then the high priest tore his clothes, saying, “He has spoken blasphemy! What further need do we have of witnesses? Look, now you have heard His (N)blasphemy! 66 What do you think?”
They answered and said, (O)“He is deserving of death.”
67 (P)Then they spat in His face and beat Him; and (Q)others struck Him with [d]the palms of their hands, 68 saying, (R)“Prophesy to us, Christ! Who is the one who struck You?”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.