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.
The Conquest of Ai
8 Now the Lord said to Joshua, “(A)Do not fear or be dismayed. Take all the people of war with you. Arise, go up to Ai; see, (B)I have handed over to you the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land. 2 You shall do to Ai and its king just as you did to Jericho and its king; you shall (C)take only its spoils and its cattle as plunder for yourselves. [a]Set an ambush for the city behind it.”
3 So Joshua rose up with all the people of war to go up to Ai; and Joshua chose thirty thousand men, valiant warriors, and sent them out at night. 4 He commanded them, saying, “See, you are (D)going to ambush the city from behind [b]it. Do not go very far from the city, but all of you be ready. 5 Then I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. And when they come out to meet us as they did the first time, (E)we will flee before them. 6 They will come out after us until we have lured them away from the city, for they will say, ‘They are fleeing before us just as they did the first time.’ So we will flee before them. 7 Then you shall rise from your ambush and take possession of the city, for the Lord your God will hand it over to you. 8 Then it will be when you have seized the city, that you shall set the city on fire. You shall do it (F)in accordance with the word of the Lord. See, I have commanded you.” 9 So Joshua sent them away, and they went to the place of ambush and remained between Bethel and Ai, on the west side of Ai; but Joshua spent that night among the people.
10 Now Joshua (G)got up early in the morning and mustered the people, and he went up with the elders of Israel before the people to Ai. 11 Then all the people of war who were with him went up and approached, and arrived in front of the city; and they camped on the north side of Ai. And there was a valley between him and Ai. 12 Then he took about five thousand men and set them in ambush between (H)Bethel and Ai, on the west side of the [c]city. 13 So they stationed the people, all the army that was on the north side of the city, and its rear guard on the west side of the city, and Joshua spent that night in the midst of the valley. 14 And it came about, when the king of Ai saw them, that the men of the city hurried and got up early, and went out to meet Israel in battle, he and all his people at the appointed place before the desert plain. But he did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city. 15 Then Joshua and all Israel [d]pretended to be defeated before them, and fled (I)by the way of the wilderness. 16 And all the people who were in the city were called together to pursue them, and they pursued Joshua and (J)were lured away from the city. 17 So not a man was left in Ai or Bethel, [e]but they had all gone out after Israel, and they left the city [f]unguarded and pursued Israel.
18 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “(K)Reach out with the sword that is in your hand toward Ai, for I will hand it over to you.” So Joshua reached out with the sword that was in his hand toward the city. 19 Then the men in ambush rose quickly from their place, and when he had reached out with his hand, they ran and entered the city and captured it, and they quickly set the city on fire. 20 When the men of Ai turned [g]back and looked, behold, the smoke of the city ascended to the sky, and they had no place to flee this way or that, for the people who had been fleeing to the wilderness turned against the pursuers. 21 When Joshua and all Israel saw that the men in ambush had captured the city and that the smoke of the city ascended, they turned back and [h]killed the men of Ai. 22 [i]The others came out from the city to confront them, so that they were trapped in the midst of Israel, [j]some on this side and some on that side; and they [k]killed them until there was not (L)one [l]left who escaped or survived.
Principles of Conscience
14 Now (A)accept the one who is (B)weak [a]in faith, but not [b]to have quarrels over opinions. 2 (C)One person has faith that he may eat all things, but the one who is (D)weak eats only vegetables. 3 The one who eats is not to (E)regard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to (F)judge the one who eats, for God has (G)accepted him. 4 (H)Who are you to judge the [c]servant of another? To his own [d]master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
5 (I)One person [e]values one day over another, another [f]values every day the same. Each person must be (J)fully convinced in his own mind. 6 The one who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and the one who eats, [g]does so with regard to the Lord, for he (K)gives thanks to God; and the one who does not eat, it is for the Lord that he does not eat, and he gives thanks to God. 7 For not one of us (L)lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; 8 for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore (M)whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end (N)Christ died and lived again, that He might be (O)Lord both of the dead and of the living.
10 But as for you, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or you as well, why do you (P)regard your brother or sister with contempt? For (Q)we will all appear before the judgment seat of God. 11 For it is written:
“(R)As I live, says the Lord, (S)to Me every knee will bow,
And every tongue will [h]give praise to God.”
12 So then (T)each one of us will give an account of himself to God.
Jesus’ Betrayal and Arrest
47 (A)And while He was still speaking, behold, (B)Judas, one of the twelve, came [a]accompanied by a large crowd with swords and clubs, who came from the chief priests and elders of the people. 48 Now he who was betraying Him gave them a sign previously, saying, “Whomever I kiss, He is the one; arrest Him.” 49 And immediately Judas went up to Jesus and said, “Greetings, (C)Rabbi!” and kissed Him. 50 But Jesus said to him, “(D)Friend, do what you have come for.” Then they came and laid hands on Jesus and arrested Him.
51 And behold, (E)one of those who were with Jesus [b]reached and drew his (F)sword, and struck the (G)slave of the high priest and [c]cut off his ear. 52 Then Jesus *said to him, “Put your sword back into its place; for (H)all those who take up the sword will perish by the sword. 53 Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve [d](I)legions of (J)angels? 54 How then would (K)the Scriptures be fulfilled, which say that it must happen this way?”
55 At that time Jesus said to the crowds, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest Me as you would against a man inciting a revolt? (L)Every day I used to sit within the temple grounds teaching, and you did not arrest Me. 56 But all this has taken place so that (M)the Scriptures of the prophets will be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples left Him and fled.
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