Book of Common Prayer
A Song for the King’s Wedding
For the director of music. To the tune of “Lilies.” A ·maskil [skillful psalm; meditation]. A love song of the sons of Korah [C descendants of Kohath, son of Levi, who served as Temple musicians; 1 Chr. 6:22].
45 ·Beautiful words fill my mind [L My heart is stirred with a good word].
I ·am speaking of royal things [or address my work to the king].
My tongue is like the pen of a skilled writer [Ezra 7:6].
2 You are more ·handsome [or excellent] than anyone,
and ·you are an excellent speaker [L grace flows from your lips; Prov. 22:11],
so God has blessed you forever.
3 Put on your sword ·at your side [L on your thigh], powerful warrior.
Show your ·glory [splendor] and majesty.
4 In your majesty ·win [L ride forth for] the victory
for what is ·true [faithful] and ·right [righteous].
Your ·power [L right hand] ·will do [L teaches you] amazing things.
5 Your sharp arrows will ·enter [pierce]
the hearts of the king’s enemies.
·Nations [Peoples] will ·be defeated before [L fall beneath] you.
6 ·God, your throne will last [or Your throne is a throne of God] forever and ever.
·You will rule your kingdom with fairness [L A scepter of virtue will be the scepter of your kingdom].
7 You love ·right [righteousness] and hate ·evil [wickedness],
so God has ·chosen [anointed] you from among your ·friends [companions];
·he has set you apart with much joy [L …with the oil of joy; C kings were anointed with oil at their coronation; 1 Sam. 10:1; 16:13; Heb. 1:8–9].
8 Your clothes smell like myrrh, aloes, and cassia.
From palaces of ivory
·music [stringed instruments] comes to make you happy.
9 Kings’ daughters are among your honored women.
Your ·bride [queen; consort] stands at your right side
wearing gold from Ophir [C perhaps a region in southern Arabia].
10 Listen to me, daughter; look and ·pay attention [L incline your ear].
Forget your people and your father’s ·family [L house; Gen. 2:24].
11 The king ·loves [L desires; longs for] your beauty.
Because he is your ·master [lord], you should ·obey [L bow yourself before] him.
12 ·People from the city [L The daughter] of Tyre have brought ·a gift [tribute].
Wealthy people ·will want to meet you [seek your favor].
13 The ·princess [L daughter of the king] is ·very beautiful [L all glorious within].
Her gown is woven with gold.
14 In her ·beautiful [embroidered] clothes she is brought to the king.
·Her bridesmaids [Virgins] follow behind her,
and ·they are also brought to him [L her friends follow].
15 They come with happiness and joy;
they enter the king’s palace.
16 You will have sons to replace your fathers [C addressed to the king].
You will make them ·rulers [princes] through all the land.
17 I will make your name famous from now on,
so people will praise you forever and ever.
God, the King of the World
For the director of music. A psalm of the sons of Korah [C descendants of Kohath, son of Levi, who served as Temple musicians; 1 Chr. 6:22].
47 Clap your hands, all you people.
Shout to God with ·joy [jubilant shouts/cries/L sound].
2 The Lord Most High is ·wonderful [awesome].
He is the great King over all the earth!
3 He ·defeated [subdues] ·nations [or armies] ·for [L under] us
and ·put them under our control [L peoples under our feet].
4 He chose ·the land we would inherit [L for us our heritage/inheritance].
We are the ·children [L pride] of Jacob, whom he loved. ·
5 God has risen with a shout of joy;
the Lord has risen ·as the trumpets sounded [L with the sound of the ram’s horn].
6 Sing praises to God. Sing praises.
Sing praises to our King. Sing praises.
7 God is King of all the earth,
so sing a ·song of praise [psalm; a skillful psalm; meditation; L maskil] to him.
8 God is King over the nations.
God sits on his holy throne.
9 The ·leaders [princes] of the ·nations [or armies] ·meet [L gather together]
with the ·people [or army] of the God of Abraham,
because the ·leaders [L shields; C military leaders] of the earth belong to God.
He is ·supreme [highly exalted].
Jerusalem, the City of God
A psalm of the sons of Korah [C descendants of Kohath, son of Levi, who served as Temple musicians; 1 Chr. 6:22].
48 The Lord is great; ·he should [L and greatly to] be praised
in the city of our God, on his holy mountain [C Mount Zion, the location of the Temple].
2 It is ·high and beautiful [beautiful in elevation]
·and brings joy to [L the joy of] the whole world [Lam. 2:15].
Mount Zion ·is like the high mountains [L on the sides] of ·the north [or Zaphon; C comparing Yahweh’s mountain with the mountain of Baal];
it is the city of the Great King.
3 God is within its ·palaces [citadels];
he is known as its defender.
4 Kings joined together
and came ·to attack the city [L on together; 2:1].
5 But when they saw it, they were ·amazed [astonished].
They ran away in ·fear [panic].
6 ·Fear [L Trembling] ·took hold of [seized] them;
they ·hurt [were in pain] like a woman ·having a baby [in labor].
7 You ·destroyed [broke up] the ·large trading ships [L ships of Tarshish; C large trading vessels capable of going to distant ports; Tarshish may have been in Spain (Tartessus) or an island in the eastern Mediterranean; Is. 2:16; Jon. 1:3]
with an east wind.
8 First we heard
and now we have seen
that God ·will always keep his city safe [establishes forever].
It is the city of the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts],
the city of our God. ·
9 God, we come into your Temple
to ·think [ponder; meditate] about your ·love [loyalty].
10 God, your name is known everywhere;
·all over the earth people [L the ends of the earth] praise you.
Your right hand is full of ·goodness [righteousness; or victory].
11 Mount Zion is happy
and ·all the towns [L the daughters] of Judah rejoice,
because ·your decisions are fair [or of your judgments].
12 Walk around Jerusalem
and count its towers.
13 ·Notice how strong they are [L Set your heart on its ramparts].
Look at the ·palaces [citadels].
Then you can ·tell [recount it to] ·your children about them [L a later generation].
14 This God is our God forever and ever.
He will guide us from now on.
Israel Will Be Free
12 “·People of Jacob [L Jacob], listen to me.
·People of Israel [L Israel], ·I have called you to be my people [L whom I called].
I am ·God [L he; the one];
I am the ·beginning and the end [L first and I am the last; 41:4; 44:5].
13 I ·made [L laid the foundation of] the earth with my own hands.
With my right hand I spread out the skies.
When I call them,
they ·come [stand] together before me.”
14 All of you, come together and listen.
·None of the gods [L Who among them…?] said these things would happen.
The Lord ·has chosen someone [has an ally; or loves him; C a reference to Cyrus, king of Persia; see 41:2; 44:28–45:6; 46:11; 48:14–16]
to carry out his ·wishes [desire; purpose] against Babylon,
·to attack [L his arm will be against] the Babylonians;
15 “I have spoken; I have called him.
I have brought him, and I will make him successful.
16 Come to me and listen to this.
From the ·beginning [first] I have ·spoken openly [L not spoken in secret].
From the time it ·began [happened], I was there.”
Now, the Lord God
·has sent me with his Spirit [or and his Spirit have sent me; C Cyrus is probably speaking here; vv. 14–15].
17 This is what the Lord, ·who saves you [your Redeemer],
the Holy One of Israel [1:4], says:
“I am the Lord your God,
who teaches you ·to do what is good [what is best; or how to succeed],
who leads you in the way you should go.
18 If you had obeyed my commands,
you would have had peace like a river [C abundant and overflowing; 66:12].
·Good things [Your righteousness] would have flowed to you like the waves of the sea.
19 ·Your ·children [descendants] would have been ·as numerous as [L like] ·sand in the sea [L sand]
and your ·descendants [offspring/seed of your body] like grains of sand [10:22; Gen. 15:5; 22:17; Hos. 1:10].
·They [L Their name] would never have ·died out [been cut off]
nor been destroyed.”
20 ·My people, leave [L Go out from] Babylon!
Run from the ·Babylonians [L Chaldeans]!
Tell this news with shouts of joy to the people;
spread it ·everywhere on [L to the end of] earth.
Say, “The Lord has ·saved [redeemed] his ·servants, the people of Jacob [L servant Jacob].”
21 They did not become thirsty when he led them through the deserts.
He made water flow from a rock for them.
He split the rock,
and water flowed out [43:19; Ex. 17:6; Num. 20:11].
18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to ·meet [get to know; or confer with; gain information from] ·Peter [L Cephas, Peter’s name in Aramaic; John 1:42] and stayed with him for fifteen days. 19 I ·met [or saw] no other apostles, except James [Acts 12:17; 15:13–21; 21:18; James 1:1], the brother of the Lord. 20 ·God knows that [or I swear before God that; L Before God,] these things I write are not lies. 21 Later, I went to the areas of Syria [C a Roman province north of Israel] and Cilicia [C a Roman province in present-day southeastern Turkey; Paul’s hometown Tarsus was in Cilicia].
22 In Judea the churches in Christ had never met me. 23 They had only heard it said, “This man who was ·attacking [persecuting] us is now preaching the same faith that he once tried to destroy.” 24 And these believers ·praised [glorified] God because of me.
Other Apostles Accepted Paul
2 [L Then] After fourteen years I went to Jerusalem again, this time with Barnabas [Acts 4:36; 9:26–27; 11:22, 25, 30; 13:2–4; 15:36–39]. I also took Titus [2 Cor. 2:13; Titus 1:4–5] with me. 2 I went because ·God showed me I should go [L of a revelation]. There I met in private with ·the leaders of the church [or those who seemed to be leaders; or the prominent/influential ones] and I ·told [presented to; set before] them the ·Good News [Gospel] that I preach to the Gentiles. ·I did not want my past work and the work I am now doing to be wasted [L …to make sure I was not running or had run in vain]. 3 Titus was with me, but he was not ·forced [compelled] to be circumcised [Gen. 17], even though he was a Greek. 4 ·We talked about this problem [This issue arose] because some false ·believers [L brothers] had come into our group secretly. They came in ·like spies to overturn [to sabotage; L to spy on] the freedom we have in Christ Jesus. They wanted to make us slaves. 5 But we did not give in to ·those false believers [L them] for a minute, so that the truth of the ·Good News [Gospel] would ·continue [be preserved; not be compromised] for you.
6 Those leaders who ·seemed to be important [or were prominent/influential] did not ·change the Good News that I preach [or add anything to my message]. (It doesn’t matter to me if they were ·“important” [prominent; influential] or not. To God everyone is the same.) 7 But these leaders saw that I had been ·given the work of telling the Good News [L entrusted with the Gospel] to the ·Gentiles [non-Jewish people; L uncircumcised], just as Peter ·had the work of telling the Jews [L to the circumcised]. 8 [L For] ·God [L The one] who gave Peter the power to work as an apostle for the ·Jewish people [L circumcised] also gave me the power to work as an apostle for the Gentiles. 9 James, Peter, and John, who seemed to be ·the leaders [L pillars], ·understood [recognized; acknowledged] that God had given me this special grace, so they ·accepted [shook hands in partnership with; L gave the right hand of fellowship/partnership to] Barnabas and me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles and they would go to the ·Jewish people [L circumcised]. 10 The only thing they asked us was to remember to help the poor [C meaning especially the poor believers in Jerusalem; Acts 11:27–30]—something I ·really wanted [myself was eager/zealous] to do.
Jesus Goes to His Hometown(A)
6 Jesus left there and went to his hometown [C Nazareth; Matt. 2:23; Luke 2:39], and his ·followers [disciples] went with him. 2 On the Sabbath day he ·taught [L began to teach] in the synagogue. Many people heard him and were ·amazed [astonished], saying, “Where did this man get these ·teachings [L things]? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? And where did he get the power to do ·miracles [L such mighty works done by his hands]? 3 ·He is just [L Isn’t this…?] the carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joseph [C Greek: Joses], Judas, and Simon. ·And his sisters are [L Are not his sisters…?] here with us.” So the people were ·upset with [offended by] Jesus.
4 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is ·honored everywhere [not dishonored] except in his hometown and with his own ·people [relatives; kin] and in his own ·home [household].” 5 So Jesus was not able to work any miracles there except to heal a few sick people by ·putting [laying] his hands on them. 6 He ·was amazed [wondered; marveled] ·at how many people had no faith [because of their unbelief].
Jesus Commissions the Twelve Apostles(B)
Then Jesus went [around] to other villages in that area and taught. 7 He called ·his twelve followers [L the Twelve] together and ·got ready [began] to send them out two by two and gave them authority over ·evil [defiling; L unclean] spirits. 8 This is what Jesus ·commanded [ordered; instructed] them: “Take nothing for your ·trip [journey; way] except a ·walking stick [staff]. Take no bread, no ·bag [traveler’s bag; or beggar’s purse], and no money in your ·pockets [money belts]. 9 Wear sandals, but ·take only the clothes you are wearing [do not wear/pack two tunics]. 10 When you enter a house, stay there until you leave ·that town [that area]. 11 If the people in a certain place refuse to welcome you or listen to you, leave that place. Shake its dust off your feet [C a sign of rejection and coming judgment] as a ·warning to [testimony against] them.”[a]
12 So ·the followers [L they] went out and preached that people should ·change their hearts and lives [turn from sin; repent]. 13 They ·forced [drove; cast] many demons out and ·put olive oil on [anointed with oil] many sick people and healed them.
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