Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 45[a]
Song for a Royal Wedding
1 For the leader; according to “Lilies.” A maskil of the Korahites. A love song.
I
2 My heart is stirred by a noble theme,
as I sing my ode to the king.
My tongue is the pen of a nimble scribe.
II
3 You are the most handsome of men;
fair speech has graced your lips,
for God has blessed you forever.(A)
4 Gird your sword upon your hip, mighty warrior!
In splendor and majesty ride on triumphant!(B)
5 In the cause of truth, meekness, and justice
may your right hand show your wondrous deeds.
6 Your arrows are sharp;
peoples will cower at your feet;
the king’s enemies will lose heart.
7 Your throne, O God,[b] stands forever;(C)
your royal scepter is a scepter for justice.
8 You love justice and hate wrongdoing;
therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness above your fellow kings.
9 With myrrh, aloes, and cassia
your robes are fragrant.
From ivory-paneled palaces[c]
stringed instruments bring you joy.
10 Daughters of kings are your lovely wives;
a princess arrayed in Ophir’s gold[d]
comes to stand at your right hand.
III
11 Listen, my daughter, and understand;
pay me careful heed.
Forget your people and your father’s house,[e]
12 that the king might desire your beauty.
He is your lord;
13 (D)honor him, daughter of Tyre.
Then the richest of the people
will seek your favor with gifts.
14 All glorious is the king’s daughter as she enters,(E)
her raiment threaded with gold;
15 In embroidered apparel she is led to the king.
The maids of her train are presented to the king.
16 They are led in with glad and joyous acclaim;
they enter the palace of the king.
IV
Psalm 47[a]
The Ruler of All the Nations
1 For the leader. A psalm of the Korahites.
I
2 All you peoples, clap your hands;
shout to God with joyful cries.(A)
3 For the Lord, the Most High, is to be feared,
the great king over all the earth,(B)
4 Who made people subject to us,
nations under our feet,(C)
5 [b]Who chose our heritage for us,
the glory of Jacob, whom he loves.(D)
Selah
II
6 [c]God has gone up with a shout;
the Lord, amid trumpet blasts.(E)
7 Sing praise to God, sing praise;
sing praise to our king, sing praise.
III
8 For God is king over all the earth;(F)
sing hymns of praise.
9 God rules over the nations;
God sits upon his holy throne.
10 The princes of the peoples assemble
with the people of the God of Abraham.
For the shields of the earth belong to God,
highly exalted.(G)
Psalm 48[d]
The Splendor of the Invincible City
1 A psalm of the Korahites.[e] A song.
I
2 Great is the Lord and highly praised
in the city of our God:(H)
His holy mountain,
3 fairest of heights,
the joy of all the earth,(I)
Mount Zion, the heights of Zaphon,[f](J)
the city of the great king.
II
4 God is in its citadel,
renowned as a stronghold.
5 See! The kings assembled,
together they advanced.
6 [g]When they looked they were astounded;
terrified, they were put to flight!(K)
7 Trembling seized them there,
anguish, like a woman’s labor,(L)
8 As when the east wind wrecks
the ships of Tarshish![h]
III
9 [i]What we had heard we have now seen
in the city of the Lord of hosts,
In the city of our God,
which God establishes forever.
Selah
10 We ponder, O God, your mercy
within your temple
11 Like your name, O God,
so is your praise to the ends of the earth.(M)
Your right hand is fully victorious.
12 Mount Zion is glad!
The daughters of Judah rejoice
because of your judgments!(N)
IV
B. The Deuteronomic Code
Chapter 12
One Center of Worship. 1 These are the statutes and ordinances which you must be careful to observe in the land which the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given you to possess, throughout the time you live on its soil.(A) 2 (B)Destroy entirely all the places where the nations you are to dispossess serve their gods, on the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree.(C) 3 Tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, burn up their asherahs, and chop down the idols of their gods, that you may destroy the very name of them from that place.
4 That is not how you are to act toward the Lord, your God. 5 Instead,(D) you shall seek out the place which the Lord, your God, chooses out of all your tribes and designates as his dwelling to put his name there.[a](E) There you shall go, 6 bringing your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and personal contributions, your votive and voluntary offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and flocks.(F) 7 There, too, in the presence of the Lord, your God, you and your families shall eat and rejoice in all your undertakings, in which the Lord, your God, has blessed you.(G)
8 You shall not do as we are doing here today, everyone doing what is right in their own sight,(H) 9 since you have not yet reached your resting place, the heritage which the Lord, your God, is giving you. 10 But after you have crossed the Jordan and dwell in the land which the Lord, your God, is giving you as a heritage, when he has given you rest from all your enemies round about and you live there in security,(I) 11 [b](J)then to the place which the Lord, your God, chooses as the dwelling place for his name you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and personal contributions, and every special offering you have vowed to the Lord. 12 You shall rejoice in the presence of the Lord, your God, with your sons and daughters, your male and female slaves, as well as with the Levite within your gates, who has no hereditary portion with you.
3 (A)We cause no one to stumble[a] in anything, in order that no fault may be found with our ministry; 4 [b]on the contrary, in everything we commend ourselves as ministers of God, through much endurance,[c] in afflictions, hardships, constraints,(B) 5 beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, vigils, fasts;(C) 6 [d]by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, in a holy spirit, in unfeigned love,(D) 7 in truthful speech, in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness at the right and at the left;(E) 8 through glory and dishonor, insult and praise. We are treated as deceivers and yet are truthful;[e] 9 as unrecognized and yet acknowledged; as dying and behold we live; as chastised and yet not put to death;(F) 10 as sorrowful yet always rejoicing; as poor yet enriching many; as having nothing and yet possessing all things.(G)
11 [f]We have spoken frankly to you, Corinthians; our heart is open wide. 12 You are not constrained by us; you are constrained by your own affections.(H) 13 As recompense in kind (I speak as to my children), be open yourselves.(I)
Call to Holiness. 14 [g]Do not be yoked with those who are different, with unbelievers.[h] For what partnership do righteousness and lawlessness have? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? 15 What accord has Christ with Beliar? Or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? 16 (J)What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said:
“I will live with them and move among them,[i]
and I will be their God
and they shall be my people.
17 Therefore, come forth from them
and be separate,” says the Lord,
“and touch nothing unclean;
then I will receive you(K)
18 and I will be a father to you,
and you shall be sons and daughters to me,
says the Lord Almighty.”(L)
Chapter 7
1 Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of flesh and spirit, making holiness perfect in the fear of God.
11 As he continued his journey to Jerusalem,(A) he traveled through Samaria and Galilee.[a] 12 As he was entering a village, ten lepers met [him]. They stood at a distance from him 13 and raised their voice, saying, “Jesus, Master! Have pity on us!”(B) 14 And when he saw them, he said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.”[b] As they were going they were cleansed.(C) 15 And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; 16 and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan. 17 Jesus said in reply, “Ten were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? 18 Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?” 19 Then he said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.”(D)
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