Book of Common Prayer
For the choir director; according to shoshannim; [a] a maskil by Korah’s descendants; a love song.
45 My heart is overflowing with good news.
I will direct my song to the king.
My tongue is a pen for a skillful writer.
2 You are the most handsome of Adam’s descendants.
Grace is poured on your lips.
That is why God has blessed you forever.
3 O warrior, strap your sword to your side
with your splendor and majesty.
4 Ride on victoriously in your majesty
for the cause of truth, humility, and righteousness.
Let your right hand teach you awe-inspiring things.
5 Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies.
Nations fall beneath you.
6 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.
The scepter in your kingdom is a scepter for justice.
7 You have loved what is right and hated what is wrong.
That is why God, your God, has anointed you,
rather than your companions, with the oil of joy.
8 All your robes are ⌞fragrant⌟ with myrrh, aloes, and cassia.
From ivory palaces the music of stringed instruments delights you.
9 The daughters of kings are among your noble ladies.
The queen takes her place at your right hand
and wears gold from Ophir.
10 Listen, daughter! Look closely!
Turn your ear ⌞toward me⌟.
Forget your people, and forget your father’s house.
11 The king longs for your beauty.
He is your Lord.
Worship him.
12 The people of Tyre, the richest people,
want to win your favor with a gift.
13 The daughter of the king is glorious inside ⌞the palace⌟.
Her dress is embroidered with gold.
14 Wearing a colorful gown, she is brought to the king.
Her bridesmaids follow her.
They will be brought to you.
15 With joy and delight they are brought in.
They enter the palace of the king.
16 Your sons will take the place of your father.
You will make them princes over the whole earth.
17 I will cause your name to be remembered throughout every generation.
That is why the nations will give thanks to you forever and ever.
For the choir director; a psalm by Korah’s descendants.
47 Clap your hands, all you people.
Shout to God with a loud, joyful song.
2 We must fear the Lord, the Most High.
He is the great king of the whole earth.
3 He brings people under our authority
and ⌞puts⌟ nations under our feet.
4 He chooses our inheritance for us,
the pride of Jacob, whom he loved. Selah
5 God has gone up with a joyful shout.
The Lord has gone up with the sound of a ram’s horn.
6 Make music to praise God.
Play music for him!
Make music to praise our king.
Play music for him!
7 God is the king of the whole earth.
Make your best music for him!
8 God rules the nations.
He sits upon his holy throne.
9 The influential people from the nations gather together
as the people of the God of Abraham.
The rulers of the earth belong to God.
He rules everything.
A song; a psalm by Korah’s descendants.
48 The Lord is great.
He should be highly praised.
His holy mountain is in the city of our God.
2 Its beautiful peak is the joy of the whole earth.
Mount Zion is on the northern ridge.
It is the city of the great king.
3 God is in its palaces.
He has proved that he is a stronghold.
4 The kings have gathered.
They marched together.
5 ⌞When⌟ they saw ⌞Mount Zion⌟,
they were astonished.
They were terrified and ran away in fear.
6 Trembling seized them
like the trembling that a woman experiences during labor.
7 With the east wind you smash the ships of Tarshish.
8 The things we had only heard about, we have now seen
in the city of the Lord of Armies,
in the city of our God.
God makes Zion stand firm forever. Selah
9 Inside your temple we carefully reflect on your mercy, O God.
10 Like your name, O God,
your praise ⌞reaches⌟ to the ends of the earth.
Your right hand is filled with righteousness.
11 Let Mount Zion be glad
and the cities of Judah rejoice
because of your judgments.
12 Walk around Zion.
Go around it.
Count its towers.
13 Examine its embankments.
Walk through its palaces.
Then you can tell the next generation,
14 “This God is our God forever and ever.
He will lead us beyond death.”
Job Continues: My Glorious Past
29 Job continued his poems and said,
2 “If only my life could be like it used to be,
in the days when God watched over me,
3 when he made his lamp shine on my head,
when I walked through the dark in his light.
4 If only I were in the prime of my life ⌞again⌟,
when God was an adviser in my tent.
5 When the Almighty was still with me
and my children were around me,
6 my steps were bathed in buttermilk,
and the rocks poured streams of olive oil on me.
7 When I went through the city gate
and took my seat in the town square,
8 young men saw me and kept out of sight.
Old men stood up straight out of respect ⌞for me⌟.
9 Princes held back ⌞their⌟ words
and put their hands over their mouths.
10 The voices of nobles were hushed,
and their tongues stuck to the roofs of their mouths.
11 “⌞Any⌟ ears that heard me blessed me.
⌞Any⌟ eyes that saw me spoke well of me,
12 because I rescued the poor who called ⌞for help⌟
and the orphans who had no one to help them.
13 I received a blessing from the dying.
I made the widow’s heart sing for joy.
14 I put on righteousness, and it was my clothing.
I practiced justice, and it was my robe and my turban.
15 I was eyes for the blind person.
I was feet for the lame person.
16 I was father to the needy.
I carefully investigated cases brought by strangers.
17 I broke the teeth of the wicked person
and made him drop the prey out of his mouth.
18 “I thought, ‘I may die in my own house,
but I will make my days as numerous as the sand.
19 My roots will grow toward the water,
and dew will lie on my branches all night.
20 My power will be fresh ⌞every day⌟,
and the bow in my hand will remain new.’
Paul and Barnabas in Iconium
14 The same thing happened in the city of Iconium. Paul and Barnabas went into the synagogue and spoke in such a way that a large crowd of Jews and Greeks believed. 2 But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up some people who were not Jewish and poisoned their minds against the believers. 3 Paul and Barnabas stayed in the city of Iconium for a long time. They spoke boldly about the Lord, who confirmed their message about his good will [a] by having them perform miracles and do amazing things. 4 But the people of Iconium were divided. Some were for the Jews, while others were for the apostles.
5 In the meantime, Paul and Barnabas found out that the non-Jewish people and the Jewish people with their rulers planned to attack them and stone them to death. 6 So they escaped to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding territory. 7 They spread the Good News there.
Paul and Barnabas in Lystra
8 A man who was born lame was in Lystra. He was always sitting because he had never been able to walk. 9 He listened to what Paul was saying. Paul observed him closely and saw that the man believed he could be made well. 10 So Paul said in a loud voice, “Stand up.” The man jumped up and began to walk.
11 The crowds who saw what Paul had done shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come to us, and they look human.” 12 They addressed Barnabas as Zeus and Paul as Hermes because Paul did most of the talking. 13 Zeus’ temple was at the entrance to the city. The priest of the god Zeus brought bulls with flowery wreaths around their necks to the temple gates. The priest and the crowd wanted to offer a sacrifice ⌞to Paul and Barnabas⌟.
14 When the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard what was happening, they were very upset. They rushed into the crowd 15 and said, “Men, what are you doing? We’re human beings like you. We’re spreading the Good News to you to turn you away from these worthless gods to the living God. The living God made the sky, the land, the sea, and everything in them. 16 In the past God allowed all people to live as they pleased. 17 Yet, by doing good, he has given evidence of his existence. He gives you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons. He fills you with food and your lives with happiness.” 18 Although Paul and Barnabas said these things, they hardly kept the crowd from sacrificing to them.
31 The Jews had again brought some rocks to stone Jesus to death. 32 Jesus replied to them, “I’ve shown you many good things that come from the Father. For which of these good things do you want to stone me to death?”
33 The Jews answered Jesus, “We’re going to stone you to death, not for any good things you’ve done, but for dishonoring God. You claim to be God, although you’re only a man.”
34 Jesus said to them, “Don’t your Scriptures say, ‘I said, “You are gods” ’? 35 The Scriptures cannot be discredited. So if God calls people gods (and they are the people to whom he gave the Scriptures), 36 why do you say that I’m dishonoring God because I said, ‘I’m the Son of God’? God set me apart for this holy purpose and has sent me into the world. 37 If I’m not doing the things my Father does, don’t believe me. 38 But if I’m doing those things and you refuse to believe me, then at least believe the things that I’m doing. Then you will know and recognize that the Father is in me and that I am in the Father.”
39 The Jews tried to arrest Jesus again, but he got away from them. 40 He went back across the Jordan River and stayed in the place where John first baptized people.
41 Many people went to Jesus. They said, “John didn’t perform any miracles, but everything John said about this man is true.” 42 Many people there believed in Jesus.
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