Book of Common Prayer
A Song for the King’s Wedding
For the director of music. To the tune of “Lilies.” A maskil. A love song of the sons of Korah.
45 Beautiful words fill my mind.
I am speaking of royal things.
My tongue is like the pen of a skilled writer.
2 You are more handsome than anyone.
You are a very good speaker.
God has blessed you forever.
3 Put on your sword, powerful warrior.
Show your glory and majesty.
4 In your majesty win the victory.
Defend what is true and right.
Your power will do amazing things.
5 Your sharp arrows will enter
the hearts of the king’s enemies.
Nations will be defeated before you.
6 God, your throne will last forever and ever.
You will rule your kingdom with fairness.
7 You love right and hate evil.
So God has chosen you to rule those with you.
Your God has given you much joy.
8 Your clothes smell like myrrh, aloes and cassia.
From palaces of ivory
music comes to make you happy.
9 Kings’ daughters are among your honored women.
Your bride stands at your right side
wearing gold from Ophir.
10 Listen to me, daughter. Look and pay attention.
Forget your people and your father’s family.
11 The king loves your beauty.
Because he is your master, you should obey him.
12 People from the city of Tyre have brought a gift.
Wealthy people will want to meet you.
13 The princess is very beautiful.
Her gown is woven with gold.
14 In her beautiful clothes she is brought to the king.
Her bridesmaids follow behind her.
And they are also brought to him.
15 They come with happiness and joy.
They enter the king’s palace.
16 You will have sons to take the place of your ancestors.
You will make them rulers through all the land.
17 I will make your name famous from now on.
People will praise you forever and ever.
God, the King of the World
For the director of music. A song of the sons of Korah.
47 Clap your hands, all you people.
Shout to God with joy.
2 The Lord Most High is wonderful.
He is the great King over all the earth!
3 He defeated nations for us
and put them under our control.
4 He chose the land we would inherit.
We are the children of Jacob, whom he loved. Selah
5 God has risen with a shout of joy.
The Lord has risen as the trumpets sounded.
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 to him.
8 God is King over the nations.
God sits on his holy throne.
9 The leaders of the nations meet
with the people of the God of Abraham.
Even the leaders of the earth belong to God.
He is supreme.
Jerusalem, the City of God
A song of the sons of Korah.
48 The Lord is great; he should be praised
in the city of our God, on his holy mountain.
2 It is high and beautiful.
It brings joy to the whole world.
Mount Zion is like the high mountains of the north.
It is the city of the Great King.
3 God is within its palaces.
He is known as its protection.
4 Kings joined together
and came together to attack the city.
5 But when they saw it, they were amazed.
They ran away in fear.
6 Fear took hold of them.
They hurt like a woman having a baby.
7 You destroyed the large trading ships
with an east wind.
8 First we heard.
And now we have seen that
God will always keep his city safe.
It is the city of the Lord of heaven’s armies,
the city of our God. Selah
9 God, we come into your Temple.
There we think about your love.
10 God, your name is known everywhere.
Everywhere on earth people praise you.
Your right hand is full of goodness.
11 Mount Zion is happy.
All the towns of Judah rejoice
because your decisions are fair.
12 Walk around Jerusalem
and count its towers.
13 Notice how strong they are. Look at the palaces.
Then you will be able to tell your children about them.
14 This God is our God forever and ever.
He will guide us from now on.
23 Omri became king of Israel. This was during the thirty-first year Asa was king of Judah. And Omri ruled Israel for 12 years. Six of those years he ruled in the town of Tirzah. 24 Omri bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer. He paid about 150 pounds of silver for it. Omri built a city on that hill. And he called it Samaria after the name of its earlier owner, Shemer.
25 But Omri did what the Lord said was wrong. He did more evil than all the kings who were before him. 26 Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused the people of Israel to sin. And Omri sinned in the same way Jeroboam had sinned. So the Israelites made the Lord, the God of Israel, very angry. He was angry because they worshiped worthless idols.
27 Everything else Omri did and all his successes are written down. They are all in the book of the history of the kings of Israel. 28 So Omri died and was buried in Samaria. His son Ahab became king in his place.
Ahab King of Israel
29 So Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel. This was during Asa’s thirty-eighth year as king of Judah. Ahab ruled Israel in the town of Samaria for 22 years. 30 Ahab did many things that the Lord said were wrong. He did more evil than any of the kings before him. 31 He sinned in the same ways that Jeroboam son of Nebat had sinned. But he did even worse things. He married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal. (Ethbaal was king of the city of Sidon.) Then Ahab began to serve Baal and worship him. 32 He built a temple in Samaria for worshiping Baal. And he put an altar there for Baal. 33 Ahab also made an idol for worshiping Asherah. He did more things to make the Lord, the God of Israel, angry than all the other kings before him.
34 During the time of Ahab, Hiel from Bethel rebuilt the town of Jericho. It cost Hiel the life of Abiram, his oldest son, to begin work on the city. And it cost the life of Segub, his youngest son, to build the city gates. The Lord had said, through Joshua, that this would happen.[a] (Joshua was the son of Nun.)
Paul’s Troubles Help the Work
12 Brothers, I want you to know that what has happened to me has helped to spread the Good News. 13 I am in prison because I am a believer in Christ. All the palace guards and everyone else knows this. 14 I am still in prison, but most of the believers feel better about it now. And so they are much braver about telling the Good News about Christ.
15 It is true that some preach about Christ because they are jealous and bitter. But others preach about Christ because they want to help. 16 They preach because they have love, and they know that God gave me the work of defending the Good News. 17 But others preach about Christ because they are selfish. Their reason for preaching is wrong. They want to make trouble for me in prison.
18 But I do not care if they make trouble for me. The important thing is that they are preaching about Christ. They should do it for the right reasons. But I am happy even if they do it for wrong reasons. And I will continue to be happy. 19 You are praying for me, and the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me. So I know that this trouble will bring my freedom. 20 The thing I want and hope for is that I will not fail Christ in anything. I hope that I will have the courage now, as always, to show the greatness of Christ in my life here on earth. I want to do that if I die or if I live. 21 To me the only important thing about living is Christ. And even death would be profit for me. 22 If I continue living in the body, I will be able to work for the Lord. But what should I choose—living or dying? I do not know. 23 It is hard to choose between the two. I want to leave this life and be with Christ. That is much better. 24 But you need me here in my body. 25 I know that you need me, and so I know that I will stay with you. I will help you grow and have joy in your faith. 26 You will be very happy in Christ Jesus when I am with you again.
27 Be sure that you live in a way that brings honor to the Good News of Christ. Then whether I come and visit you or am away from you, I will hear good things about you. I will hear that you continue strong with one purpose and that you work together as a team for the faith of the Good News. 28 And you will not be afraid of those who are against you. All of these things are proof from God that you will be saved and that your enemies will be lost. 29 God gave you the honor both of believing in Christ and suffering for Christ. Both these things bring glory to Christ. 30 When I was with you, you saw the struggles I had. And you hear about the struggles I am having now. You yourselves are having the same kind of struggles.
Jesus Rises from Death
16 The day after the Sabbath day, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought some sweet-smelling spices to put on Jesus’ body. 2 Very early on that day, the first day of the week, the women were on their way to the tomb. It was soon after sunrise. 3 They said to each other, “There is a large stone covering the entrance of the tomb. Who will move the stone for us?”
4 Then the women looked and saw that the stone was already moved. The stone was very large, but it was moved away from the entrance. 5 The women entered the tomb and saw a young man wearing a white robe. He was sitting on the right side, and the women were afraid.
6 But the man said, “Don’t be afraid. You are looking for Jesus from Nazareth, the one who was killed on a cross. He has risen from death. He is not here. Look, here is the place they laid him. 7 Now go and tell his followers and Peter, ‘Jesus is going into Galilee. He will be there before you. You will see him there as he told you before.’”
8 The women were confused and shaking with fear. They left the tomb and ran away. They did not tell anyone about what happened, because they were afraid.[a]
Some Followers See Jesus
9 Jesus rose from death early on the first day of the week. He showed himself first to Mary Magdalene. One time in the past, he had forced seven demons to leave Mary. 10 After Mary saw Jesus, she went and told his followers. They were very sad and were crying. 11 But Mary told them that Jesus was alive. She said that she had seen him, but the followers did not believe her.
12 Later, Jesus showed himself to two of his followers while they were walking in the country. But Jesus did not look the same as before. 13 These followers went back to the others and told them what had happened. Again, the followers did not believe them.
Jesus Talks to the Apostles
14 Later Jesus showed himself to the 11 followers while they were eating. He criticized them because they had little faith. They were stubborn and refused to believe those who had seen him after he had risen from death.
15 Jesus said to the followers, “Go everywhere in the world. Tell the Good News to everyone. 16 Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But he who does not believe will be judged guilty. 17 And those who believe will be able to do these things as proof: They will use my name to force demons out of people. They will speak in languages they never learned. 18 They will pick up snakes without being hurt. And they will drink poison without being hurt. They will touch the sick, and the sick will be healed.”
19 After the Lord Jesus said these things to the followers, he was carried up into heaven. There, Jesus sat at the right side of God. 20 The followers went everywhere in the world and told the Good News to people. And the Lord helped them. The Lord proved that the Good News they told was true by giving them power to work miracles.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.