Book of Common Prayer
45 To the Overseer. -- `On the Lilies.' -- By sons of Korah. -- An Instruction. -- A song of loves. My heart hath indited a good thing, I am telling my works to a king, My tongue [is] the pen of a speedy writer.
2 Thou hast been beautified above the sons of men, Grace hath been poured into thy lips, Therefore hath God blessed thee to the age.
3 Gird Thy sword upon the thigh, O mighty, Thy glory and Thy majesty!
4 As to Thy majesty -- prosper! -- ride! Because of truth, and meekness -- righteousness, And Thy right hand showeth Thee fearful things.
5 Thine arrows [are] sharp, -- Peoples fall under Thee -- In the heart of the enemies of the king.
6 Thy throne, O God, [is] age-during, and for ever, A sceptre of uprightness [Is] the sceptre of Thy kingdom.
7 Thou hast loved righteousness and hatest wickedness, Therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee, Oil of joy above thy companions.
8 Myrrh and aloes, cassia! all thy garments, Out of palaces of ivory Stringed instruments have made thee glad.
9 Daughters of kings [are] among thy precious ones, A queen hath stood at thy right hand, In pure gold of Ophir.
10 Hearken, O daughter, and see, incline thine ear, And forget thy people, and thy father's house,
11 And the king doth desire thy beauty, Because he [is] thy lord -- bow thyself to him,
12 And the daughter of Tyre with a present, The rich of the people do appease thy face.
13 All glory [is] the daughter of the king within, Of gold-embroidered work [is] her clothing.
14 In divers colours she is brought to the king, Virgins -- after her -- her companions, Are brought to thee.
15 They are brought with joy and gladness, They come into the palace of the king.
16 Instead of thy fathers are thy sons, Thou dost appoint them for princes in all the earth.
17 I make mention of Thy name in all generations, Therefore do peoples praise Thee, To the age, and for ever!
47 To the Overseer. -- By sons of Korah. A Psalm. All ye peoples, clap the hand, Shout to God with a voice of singing,
2 For Jehovah Most High [is] fearful, A great king over all the earth.
3 He leadeth peoples under us, and nations under our feet.
4 He doth choose for us our inheritance, The excellency of Jacob that He loves. Selah.
5 God hath gone up with a shout, Jehovah with the sound of a trumpet.
6 Praise God -- praise -- give praise to our king, praise.
7 For king of all the earth [is] God, Give praise, O understanding one.
8 God hath reigned over nations, God hath sat on His holy throne,
9 Nobles of peoples have been gathered, [With] the people of the God of Abraham, For to God [are] the shields of earth, Greatly hath He been exalted!
48 A Song, a Psalm, by sons of Korah. Great [is] Jehovah, and praised greatly, In the city of our God -- His holy hill.
2 Beautiful [for] elevation, A joy of all the land, [is] Mount Zion, The sides of the north, the city of a great king.
3 God in her high places is known for a tower.
4 For, lo, the kings met, they passed by together,
5 They have seen -- so they have marvelled, They have been troubled, they were hastened away.
6 Trembling hath seized them there, Pain, as of a travailing woman.
7 By an east wind Thou shiverest ships of Tarshish.
8 As we have heard, so we have seen, In the city of Jehovah of hosts, In the city of our God, God doth establish her -- to the age. Selah.
9 We have thought, O God, of Thy kindness, In the midst of Thy temple,
10 As [is] Thy name, O God, so [is] Thy praise, Over the ends of the earth, Righteousness hath filled Thy right hand.
11 Rejoice doth Mount Zion, The daughters of Judah are joyful, For the sake of Thy judgments.
12 Compass Zion, and go round her, count her towers,
13 Set your heart to her bulwark, Consider her high places, So that ye recount to a later generation,
14 That this God [is] our God -- To the age and for ever, He -- he doth lead us over death!
25 And Samuel dieth, and all Israel are gathered, and mourn for him, and bury him in his house, in Ramah; and David riseth and goeth down unto the wilderness of Paran.
2 And [there is] a man in Maon, and his work [is] in Carmel; and the man [is] very great, and he hath three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats; and he is shearing his flock in Carmel.
3 And the name of the man [is] Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail, and the woman [is] of good understanding, and of fair form, and the man [is] hard and evil [in] doings; and he [is] a Calebite.
4 And David heareth in the wilderness that Nabal is shearing his flock,
5 and David sendeth ten young men, and David saith to the young men, `Go ye up to Carmel, and ye have come in unto Nabal, and asked of him in my name of welfare,
6 and said thus: To life! and thou, peace; and thy house, peace; and all that thou hast -- peace!
7 and, now, I have heard that thou hast shearers; now, the shepherds whom thou hast have been with us, we have not put them to shame, nor hath anything been looked after by them, all the days of their being in Carmel.
8 `Ask thy young men, and they declare to thee, and the young men find grace in thine eyes, for on a good day we have come; give, I pray thee, that which thy hand findeth, to thy servants, and to thy son, to David.'
9 And the young men of David come in, and speak unto Nabal according to all these words, in the name of David -- and rest.
10 And Nabal answereth the servants of David and saith, `Who [is] David, and who the son of Jesse? to-day have servants been multiplied who are breaking away each from his master;
11 and I have taken my bread, and my water, and my flesh, which I slaughtered for my shearers, and have given [it] to men whom I have not known whence they [are]!'
12 And the young men of David turn on their way, and turn back, and come in, and declare to him according to all these words.
13 And David saith to his men, `Gird ye on each his sword;' and they gird on each his sword, and David also girdeth on his sword, and there go up after David about four hundred men, and two hundred have remained by the vessels.
14 And to Abigail wife of Nabal hath one young man of the youths declared, saying, `Lo, David hath sent messengers out of the wilderness to bless our lord, and he flieth upon them;
15 and the men [are] very good to us, and have not put us to shame, and we have not looked after anything all the days we have gone up and down with them, in our being in the field;
16 a wall they have been unto us both by night and by day, all the days of our being with them, feeding the flock.
17 `And, now, know and consider what thou dost; for evil hath been determined against our lord, and against all his house, and he [is] too much a son of worthlessness to be spoken to.'
18 And Abigail hasteth, and taketh two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep, prepared, and five measures of roasted corn, and a hundred bunches of raisins, and two hundred bunches of figs, and setteth [them] on the asses.
19 And she saith to her young men, `Pass over before me; lo, after you I am coming;' and to her husband Nabal she hath not declared [it];
20 and it hath come to pass, she is riding on the ass and is coming down in the secret part of the hill-country, and lo, David and his men are coming down to meet her, and she meeteth them.
21 And David said, `Only, in vain I have kept all that this [one] hath in the wilderness, and nothing hath been looked after of all that he hath, and he turneth back to me evil for good;
22 thus doth God do to the enemies of David, and thus He doth add, if I leave of all that he hath till the light of the morning -- of those sitting on the wall.'
14 And it came to pass in Iconium, that they did enter together into the synagogue of the Jews, and spake, so that there believed both of Jews and Greeks a great multitude;
2 and the unbelieving Jews did stir up and made evil the souls of the nations against the brethren;
3 long time, indeed, therefore, did they abide speaking boldly in the Lord, who is testifying to the word of His grace, and granting signs and wonders to come to pass through their hands.
4 And the multitude of the city was divided, and some were with the Jews, and some with the apostles,
5 and when there was a purpose both of the nations and of the Jews with their rulers to use [them] despitefully, and to stone them,
6 they having become aware, did flee to the cities of Lycaonia, Lystra, and Derbe, and to the region round about,
7 and there they were proclaiming good news.
8 And a certain man in Lystra, impotent in the feet, was sitting, being lame from the womb of his mother -- who never had walked,
9 this one was hearing Paul speaking, who, having stedfastly beheld him, and having seen that he hath faith to be saved,
10 said with a loud voice, `Stand up on thy feet upright;' and he was springing and walking,
11 and the multitudes having seen what Paul did, did lift up their voice, in the speech of Lycaonia, saying, `The gods, having become like men, did come down unto us;'
12 they were calling also Barnabas Zeus, and Paul Hermes, since he was the leader in speaking.
13 And the priest of the Zeus that is before their city, oxen and garlands unto the porches having brought, with the multitudes did wish to sacrifice,
14 and having heard, the apostles Barnabas and Paul, having rent their garments, did spring into the multitude, crying
15 and saying, `Men, why these things do ye? and we are men like-affected with you, proclaiming good news to you, from these vanities to turn unto the living God, who made the heaven, and the earth, and the sea, and all the things in them;
16 who in the past generations did suffer all the nations to go on in their ways,
17 though, indeed, without witness He did not leave himself, doing good -- from heaven giving rains to us, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness;'
18 and these things saying, scarcely did they restrain the multitudes from sacrificing to them.
21 And he said to them, `Doth the lamp come that under the measure it may be put, or under the couch -- not that it may be put on the lamp-stand?
22 for there is not anything hid that may not be manifested, nor was anything kept hid but that it may come to light.
23 If any hath ears to hear -- let him hear.'
24 And he said to them, `Take heed what ye hear; in what measure ye measure, it shall be measured to you; and to you who hear it shall be added;
25 for whoever may have, there shall be given to him, and whoever hath not, also that which he hath shall be taken from him.'
26 And he said, `Thus is the reign of God: as if a man may cast the seed on the earth,
27 and may sleep, and may rise night and day, and the seed spring up and grow, he hath not known how;
28 for of itself doth the earth bear fruit, first a blade, afterwards an ear, afterwards full corn in the ear;
29 and whenever the fruit may yield itself, immediately he doth send forth the sickle, because the harvest hath come.'
30 And he said, `To what may we liken the reign of God, or in what simile may we compare it?
31 As a grain of mustard, which, whenever it may be sown on the earth, is less than any of the seeds that are on the earth;
32 and whenever it may be sown, it cometh up, and doth become greater than any of the herbs, and doth make great branches, so that under its shade the fowls of the heaven are able to rest.'
33 And with many such similes he was speaking to them the word, as they were able to hear,
34 and without a simile he was not speaking to them, and by themselves, to his disciples he was expounding all.