Book of Common Prayer
A Song Celebrating the King’s Marriage.
For the music director; according to the [a]Shoshannim. A [b]Maskil of the sons of Korah. A Song of Love.
45 My heart is moved with a good theme;
I [c]address my [d]verses to the [e]King;
My tongue is the pen of (A)a ready writer.
2 You are the most handsome of the sons of mankind;
(B)Grace is poured [f]upon Your lips;
Therefore God has (C)blessed You forever.
3 Strap (D)Your sword on Your thigh, [g](E)Mighty One,
In Your splendor and majesty!
4 And in Your majesty ride on victoriously,
For the cause of truth, (F)humility, and righteousness;
Let Your (G)right hand teach You [h]awesome things.
5 Your (H)arrows are sharp;
The (I)peoples fall under You;
Your arrows are (J)in the heart of the King’s enemies.
6 (K)Your throne, God, is forever and ever;
(L)The scepter of Your kingdom is a scepter of justice.
7 You have (M)loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
Therefore God, Your God, has (N)anointed You
With the oil of joy above Your companions.
8 All Your garments are fragrant with (O)myrrh, aloes, and cassia;
From ivory palaces (P)stringed instruments have made You joyful.
9 Kings’ daughters are among (Q)Your noble women;
At Your (R)right hand stands the queen in (S)gold from Ophir.
10 Listen, daughter, look and incline your ear:
(T)Forget your people and your father’s house;
11 Then the King will crave your beauty.
Because He is your (U)Lord, (V)bow down to Him.
12 The daughter of (W)Tyre will come with a gift;
The (X)wealthy among the people will seek your favor.
13 The King’s daughter is all glorious within;
Her clothing is (Y)interwoven with gold.
14 She will be (Z)brought to the King (AA)in colorful garments;
The (AB)virgins, her companions who follow her,
Will be brought to You.
15 They will be brought with joy and rejoicing;
They will enter into the King’s palace.
God, the King of the Earth.
For the music director. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.
47 (A)Clap your hands, all you peoples;
(B)Shout to God with a voice of joy.
2 For the Lord Most High is to be (C)feared,
A (D)great King over all the earth.
3 He (E)subdues peoples under us
And nations under our feet.
4 He chooses our (F)inheritance for us,
The (G)pride of Jacob whom He loves. Selah
5 God has (H)ascended [a]with a shout,
The Lord, [b]with the (I)sound of a trumpet.
6 (J)Sing praises to God, sing praises;
Sing praises to (K)our King, sing praises.
7 For God is the (L)King of all the earth;
Sing praises (M)with a psalm of wisdom.
8 God (N)reigns over the nations,
God [c]sits on (O)His holy throne.
9 The [d](P)princes of the people have assembled as the (Q)people of the God of Abraham,
For the (R)shields of the earth belong to God;
He is (S)highly exalted.
The Beauty and Glory of Zion.
A Song; a Psalm of the sons of Korah.
48 (T)Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised
In the (U)city of our God, His (V)holy mountain.
2 (W)Beautiful in elevation, (X)the joy of the whole earth,
Is Mount Zion in the far north,
The (Y)city of the great King.
3 In its palaces,
God has made Himself known as a (Z)stronghold.
4 For, behold, the (AA)kings arrived,
They passed by together.
5 They saw it, then they were amazed;
They were (AB)terrified, they fled in a hurry.
6 [e]Panic seized them there,
Anguish, as that of (AC)a woman in childbirth.
7 With the (AD)east wind
You (AE)smash the (AF)ships of Tarshish.
8 Just as we have heard, so have we seen
In the city of the Lord of armies, in the city of our God;
God will (AG)establish her forever. Selah
9 We have thought over (AH)Your goodness, God,
In the midst of Your temple.
10 As is Your (AI)name, God,
So is Your (AJ)praise to the ends of the earth;
Your (AK)right hand is full of righteousness.
11 Mount (AL)Zion shall be glad,
The (AM)daughters of Judah shall rejoice
Because of Your judgments.
12 Walk around Zion and encircle her;
Count her (AN)towers;
13 Consider her (AO)ramparts;
Go through her palaces,
So that you may (AP)tell of her to the next generation.
14 For [f]such is God,
Our God forever and ever;
He will (AQ)lead us [g]until death.
16 For there is (A)no [a]lasting remembrance of the wise, along with the fool, since in the coming days everything will [b]soon be forgotten. And (B)how the wise and the fool alike die! 17 So I (C)hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun was [c]unhappy to me; because everything is futility and striving after wind.
The Futility of Labor
18 So I hated (D)all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun, because I must (E)leave it to the man who will come after me. 19 And who knows whether he will be wise or (F)a fool? Yet he will have control over all the fruit of my labor for which I have labored by acting wisely under the sun. This too is (G)futility. 20 Therefore I [d]completely despaired over all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun. 21 When there is a person who has labored with wisdom, knowledge, and (H)skill, and then (I)gives his [e]legacy to one who has not labored for it; this too is futility and a great evil. 22 For what does a person get in (J)all his labor and in [f]his striving with which he labors under the sun? 23 Because all his days his activity is painful and (K)irritating; even at night his [g]mind (L)does not rest. This too is futility.
24 There is (M)nothing better for a person than to eat and drink, and show [h]himself some good in his trouble. This too I have seen, that it is (N)from the hand of God. 25 For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without [i]Him? 26 For to a person who is good in His sight, (O)He has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, while to the sinner He has given the task of gathering and collecting so that he may (P)give to one who is good in God’s sight. This too is (Q)futility and striving after wind.
18 Then (A)three years later I went up (B)to Jerusalem to [a]become acquainted with [b](C)Cephas, and stayed with him for fifteen days. 19 But I did not see another one of the apostles except [c](D)James, the Lord’s brother. 20 (Now in what I am writing to you, [d]I assure you (E)before God that I am not lying.) 21 Then (F)I went into the regions of (G)Syria and (H)Cilicia. 22 I was still unknown by [e]sight to (I)the churches of Judea which are (J)in Christ; 23 but they only kept hearing, “The man who once persecuted us is now preaching (K)the faith which he once (L)tried to destroy.” 24 And they (M)were glorifying God [f]because of me.
The Council at Jerusalem
2 Then after an interval of fourteen years I (N)went up again to Jerusalem with (O)Barnabas, taking (P)Titus along also. 2 [g]It was because of a (Q)revelation that I went up; and I submitted to them the (R)gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but I did so in private to those who were of reputation, for fear that somehow I might be (S)running, or had run, in vain. 3 But not even (T)Titus, who was with me, though he was a Greek, was (U)compelled to be circumcised. 4 Yet it was a concern because of the (V)false brothers secretly brought in, who (W)had sneaked in to spy on our (X)freedom which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to (Y)enslave us. 5 But we did not yield in subjection to them, even for an hour, so that (Z)the truth of the gospel would remain with you. 6 But from those who [h]were of considerable (AA)repute (what they were makes no difference to me; (AB)God shows no favoritism)—well, those who were of repute contributed nothing to me. 7 But on the contrary, seeing that I had been (AC)entrusted with the (AD)gospel [i]to the uncircumcised, just as (AE)Peter had been [j]to the circumcised 8 (for He who was at work for Peter in his (AF)apostleship [k]to the circumcised was at work for me also to the Gentiles), 9 and recognizing (AG)the grace that had been given to me, [l](AH)James and [m](AI)Cephas and John, who were (AJ)reputed to be (AK)pillars, gave to me and (AL)Barnabas the (AM)right [n]hand of fellowship, so that we might (AN)go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcised. 10 They only asked us to remember the poor—(AO)the very thing I also was eager to do.
Jesus Revisits Nazareth
53 (A)When Jesus had finished these parables, He departed from there. 54 And (B)He came to [a]His hometown and (C)began teaching them in their synagogue, with the result that (D)they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man acquire this wisdom and these [b]miraculous powers? 55 Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is (E)His mother not called Mary, and His (F)brothers, James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? 56 And (G)His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man acquire all these things?” 57 And they took (H)offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, “(I)A prophet is not dishonored except in his [c]hometown and in his own household.” 58 And He did not do many [d]miracles there because of their unbelief.
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