Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 45[a]
For the music director, according to the tune of “Lilies”;[b] by the Korahites, a well-written poem,[c] a love song.
45 My heart is stirred by a beautiful song.[d]
I say, “I have composed this special song[e] for the king;
my tongue is as skilled as the stylus of an experienced scribe.”[f]
2 You are the most handsome of all men.[g]
You speak in an impressive and fitting manner.[h]
For this reason[i] God grants you continual blessings.[j]
3 Strap your sword to your thigh, O warrior.[k]
Appear in your majestic splendor.[l]
4 Appear in your majesty and be victorious.[m]
Ride forth for the sake of what is right,[n]
on behalf of justice.[o]
Then your right hand will accomplish mighty acts.[p]
5 Your arrows are sharp
and penetrate the hearts of the king’s enemies.
Nations fall at your feet.[q]
6 Your throne,[r] O God, is permanent.[s]
The scepter[t] of your kingdom is a scepter of justice.
7 You love[u] justice and hate evil.[v]
For this reason God, your God,[w] has anointed you[x]
with the oil of joy,[y] elevating you above your companions.[z]
8 All your garments are perfumed with[aa] myrrh, aloes, and cassia.
From the luxurious palaces[ab] comes the music of stringed instruments that makes you happy.[ac]
9 Princesses[ad] are among your honored women.[ae]
Your bride[af] stands at your right hand, wearing jewelry made with gold from Ophir.[ag]
10 Listen, O princess.[ah]
Observe and pay attention![ai]
Forget your homeland[aj] and your family.[ak]
11 Then[al] the king will be attracted by[am] your beauty.
After all, he is your master. Submit[an] to him.[ao]
12 Rich people from Tyre
will seek your favor by bringing a gift.[ap]
13 The princess[aq] looks absolutely magnificent,[ar]
decked out in pearls and clothed in a brocade trimmed with gold.[as]
14 In embroidered robes she is escorted to the king.
Her attendants, the maidens of honor who follow her,
are led before you.[at]
15 They are bubbling with joy as they walk in procession
and enter the royal palace.[au]
16 Your[av] sons will carry on[aw] the dynasty of your ancestors;[ax]
you will make them princes throughout the land.
17 I will proclaim your greatness through the coming years,[ay]
then the nations will praise you[az] forever.
Psalm 47[a]
For the music director, by the Korahites; a psalm.
47 All you nations, clap your hands.
Shout out to God in celebration.[b]
2 For the Lord Most High[c] is awe-inspiring;[d]
he is the great king who rules the whole earth![e]
3 He subdued nations beneath us[f]
and countries[g] under our feet.
4 He picked out for us a special land[h]
to be a source of pride for[i] Jacob,[j] whom he loves.[k] (Selah)
5 God has ascended his throne[l] amid loud shouts;[m]
the Lord has ascended amid the blaring of ram’s horns.[n]
6 Sing to God! Sing!
Sing to our king! Sing!
7 For God is king of the whole earth.
Sing a well-written song.[o]
8 God reigns[p] over the nations.
God sits on his holy throne.
9 The nobles of the nations assemble,
along with the people of the God of Abraham,[q]
for God has authority over the rulers[r] of the earth.
He is highly exalted.[s]
Psalm 48[t]
A song, a psalm by the Korahites.
48 The Lord is great and certainly worthy of praise
in the city of our God,[u] his holy hill.
2 It is lofty and pleasing to look at,[v]
a source of joy to the whole earth.[w]
Mount Zion resembles the peaks of Zaphon;[x]
it is the city of the great king.
3 God is in its fortresses;
he reveals himself as its defender.[y]
4 For[z] look, the kings assemble;[aa]
they advance together.
5 As soon as they see,[ab] they are shocked;[ac]
they are terrified, they quickly retreat.[ad]
6 Look at them shake uncontrollably,[ae]
like a woman writhing in childbirth.[af]
7 With an east wind
you shatter[ag] the large ships.[ah]
8 We heard about God’s mighty deeds; now we have seen them,[ai]
in the city of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,[aj]
in the city of our God.
God makes it permanently secure.[ak] (Selah)
9 Within your temple
we reflect on your loyal love, O God.
10 The praise you receive as far away as the ends of the earth
is worthy of your reputation, O God.[al]
You execute justice.[am]
11 Mount Zion rejoices;
the towns[an] of Judah are happy,[ao]
because of your acts of judgment.[ap]
12 Walk around[aq] Zion. Encircle it.
Count its towers.
13 Consider its defenses.[ar]
Walk through[as] its fortresses,
so you can tell the next generation about it.[at]
14 For God, our God, is our defender forever.[au]
He guides[av] us.[aw]
IV. Job’s Concluding Soliloquy (29:1-31:40)
Job Recalls His Former Condition[a]
29 Then Job continued[b] his speech:
2 “O that I could be[c] as[d] I was
in the months now gone,[e]
in the days[f] when God watched over[g] me,
3 when[h] he caused[i] his lamp[j]
to shine upon my head,
and by his light
I walked[k] through darkness;[l]
4 just as I was in my most productive time,[m]
when God’s intimate friendship[n] was experienced in my tent,
5 when the Almighty[o] was still with me
and my children were[p] around me;
6 when my steps[q] were bathed[r] with butter[s]
and the rock poured out for me streams of olive oil![t]
7 When I went out to the city gate
and secured my seat in the public square,[u]
8 the young men would see me and step aside,[v]
and the old men would get up and remain standing;
9 the chief men refrained from talking
and covered their mouths with their hands;
10 the voices of the nobles fell silent,[w]
and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.
Job’s Benevolence
11 “As soon as the ear heard these things,[x] it blessed me,[y]
and when the eye saw them, it bore witness to me,
12 for I rescued the poor who cried out for help,
and the orphan who[z] had no one to assist him;
13 the blessing of the dying man descended on me,[aa]
and I made the widow’s heart rejoice;[ab]
14 I put on righteousness and it clothed me,[ac]
my just dealing[ad] was like a robe and a turban;
15 I was eyes for the blind
and feet for the lame;
16 I was a father[ae] to the needy,
and I investigated the case of the person I did not know;
17 I broke the fangs[af] of the wicked,
and made him drop[ag] his prey from his teeth.
Job’s Confidence
Paul and Barnabas at Iconium
14 The same thing happened in Iconium[a] when Paul and Barnabas[b] went into the Jewish synagogue[c] and spoke in such a way that a large group[d] of both Jews and Greeks believed. 2 But the Jews who refused to believe[e] stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds[f] against the brothers. 3 So they stayed there[g] for a considerable time, speaking out courageously for the Lord, who testified[h] to the message[i] of his grace, granting miraculous signs[j] and wonders to be performed through their hands. 4 But the population[k] of the city was divided; some[l] sided with the Jews, and some with the apostles. 5 When both the Gentiles and the Jews (together with their rulers) made[m] an attempt to mistreat[n] them and stone them,[o] 6 Paul and Barnabas[p] learned about it[q] and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra[r] and Derbe[s] and the surrounding region. 7 There[t] they continued to proclaim[u] the good news.
Paul and Barnabas at Lystra
8 In[v] Lystra[w] sat a man who could not use his feet,[x] lame from birth,[y] who had never walked. 9 This man was listening to Paul as he was speaking. When Paul[z] stared[aa] intently at him and saw he had faith to be healed, 10 he said with a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.”[ab] And the man[ac] leaped up and began walking.[ad] 11 So when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted[ae] in the Lycaonian language,[af] “The gods have come down to us in human form!”[ag] 12 They began to call[ah] Barnabas Zeus[ai] and Paul Hermes,[aj] because he was the chief speaker. 13 The priest of the temple[ak] of Zeus,[al] located just outside the city, brought bulls[am] and garlands[an] to the city gates; he and the crowds wanted to offer sacrifices to them.[ao] 14 But when the apostles[ap] Barnabas and Paul heard about[aq] it, they tore[ar] their clothes and rushed out[as] into the crowd, shouting,[at] 15 “Men, why are you doing these things? We too are men, with human natures[au] just like you! We are proclaiming the good news to you, so that you should turn[av] from these worthless[aw] things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth,[ax] the sea, and everything that is in them. 16 In[ay] past[az] generations he allowed all the nations[ba] to go their own ways, 17 yet he did not leave himself without a witness by doing good,[bb] by giving you rain from heaven[bc] and fruitful seasons, satisfying you[bd] with food and your hearts with joy.”[be] 18 Even by saying[bf] these things, they scarcely persuaded[bg] the crowds not to offer sacrifice to them.
31 The Jewish leaders[a] picked up rocks again to stone him to death. 32 Jesus said to them,[b] “I have shown you many good deeds[c] from the Father. For which one of them are you going to stone me?” 33 The Jewish leaders[d] replied,[e] “We are not going to stone you for a good deed[f] but for blasphemy,[g] because[h] you, a man, are claiming to be God.”[i]
34 Jesus answered,[j] “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods’?[k] 35 If those people to whom the word of God came were called ‘gods’ (and the scripture cannot be broken),[l] 36 do you say about the one whom the Father set apart[m] and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 37 If I do not perform[n] the deeds[o] of my Father, do not believe me. 38 But if I do them, even if you do not believe me, believe the deeds,[p] so that you may come to know[q] and understand that I am in the Father and the Father is in me.” 39 Then[r] they attempted[s] again to seize him, but he escaped their clutches.[t]
40 Jesus[u] went back across the Jordan River[v] again to the place where John[w] had been baptizing at an earlier time,[x] and he stayed there. 41 Many[y] came to him and began to say, “John[z] performed[aa] no miraculous sign, but everything John said about this man[ab] was true!” 42 And many believed in Jesus[ac] there.
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