Book of Common Prayer
Your Throne, O God, Is Forever
For the choir director. According to [a]Shoshannim. Of the sons of Korah. A [b]Maskil. A Song of Love.
45 My heart [c]overflows with a good theme;
I [d]address my [e]verses to the [f]King;
My tongue is the pen of (A)a skillful scribe.
2 You are fairer than the sons of men;
(B)Grace is poured [g]upon Your lips;
Therefore God has (C)blessed You forever.
3 Gird (D)Your sword on Your thigh, O [h](E)Mighty One,
In Your splendor and Your majesty!
4 And in Your majesty ride on victoriously,
For the cause of truth and (F)meekness and righteousness;
Let Your (G)right hand teach You [i]awesome things.
5 Your (H)arrows are sharp;
The (I)peoples fall under You;
Your arrows are (J)in the heart of the King’s enemies.
6 (K)Your throne, O God, is forever and ever;
A scepter of (L)uprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom.
7 You have (M)loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
Therefore God, Your God, has (N)anointed You
With the oil of joy above Your companions.
8 All Your garments are fragrant with (O)myrrh and aloes and cassia;
Out of ivory palaces (P)stringed instruments have made You glad.
9 Kings’ daughters are among (Q)Your noble ladies;
At Your (R)right hand stands the queen in (S)gold from Ophir.
10 Listen, O daughter, give attention and incline your ear:
(T)Forget your people and your father’s house;
11 Then the King will desire your beauty.
Because He is your (U)Lord, (V)bow down to Him.
12 The daughter of (W)Tyre will come with a present;
The (X)rich among the people will seek your favor.
13 The King’s daughter is all glorious within her chamber;
Her clothing is (Y)interwoven with gold.
14 She will be (Z)led to the King (AA)in embroidered work;
The (AB)virgins, her companions who follow her,
Will be brought to You.
15 They will be led forth with gladness and rejoicing;
They will enter into the King’s palace.
God Is King of All the Earth
For the choir director. Of the sons of Korah. A Psalm.
47 O (A)clap your hands, all peoples;
(B)Make a loud shout to God with the sound of a shout of [a]joy.
2 For Yahweh Most High is [b](C)fearsome,
A (D)great King over all the earth.
3 He (E)subdues peoples under us
And nations under our feet.
4 He chooses our (F)inheritance for us,
The (G)pride of Jacob whom He loves. [c]Selah.
5 God has (H)ascended [d]with a loud shout,
Yahweh, [e]with the (I)sound of a trumpet.
6 (J)Sing praises to God, sing praises;
Sing praises to (K)our King, sing praises.
7 For God is the (L)King of all the earth;
Sing praises (M)with a [f]skillful psalm.
8 God (N)reigns over the nations,
God [g]sits on (O)His holy throne.
9 The (P)nobles of the peoples have assembled themselves with the (Q)people of the God of Abraham,
For the (R)shields of the earth belong to God;
He [h]is (S)highly exalted.
The City of Our God
A Song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.
48 (T)Great is Yahweh, and greatly to be praised,
In the (U)city of our God, His (V)holy mountain.
2 (W)Beautiful in elevation, (X)the joy of the whole earth,
Is Mount Zion in the far north,
The (Y)city of the great King.
3 God, in her palaces,
Has made Himself known as a (Z)stronghold.
4 For, behold, the (AA)kings assembled themselves,
They passed by together.
5 They saw it, then they were astonished;
They were (AB)dismayed, they [i]fled in alarm.
6 [j]Panic seized them there,
Anguish, as of (AC)a woman in childbirth.
7 With the (AD)east wind
You (AE)break the (AF)ships of Tarshish.
8 As we have heard, so have we seen
In the city of Yahweh of hosts, in the city of our God;
God will (AG)establish her forever. [k]Selah.
9 We have thought on (AH)Your lovingkindness, O God,
In the midst of Your temple.
10 As is Your (AI)name, O God,
So is Your (AJ)praise to the ends of the earth;
Your (AK)right hand is full of righteousness.
11 Let Mount (AL)Zion be glad,
Let the (AM)daughters of Judah rejoice
Because of Your judgments.
12 Walk about Zion and go around her;
Count her (AN)towers;
13 Consider her (AO)ramparts;
Go through her palaces,
That you may (AP)recount it to the next generation.
14 For this is God,
Our God forever and ever;
He will (AQ)guide us [l]over death.
The Death of Samuel
25 (A)Then Samuel died; and all Israel gathered together and (B)lamented for him and (C)buried him at his house in Ramah. And David arose and went down to the (D)wilderness of Paran.
David and Abigail
2 Now there was a man in (E)Maon whose work was in (F)Carmel; and the man was very great, and he had three thousand sheep and one thousand goats. And it happened, while (G)he was shearing his sheep in Carmel 3 (now the man’s name was Nabal, and his (H)wife’s name was Abigail. And the woman was good in insight and beautiful in appearance, but the man was harsh and evil in his dealings, and he was (I)a Calebite), 4 that David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep. 5 So David sent ten young men; and David said to the young men, “Go up to Carmel, come to Nabal, and greet him in my name; 6 and thus you shall say, ‘[a]Have a long life; (J)peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have. 7 So now I have heard (K)that you have shearers; now your shepherds have been with us; and we have not dishonored them, (L)nor have they missed anything all the days they were in Carmel. 8 Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we have come on (M)a [b]festive day. Please give whatever you find at hand to your servants and to your son, to David.’”
9 Then David’s young men came and spoke to Nabal according to all these words in David’s name. Then they waited. 10 But Nabal answered David’s servants and said, “(N)Who is David? And who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants today who are each breaking away from his master. 11 Shall I then (O)take my bread and my water and my meat that I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men [c]whose origin I do not know?” 12 So David’s young men went back on their way and returned; and they came and told him according to all these words. 13 Then David said to his men, “Each of you gird on his sword.” So each man girded on his sword. And David also girded on his sword, and about (P)four hundred men went up behind David, and two hundred (Q)stayed with the baggage.
14 But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, “Behold, David sent messengers from the wilderness to [d](R)greet our master, and he rushed at them angrily. 15 Yet the men were very good to us, and we were not (S)dishonored, nor did we miss anything [e]as long as we went about with them, while we were in the field. 16 (T)They were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the time we were with them shepherding the sheep. 17 So now, know and see what you should do, for evil is decided against our master and against all his household; and he is such a [f]vile man that no one can speak to him.”
Abigail’s Discernment
18 Then Abigail hurried and (U)took two hundred loaves of bread and two [g]jugs of wine and five sheep already prepared and [h]five seahs of roasted grain and one hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and loaded them on donkeys. 19 Then she said to her young men, “(V)Go on before me; behold, I am coming after you.” But she did not tell her husband Nabal. 20 So it was happening, as she was riding on her donkey and coming down by the hidden part of the mountain, that behold, David and his men were coming down toward her; and she met them. 21 Now David had said, “Surely for a lie I have guarded all that this man has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him; and he has (W)returned me evil for good. 22 (X)May God do so to the enemies of David, and more also, (Y)if by morning I leave as much as one [i]male of any who belong to him.”
In Iconium
14 Now it happened that in (A)Iconium (B)they entered the synagogue of the Jews together and spoke in such a manner (C)that a large number of people believed, both of Jews and of (D)Greeks. 2 But (E)the [a](F)unbelieving Jews instigated and embittered the [b]minds of the Gentiles against (G)the brothers. 3 Therefore they spent a long time there (H)speaking boldly with reliance upon the Lord, who was testifying to the word of His grace, granting that [c](I)signs and wonders be done through their hands. 4 (J)But the multitude of the city was divided; and some [d]sided with (K)the Jews, and some with (L)the apostles. 5 And when an attempt was made by both the Gentiles and (M)the Jews with their rulers to mistreat and to (N)stone them, 6 they became aware of it and fled to the cities of (O)Lycaonia, (P)Lystra and (Q)Derbe, and the surrounding region; 7 and there they continued to (R)proclaim the gospel.
In Lystra and Derbe
8 And at (S)Lystra (T)a man was sitting who had no strength in his feet, lame from his mother’s womb, who had never walked. 9 This man listened to Paul as he spoke, who, (U)when he fixed his gaze on him and saw that he had (V)faith to be [e]saved from being lame, 10 said with a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” (W)And he leaped up and began to walk. 11 And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they raised their voice, saying in the (X)Lycaonian language, “(Y)The gods have become like men and have come down to us.” 12 And they began calling Barnabas, [f]Zeus, and Paul, [g]Hermes, because he was [h]the chief speaker. 13 And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was [i]just outside the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, and (Z)was wanting to offer sacrifice with the crowds. 14 But when (AA)the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they (AB)tore their garments and rushed out into the crowd, crying out 15 and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We are also (AC)men of the same nature as you, (AD)proclaiming the gospel to you that you should turn from these [j](AE)vain things to a (AF)living God, (AG)who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. 16 [k]In the generations gone by He (AH)permitted all the [l]nations to (AI)go their own ways; 17 and yet (AJ)He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and (AK)gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness.” 18 And saying these things, with difficulty they restrained the crowds from offering sacrifice to them.
21 And He was saying to them, “(A)Is a lamp brought to be put under a [a]basket or under a bed? Is it not to be put on the lampstand? 22 (B)For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light. 23 (C)If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” 24 And He was saying to them, “Beware what you listen to. [b](D)By your standard of measure it will be measured to you, and more will be given to you. 25 (E)For whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.”
The Parable of the Seed
26 And He was saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; 27 and he sleeps and rises, night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself does not know. 28 The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. 29 But when the grain [c]is ripe, he immediately [d](F)puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
The Parable of the Mustard Seed
30 (G)And He was saying, “How shall we (H)compare the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is [e]smallest of all the seeds that are upon the soil, 32 yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes [f]largest of all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that (I)the birds of the [g]air can nest under its shade.”
33 And with many such parables He was speaking the word to them, as they were able to hear it; 34 and He was not speaking to them (J)without a parable; but He was (K)explaining everything privately to His own disciples.
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