Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 45[a]
Nuptial Ode for the Messianic King
1 For the director.[b] According to “Lilies.” A maskil of the sons of Korah. A love song.
2 [c]My heart[d] is moved by a noble theme
as I sing my poem to the king;
my tongue is like the pen of a skillful scribe.
3 You are the most handsome of men;[e]
grace has anointed your lips,
for God has blessed you forever.
4 Gird your sword upon your thigh, O warrior,
and advance in splendor and majesty.
5 Ride on triumphantly in truth, humility, and justice;
may your right hand perform wondrous deeds.
6 Your arrows are sharp;
nations will lie beneath your feet;
the enemies of the king will lose heart.[f]
7 Your throne, O God,[g] will last forever and ever;
the scepter of your kingdom will be a scepter of justice.
8 You love righteousness and hate wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has established you above your fellow kings
by anointing you with the oil of gladness.
9 [h]All your robes are fragrant
with myrrh and aloes and cassia;
from palaces of ivory
stringed instruments bring joy to your heart.
10 Daughters of kings[i] are among your women in waiting;
at your right hand is your queen
adorned in gold of Ophir.
11 My daughter, listen carefully to my words
and follow them diligently.
Forget your people and your father’s house;[j]
12 then the king will desire your beauty.
Since he is your lord,
13 bow down before him.
The Daughter of Tyre[k] will bring you gifts,
people of wealth will seek your favor.
14 Within the palace the king’s daughter is adorned
in robes threaded with gold.
15 In embroidered garments she is led to the king,
followed by her virgin companions,
who are also led to you.,[l]
16 They are brought in with joy and gladness
as they enter the palace of the king.
17 Your[m] sons will take the place of your ancestors;
you will make them princes in all the earth.
18 I will extol your name through all generations;
therefore, the nations will praise you forever and ever.[n]
Psalm 47[a]
The Lord, King of All Nations
1 For the director.[b] A psalm of the sons of Korah.
2 All you peoples, clap your hands,[c]
shout to God with cries of gladness.
3 For the Lord, the Most High, is awesome;
he is the great King over all the earth.
4 He subdued nations under us
and brought peoples under our feet.
5 He chose our inheritance for us,
the pride of Jacob,[d] whom he loved. Selah
6 [e]God has ascended amid shouts of joy;
the Lord, amid the sound of trumpets.
7 Sing praises to God, sing praises;
sing praises to our King, sing praises.
8 For God is the King of the entire earth;
sing hymns of praise to him.
9 God reigns over all the nations;
God is seated on his holy throne.
10 The princes of the nations assemble
with the people of the God of Abraham;
for the rulers[f] of the earth belong to God,
and he is exalted on high.
Psalm 48[g]
Thanksgiving for the Deliverance of God’s People
1 A psalm of the sons of Korah.[h] A song.
2 Great is the Lord and worthy of high praise
in the city of our God.
His holy mountain,[i] 3 towering in its beauty,
is the joy of the entire earth.
Mount Zion, the true heights of the north,[j]
is the city of the great King.
4 God is in her citadels
and has revealed himself as her fortress.[k]
5 [l]For the kings conspired together
and came onward in unison.
6 As soon as they beheld her, they were astounded;
filled with panic, they fled.
7 They were seized with trembling,
with pains like those of a woman in labor,
8 as though a wind from the east[m]
were breaking up the ships of Tarshish.
9 What we had heard,
we have now beheld for ourselves[n]
in the city of the Lord of hosts,
in the city of our God
that he established to endure forever. Selah
10 O God, as we stand in the midst of your temple,
we will meditate on your kindness.[o]
11 Like your name,[p] O God,
your praise extends to the ends of the earth.
Your right hand is filled with righteousness;
12 let Mount Zion rejoice.
Let the towns of Judah exult
in your saving judgments.[q]
13 [r]Walk around Zion; pass throughout her;
count the number of her towers.
14 Take careful note of her ramparts,
walk through her citadels,
so that you may recount for future generations
15 that such is God;
our God forever and ever,
he will be our guide eternally.[s]
Chapter 5
1 Afterward, the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel who was over them.[a] 2 Thereupon Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua, the son of Jozadak, began again to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem, and the prophets of God were with them, giving them support.
3 At that time Tattenai, the governor of West-of-Euphrates, Shethar-bozenai, and their associates came to them and asked: “Who has given you the authority to rebuild this house and complete this structure? 4 What are the names of the men who are constructing this building?” 5 However, the eyes of their God continued to watch over the elders of the Jews, and they were not forced to stop until a report could reach Darius and an official reply could then be sent back in regard to this matter.
6 This is a copy of the letter that Tattenai, the governor of Trans-Euphrates, Shethar-bozenai, and their associates sent to King Darius. 7 This is the written report that they forwarded to him:
“To King Darius: Our sincere greetings. 8 Let it be known to your majesty that we went to the province of Judah and visited the house of the great God. It is being rebuilt with massive stones, and beams of timber are being laid in the walls. The work is being done diligently, and significant progress has been made.
9 “We then questioned the elders, asking them: ‘Who gave you permission to build this house and to finish this structure?’ 10 We also asked them their names for your information so that we could record the names of those who were their leaders.
11 “They gave us this answer: ‘We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth. We are in the process of rebuilding the house that was erected many years ago, a house that a great king of Israel had built and completed. 12 But because our ancestors provoked the wrath of the God of heaven, he delivered them into the power of Nebuchadnezzar, the Chaldean king of Babylon, who destroyed this temple and deported the people to Babylon.
13 “ ‘However, King Cyrus of Babylon,[b] in the first year of his reign, issued a decree that this house of God should be rebuilt. 14 Moreover, the gold and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar had removed from the temple of Jerusalem and brought into the temple of Babylon, King Cyrus in turn removed from the temple of Babylon and ordered them to be delivered into the hands of a man named Sheshbazzar, whom he had appointed governor. 15 He said to him: “Take these vessels. Go forth and deposit them in the temple of Jerusalem, and let the house of God be rebuilt on its original site.”
16 “ ‘Then this Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundations of the house of God in Jerusalem, and from that time until now it has been under construction, and it is not yet completed.’ 17 Now, if it pleases the king, order that a search be made in the royal archives of Babylon to ascertain whether a decree was issued by King Cyrus for the rebuilding of this house of God in Jerusalem. Then ask the king to convey his decision on this matter to us.”
Celestial Visions about What Is To Come[a]
Christ, Lord of History[b]
Chapter 4
Vision of the Throne.[c]1 Following this, I had a vision of heaven with an open door, and I heard the voice like a trumpet that I had heard speaking to me before, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” 2 At once I was caught up in the spirit,[d] and there in heaven I beheld a throne. 3 Seated upon the throne was one whose appearance was similar to that of jasper and carnelian, and surrounding it was a rainbow that looked like an emerald.
4 Encircling the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders,[e] dressed in white with gold crowns on their heads. 5 Emanating from the throne were flashes of lightning and rumblings and peals of thunder. Burning in front of the throne were seven flaming lamps, the seven spirits of God, 6 and in front of the throne there was something like a sea of glass as transparent as crystal.
In the center of the throne and around it there were four living creatures,[f] and they were covered with eyes in front and in back. 7 The first living creature resembled a lion, the second resembled an ox, the third had a human face, and the fourth resembled an eagle in flight. 8 Each of the four living creatures had six wings, and all of them were covered with eyes all around and underneath their wings. Day and night they never stop saying:
“Holy, holy, holy
is the Lord God, the Almighty,
who was, and who is, and who is to come.”
9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to the one who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders prostrate themselves before him who is seated on the throne and worship the one who lives forever and ever. As they lay down their crowns in front of the throne, they cry out:
11 “Worthy are you, O Lord our God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things;
by your will they were created
and have their being.”
Chapter 13
Jesus Teaches in Parables[a]
The Day of Parables. 1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the side of the lake. 2 However, such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat down while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables.[b]
The Parable of the Sower.[c] He said: “A sower went out to sow. 4 As he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where there was little soil. They sprouted quickly, since the soil had very little depth, 6 but when the sun rose they were scorched, and since they lacked roots, they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 But some seeds fell on rich soil and produced a crop—some a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times what was sown. 9 He who has ears, let him hear!”
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