49  Remember your word to your servant, •
   on which you have built my hope.
50  This is my comfort in my trouble, •
   that your promise gives me life.
51  The proud have derided me cruelly, •
   but I have not turned aside from your law.
52  I have remembered your everlasting judgements, O Lord, •
   and have been comforted.
53  I am seized with indignation at the wicked, •
   for they have forsaken your law.
54  Your statutes have been like songs to me •
   in the house of my pilgrimage.
55  I have thought on your name in the night, O Lord, •
   and so have I kept your law.
56  These blessings have been mine, •
   for I have kept your commandments.
57  You only are my portion, O Lord; •
   I have promised to keep your words.
58  I entreat you with all my heart, •
   be merciful to me according to your promise.
59  I have considered my ways •
   and turned my feet back to your testimonies.
60  I made haste and did not delay •
   to keep your commandments.
61  Though the cords of the wicked entangle me, •
   I do not forget your law.
62  At midnight I will rise to give you thanks, •
   because of your righteous judgements.
63  I am a companion of all those who fear you, •
   those who keep your commandments.
64  The earth, O Lord, is full of your faithful love; •
   instruct me in your statutes.
65  You have dealt graciously with your servant, •
   according to your word, O Lord.
66  O teach me true understanding and knowledge, •
   for I have trusted in your commandments.
67  Before I was afflicted I went astray, •
   but now I keep your word.
68  You are gracious and do good; •
   O Lord, teach me your statutes.
69  The proud have smeared me with lies, •
   but I will keep your commandments with my whole heart.
70  Their heart has become gross with fat, •
   but my delight is in your law.
71  It is good for me that I have been afflicted, •
   that I may learn your statutes.
72  The law of your mouth is dearer to me •
   than a hoard of gold and silver.

God’s Spirit Poured Out

^{28 *}Then afterwards
   I will pour out my spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
   your old men shall dream dreams,
   and your young men shall see visions.
²⁹ Even on the male and female slaves,
   in those days, I will pour out my spirit.

30 I will show portents in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. ³¹The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. ³²Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.

3^*For then, in those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, ²I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat, and I will enter into judgement with them there, on account of my people and my heritage Israel, because they have scattered them among the nations. They have divided my land, ³and cast lots for my people, and traded boys for prostitutes, and sold girls for wine, and drunk it down.

4 What are you to me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you paying me back for something? If you are paying me back, I will turn your deeds back upon your own heads swiftly and speedily. ⁵For you have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried my rich treasures into your temples.^{* 6}You have sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, removing them far from their own border. ⁷But now I will rouse them to leave the places to which you have sold them, and I will turn your deeds back upon your own heads. ⁸I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a nation far away; for the Lord has spoken.

¹⁶Do not be deceived, my beloved.^*

17 Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.^{* 18}In fulfilment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

Hearing and Doing the Word

19 You must understand this, my beloved:^* let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; ²⁰for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness. ²¹Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls.

22 But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. ²³For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves^* in a mirror; ²⁴for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. ²⁵But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act—they will be blessed in their doing.

26 If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless. ²⁷Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.