Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 45[a]
For the music director, according to the tune of “Lilies”;[b] by the Korahites, a well-written poem,[c] a love song.
45 My heart is stirred by a beautiful song.[d]
I say, “I have composed this special song[e] for the king;
my tongue is as skilled as the stylus of an experienced scribe.”[f]
2 You are the most handsome of all men.[g]
You speak in an impressive and fitting manner.[h]
For this reason[i] God grants you continual blessings.[j]
3 Strap your sword to your thigh, O warrior.[k]
Appear in your majestic splendor.[l]
4 Appear in your majesty and be victorious.[m]
Ride forth for the sake of what is right,[n]
on behalf of justice.[o]
Then your right hand will accomplish mighty acts.[p]
5 Your arrows are sharp
and penetrate the hearts of the king’s enemies.
Nations fall at your feet.[q]
6 Your throne,[r] O God, is permanent.[s]
The scepter[t] of your kingdom is a scepter of justice.
7 You love[u] justice and hate evil.[v]
For this reason God, your God,[w] has anointed you[x]
with the oil of joy,[y] elevating you above your companions.[z]
8 All your garments are perfumed with[aa] myrrh, aloes, and cassia.
From the luxurious palaces[ab] comes the music of stringed instruments that makes you happy.[ac]
9 Princesses[ad] are among your honored women.[ae]
Your bride[af] stands at your right hand, wearing jewelry made with gold from Ophir.[ag]
10 Listen, O princess.[ah]
Observe and pay attention![ai]
Forget your homeland[aj] and your family.[ak]
11 Then[al] the king will be attracted by[am] your beauty.
After all, he is your master. Submit[an] to him.[ao]
12 Rich people from Tyre
will seek your favor by bringing a gift.[ap]
13 The princess[aq] looks absolutely magnificent,[ar]
decked out in pearls and clothed in a brocade trimmed with gold.[as]
14 In embroidered robes she is escorted to the king.
Her attendants, the maidens of honor who follow her,
are led before you.[at]
15 They are bubbling with joy as they walk in procession
and enter the royal palace.[au]
16 Your[av] sons will carry on[aw] the dynasty of your ancestors;[ax]
you will make them princes throughout the land.
17 I will proclaim your greatness through the coming years,[ay]
then the nations will praise you[az] forever.
Psalm 47[a]
For the music director, by the Korahites; a psalm.
47 All you nations, clap your hands.
Shout out to God in celebration.[b]
2 For the Lord Most High[c] is awe-inspiring;[d]
he is the great king who rules the whole earth![e]
3 He subdued nations beneath us[f]
and countries[g] under our feet.
4 He picked out for us a special land[h]
to be a source of pride for[i] Jacob,[j] whom he loves.[k] (Selah)
5 God has ascended his throne[l] amid loud shouts;[m]
the Lord has ascended amid the blaring of ram’s horns.[n]
6 Sing to God! Sing!
Sing to our king! Sing!
7 For God is king of the whole earth.
Sing a well-written song.[o]
8 God reigns[p] over the nations.
God sits on his holy throne.
9 The nobles of the nations assemble,
along with the people of the God of Abraham,[q]
for God has authority over the rulers[r] of the earth.
He is highly exalted.[s]
Psalm 48[t]
A song, a psalm by the Korahites.
48 The Lord is great and certainly worthy of praise
in the city of our God,[u] his holy hill.
2 It is lofty and pleasing to look at,[v]
a source of joy to the whole earth.[w]
Mount Zion resembles the peaks of Zaphon;[x]
it is the city of the great king.
3 God is in its fortresses;
he reveals himself as its defender.[y]
4 For[z] look, the kings assemble;[aa]
they advance together.
5 As soon as they see,[ab] they are shocked;[ac]
they are terrified, they quickly retreat.[ad]
6 Look at them shake uncontrollably,[ae]
like a woman writhing in childbirth.[af]
7 With an east wind
you shatter[ag] the large ships.[ah]
8 We heard about God’s mighty deeds; now we have seen them,[ai]
in the city of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,[aj]
in the city of our God.
God makes it permanently secure.[ak] (Selah)
9 Within your temple
we reflect on your loyal love, O God.
10 The praise you receive as far away as the ends of the earth
is worthy of your reputation, O God.[al]
You execute justice.[am]
11 Mount Zion rejoices;
the towns[an] of Judah are happy,[ao]
because of your acts of judgment.[ap]
12 Walk around[aq] Zion. Encircle it.
Count its towers.
13 Consider its defenses.[ar]
Walk through[as] its fortresses,
so you can tell the next generation about it.[at]
14 For God, our God, is our defender forever.[au]
He guides[av] us.[aw]
16 For the wise man, like[a] the fool, will not be remembered for very long,[b]
because[c] in the days to come, both will already have been forgotten.[d]
Alas,[e] the wise man dies—just like[f] the fool!
17 So I loathed[g] life[h] because what
happens[i] on earth[j] seems awful to me;
for all the benefits of wisdom[k] are futile—like chasing the wind.
Futility of Being a Workaholic
18 So I loathed all the fruit of[l] my effort,[m]
for which I worked so hard[n] on earth,[o]
because[p] I must leave it[q] behind[r] in the hands of my successor.[s]
19 Who knows if he will be a wise man or a fool?
Yet[t] he will be master over all the fruit of[u] my labor[v]
for which I worked so wisely[w] on earth.[x]
This also is futile!
20 So I began to despair[y] about all the fruit of[z] my labor[aa]
for which I worked so hard[ab] on earth.[ac]
21 For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge, and skill;
however, he must hand over[ad] the fruit of his labor[ae] as an inheritance[af]
to someone else who did not work for it.
This also is futile, and an awful injustice![ag]
Painful Days and Restless Nights
22 What does a man acquire from all his labor
and from the anxiety that accompanies his toil on earth?[ah]
23 For all day long[ai] his work produces pain and frustration,[aj]
and even at night his mind cannot relax.[ak]
This also is futile!
Enjoy Work and its Benefits
24 There is nothing better for[al] people[am] than[an] to eat and drink,
and to find enjoyment[ao] in their[ap] work.
I also perceived that this ability to find enjoyment[aq] comes from God.[ar]
25 For no one[as] can eat and drink[at]
or experience joy[au] apart from him.[av]
26 For to the one who pleases him,[aw] God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy,
but to the sinner, he gives the task of amassing[ax] wealth[ay]—
only to give[az] it[ba] to the one who pleases God.
This[bb] task of the wicked[bc] is futile—like chasing the wind!
18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas[a] and get information from him,[b] and I stayed with him fifteen days. 19 But I saw none of the other apostles[c] except James the Lord’s brother. 20 I assure you[d] that, before God, I am not lying about what I am writing to you![e] 21 Afterward I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 22 But I was personally[f] unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. 23 They were only hearing, “The one who once persecuted us is now proclaiming the good news[g] of the faith he once tried to destroy.” 24 So[h] they glorified God because of me.[i]
Confirmation from the Jerusalem Apostles
2 Then after fourteen years I went up to Jerusalem again with Barnabas, taking Titus along too. 2 I went there[j] because of[k] a revelation and presented[l] to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did so[m] only in a private meeting with the influential people,[n] to make sure that I was not running—or had not run[o]—in vain. 3 Yet[p] not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, although he was a Greek. 4 Now this matter arose[q] because of the false brothers with false pretenses[r] who slipped in unnoticed to spy on[s] our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, to make us slaves.[t] 5 But[u] we did not surrender to them[v] even for a moment,[w] in order that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.[x]
6 But from those who were influential[y] (whatever they were makes no difference to me; God shows no favoritism between people[z])—those influential leaders[aa] added[ab] nothing to my message.[ac] 7 On the contrary, when they saw[ad] that I was entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised[ae] just as Peter was entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised[af] 8 (for he who empowered[ag] Peter for his apostleship[ah] to the circumcised[ai] also empowered me for my apostleship to the Gentiles)[aj] 9 and when James, Cephas,[ak] and John, who had a reputation as[al] pillars,[am] recognized[an] the grace that had been given to me, they gave to Barnabas and me[ao] the right hand of fellowship, agreeing[ap] that we would go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised.[aq] 10 They requested[ar] only that we remember the poor, the very thing I also was eager to do.
Rejection at Nazareth
53 Now when[a] Jesus finished these parables, he moved on from there. 54 Then[b] he came to his hometown[c] and began to teach the people[d] in their synagogue.[e] They[f] were astonished and said, “Where did this man get such wisdom and miraculous powers? 55 Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother named Mary?[g] And aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? 56 And aren’t all his sisters here with us? So where did he get all this?” 57 And so they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own house.” 58 And he did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.
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