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.
23 In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri became king over Israel and reigned twelve years; he reigned six years at (A)Tirzah. 24 He bought the hill [a]Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver; and he built on the hill, and named the city which he built [b](B)Samaria, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill.
25 (C)Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, and (D)acted more wickedly than all who were before him. 26 For he (E)walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat and in his sins which he made Israel sin, provoking the Lord God of Israel with their [c]idols. 27 Now the rest of the acts of Omri which he did and his might which he [d]showed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 28 So Omri slept with his fathers and was buried in Samaria; and Ahab his son became king in his place.
29 Now Ahab the son of Omri became king over Israel in the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. 30 Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord (F)more than all who were before him.
31 It came about, as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that (G)he married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the (H)Sidonians, and went to serve Baal and worshiped him. 32 So he erected an altar for Baal in (I)the house of Baal which he built in Samaria. 33 Ahab also made (J)the [e]Asherah. Thus (K)Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who were before him. 34 (L)In his days Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho; he laid its foundations with the loss of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates with the loss of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the Lord, which He spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.
The Gospel Is Preached
12 Now I want you to know, brethren, that my circumstances (A)have turned out for the greater progress of the (B)gospel, 13 so that my [a](C)imprisonment in the cause of Christ has become well known throughout the whole [b]praetorian guard and to (D)everyone else, 14 and that most of the [c]brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my [d](E)imprisonment, have (F)far more courage to speak the word of God without fear. 15 (G)Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ even [e]from envy and strife, but some also [f]from good will; 16 the latter do it out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the (H)gospel; 17 the former proclaim Christ (I)out of selfish ambition [g]rather than from pure motives, thinking to cause me distress in my [h](J)imprisonment. 18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice.
Yes, and I will rejoice, 19 for I know that this will turn out for my [i]deliverance (K)through your [j]prayers and the provision of (L)the Spirit of Jesus Christ, 20 according to my (M)earnest expectation and (N)hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with (O)all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be (P)exalted in my body, (Q)whether by life or by death.
To Live Is Christ
21 For to me, (R)to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22 [k]But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean (S)fruitful labor for me; and I do not know [l]which to choose. 23 But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the (T)desire to depart and (U)be with Christ, for that is very much better; 24 yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. 25 (V)Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy [m]in the faith, 26 so that your (W)proud confidence in me may abound in Christ Jesus through my coming to you again.
27 Only conduct yourselves in a manner (X)worthy of the (Y)gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are (Z)standing firm in (AA)one spirit, with one [n]mind (AB)striving together for the faith of the gospel; 28 in no way alarmed by your opponents—which is a (AC)sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God. 29 For to you (AD)it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to (AE)suffer for His sake, 30 experiencing the same (AF)conflict which (AG)you saw in me, and now hear to be in me.
The Resurrection
16 (A)When the Sabbath was over, (B)Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of [a]James, and Salome, (C)bought spices, so that they might come and anoint Him. 2 Very early on the first day of the week, they *came to the tomb when the sun had risen. 3 They were saying to one another, “Who will roll away (D)the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” 4 Looking up, they *saw that the stone had been rolled away, [b]although it was extremely large. 5 (E)Entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they (F)were amazed. 6 And he *said to them, “(G)Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the (H)Nazarene, who has been crucified. (I)He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him. 7 But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘(J)He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.’” 8 They went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had gripped them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
9 [[c]Now after He had risen early on the first day of the week, He first appeared to (K)Mary Magdalene, from whom He had cast out seven demons. 10 (L)She went and reported to those who had been with Him, while they were mourning and weeping. 11 When they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, (M)they refused to believe it.
12 After that, (N)He appeared in a different form (O)to two of them while they were walking along on their way to the country. 13 They went away and reported it to the others, but they (P)did not believe them either.
The Disciples Commissioned
14 Afterward (Q)He appeared (R)to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table; and He reproached them for their (S)unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen. 15 And He said to them, “(T)Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 (U)He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. 17 These [d]signs will accompany those who have believed: (V)in My name they will cast out demons, they will (W)speak with new tongues; 18 they will (X)pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will (Y)lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
19 So then, when the Lord Jesus had (Z)spoken to them, He (AA)was received up into heaven and (AB)sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the [e]signs that followed.]
[[f]And they promptly reported all these instructions to Peter and his companions. And after that, Jesus Himself sent out through them from east to west the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation.]
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