Book of Common Prayer
A Song Celebrating the King’s Marriage.
For the choir director; according to the [a]Shoshannim. A [b]Maskil of the sons of Korah. 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 ready writer.
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 fellows.
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 gift;
The (X)rich among the people will seek your favor.
13 The King’s daughter is all glorious within;
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 the King of the Earth.
For the choir director. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.
47 O (A)clap your hands, all peoples;
(B)Shout to God with the voice of [a]joy.
2 For the Lord Most High is to be (C)feared,
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)glory of Jacob whom He loves. [b]Selah.
5 God has (H)ascended [c]with a shout,
The Lord, [d]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 [e]skillful psalm.
8 God (N)reigns over the nations,
God [f]sits on (O)His holy throne.
9 The [g](P)princes of the people have assembled themselves as 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 Beauty and Glory of Zion.
A Song; a Psalm of the sons of Korah.
48 (T)Great is the Lord, 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, lo, the (AA)kings assembled themselves,
They passed by together.
5 They saw it, then they were amazed;
They were (AB)terrified, 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 the Lord 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)tell it to the next generation.
14 For [l]such is God,
Our God forever and ever;
He will (AQ)guide us [m]until death.
Samuel’s Death
25 (A)Then Samuel died; and all Israel gathered together and (B)mourned for him, and (C)buried him at his house in Ramah. And David arose and went down to the (D)wilderness of Paran.
Nabal and Abigail
2 Now there was a man in (E)Maon whose business was in (F)Carmel; and the man was very [a]rich, and he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. And it came about 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 [b]intelligent 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, [c]visit Nabal and greet him in my name; 6 and thus you shall say, ‘[d]Have a long life, (J)peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have. 7 Now I have heard (K)that you have shearers; now your shepherds have been with us and we have not insulted 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 [e]festive day. Please give whatever you find at hand to your servants and to your son David.’”
9 When David’s young men came, they 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 [f]whose origin I do not know?” 12 So David’s young men retraced their way and went back; and they came and told him according to all these words. 13 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 while 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 [g](R)greet our master, and he scorned them. 15 Yet the men were very good to us, and we were not (S)insulted, nor did we miss anything [h]as long as we went about with them, while we were in the fields. 16 (T)They were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the time we were with them tending the sheep. 17 Now therefore, know and [i]consider what you should do, for evil is plotted against our master and against all his household; and he is such a [j]worthless man that no one can speak to him.”
Abigail Intercedes
18 Then Abigail hurried and (U)took two hundred loaves of bread and two jugs of wine and five sheep already prepared and five measures of roasted grain and a hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and loaded them on donkeys. 19 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 It came about 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; so she met them. 21 Now David had said, “Surely in vain 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 [k]male of any who belong to him.”
Acceptance and Opposition
14 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 Jews who [a](F)disbelieved stirred up the [b]minds of the Gentiles and embittered them against (G)the brethren. 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 by their hands. 4 (J)But the [d]people of the city were divided; and some [e]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)preach the gospel.
8 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 was listening to Paul as he spoke, who, (U)when he had fixed his gaze on him and had seen that he had (V)faith to be [f]made well, 10 said with a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” (W)And he leaped up and began to walk. 11 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, [g]Zeus, and Paul, [h]Hermes, because he was [i]the chief speaker. 13 The priest of Zeus, whose temple was [j]just outside the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, and (Z)wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds. 14 But when (AA)the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they (AB)tore their [k]robes 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, and (AD)preach the gospel to you that you should turn from these [l](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 [m]In the generations gone by He (AH)permitted all the [n]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, [o]satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.” 18 Even saying these things, with difficulty they restrained the crowds from offering sacrifice to them.
21 And He was saying to them, “(A)A lamp is not brought to be put under a [a]basket, is it, or under a bed? Is it not brought 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, “Take care what you listen to. [b](D)By your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides. 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.”
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 goes to bed at night and gets up by 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 crop permits, he immediately [c](F)puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
Parable of the Mustard Seed
30 (G)And He said, “How shall we [d](H)picture 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 smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil, 32 yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that (I)the birds of the [e]air can nest under its shade.”
33 With many such parables He was speaking the word to them, so far as they were able to hear it; 34 and He did not speak to them (J)without a parable; but He was (K)explaining everything privately to His own disciples.
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