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]
14 The second woe has come and gone;[a] the third is coming quickly.
The Seventh Trumpet
15 Then[b] the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven saying:
“The kingdom of the world
has become the kingdom of our Lord
and of his Christ,[c]
and he will reign for ever and ever.”
16 Then[d] the twenty-four elders who are seated on their thrones before God threw themselves down with their faces to the ground[e] and worshiped God 17 with these words:[f]
“We give you thanks, Lord God, the All-Powerful,[g]
the one who is and who was,
because you have taken your great power
and begun to reign.[h]
18 The[i] nations[j] were enraged,
but[k] your wrath has come,
and the time has come for the dead to be judged,
and the time has come to give to your servants,[l]
the prophets, their reward,
as well as to the saints
and to those who revere[m] your name, both small and great,
and the time has come[n] to destroy those who destroy[o] the earth.”
19 Then[p] the temple of God in heaven was opened and the ark of his covenant was visible within his temple. And there were flashes of lightning, roaring,[q] crashes of thunder, an earthquake, and a great hailstorm.[r]
27 As[a] he said these things, a woman in the crowd spoke out[b] to him, “Blessed is the womb[c] that bore you and the breasts at which you nursed!”[d] 28 But he replied,[e] “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey[f] it!”
The Sign of Jonah
29 As[g] the crowds were increasing, Jesus[h] began to say, “This generation is a wicked generation; it looks for a sign,[i] but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.[j] 30 For just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh,[k] so the Son of Man will be a sign[l] to this generation.[m] 31 The queen of the South[n] will rise up at the judgment[o] with the people[p] of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon—and now,[q] something greater[r] than Solomon is here! 32 The people[s] of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented when Jonah preached to them[t]—and now,[u] something greater than Jonah is here!
Internal Light
33 “No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a hidden place[v] or under a basket,[w] but on a lampstand, so that those who come in can see the light. 34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy,[x] your whole body is full of light, but when it is diseased,[y] your body is full of darkness. 35 Therefore see to it[z] that the light in you[aa] is not darkness. 36 If[ab] then[ac] your whole body is full of light, with no part in the dark,[ad] it will be as full of light as when the light of a lamp shines on you.”[ae]
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