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.
16 For there is (A)no remembrance of the wise man along with the fool forever, inasmuch as in the coming days all will be forgotten. And (B)how the wise man dies with the fool! 17 So I (C)hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun was [a]grievous to me; because everything is vanity and striving after wind.
The Vanity of Labor
18 Thus I hated (D)all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun, for I must (E)leave it to the man who will come after me. 19 And who knows whether he will be a wise man or (F)a man of simpleminded folly? Yet he will have [b]power over all the fruit of my labor for which I have labored and for which I have acted wisely under the sun. This too is (G)vanity. 20 Therefore I turned my heart to despair of all my labor for which I had labored under the sun. 21 When there is a man who has labored with wisdom, knowledge, and (H)skill, then he (I)gives his portion to one who has not labored with them. This too is vanity and a great evil. 22 For what does a man get in (J)all his labor and in the striving of his heart with which he labors under the sun? 23 Because all his days his endeavor is painful and (K)vexing; even at night his heart (L)does not lie down. This too is vanity.
24 [c]There is (M)nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and have his soul see good in his labor. This also I have seen that it is (N)from the hand of God. 25 For who can eat and who can have enjoyment outside of [d]Him? 26 For to a man who is good before Him, (O)He has given wisdom and knowledge and gladness, while to the sinner He has given the endeavor of gathering and collecting so that he may (P)give to one who is good before God. This too is (Q)vanity and striving after wind.
18 Then (A)three years later I went up (B)to Jerusalem to [a]become acquainted with (C)Cephas, and stayed with him fifteen days. 19 But I did not see any other of the apostles except [b](D)James, the Lord’s brother. 20 (Now in what I am writing to you, [c]I assure you (E)before God that I am not lying!) 21 Then (F)I went into the regions of (G)Syria and (H)Cilicia. 22 And I was still unknown by [d]sight to (I)the churches of Judea which are (J)in Christ; 23 but only, they kept hearing, “He who once persecuted us is now proclaiming the good news of (K)the faith which he once (L)tried to destroy.” 24 And they (M)were glorifying God [e]because of me.
Paul Accepted by the Apostles
2 Then after fourteen years I (N)went up again to Jerusalem with (O)Barnabas, taking (P)Titus along also. 2 And I went up [f]because of a (Q)revelation, and I laid out to them the (R)gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but I did so in private to those who were of reputation, lest somehow I might be (S)running, or had run, in vain. 3 But not even (T)Titus, who was with me, though he was a Greek, was (U)compelled to be circumcised. 4 But this was because of the (V)false brothers secretly brought in, who (W)had sneaked in to spy out our (X)freedom which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to (Y)enslave us. 5 But we did not yield in subjection to them for even [g]a moment, so that (Z)the truth of the gospel would remain with you. 6 But from those who [h]were of high (AA)reputation (what they were makes no difference to me; (AB)God [i]shows no partiality)—well, those who were of reputation contributed nothing to me. 7 But on the contrary, seeing that I had been (AC)entrusted with the (AD)gospel [j]to the uncircumcised, just as (AE)Peter had been [k]to the circumcised 8 (for He who worked in Peter unto his (AF)apostleship [l]to the circumcised worked in me also unto the Gentiles), 9 and recognizing (AG)the grace that had been given to me, (AH)James and (AI)Cephas and [m]John, who were (AJ)reputed to be (AK)pillars, gave to me and (AL)Barnabas the (AM)right [n]hand of fellowship, so that we might (AN)go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10 Only they asked us to remember the poor—(AO)the very thing I also was eager to do.
Jesus Rejected at Nazareth
53 [a](A)Now it happened that when Jesus had finished these parables, He departed from there. 54 (B)And He came to [b]His hometown and (C)began teaching them in their synagogue, so that (D)they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these [c]miraculous powers? 55 Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not (E)His mother called Mary, and His (F)brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? 56 And (G)His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” 57 And they were taking (H)offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, “(I)A prophet is not without honor except in his [d]hometown and in his own household.” 58 And He did not do many [e]miracles there because of their unbelief.
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