Book of Common Prayer
The King’s Wedding Song
45 My heart flows over with good words. I sing my songs to the King. My tongue writes the words of a good writer. 2 You are more beautiful than the children of men. Loving-favor is poured upon Your lips. So God has honored You forever.
3 Put Your sword on at Your side, O Powerful One, in Your greatness and power that can be seen. 4 And in Your great power, move on to win the fight for truth and for not having pride and for what is right and good. Let Your right hand teach You to do great things. 5 Your arrows are sharp. The people fall under You. Your arrows are in the heart of those who hate the King.
6 O God, Your throne is forever and ever. You rule Your holy nation by what is right. 7 You have loved what is right and good. You have hated what is wrong. That is why God, Your God, has chosen You. He has poured over You the oil of joy more than over anyone else. 8 All Your clothes smell of fine perfumes. Out of ivory palaces music of strings have made You glad. 9 Daughters of kings are among Your women of honor. At Your right hand stands the queen, wearing gold from Ophir.
10 Listen, O daughter, hear my words and think about them. Forget your people and your father’s house. 11 Then the King will desire your beauty. Because He is your Lord, bow down to Him. 12 And the daughter of Tyre will come with a gift. The rich people will ask for your favor.
13 The daughter of the King is beautiful within. Her clothes are made with gold. 14 She will be led to the King in clothes sewed for beauty. The young women who have never had men are her friends. They follow her and will be brought to You. 15 They will be led in with joy and happiness, because they will come into the King’s palace.
16 Instead of Your fathers, it will be Your sons whom You will make rulers over all the earth. 17 I will make Your name to be remembered to all the children-to-come. So that the nations will honor You forever and ever.
God—the King of the Earth
47 Show your happiness, all peoples! Call out to God with the voice of joy! 2 For the Lord Most High is to be feared. He is a great King over all the earth. 3 He sets people under us, and nations under our feet. 4 He chooses for us what is to be ours, the pride of Jacob, whom He loves.
5 God has gone up with a loud voice, the Lord with the sound of a horn. 6 Sing praises to God. Sing praises. Sing praises to our King. Sing praises. 7 For God is the King of all the earth. Sing praises with a well written song. 8 God rules over the nations. God sits on His holy throne. 9 The rulers of the people have gathered together as the people of the God of Abraham. For the powers of the earth belong to God. He is much honored.
It Is Foolish to Trust in Riches
48 The Lord is great and should be given much praise, in the city of our God, His holy mountain. 2 Mount Zion in the far north is beautiful and high, the joy of the whole earth, the city of the great King. 3 God has made Himself known as a safe place in that city.
4 For, see, the kings gathered themselves and went up together. 5 They saw it, then they were surprised and afraid. And they ran away fast in fear. 6 They began shaking there. And they suffered pain like a woman giving birth. 7 You wreck the ships of Tarshish with the east wind. 8 As we have heard, so we have seen in the city of the Lord of All, in the city of our God. God will make her last forever.
9 O God, we have thought about Your loving-kindness within Your holy house. 10 Like Your name, O God, Your praise is heard to the ends of the earth. Your right hand is full of what is right and good. 11 Let Mount Zion be glad! Let the people of Judah be full of joy because You are right in how You judge. 12 Walk in Zion, and go around her. See how many towers she has. 13 Give thought to her walls. Go through her beautiful houses where kings live. And tell about it to the children-to-come. 14 This is God, our God forever and ever. He will show us the way until death.
Zechariah Sees a String
2 Then I looked up and saw a man holding a string used to find the length of things. 2 So I said, “Where are you going?” And he said to me, “To see how long and how wide Jerusalem is.” 3 Then the angel who was speaking with me was going out, and another angel was coming out to meet him, 4 and said to him, “Run, say to that young man, ‘Jerusalem will be a city without walls because of the many men and cattle in it. 5 For I will be a wall of fire around her,’ says the Lord. ‘And I will be the shining-greatness of her.’”
Joy to Come for Jerusalem
6 “Come, come, run from the land of the north!” says the Lord. “For I have sent you to the four winds of the heavens,” says the Lord. 7 “O Zion! Run away, you who are living with the people of Babylon.” 8 For the Lord of All says, “The Lord of shining-greatness has sent Me against the nations which have robbed you in battle. For whoever touches you, touches what is of great worth to Him. 9 I will wave My hand over them, and they will be taken by those who were made to serve them. Then you will know that the Lord of All has sent Me. 10 Sing for joy and be glad, O people of Zion. For I am coming and I will live among you,” says the Lord. 11 “Many nations will be joined to the Lord in that day and will become My people. I will live among you, and you will know that the Lord of All has sent Me to you. 12 The Lord will receive Judah as His share in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem. 13 All of you be quiet before the Lord. For He is coming from His holy place.”
Words to the Church in Laodicea
14 “Write this to the angel of the church in the city of Laodicea: ‘The One Who says, Let it be so, the One Who is faithful, the One Who tells what is true, the One Who made everything in God’s world, says this: 15 I know what you are doing. You are not cold or hot. I wish you were one or the other. 16 But because you are warm, and not hot or cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. 17 You say that you are rich and that you need nothing, but you do not know that you are so troubled in mind and heart. You are poor and blind and without clothes. 18 You should buy gold from Me that has been tested by fire that you may be rich. Buy white clothes to dress yourself so the shame of not wearing clothes will be taken away. Buy medicine to put on your eyes so you can see. 19 I speak strong words to those I love and I punish them. Have a strong desire to please the Lord. Be sorry for your sins and turn from them. 20 See! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and we will eat together. 21 I will allow the one who has power and wins to sit with Me on My throne, as I also had power and won and sat down with My Father on His throne. 22 You have ears! Then listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.’”
The Picture-Story of the Fig Tree
32 “Now learn something from the fig tree. When the branch begins to grow and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 In the same way, when you see all these things happen, you know the Son of Man is near, even at the door. 34 For sure, I tell you, the people of this day will not pass away before all these things have happened.
No One Knows When Jesus Will Come Again
35 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. 36 But no one knows the day or the hour. No! Not even the angels in heaven know. The Son does not know. Only the Father knows.
37 “When the Son of Man comes, it will be the same as when Noah lived. 38 In the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking. They were marrying and being given in marriage. This kept on until the day Noah went into the large boat. 39 They did not know what was happening until the flood came and the water carried them all away. It will be like this when the Son of Man comes.
40 “Two men will be working in a field. One will be taken and the other will be left. 41 Two women will be grinding grain. One will be taken and the other will be left.
42 “Because of this, watch! You do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But understand this: If the owner of a house had known when the robber was coming, he would have watched. He would not have allowed his house to have been broken into. 44 You must be ready also. The Son of Man is coming at a time when you do not think He will come.
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