Book of Common Prayer
A Royal Wedding Song
Psalm 45
1 For the music director, according to “Lilies.” Of the sons of Korah, a contemplative song, a love song.
2 My heart is stirred with a good word.
I speak my verses to the king.
My tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.
3 You are the most handsome of the sons of men.
Grace pours from your lips.
Therefore God has blessed you forever.
4 Gird your sword on your thigh, O mighty one,
in your splendor and your majesty.
5 In your majesty ride victoriously,
on behalf of truth, meekness and justice.
Let your right hand display awesome things.
6 Your arrows are sharp.
Peoples fall beneath you—
into the heart of the king’s enemies.
7 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,
and a scepter of justice is the scepter of Your kingdom.
8 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.
Therefore, God, your God, anointed you with the oil of gladness above your companions.[a]
9 All your robes have myrrh, aloes, cassia.
From ivory palaces, stringed instruments
make you glad.
10 Kings’ daughters are among your honored women.
At your right hand stands the queen
in gold of Ophir.
11 “Listen, O daughter, consider and incline your ear.
Forget your people and your father’s house.
12 Then the king will desire your beauty.
Honor him, for he is your lord.
13 A daughter of Tyre comes with a gift.
The richest people will court your favor.”
14 All glorious is the king’s daughter within the palace—
her gown is interwoven with gold.[b]
15 She will be led to the king in embroidered garments.
Her virgins, her companions following her, are coming in to you.
16 They are led in with joy and gladness—
they enter into the palace of the king.
17 Your sons will take your fathers’ place.
You will make them princes throughout the land.
18 I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations.
Therefore the nations will praise you forever and ever.
In Celebration of God’s Reign
Psalm 47
1 For the music director, a psalm for the sons of Korah.
2 Clap your hands, all you peoples!
Shout to God with the voice of joy!
3 For Adonai Elyon is awesome,
a great King over all the earth.
4 He subdues peoples under us,
and nations under our feet.
5 He chooses our inheritance for us,
the glory of Jacob whom He loved. Selah
6 God is gone up amidst shouting,
Adonai amidst the sound of the shofar.
7 Sing praises to God, sing praises!
Sing praises to our King, sing praises!
8 For God is the King of all the earth.
Sing praises with a skillful song.
9 God reigns over the nations.
God sits upon His holy throne.
10 The princes of the peoples are gathered as a people of the God of Abraham.
For the shields of earth belong to God—
He is greatly exalted!
Consider Zion’s Towers
Psalm 48
1 A song, a psalm of the sons of Korah.
2 Great is Adonai, and greatly to be praised
in the city of our God—His holy mountain.
3 A beautiful height—the joy of the whole earth—
is Mount Zion, on the northern side of the city of the great King.[a]
4 God, in her palaces,
is known as a stronghold.
5 For behold, the kings assembled,
they advanced together.
6 They saw, then they were astounded,
they fled in terror.
7 Trembling seized them there,
pain like a woman in labor.
8 With an east wind
You broke the ships of Tarshish.
9 As we have heard, so have we seen,
in the city of Adonai-Tzva’ot,
in the city of our God.
God will establish her forever. Selah
10 We have meditated on Your lovingkindness, O God,
in the midst of Your Temple.
11 Like Your Name, O God,
so is Your praise
to the ends of the earth.
Your right hand is full of righteousness.
12 Mount Zion is glad,
the daughters of Judah rejoice,
because of Your judgments.
13 Walk about Zion, go around her.
Count her towers.
14 Consider her ramparts,
go through her palaces,
so you may describe it to the next generation.
15 For this God is our God, forever and ever!
He will guide us to the end.
Four Horns and Four Craftsmen
2 Then I lifted up my eyes and behold, I saw four horns! 2 I said to the angel speaking with me, ‘What are these?’
He said to me, ‘These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel and Jerusalem.’
3 Then Adonai showed me four craftsmen. 4 I asked, ‘What are these coming to do?’
He answered, ‘These are the horns that scattered Judah, so that no one could raise his head, but the craftsmen have come to frighten them, to cast down the horns of the nations that have lifted up their horn against the land of Judah to scatter it.’
Measuring Jerusalem
5 I lifted up my eyes—and behold, I saw a man with a measuring line in his hand. [a] 6 I asked, ‘Where are you going?’
He answered me, ‘To measure Jerusalem to see how wide and how long it is.’[b]
7 Then behold, the angel speaking with me left and another angel went out to meet him, 8 saying to him, ‘Run, speak to this young man saying: “Jerusalem will be inhabited as a village without walls because of the great number of men and livestock in it. 9 For I”—it is a declaration of Adonai—“will be a wall of fire around it and I will be the glory inside it. 10 Oy, oy! Flee from the land of the north”—it is a declaration of Adonai—“because I scattered you like the four winds of heaven”—it is a declaration of Adonai. 11 “Oy, Zion! Escape, you who are living with the daughter of Babylon.”
12 “For thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot, He has sent me after glory to the nations that plundered you—because whoever touches you touches the apple of His eye— 13 ‘For behold, I will shake My hand against them and they will be plunder to their servants.’ Then you will know that Adonai-Tzva’ot has sent me.
14 “‘Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion! For behold, I am coming and I will live among you’[c]—it is a declaration of Adonai. 15 ‘In that day many nations will join themselves to Adonai and they will be My people and I will dwell among you.’ Then you will know that Adonai-Tzva’ot has sent me to you. 16 Adonai will inherit Judah as His portion in the holy land and will once again choose Jerusalem. 17 Be silent before Adonai, all flesh, for He has aroused Himself from His holy dwelling.”
Laodicea: Standing at the Door
14 To the angel of Messiah’s community in Laodicea write: “Thus says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Originator of God’s creation: [a] 15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. Oh, that you were either cold or hot! 16 So because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spew you out of My mouth. 17 For you say, ‘I am rich, I have made myself wealthy, and I need nothing.’[b] But you do not know that you are miserable and pitiable and poor and blind and naked. 18 I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich, and white clothes so that you may dress yourself and so the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed, and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. 19 Those whom I love, I rebuke and discipline. Therefore, be zealous and repent.
20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. 21 To the one who overcomes I will grant the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I myself overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Ruach is saying to Messiah’s communities.”
Watching for Messiah’s Return
32 “Now learn the parable from the fig tree. When its branch becomes tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 So also, when you see all these things, know that it is near, at the door. 34 Amen, I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things happen. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away. [a] 36 But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven nor the Son,[b] except the Father alone.
37 “For just as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark. 39 And they did not understand until the flood came and swept them all away.[c] So shall it be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two men will be in the field, one taken and one left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill, one taken and one left. [d] 42 Therefore stay alert; for you do not know what day your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known what time the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and not let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
Tree of Life (TLV) Translation of the Bible. Copyright © 2015 by The Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society.