Book of Common Prayer
A Song Celebrating the King’s Marriage.
To the Chief Musician; set to the [tune of] “Lilies.” A Psalm of the sons of Korah. A skillful song, or a didactic or reflective poem. A Song of Love.
45 [a]My heart overflows with a good theme;
I address my psalm to the King.
My tongue is like the pen of a skillful writer.
2
You are fairer than the sons of men;
Graciousness is poured upon Your lips;
Therefore God has blessed You forever.
3
Strap Your sword on Your thigh, O mighty One,
In Your splendor and Your majesty!
4
And in Your majesty ride on triumphantly
For the cause of truth and humility and righteousness;
Let Your right hand guide You to awesome things.
5
Your arrows are sharp;
The peoples (nations) fall under You;
Your arrows pierce the hearts of the King’s enemies.
6
[b]Your throne, O God, is forever and ever;
The scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom.
7
You have loved righteousness (virtue, morality, justice) and hated wickedness;
Therefore God, your God, has anointed You
Above Your companions with the oil of jubilation.(A)
8
All Your garments are fragrant with myrrh, aloes and cassia;
From ivory palaces stringed instruments have made You glad.
9
Kings’ daughters are among Your noble ladies;
At Your right hand stands the queen in gold from Ophir.
10
Hear, O daughter, consider and incline your ear [to my instruction]:
Forget your people and your father’s house;
11
Then the King will desire your beauty;
Because He is your Lord, bow down and honor Him.
12
The daughter of Tyre will come with a gift;
The rich among the people will seek your favor.
13
Glorious is the King’s daughter within [the palace];
Her robe is interwoven with gold.(B)
14
She will be brought to the King in embroidered garments;
The virgins, her companions who follow her,
Will be brought to You.
15
With gladness and rejoicing will they be led;
They will enter into the King’s palace.
16
In place of your fathers will be [c]your sons;
You shall make princes in all the land.
17
I will make Your name to be remembered in all generations;
Therefore the peoples will praise and give You thanks forever and ever.
God the King of the Earth.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.
47 O clap your hands, all you people;
Shout to God with the voice of triumph and songs of joy.
2
For the Lord Most High is to be feared [and worshiped with awe-inspired reverence and obedience];
He is a great King over all the earth.
3
He subdues peoples under us
And nations under our feet.
4
He chooses our inheritance for us,
The glory and excellence of Jacob whom He loves.(A) Selah.
5
God has ascended amid shouting,
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 in a skillful psalm and with understanding.
8
God reigns over the nations;
God sits on His holy throne.
9
The princes of the people have gathered together as the people of the God of Abraham,
For the shields of the earth belong to God;
He is highly exalted.
The Beauty and Glory of Zion.
A Song; a Psalm of the sons of Korah.
48 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
In the city of our God, His holy mountain.
2
Fair and beautiful in elevation, the joy of all the earth,
Is Mount Zion [the City of David] in the far north,
The city of the great King.(B)
3
God, in her palaces,
Has made Himself known as a stronghold.
4
For, lo, the kings assembled themselves,
They [came and] passed by together.
5
They saw it, then they were amazed;
They were stricken with terror, they fled in alarm.
6
Panic seized them there,
And pain, as that of a woman in childbirth.
7
With the east wind
You shattered the ships of Tarshish.
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 her forever. Selah.
9
We have thought of Your lovingkindness, O God,
In the midst of Your temple.
10
As is Your name, O God,
So is Your praise to the ends of the earth;
Your right hand is full of righteousness (rightness, justice).
11
Let Mount Zion be glad,
Let the daughters of Judah rejoice
Because of Your [righteous] judgments.
12
Walk about Zion, go all around her;
Count her towers,
13
Consider her ramparts,
Go through her palaces,
That you may tell the next generation [about her glory].
14
For this is God,
Our God forever and ever;
He will be our guide even until death.
23 In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri became king over Israel and reigned for twelve years. He reigned six years at Tirzah. 24 Omri bought the hill Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver, and he built a city on the hill [and fortified it], and named the city which he built [a]Samaria, after the owner of the hill, Shemer.
25 But Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, and acted more wickedly than all who came before him. 26 He walked in all the ways of Jeroboam the son of Nebat and in his sin, which he made Israel commit, provoking the Lord God of Israel, [to anger] with their idols. 27 Now as for the rest of the acts of Omri which he did, and his might which he showed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 28 So Omri slept with his fathers [in death] and was buried in Samaria. Ahab his son became king in his place.
29 Ahab the son of Omri became king over Israel in the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria for twenty-two years. 30 Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord more than all [the kings] who were before him.
31 It came about, as if it had been a trivial thing for Ahab to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he married [b]Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him. 32 So he erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal which he built in Samaria. 33 Ahab also made the Asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who were before him. 34 In his days, Hiel the Bethelite rebuilt Jericho. He laid its foundations with the loss of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates with the loss of his youngest son Segub, in accordance with the word of the Lord, which He spoke through Joshua the son of Nun.(A)
The Gospel Is Preached
12 Now I want you to know, [a]believers, that what has happened to me [this imprisonment that was meant to stop me] has actually served to advance [the spread of] the good news [regarding salvation]. 13 My imprisonment in [the cause of] Christ has become common knowledge throughout the whole [b]praetorian (imperial) guard and to everyone else. 14 Because of my chains [seeing that I am doing well and that God is accomplishing great things], most of the [c]brothers have renewed confidence in the Lord, and have far more courage to speak the word of God [concerning salvation] without fear [of the consequences, seeing that God can work His good in all circumstances]. 15 Some, it is true, are [actually] preaching Christ out of envy and rivalry [toward me—for no better reason than a competitive spirit or misguided ambition], but others out of goodwill and a loyal spirit [toward me]. 16 The latter [preach Christ] out of love, because they know that I have been put here [by God on purpose] for the defense of the gospel; 17 but the former preach Christ [insincerely] out of selfish ambition [just self-promotion], thinking that they are causing me distress in my imprisonment. 18 What then [does it matter]? So long as in every way, whether in pretense [for self-promotion] or in all honesty [to spread the truth], Christ is being preached; and in this I rejoice.
Yes, and I will rejoice [later as well], 19 for I know [with confidence] that this will turn out for my deliverance and spiritual well-being, through your prayers and the [superabundant] supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ [which upholds me]. 20 It is my own eager expectation and hope, that [looking toward the future] I will not disgrace myself nor be ashamed in anything, but that with courage and the utmost freedom of speech, even now as always, Christ will be magnified and exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.
To Live Is Christ
21 For to me, to live is Christ [He is my source of joy, my reason to live] and to die is gain [for I will be with Him in eternity]. 22 If, however, it is to be life here and I am to go on living, this will mean useful and productive service for me; so I do not know which to choose [if I am given that choice]. 23 But I am hard-pressed between the two. I have the desire to leave [this world] and be with Christ, for that is far, far better; 24 yet to remain in my body is more necessary and essential for your sake. 25 Since I am convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that your rejoicing for me may overflow in Christ Jesus through my coming to you again.
27 Only [be sure to] lead your lives in a manner [that will be] worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I do come and see you or remain absent, I will hear about you that you are standing firm in one spirit [and one purpose], with one [d]mind striving side by side [as if in combat] for the faith of the gospel. 28 And in no way be alarmed or intimidated [in anything] by your opponents, for such [constancy and fearlessness on your part] is a [clear] sign [a proof and a seal] for them of [their impending] destruction, but [a clear sign] for you of deliverance and salvation, and that too, from God. 29 For you have been granted [the privilege] for Christ’s sake, not only to believe and confidently trust in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, 30 [and so you are] experiencing the same [kind of] conflict which [e]you saw me endure, and which you hear to be mine now.
The Resurrection
16 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome purchased [sweet-smelling] spices, so that they might go and [a]anoint Him.(A) 2 Very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. 3 And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll back the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” 4 Looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, though it was extremely large. 5 Entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right, wearing a [long, stately] white robe; and they were amazed and bewildered. 6 And he said to them, “Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen; He is not here. See, [here is] the place where they laid Him.(B) 7 But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee; you will see Him there, just as He told you.’”(C) 8 They went out and fled from the tomb, for they were seized with trembling and astonishment; and they said nothing [about it] to anyone, because they were afraid.
9 [b][Now Jesus, having risen [from death] early on the first day of the week, appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had cast out seven demons. 10 She went and reported it to those who had been with Him, while they were mourning and weeping. 11 When they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe it.
12 After that, He appeared in a different form to two of them as they were walking along the way to the country.(D) 13 They returned [to Jerusalem] and told the others, but they did not believe them either.
The Disciples Commissioned
14 Later, Jesus appeared to the eleven [disciples] themselves as they were reclining at the table; and He called them to account for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen [from death]. 15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 He who has believed [in Me] and has been baptized will be saved [from the penalty of God’s wrath and judgment]; but he who has not believed will be condemned. 17 These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up serpents, and if they drink anything deadly, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will get well.”
19 So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.(E) 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord was working with them and confirming the word by the signs that followed.]
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