Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 45
Ode for a Royal Wedding
To the leader: according to Lilies. Of the Korahites. A Maskil. A love song.
1 My heart overflows with a goodly theme;
I address my verses to the king;
my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe.(A)
2 You are the most handsome of men;
grace is poured upon your lips;
therefore God has blessed you forever.(B)
3 Gird your sword on your thigh, O mighty one,
in your glory and majesty.(C)
4 In your majesty ride on victoriously
for the cause of truth and to defend[a] the right;
let your right hand teach you dread deeds.(D)
5 Your arrows are sharp
in the heart of the king’s enemies;
the peoples fall under you.
6 Your throne, O God,[b] endures forever and ever.
Your royal scepter is a scepter of equity;(E)
7 you love righteousness and hate wickedness.
Therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;(F)
8 your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia.
From ivory palaces stringed instruments make you glad;(G)
9 daughters of kings are among your ladies of honor;
at your right hand stands the queen in gold of Ophir.(H)
10 Hear, O daughter, consider and incline your ear;
forget your people and your father’s house,(I)
11 and the king will desire your beauty.
Since he is your lord, bow to him;(J)
12 Daughter Tyre will seek your favor with gifts,
the richest of the people(K) 13 with all kinds of wealth.
Psalm 47
God’s Rule over the Nations
To the leader. Of the Korahites. A Psalm.
1 Clap your hands, all you peoples;
shout to God with loud songs of joy.(A)
2 For the Lord, the Most High, is awesome,
a great king over all the earth.(B)
3 He subdued peoples under us
and nations under our feet.(C)
4 He chose our heritage for us,
the pride of Jacob whom he loves. Selah(D)
5 God has gone up with a shout,
the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.(E)
6 Sing praises to God, sing praises;
sing praises to our King, sing praises.(F)
7 For God is the king of all the earth;
sing praises with a psalm.[a](G)
8 God is king over the nations;
God sits on his holy throne.(H)
9 The princes of the peoples gather
as the people of the God of Abraham.
For the shields of the earth belong to God;
he is highly exalted.(I)
Psalm 48
The Glory and Strength of Zion
A Song. A Psalm of the Korahites.
1 Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised
in the city of our God.
His holy mountain,(J) 2 beautiful in elevation,
is the joy of all the earth,
Mount Zion, in the far north,
the city of the great King.(K)
3 Within its citadels God
has shown himself a sure defense.(L)
4 Then the kings assembled;
they came on together.(M)
5 As soon as they saw it, they were astounded;
they were in panic; they took to flight;(N)
6 trembling took hold of them there,
pains as of a woman in labor,
7 as when an east wind shatters
the ships of Tarshish.(O)
8 As we have heard, so have we seen
in the city of the Lord of hosts,
in the city of our God,
which God establishes forever. Selah
Joseph Is Sold by His Brothers
12 Now his brothers went to pasture their father’s flock near Shechem. 13 And Israel said to Joseph, “Are not your brothers pasturing the flock at Shechem? Come, I will send you to them.” He answered, “Here I am.” 14 So he said to him, “Go now, see if it is well with your brothers and with the flock, and bring word back to me.” So he sent him from the valley of Hebron.
He came to Shechem,(A) 15 and a man found him wandering in the fields; the man asked him, “What are you seeking?” 16 “I am seeking my brothers,” he said; “tell me, please, where they are pasturing the flock.” 17 The man said, “They have gone away, for I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’ ” So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan.(B) 18 They saw him from a distance, and before he came near to them they conspired to kill him.(C) 19 They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. 20 Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits; then we shall say that a wild animal has devoured him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams.” 21 But when Reuben heard it, he delivered him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.”(D) 22 Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him”—that he might rescue him out of their hand and restore him to his father. 23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the ornamented robe[a] that he wore, 24 and they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.
20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scholar? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?(A) 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of the proclamation, to save those who believe.(B) 22 For Jews ask for signs and Greeks desire wisdom, 23 but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to gentiles,(C) 24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.
26 Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards,[a] not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.(D) 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;(E) 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to abolish things that are, 29 so that no one[b] might boast in the presence of God.(F) 30 In contrast, God is why you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption,(G) 31 in order that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in[c] the Lord.”(H)
The Beginning of the Galilean Ministry
14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the good news[a] of[b] God(A) 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near;[c] repent, and believe in the good news.”[d](B)
Jesus Calls the First Disciples
16 As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers. 17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of people.” 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him.(C) 19 As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20 Immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.
The Man with an Unclean Spirit
21 They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught.(D) 22 They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes.(E) 23 Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, 24 and he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.”(F) 25 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet and come out of him!”(G) 26 And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. 27 They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, “What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He[e] commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.”(H) 28 At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.