Book of Common Prayer
To the Director: An instruction[a] by the Sons of Korah. A love song to the tune of[b] “Lilies”.
A Royal Wedding Song
45 My heart is overflowing with good news;
I speak what I have composed to the king;
my tongue is like the pen of an articulate scribe.
2 You are the most handsome of Adam’s descendants;
grace has anointed your lips;
therefore God has blessed you forever.
3 Strap your sword to your side,
mighty warrior, along with your honor and majesty.
4 In your majesty ride forth for the cause of truth, humility, and righteousness;
and your strong right hand will teach you awesome things.
5 Your arrows are sharpened
to penetrate the hearts of the king’s enemies.
People will fall under you.
6 Your throne, God, exists forever and ever,
and the scepter of your kingdom is a righteous scepter.
7 You love justice and hate wickedness.
That is why God, even your God, has anointed you
rather than your companions with the oil of gladness.
8 All your clothes are scented with[c] myrrh, aloes, and cassia.
From ivory palaces stringed instruments have made you glad.
9 The king’s daughters are among your honorable women;
the queen, dressed in gold from Ophir, has taken her place at your right hand.”
10 Listen, daughter! Consider and pay attention.
Forget your people and your father’s house,
11 and the king will greatly desire your beauty.
Because he is your lord, you should bow in respect before him.
12 The daughter[d] of Tyre will come with[e] a wedding gift;
wealthy people will entreat your favor.
13 In her chamber,[f] the king’s daughter is glorious;
her clothing is embroidered with gold thread.
14 In embroidered garments
she is presented to the king.
Her virgin companions who follow her train
will be presented to you.
15 Filled with joy and gladness, they are presented
when they enter the king’s palace.
16 Your sons will take the place of your ancestors,
and you will set them up as princes in all the earth.
17 From generation to generation,
I will cause your name to be remembered.
Therefore people will thank you forever and ever.
To the Director: A song by the Sons of Korah.
The Ruler over the Nations
47 Clap your hands, all you peoples!
Shout to God with a loud cry of joy!
2 For the Lord, the Most High, is to be feared,
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,
even the pride of Jacob whom he loved.
5 God has ascended on high with a shout,
the Lord has ascended[a] with the blast of a trumpet.
6 Sing songs to God!
Sing songs!
Sing songs to our King!
Sing songs!
7 Indeed, God is king over all the earth;
sing a song of praise.
8 God is king over the nations;
God is seated on his holy throne.
9 The nobles among the nations
have joined the people of the God of Abraham.
For the shields of the earth belong to God;
he is greatly exalted.
A song: Lyrics[b] by the Sons of Korah.
Zion, City of God
48 Great is the Lord!
For he is to be praised greatly,
even in the city of our God,
his holy mountain.
2 Beautifully situated,
the joy of all the earth,
Mount Zion towards the north,[c]
the city of the great King.
3 Within her citadels
God is known as a place of refuge.
4 Behold, when the kings assembled together,
when they traveled together,
5 they looked and were awestruck;
they became afraid and ran away.
6 Trembling seized them there,
pains like those of a woman in labor,
7 as when an east wind destroyed the ships of Tarshish.
8 Just as we have heard,
so have we seen;
in the city of the Lord of the heavenly armies—
even in the city of our God—
God will establish her forever.
9 God, we have meditated on your gracious love
in the midst of your Temple.
10 God, according to your name,
so is your praise to the ends of the earth.
Your right hand is filled with righteousness.
11 Mount Zion will be glad;
the towns[d] of Judah will rejoice because of your judgments.
12 March around Zion;
encircle her;
count her towers.
13 Take note of her ramparts;
investigate her citadels;
that you may speak about them to the next generation.
14 For this God is our God forever and ever.
He will guide us until death.
The Vision of the Measuring Line
2 [a]Then I looked up and saw a man with a measuring line in his hand. 2 I asked, “Where are you going?”
He responded, “To measure Jerusalem in order to determine its width and length.”
3 Look! That angel who was talking to me left, and another angel came forward to meet him. 4 That other angel told him, “Run and tell that young man: ‘Jerusalem will be an inhabited city without walls due to the number of people and livestock within it. 5 I myself will be an encircling rampart of fire,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will be the glory in her midst.’
6 “‘Come now! Come now! Flee from the land of the north,’ declares the Lord, ‘for I have dispersed you like the four winds of heaven,’ declares the Lord.
7 “‘Come now, Zion! Escape, you who are living with the residents of Babylon. 8 For this is what the Lord of the Heavenly Armies says: “In pursuit of glory I was sent to the nations who plundered you, because whoever injures you injures the pupil of my eye. 9 And look, I will shake my fist over them, and they will become plunder for their former[b] slaves. And you will know that the Lord of the Heavenly Armies sent me.”’”
The Lord will Live in Zion
10 “Sing and rejoice, daughter of Zion! Take note! I am coming to live in your midst,” declares the Lord. 11 “Many nations will cling to the Lord at that time[c] and will become my people. I will live in your midst, and you will know that the Lord of the Heavenly Armies has sent me to you. 12 The Lord will take possession of Judah as his own property in the Holy Land—and he will choose Jerusalem again. 13 Be silent, every living thing, in the presence of the Lord, because he is emerging[d] from his Holy Place.”
The Letter to the Church in Laodicea
14 “To the messenger[a] of the church in Laodicea, write:
‘The Amen, the witness who is faithful and true, the originator of God’s creation, says this:
15 ‘I know your actions, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot. 16 Since you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I am going to spit you out of my mouth. 17 You say, “I am rich. I have become wealthy. I don’t need anything.” Yet you don’t realize that you are miserable, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. 18 Therefore, I advise you to buy from me gold purified in fire so you may be rich, white clothes to wear so your shameful nakedness won’t show, and ointment to put on your eyes so you may see. 19 I correct and discipline those whom I love, so be serious and repent! 20 Look! I am standing at the door and knocking. If anyone listens to my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he will eat[b] with me. 21 I will give a place to sit with me on my throne to the one who overcomes,[c] just as I have overcome[d] and have sat down with my Father on his throne.
22 ‘Let everyone[e] listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.’”
The Lesson from the Fig Tree(A)
32 “Now learn a lesson[a] from the fig tree. When its branches become tender and it produces leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 In the same way, when you see all these things, you’ll know that the Son of Man[b] is near, right at the door. 34 I tell all of you[c] with certainty, this generation won’t disappear until these things take place. 35 Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear.”
The Unknown Day and Hour of Messiah’s Return(B)
36 “No one knows when that day and hour will come[d]—neither the heavenly angels nor the Son,[e] but only the Father, 37 because just as it was in Noah’s time, so it will be when the Son of Man comes. 38 In those days before the flood, people[f] were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage right up to the day when Noah went into the ark. 39 They were unaware of what was happening[g] until the flood came and swept all of them away. That’s how it will be when the Son of Man appears. 40 At that time, two people will be in the field. One will be taken, and one will be left behind. 41 Two women will be grinding grain[h] at the mill. One will be taken, and one will be left behind.
42 “So keep on watching, because you don’t know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But be sure of this: if the owner of the house had known when during[i] the night the thief would be coming, he would have stayed awake and not allowed his house to be broken into. 44 So you, too, must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour you are not expecting.”
Copyright © 1995-2014 by ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission of Davidson Press, LLC.