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.
21 Moses said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you? Why did you ·cause them to do [L bring on them] such a terrible sin?”
22 Aaron answered, “Don’t be angry, ·master [sir]. You know that these people are always ready to do wrong. 23 They said to me, ‘[L This man] Moses ·led [brought] us out of Egypt, but we don’t know what has happened to him. Make us ·gods [or a god; or an image of God] who will ·lead [L go before] us.’ 24 So I told them. ‘·Take off your gold jewelry [L Whoever has gold, pull it off].’ When they gave it to me, I threw it into the fire and out ·came [popped] this calf!”
25 Moses saw that the people were ·acting wildly [out of control]. Aaron had let them ·get out of control [act wildly] and become ·fools [the object of slander] in front of their enemies. 26 So Moses stood at the ·entrance [L gate] to the camp and said, “·Let anyone who wants to follow [L Whoever is for] the Lord come to me.” And all the ·people from the family of [L sons of] Levi gathered around Moses.
27 Then Moses said to them, “The Lord, the God of Israel, says this: ‘Every man must put on his sword and go through the camp from ·one end to the other [L gate to gate]. Each man must kill his brother, his friend, and his neighbor.’” 28 The ·people from the family [L sons] of Levi obeyed Moses, and that day about three thousand of the Israelites died. 29 Then Moses said, “Today you have been ·given for service [ordained; C to the priesthood] to the Lord. You were willing to kill your own sons and brothers, and God has blessed you for this.”
30 The next day Moses told the people, “You have ·done [L sinned] a terrible sin. But now I will go up to the Lord. Maybe I can ·do something so your sins will be removed [make atonement for your sin].” 31 So Moses went back to the Lord and said, “How terribly these people have sinned! They have made for themselves ·gods [or a god; 32:4] from gold. 32 Now, please forgive them of this sin. If you will not, then ·erase [blot out] my name from the book in which you have written the names of your people.”
33 But the Lord told Moses, “I will ·erase [blot out] from my book the names of the people who sin against me. 34 So now, go. Lead the people where I have told you, and my ·angel [messenger] will ·lead [L go in front of] you. When the time comes to punish, I will punish them for their sin.”
1 From Paul, Silas [Acts 15:22, 40], and Timothy [Acts 16:1–5; 1 Cor. 16:10–11; Phil. 2:19–24; 1 and 2 Timothy].
To the church in Thessalonica [L of the Thessalonians; C a city in Macedonia, present-day northern Greece], the church in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace and peace to you.
The Faith of the Thessalonians
2 We always thank God for all of you and mention you when we pray. 3 We continually recall before God our Father ·the things you have done because of your faith [L your work of/from faith], ·the work you have done because of your love [L your labor of/from love] and your ·continuing strength because of your hope [L endurance of/from hope] in our Lord Jesus Christ.
4 Brothers and sisters, God loves you, and we know he has chosen you, 5 because the ·Good News [Gospel] we brought to you came not only with words, but with power, with the Holy Spirit, and with ·sure knowledge that it is true [great conviction]. You know how we lived when we were with you ·in order to help you [for your sake]. 6 And you became ·like us and like [imitators of us and of] the Lord. You ·suffered much [experienced many trials/much persecution], but still you accepted the teaching with the joy that comes from the Holy Spirit. 7 So you became an ·example to [model for] all the believers in Macedonia [C the Roman province in which Thessalonica was located, present-day northern Greece] and Achaia [C present-day southern Greece]. 8 And the Lord’s ·teaching [message; word] ·spread [rang out; sounded forth] from you not only into Macedonia and Achaia, but now your faith in God has ·become known [gone forth] everywhere. So we do not need to say anything about it. 9 ·People everywhere [L For they themselves] are ·telling [reporting; announcing] about the way you ·accepted [welcomed] us when we were there with you. They tell how you ·stopped worshiping idols [L turned to God from idols] to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom God raised from the dead. He is Jesus, who ·saves [rescues; delivers] us from ·God’s angry judgment that is sure to come [L the coming wrath].
11 “·You are blessed [T Blessed are you; or God will bless you] when people ·insult [mock; abuse; revile] you and ·hurt [persecute] you. They will lie and say all kinds of evil things ·about [against] you because ·you follow [L of] me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because you have a great reward in heaven. ·People did the same evil things to [L They likewise persecuted] the prophets who lived before you.
You Are Like Salt and Light(A)
13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt ·loses its salty taste [becomes tasteless], ·it cannot [L how can it…?] be made salty again. It is good for nothing, except to be thrown out and ·walked on [trampled].
14 “You are the light ·that gives light to [for; L of] the world. A city that ·is built [stands; is set] on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 And people don’t light a lamp and then hide it under a ·bowl [or basket]. They put it on a lampstand so the light shines for all the people in the house. 16 In the same way let your light shine ·before others [for people to see], so that they will see ·the good things you do [L your good deeds/works] and will ·praise [glorify; give honor to] your Father in heaven.
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