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.
God Will Punish Israel
8 The Lord sent a message against the people of Jacob;
it says that God will judge Israel.
9 Then everyone in Israel, even the leaders in Samaria,
will know that God has sent it.
Those people are proud and brag by saying,
10 “These bricks have fallen,
but we will build again with cut stones.
These small trees have been chopped down,
but we will put great cedars there.”
11 But the Lord has brought the enemies of Rezin against them;
he has stirred up their enemies against them.
12 The Arameans came from the east
and the Philistines from the west,
and they ate up Israel with their armies.
But the Lord was still angry;
his hand was still raised to punish the people.
13 But the people did not return to the one who had struck them;
they did not follow the Lord All-Powerful.
14 So the Lord cut off Israel’s head and tail,
taking away both the branch and stalk in one day.
15 The elders and important men were the head,
and the prophets who speak lies were the tail.
16 Those who led the people led them in the wrong direction,
and those who followed them were destroyed.
17 So the Lord is not happy with the young people,
nor will he show mercy to the orphans and widows.
All the people are separated from God and are very evil;
they all speak lies.
But the Lord is still angry;
his hand is still raised to strike down the people.
False Teachers
2 There used to be false prophets among God’s people, just as you will have some false teachers in your group. They will secretly teach things that are wrong—teachings that will cause people to be lost. They will even refuse to accept the Master, Jesus, who bought their freedom. So they will bring quick ruin on themselves. 2 Many will follow their evil ways and say evil things about the way of truth. 3 Those false teachers only want your money, so they will use you by telling you lies. Their judgment spoken against them long ago is still coming, and their ruin is certain.
4 When angels sinned, God did not let them go free without punishment. He sent them to hell and put them in caves[a] of darkness where they are being held for judgment. 5 And God punished the world long ago when he brought a flood to the world that was full of people who were against him. But God saved Noah, who preached about being right with God, and seven other people with him. 6 And God also destroyed the evil cities of Sodom and Gomorrah[b] by burning them until they were ashes. He made those cities an example of what will happen to those who are against God. 7 But he saved Lot from those cities. Lot, a good man, was troubled because of the filthy lives of evil people. 8 (Lot was a good man, but because he lived with evil people every day, his good heart was hurt by the evil things he saw and heard.) 9 So the Lord knows how to save those who serve him when troubles come. He will hold evil people and punish them, while waiting for the Judgment Day. 10 That punishment is especially for those who live by doing the evil things their sinful selves want and who hate authority.
These false teachers are bold and do anything they want. They are not afraid to speak against the angels.
John Prepares for Jesus
1 This is the beginning of the Good News about Jesus Christ, the Son of God,[a] 2 as the prophet Isaiah wrote:
“I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way.” Malachi 3:1
3 “This is a voice of one
who calls out in the desert:
‘Prepare the way for the Lord.
Make the road straight for him.’” Isaiah 40:3
4 John was baptizing people in the desert and preaching a baptism of changed hearts and lives for the forgiveness of sins. 5 All the people from Judea and Jerusalem were going out to him. They confessed their sins and were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 6 John wore clothes made from camel’s hair, had a leather belt around his waist, and ate locusts and wild honey. 7 This is what John preached to the people: “There is one coming after me who is greater than I; I am not good enough even to kneel down and untie his sandals. 8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.