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 Fury 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 Lord, 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 Cheth
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 Teth
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,
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[a]
or pay his ransom to God(G)—
8 since the price of redeeming him is too costly,
one should forever stop trying[b](H)—
9 so that he may live forever
and not see the Pit.(I)
10 For one can see that the wise die;
the foolish and stupid also pass away.(J)
Then they leave their wealth to others.(K)
11 Their graves are their permanent homes,[c]
their dwellings from generation to generation,
though they have named estates after themselves.(L)
12 But despite his assets,[d] mankind 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.[e](N)Selah
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,[f]
far from their lofty abode.(P)
15 But God will redeem me
from the power of Sheol,
for he will take me.(Q)Selah
16 Do not be afraid when a person gets rich,
when the wealth[g] of his house increases.(R)
17 For when he dies, he will take nothing at all;
his wealth will not follow him down.(S)
18 Though he blesses himself during his lifetime—
and you are acclaimed when you do well for yourself(T)—
19 he will go to the generation of his ancestors;
they will never see the light.(U)
20 Mankind, with his assets
but without understanding,
is like the animals that perish.(V)
Psalm 53
A Portrait of Sinners
For the choir director: on Mahalath.(A) A Maskil of David.
1 The fool says in his heart, “There’s no God.”
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[a]
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)
13 The Lord also said to me, ‘I have seen this people, and indeed, they are a stiff-necked people. 14 Leave me alone, and I will destroy them and blot out their name under heaven.(A) Then I will make you into a nation stronger and more numerous than they.’
15 “So I went back down the mountain, while it was blazing with fire, and the two tablets of the covenant were in my hands. 16 I saw how you had sinned against the Lord your God; you had made a calf image for yourselves. You had quickly turned from the way the Lord had commanded for you. 17 So I took hold of the two tablets and threw them from my hands, shattering them before your eyes.(B) 18 I fell down like the first time in the presence of the Lord for forty days and forty nights; I did not eat food or drink water because of all the sin you committed, doing what was evil in the Lord’s sight and angering him. 19 I was afraid of the fierce anger the Lord had directed against you,(C) because he was about to destroy you. But again the Lord listened to me on that occasion.(D) 20 The Lord was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him. But I prayed for Aaron at that time also. 21 I took the sinful calf you had made and burned it. I crushed it, thoroughly grinding it to powder as fine as dust, and threw its dust into the stream that came down from the mountain.(E)
12 Watch out, brothers and sisters, so that there won’t be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart that turns away(A) from the living God. 13 But encourage each other daily,(B) while it is still called today, so that none of you is hardened(C) by sin’s deception.(D) 14 For we have become participants in Christ if we hold firmly until the end the reality[a] that we had at the start.(E) 15 As it is said:
16 For who heard and rebelled? Wasn’t it all who came out of Egypt under Moses?(G) 17 With whom was God angry for forty years? Wasn’t it with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?(H) 18 And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, if not to those who disobeyed? 19 So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.
23 While he was in Jerusalem(A) during the Passover Festival,(B) many believed in his name(C) when they saw the signs he was doing. 24 Jesus, however, would not entrust himself to them, since he knew them all 25 and because he did not need anyone to testify about man; for he himself knew what was in man.(D)
Jesus and Nicodemus
3 There was a man from the Pharisees(E) named Nicodemus,(F) a ruler(G) of the Jews. 2 This man came to him at night and said, “Rabbi,(H) we know that you are a teacher(I) who has come from God,(J) for no one could perform these signs you do unless God were with him.”(K)
3 Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born again,[a](L) he cannot see the kingdom of God.”(M)
4 “How can anyone be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked him. “Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born?”
5 Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born(N) of water and the Spirit,(O) he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 Whatever is born of the flesh(P) is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit(Q) is spirit. 7 Do not be amazed that I told you that you must be born(R) again. 8 The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going.(S) So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”(T)
9 “How can these things be?” asked Nicodemus.
10 “Are you a teacher[b] of Israel and don’t know these things?” Jesus replied. 11 “Truly I tell you,(U) we speak what we know and we testify to what we have seen, but you do not accept our testimony. 12 If I have told you about earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended(V) into heaven(W) except the one who descended from heaven(X) —the Son of Man.[c](Y)
14 “Just as Moses(Z) lifted up the snake in the wilderness,(AA) so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in him may[d] have eternal life.(AB)
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