Book of Common Prayer
To the Overcomer: upon Shoshannim lilies, for the sons of Korah, Maschil, A Song of loves.
1 ¶ My heart is overflowing with a good word; I speak of the things which I have done concerning the king; my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.
2 Thou art fairer than the sons of men, grace is poured into thy lips; therefore God has blessed thee for ever.
3 Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most valiant, with thy glory and thy majesty.
4 And in thy majesty be prospered; ride upon the word of truth and of humility and of righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things.
5 Thine arrows, by which the peoples fall under thee, penetrate the heart of the enemies of the king.
6 ¶ Thy throne, O God, is eternal and for ever, the rod of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.
7 Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness; therefore God, thy God, has anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
8 All thy garments smell of myrrh and aloes and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, by which they have made thee glad.
9 Kings’ daughters were among thy honourable women; the queen stands at thy right hand with a crown of gold from Ophir.
10 ¶ Hearken, O daughter, and consider and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father’s house;
11 so shall the king greatly desire thy beauty; and bow before him, for he is thy Lord.
12 And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift; even the rich among the people shall intreat thy favour.
13 The king’s daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold.
14 She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework; the virgins her companions that follow her shall be brought unto thee.
15 With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought; they shall enter into the king’s palace.
16 Instead of thy fathers shall be thy sons, whom thou shalt make princes in all the earth.
17 I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations; therefore shall the people praise thee eternally and for ever.
To the Overcomer: A Psalm for the sons of Korah.
1 ¶ O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph.
2 For the LORD most high is terrible; he is a great King over all the earth.
3 He shall guide the peoples under us, and the Gentiles under our feet.
4 He shall choose our inheritance for us, the excellency of Jacob whom he loved. Selah.
5 ¶ God is gone up with a shout of joy, the LORD with the sound of the shofar.
6 Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises unto our King, sing praises.
7 For God is the King of all the earth; sing ye praises with understanding.
8 God reigns over the Gentiles; God sits upon the throne of his holiness.
9 The princes of the peoples have joined the people of the God of Abraham; for the shields of the earth belong unto God; he is greatly exalted.
A Song and Psalm for the sons of Korah.
1 ¶ Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness.
2 Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.
3 God is known in her palaces for a refuge.
4 For, behold, the kings were assembled, they passed by together.
5 They saw it, and so they marvelled; they were troubled and hasted away.
6 Fear took hold upon them there and pain as of a woman in travail.
7 Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish with an east wind.
8 ¶ As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the LORD of the hosts, in the city of our God; God will establish it for ever. Selah.
9 We have conceived according to thy mercy, O God, in the midst of thy temple.
10 According to thy name, O God, so is thy praise unto the ends of the earth; thy right hand is full of righteousness.
11 Let Mount Zion rejoice, let the daughters of Judah be glad because of thy judgments.
12 Walk about Zion and go round about her; tell the towers thereof.
13 Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces that ye may tell it to the generation following.
14 For this God is our God eternally and for ever; he will be our guide even unto death.
5 ¶ Then the prophets, Haggai, the prophet, and Zechariah, the son of Iddo, prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel unto them.
2 Then Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, rose up and began to build the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and with them were the prophets of God helping them.
3 ¶ At the same time Tatnai, captain of this side the river, and Shetharboznai, and their companions came to them and said thus unto them, Who has commanded you to build this house and to make up this wall?
4 Then we said unto them regarding this, These are the names of the men that make this building!
5 For the eyes of their God were upon the elders of the Jews, and they could not cause them to cease until the matter came to Darius, and then they returned answer by letter concerning this matter.
6 The copy of the letter that Tatnai, captain of this side the river, and Shetharboznai, and his companions, the Apharsachites, which were on this side the river, sent unto Darius, the king:
7 they sent a letter unto him, in which was written thus; Unto Darius, the king, all peace.
8 Be it known unto the king that we went into the province of Judea, to the house of the great God, which is being built with stones of marble, and the timbers are laid in the walls, and this work is going fast and prospers in their hands.
9 Then we asked the elders and said unto them thus, Who commanded you to build this house and to found these walls?
10 We asked their names also, to notify thee, that we might write the names of the men that were at the head of them.
11 And thus they returned us answer, saying, We are servants of the God of heaven and earth and rebuild the house that was built many years ago, which the great king of Israel built and founded.
12 But after our fathers raged against the God of heaven, he gave them into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this house and carried the people away into Babylon.
13 But in the first year of Cyrus the king of Babylon the same King Cyrus made a decree to build this house of God.
14 And the vessels also of gold and silver of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple that was in Jerusalem and had brought them into the temple of Babylon, those did Cyrus, the king take out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered unto Sheshbazzar, whom he had made captain;
15 and said unto him, Take these vessels, go, carry them into the temple that is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be built in his place.
16 Then the same Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundation of the house of God which was in Jerusalem, and since that time until now it is being built, and it is not yet finished.
17 Now, therefore, if it seems good to the king, let there be a search made in the king’s treasure house, which is there in Babylon, whether it is so, that a decree was made by Cyrus, the king, to build this house of God in Jerusalem, and let the king send unto us his will concerning this matter.
4 ¶ After these things I looked, and, behold, an open door in heaven, and the first voice which I heard, was like a trumpet that spoke with me, saying, Come up here, and I will show thee the things that need to be done after these.
2 And immediately I was in the spirit, and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and there was one seated upon the throne.
3 And he that was seated was like a jasper and a sardine stone to look upon; and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.
4 And round about the throne were twenty-four thrones, and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.
5 And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices; and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.
6 And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal, and in the midst of the throne and round about the throne were four animals full of eyes in front and behind.
7 And the first animal was like a lion and the second animal like a calf, and the third animal had a face as a man, and the fourth animal was like a flying eagle.
8 ¶ And the four animals had each of them six wings about him, and they were full of eyes within, and they did not cease day or night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come.
9 And when those animals give glory and honour and praise to the one that is seated on the throne, who lives for ever and ever,
10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him that is seated on the throne and worship him that lives for ever and ever and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and virtue; for thou hast created all things, and by thy will they have their being and were created.
13 ¶ The same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the sea side.
2 And a great multitude was gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship and sat, and the whole multitude stood on the shore.
3 And he spoke many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, the sower went forth to sow;
4 and when he sowed, some of the seed fell beside the way, and the fowls came and devoured them up.
5 Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth; and forthwith they sprang up because they had no deepness of earth;
6 and when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.
7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up and choked them.
8 But some fell into good ground and brought forth fruit: one a hundredfold and another sixtyfold and another thirtyfold.
He
9 who has ears to hear, let him hear.
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