Day 190 The Bible in a Year (Orthodox canon)

Psalm 48 (49)

1 For the end, a Psalm for the sons of Core. 2 Hear these words, all ye nations, hearken, all ye that dwell upon the earth: 3 both the sons of mean men, and sons of [great] men; the rich and poor [man] together. 4 My mouth shall speak of wisdom; and the meditation of my heart shall bring [forth] understanding. 5 I will incline mine ear to a parable: I will open my riddle on the harp. 6 Wherefore should I fear in the evil day? the iniquity of my heel shall compass me. 7 They that trust in their strength, and boast themselves in the multitude of their wealth— 8 A brother does not redeem, shall a man redeem? he shall not give to God a ransom for himself, 9 or the price of the redemption of his soul, though he labour for ever, 10 and live to the end, [so] that he should not see corruption. 11 When he shall see wise men dying, the fool and the senseless one shall perish together; and they shall leave their wealth to strangers. 12 And their sepulchres are their houses for ever, [even] their tabernacles to all generations: they have called their lands after their own names. 13 And man being in honour, understands not: he is compared to the senseless cattle, and is like to them. 14 This their way is an offence to them: yet afterwards men will commend their sayings. Pause. 15 They have laid [them] as sheep in Hades; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning, and their help shall fail in Hades from their glory. 16 But God shall deliver my soul from the power of Hades, when he shall receive me. Pause. 17 Fear not when a man is enriched, and when the glory of his house is increased. 18 For he shall take nothing when he dies; neither shall his glory descend with him. 19 For his soul shall be blessed in his life: he shall give thanks to thee when thou dost well to him. 20 [Yet] he shall go in to the generation of his fathers; he shall never see light. 21 Man that is in honour, understands not: he is compared to the senseless cattle, and is like them.

Psalm 49 (50)

1 A Psalm for Asaph. The God of gods, the Lord, has spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun to the going down [thereof]. 2 Out of Sion [comes] the excellence of his beauty. 3 God, our God, shall come manifestly, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall be kindled before him, and round about him there shall be a very great tempest. 4 He shall summon the heaven above, and the earth, that he may judge his people. 5 Assemble ye his saints to him, those that have engaged in a covenant with him upon sacrifices. 6 And the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for God is judge. Pause. 7 Hear, my people, and I will speak to thee, O Israel: and I will testify to thee: I am God, thy God. 8 I will not reprove thee on account of thy sacrifices; for thy whole-burnt-offerings are before me continually. 9 I will take no bullocks out of thine house, nor he-goats out of thy flocks. 10 For all the wild beasts of the thicket are mine, the cattle on the mountains, and oxen. 11 I know all the birds of the sky; and the beauty of the field is mine. 12 If I should be hungry, I will not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness of it. 13 Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? 14 Offer to God the sacrifice of praise; and pay thy vows to the Most High. 15 And call upon me in the day of affliction; and I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. Pause. 16 But to the sinner God has said, Why dost thou declare my ordinances, and take up my covenant in thy mouth? 17 Whereas thou hast hated instruction, and hast cast my words behind [thee]. 18 If thou sawest a thief, thou rannest along with him, and hast cast in thy lot with adulterers. 19 Thy mouth has multiplied wickedness, and thy tongue has framed deceit. 20 Thou didst sit and speak against thy brother, and didst scandalise thy mother's son. 21 These things thou didst, and I kept silence: thou thoughtest wickedly that I should be like thee; [but] I will reprove thee, and set [thine offences] before thee. 22 Now consider these things, ye that forget God, lest he rend [you], and there be no deliverer. 23 The sacrifice of praise will glorify me: and that is the way wherein I will shew to him the salvation of God.

Psalm 50 (51)

1 For the end, a Psalm of David, 2 when Nathan the prophet came to him, when he had gone in to Bersabee. 3 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy great mercy; and according to the multitude of thy compassions blot out my transgression. 4 Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. 5 For I am conscious of mine iniquity; and my sin is continually before me. 6 Against thee only have I sinned, and done evil before thee: that thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged. 7 For, behold, I was conceived in iniquities, and in sins did my mother conceive me. 8 For, behold, thou lovest truth: thou hast manifested to me the secret and hidden things of thy wisdom. 9 Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be purified: thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow. 10 Thou shalt cause me to hear gladness and joy: the afflicted bones shall rejoice. 11 Turn away thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. 12 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit in my inward parts. 13 Cast me not away from thy presence; and remove not thy Holy Spirit from me. 14 Restore to me the joy of thy salvation: establish me with thy directing Spirit. 15 [Then] will I teach transgressors thy ways; and ungodly men shall turn to thee. 16 Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation: [and] my tongue shall joyfully declare thy righteousness. 17 O Lord, thou shalt open my lips; and my mouth shall declare thy praise. 18 For if thou desiredst sacrifice, I would have given [it]: thou wilt not take pleasure in whole-burnt-offerings. 19 Sacrifice to God is a broken spirit: a broken and humbled heart God will not despise. 20 Do good, O Lord, to Sion in thy good pleasure; and let the walls of Jerusalem be built. 21 Then shalt thou be pleased with a sacrifice of righteousness, offering, and whole-burnt-sacrifices: then shall they offer calves upon thine altar.

2 John 1

1 The elder, to the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not I only, but also all those who know the truth, 2 for the truth’s sake, which remains in us, and it will be with us forever: 3 Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love. 4 I rejoice greatly that I have found some of your children walking in truth, even as we have been commanded by the Father. 5 Now I beg you, dear lady, not as though I wrote to you a new commandment, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another. 6 This is love, that we should walk according to his commandments. This is the commandment, even as you heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it. 7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who don’t confess that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the Antichrist. 8 Watch yourselves, that we don’t lose the things which we have accomplished, but that we receive a full reward. 9 Whoever transgresses and doesn’t remain in the teaching of Christ doesn’t have God. He who remains in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and doesn’t bring this teaching, don’t receive him into your house, and don’t welcome him, 11 for he who welcomes him participates in his evil deeds. 12 Having many things to write to you, I don’t want to do so with paper and ink, but I hope to come to you and to speak face to face, that our joy may be made full. 13 The children of your chosen sister greet you. Amen.