Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 45
For the Music Director. To the melody of “Lilies.” A Contemplative Maskil of the sons of Korah. A love song.
1 My heart is overflowing with a good thought;
I am speaking my works for the king;
my tongue is the pen of a skilled scribe.
2 You are fairer than all the sons of men;
favor is poured on your lips;
therefore God has blessed you forever.
3 Gird your sword on your thigh, O mighty one,
with your splendor and your majesty.
4 In your majesty ride prosperously
because of truth and meekness and righteousness;
and your right hand will teach you awesome things.
5 Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies;
peoples will fall under you.
6 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever;
the scepter of Your kingdom is an upright scepter.
7 You love righteousness and hate wickedness;
therefore God, your God, anointed you
with the oil of gladness above your companions.
8 All your garments are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia;
from the ivory palaces stringed instruments make you glad.
9 Kings’ daughters are among your honorable women;
at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir.
10 Listen, O daughter, consider and incline your ear;
forget your own people, and your father’s house,
11 and the king will desire your beauty.
Since he is your lord, bow to him.
12 The daughter of Tyre will be there with a gift;
even the rich among the people will entreat your favor.
13 The royal daughter is all glorious within her chamber;
her clothing is plaited gold.
14 She shall be brought to the king in embroidered garments;
the virgins, her companions who follow her,
shall be brought to you.
15 With gladness and rejoicing they shall be brought;
they shall enter into the king’s palace.
16 Your sons shall succeed your fathers;
you will make them princes in all the land.
17 I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations;
therefore the people will praise you forever and ever.
Psalm 47
For the Music Director. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.
1 Clap your hands, all you people!
Shout to God with a joyful voice.
2 For the Lord Most High is awesome;
He is a great King over all the earth.
3 He subdued peoples under us,
and nations under our feet.
4 He chose our inheritance for us,
the excellency of Jacob whom He loved. Selah
5 God went up with a shout,
the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.
6 Sing praises to God, sing praises;
sing praises to our King, sing praises.
7 For God is the King of all the earth;
sing praises with understanding.
8 God reigns over the nations;
God sits on His holy throne.
9 The princes of peoples are gathered together,
even the people of the God of Abraham.
For the shields of the earth belong to God;
He is greatly exalted.
Psalm 48
A Song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.
1 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised
in the city of our God, in His holy mountain.
2 Beautiful in elevation,
the joy of the whole earth,
is Mount Zion, on the sides of the north,
the city of the great King.
3 God is known in her citadels
as a refuge.
4 For the kings were assembled,
they passed by together.
5 They saw it, and so they were astounded;
they were alarmed, they hurried away.
6 Trembling seized them there,
and pain like a woman in labor;
7 You break the ships of Tarshish
with an east wind.
8 As we have heard,
so have we seen
in the city of the Lord of Hosts,
in the city of our God;
God will establish it forever. Selah
9 We have thought of Your lovingkindness, O God,
in the midst of Your temple.
10 According to Your name, O God,
so is Your praise to the ends of the earth;
Your right hand is full of righteousness.
11 May Mount Zion rejoice,
may the daughters of Judah be glad,
because of Your judgments.
12 Walk about Zion, and go round about her;
count her towers;
13 mark well her bulwarks;
consider her citadels;
that you may tell it to the generation following.
14 For this God is our God forever and ever;
He will be our guide even to death.
23 In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri began to reign over Israel, and he did so twelve years. He reigned six years in Tirzah. 24 He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents[a] of silver. He fortified the hill and named the city he built after the name of Shemer, owner of the hill, calling it “Samaria.”
25 But Omri did evil in the eyes of the Lord and did worse than all who preceded him, 26 for he walked in all the ways of Jeroboam the son of Nebat and in his sin with which he made Israel to sin to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger with their vanities.
27 Now the rest of the acts Omri performed and his might that he showed, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 28 So Omri slept with his fathers and was buried in Samaria, and Ahab his son reigned in his place.
Ahab Reigns in Israel
29 In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri began to reign over Israel, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. 30 Ahab the son of Omri did more evil in the sight of the Lord than all who were before him. 31 The sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat were seen as minor for him to walk in, for he took Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians, as his wife and went and served Baal and worshipped him. 32 He raised an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. 33 Ahab made an Asherah and did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who preceded him.
34 In his days, Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho. He laid the foundation at the expense of his firstborn Abiram and set up the gates at the cost of the life of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the Lord, which He spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.
To Live Is Christ
12 But I want you to know, brothers, that the things which happened to me have resulted in advancing the gospel, 13 so that my imprisonments in Christ have become known throughout the entire palace guard and to all the rest. 14 And a great many of the brothers in the Lord, having become confident because of my incarcerations, have dared to speak the word without fear.
15 Some indeed are preaching Christ out of envy and strife, and some also from good will. 16 The former preach Christ out of contention, not sincerely, intending to add trouble to my circumstance. 17 But the latter preach out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. 18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached. And in this I rejoice.
Indeed, I will rejoice. 19 For I know that through your prayer and the support of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, this will result in my deliverance. 20 Accordingly, it is my earnest expectation and my hope that I shall be ashamed in nothing, but that with all boldness as always, so now also, Christ will be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death. 21 For to me, to continue living is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor to me. Yet I do not know what I shall choose. 23 I am in a difficult position between the two, having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better. 24 Nevertheless, to remain in the flesh is more needful for your sake. 25 Having this confidence, I know that I shall remain and continue with you all for your joyful advancement of the faith, 26 so that your rejoicing for me may be more abundant in Jesus Christ when I am in your presence again.
27 Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, that whether or not I come and see you, I may hear of your activities, that you are standing fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel. 28 Do not be frightened by your adversaries. This is a sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and this from God. 29 For to you it was granted on behalf of Christ not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, 30 having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear is in me.
The Resurrection of Jesus(A)
16 When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might go and anoint Him. 2 Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb at the rising of the sun. 3 They said among themselves, “Who will roll the stone away from the door of the tomb for us?”
4 But when they looked, they saw that the stone had been rolled away. For it was very large. 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white robe. And they were frightened.
6 He said to them, “Do not be frightened. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen. He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. 7 But go your way, tell His disciples and Peter that He is going before you to Galilee. There you will see Him, as He told you.”
8 They went out quickly and fled from the tomb, for they trembled and were amazed. And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
The Appearance to Mary Magdalene(B)
9 Now when Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons. 10 She went and told those who had been with Him as they mourned and wept. 11 When they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe it.
The Appearance to Two Disciples(C)
12 After that He appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country. 13 And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either.
The Commissioning of the Disciples(D)
14 Afterward He appeared to the eleven as they sat at supper, and He reprimanded them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.
15 He said to them, “Go into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved. But he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 These signs will accompany those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
The Ascension(E)
19 After the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat at the right hand of God. 20 Then they went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.