Book of Common Prayer
A Song Celebrating the King’s Marriage.
For the music director; according to the [a]Shoshannim. A [b]Maskil of the sons of Korah. A Song of Love.
45 My heart is moved with a good theme;
I [c]address my [d]verses to the [e]King;
My tongue is the pen of (A)a ready writer.
2 You are the most handsome of the sons of mankind;
(B)Grace is poured [f]upon Your lips;
Therefore God has (C)blessed You forever.
3 Strap (D)Your sword on Your thigh, [g](E)Mighty One,
In Your splendor and majesty!
4 And in Your majesty ride on victoriously,
For the cause of truth, (F)humility, and righteousness;
Let Your (G)right hand teach You [h]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, God, is forever and ever;
(L)The scepter of Your kingdom is a scepter of justice.
7 You have (M)loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
Therefore God, Your God, has (N)anointed You
With the oil of joy above Your companions.
8 All Your garments are fragrant with (O)myrrh, aloes, and cassia;
From ivory palaces (P)stringed instruments have made You joyful.
9 Kings’ daughters are among (Q)Your noble women;
At Your (R)right hand stands the queen in (S)gold from Ophir.
10 Listen, daughter, look and incline your ear:
(T)Forget your people and your father’s house;
11 Then the King will crave 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)wealthy 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)brought to the King (AA)in colorful garments;
The (AB)virgins, her companions who follow her,
Will be brought to You.
15 They will be brought with joy and rejoicing;
They will enter into the King’s palace.
God, the King of the Earth.
For the music director. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.
47 (A)Clap your hands, all you peoples;
(B)Shout to God with a voice of 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)pride of Jacob whom He loves. Selah
5 God has (H)ascended [a]with a shout,
The Lord, [b]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 psalm of wisdom.
8 God (N)reigns over the nations,
God [c]sits on (O)His holy throne.
9 The [d](P)princes of the people have assembled as the (Q)people of the God of Abraham,
For the (R)shields of the earth belong to God;
He 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 In its palaces,
God has made Himself known as a (Z)stronghold.
4 For, behold, the (AA)kings arrived,
They passed by together.
5 They saw it, then they were amazed;
They were (AB)terrified, they fled in a hurry.
6 [e]Panic seized them there,
Anguish, as that of (AC)a woman in childbirth.
7 With the (AD)east wind
You (AE)smash the (AF)ships of Tarshish.
8 Just as we have heard, so have we seen
In the city of the Lord of armies, in the city of our God;
God will (AG)establish her forever. Selah
9 We have thought over (AH)Your goodness, God,
In the midst of Your temple.
10 As is Your (AI)name, God,
So is Your (AJ)praise to the ends of the earth;
Your (AK)right hand is full of righteousness.
11 Mount (AL)Zion shall be glad,
The (AM)daughters of Judah shall rejoice
Because of Your judgments.
12 Walk around Zion and encircle her;
Count her (AN)towers;
13 Consider her (AO)ramparts;
Go through her palaces,
So that you may (AP)tell of her to the next generation.
14 For [f]such is God,
Our God forever and ever;
He will (AQ)lead us [g]until death.
Temple Work Resumed
5 When the prophets, (A)Haggai the prophet and (B)Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them, 2 then (C)Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of Jozadak rose up and began to rebuild the house of God which is in Jerusalem; and (D)the prophets of God were with them, supporting them.
3 At that time (E)Tattenai, the governor of the province beyond the Euphrates River, and Shethar-bozenai and their colleagues came to them and spoke to them as follows: “(F)Who issued you a decree to rebuild this [a]temple and to finish this structure?” 4 (G)Then we told them accordingly what the names of the men were who were reconstructing this building. 5 But (H)the eye of their God was on the elders of the Jews, and they did not stop them until the report could reach Darius, and then the decree concerning it could be sent back.
Enemies Write to Darius
6 This is the copy of the letter that (I)Tattenai, the governor of the province beyond the Euphrates River, and Shethar-bozenai and his colleagues (J)the officials, who were beyond the River, sent to Darius the king. 7 They sent the report to him in which it was written as follows: “To Darius the king, all peace. 8 May it be known to the king that we have gone to the province of Judah, to the house of the great God which is being built with large stones, and [b]beams are being laid in the walls; and this work is being performed with great care and is succeeding in their hands. 9 Then we asked those elders and said to them as follows: ‘Who issued you a decree to rebuild this temple and to finish this structure?’ 10 We also asked them their names so as to inform you, in order that we might write down the names of the men who were [c]in charge. 11 So they [d]answered us as follows, saying, ‘We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and are rebuilding the temple that was built many years ago, (K)which a great king of Israel built and finished. 12 But (L)because our fathers provoked the God of heaven to wrath, (M)He handed them over to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed this temple and deported the people to Babylon. 13 However, (N)in the first year of Cyrus king of Babylon, King Cyrus (O)issued a decree to rebuild this house of God. 14 Also (P)the gold and silver utensils of the house of God which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem and brought them to the temple of Babylon, King Cyrus took them from the temple of Babylon and they were given to one (Q)whose name was Sheshbazzar, whom he had appointed governor. 15 And he said to him, “Take these utensils, go and deposit them in the temple in Jerusalem, and have the house of God rebuilt in its place.” 16 Then that Sheshbazzar came and (R)laid the foundations of the house of God in Jerusalem; and from then until now it has been under construction and it is (S)not yet completed.’ 17 And now, if it pleases the king, (T)let a search be conducted in the king’s treasure house, which is there in Babylon, as to whether a decree was issued by King Cyrus to rebuild this house of God in Jerusalem; and let the king send to us his decision concerning this matter.”
Scene in Heaven
4 After (A)these things I looked, and behold, (B)a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, (C)like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, “(D)Come up here, and I will (E)show you what must take place after these things.” 2 Immediately I was (F)in the [a]Spirit; and behold, (G)a throne was standing in heaven, and (H)someone was sitting on the throne. 3 And He who was sitting was like a (I)jasper stone and a (J)sardius in appearance; and there was a [b](K)rainbow around the throne, like an (L)emerald in appearance. 4 (M)Around the throne were (N)twenty-four thrones; and upon the thrones I saw (O)twenty-four elders (P)sitting, clothed in (Q)white garments, and (R)golden crowns on their heads.
The Throne and Worship of the Creator
5 Out from the throne *came (S)flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. And there were (T)seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are [c](U)the seven spirits of God; 6 and before the throne there was something like a (V)sea of glass, like crystal; and in the [d]center and (W)around the throne, (X)four living creatures (Y)full of eyes in front and behind. 7 (Z)The first living creature was like a lion, the second creature like a calf, the third creature had a face like that of a man, and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle. 8 And the (AA)four living creatures, each one of them having (AB)six wings, are (AC)full of eyes around and within; and (AD)day and night [e]they do not cease to say,
“(AE)Holy, holy, holy is the (AF)Lord God, the Almighty, (AG)who was and who is and who [f]is to come.”
9 And when the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to Him who (AH)sits on the throne, to (AI)Him who lives forever and ever, 10 the (AJ)twenty-four elders will (AK)fall down before Him who (AL)sits on the throne, and they will worship (AM)Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their (AN)crowns before the throne, saying,
Jesus Teaches in Parables
13 On that day Jesus had gone out of (A)the house and was sitting (B)by the sea. 2 And large crowds gathered to Him, so (C)He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach.
3 And He told them many things in (D)parables, saying, “Behold, the sower went out to sow; 4 and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up. 5 Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and they sprang up immediately, because they had no depth of soil. 6 But after the sun rose, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 7 Others fell [a]among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out. 8 But others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a (E)hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times as much. 9 (F)The one who has ears, [b]let him hear.”
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