Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 45
For the worship leader. A contemplative song[a] of the sons of Korah to the tune “The Lilies.”[b] A love song.
1 My heart is bursting with a new song;
lyrics to my king erupt like a spring
for my king, to my king;
my tongue is the pen of a poet, ready and willing.
2 Better by far are you than all others, my king;
gracious words flow from your lips;
indeed, God has blessed you forever.
Psalm 45 describes the beauty, power, and influence of God’s anointed king and may have been composed in honor of a royal wedding.
Whether we realize it or not, the overall well-being of a nation is tied directly to its leaders. When the leaders are just and make good decisions, then the welfare of a nation is secure. But when leaders are unjust and make poor decisions, and they pursue personal agendas rather than the public good, then nations suffer. This is why Scripture instructs those of faith to pray for all people everywhere, especially that those in authority would lead the world to dignity and peace (1 Timothy 2:1-3).
Psalm 45 celebrates that rare breed, a godly king who pursues truth and justice. It anticipates a joyful union and future children who will one day follow in the steps of their father. May the world witness a new breed of leader, fashioned in the image of this psalm.
3 With your sword at your side,
you are glorious, majestic,
a mighty warrior.
4 Ride on in splendor; ride into battle victorious,
for the sake of truth, humility, and justice.
Perform awesome acts, trained by your powerful right hand.
5 Razor-sharp arrows leap from your bow
to pierce the heart of the king’s foes;
they lie, defeated, before you.
6 O God, Your throne is eternal;
You will rule your kingdom with a scepter of justice.
7 You have loved what is right and hated what is evil.
That is why God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness and lifted you above your companions.[c]
8 All of your clothing is drenched in the rich scent of myrrh, aloes, and cassia;
In palaces decked out with ivory, beautiful stringed instruments play for your pleasure.
9 At a royal wedding with the daughters of kings among the guests of honor,
your bride-queen stands at your right, adorned in gold from Ophir.
10 Hear this, daughter; pay close attention to what I am about to say:
you must forget your people and even your father’s house.
11 Because the king yearns for your beauty,
humble yourself before him, for he is now your lord.
12 The daughter of Tyre arrives with a gift;
the wealthy will bow and plead for your favor.
13 A stunning bride, the king’s daughter waits within;
her clothing is skillfully woven with gold.
14 She, in her richly embroidered gown, is carried to the king,
her virgin companions following close behind.
15 They walk in a spirit of celebration and gratefulness.
In delight, they enter the palace of the king.
16 O king, in this place where your ancestors reigned, you will have sons;
you will make them princes throughout all the land.
17 I will make sure your name is remembered by all future generations
so that the people will offer you thanks and praise now and forever.
Psalm 47
For the worship leader. A song of the sons of Korah.
1 Clap your hands, all of you;
raise your voices joyfully and loudly.
Give honor for the True God of the universe;
2 Here’s why: The Eternal, the Most High, is awesome and deserves our great respect.
He is the great King over everything in this world.
3 He’s helped us win wars, suppressed our enemies,
and made nations bow at our feet.
4 He decides the extent of our inheritance and selects the land where we and our children will live,
for we are the pride of Jacob, the ones He loves.
[pause][a]
5 The True God ascends the throne acclaimed by shouts of the people.
The Eternal is announced by the blast of a trumpet.
6 Sing! Shout! Play instruments!
Praise our God and King; sing praises to Him who is worthy.
7 For He is the King of all the earth. Sing praise, all who can.
Put words to music, and then sing praises
8 At the feet of the God who sits on His holy throne,
ruling over all the nations.
9 All those with influence in this world—princes, kings, and satraps—
gather with those who follow Abraham’s God.
For these defenders belong to God
who reigns over the nations!
Psalm 48
A song of the sons of Korah.
1 The Eternal is great and mighty, worthy of great praise
in the city of our True God, upon His holy mountain.
2 Situated high above, Mount Zion is beautiful to see,
the pleasure of the entire earth.
Mount Zion, in the north,[b]
is the city of the great King.
3 In her palaces, the True God
has revealed Himself as a mighty fortress.
4 Not long ago, enemy kings gathered together
and moved forward as one to attack the city.
5 When they saw Mount Zion, they were amazed;
amazement became fear, then panic. They fled for their lives.
6 They were overtaken by terror, trembling in anguish
like a woman in childbirth.
7 God, You shattered the ships of Tarshish
with the mighty east wind.
8 As we have heard stories of Your greatness,
now we have also seen it with our own eyes
right here, in the city of the Eternal, the Commander of heavenly armies.
Right here, in our God’s city,
the True God will preserve her forever.
[pause][c]
9 We have meditated upon Your loyal love, O God,
within Your holy temple.
10 Just as Your name reaches to the ends of the earth, O God,
so Your praise flows there too;
Your right hand holds justice.
11 So because of Your judgments,
may Mount Zion be delighted!
May the villages of Judah celebrate!
12 Explore Zion; make an accounting,
note all her towers;
13 Reflect upon her defenses;
stroll through her palaces
So that you can tell the coming generation all about her.
14 For so is God,
our True God, forever and ever;
He will be our guide till the end.
25 At last, Samuel died, and all of the people of Israel gathered to mourn him. They buried him at his home in Ramah on the border of Benjamin and Ephraim. Once the mourning period was over, David and his men went down to the wilderness of Paran[a] (the desert area far to the south).
2 A certain man in Maon owned property in Carmel, a town south of Hebron near the Dead Sea. This man was very rich: he owned 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats. It was sheepshearing time in Carmel, which was celebrated with feasting and generosity. 3 This rich man’s name was Nabal, which means “foolish,” and his wife was Abigail, which means “my father is joy.” She was smart and beautiful, but he was mean-spirited and bad-tempered, an embarrassment to his Calebite tribe.
4 From his hiding place in the wilderness, David heard that Nabal was shearing his sheep, 5 so David gathered 10 young men to send to Nabal asking for gifts.
David (to the young men): Go up to Carmel in Judah, to Nabal, and greet him in my name: 6 “Live long. Peace be to you, your entire household, and all you possess. 7 I hear that it is time to shear the sheep. I want you to know that your shepherds have been among us in the wilderness, and not only did we not harm them, but not an animal was taken during their time among us in Carmel. 8 Ask your young men; they will tell you this is true. Please return our kindness and look on my young men with favor since we come on this feast day. Please give whatever you can spare to them and to your son David.”
9 When David’s young men came to Nabal, they delivered David’s message and waited for Nabal’s response.
Nabal: 10 Who is David? Who is this son of Jesse? I’ve never heard of him, so he must be nothing more than a slave who abandoned his master. 11 Should I take bread and water and meat from my own servants and give it to men who come from who knows where?
12 So David’s young men returned to him by the same road and told him what had happened.
David (ordering his men): 13 Strap on your swords!
All of them put on their swords, including David, and about 400 of his men followed him while 200 remained behind with their supplies.
14 One of Nabal’s servants recognized his master’s insolence and told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, what was happening.
Servant: David sent messengers from the wilderness to salute our master, and Nabal returned their honor with insults. 15 David’s men have been very good to us. Nothing happened to us while we were with his company, and we never lost a single sheep in the fields in the time we were there. 16 They were like a wall protecting us day and night the whole time we were near them keeping the sheep.
17 You should know this and think about what to do next. Evil is coming to my master and his entire household if you don’t do something. Nabal is so worthless that no one can talk to him.
18 Then Abigail, knowing the stakes, rushed about gathering gifts similar to what her husband should have offered: 200 loaves, 2 jugs of wine, 5 sheep (butchered and dressed), more than 50 quarts of roasted grain, 100 clusters of raisins, and 200 fig cakes. She had these loaded on donkeys.
Abigail (to her servants): 19 Go ahead of me with all the gifts. I’ll be right behind you.
But she never stopped to speak to her husband Nabal. She had decided to approach David herself.
20 As she rode down the mountain on a hidden trail, David and his men were approaching, and they met.
21 Earlier David had made an oath.
David: It looks as though we protected everything this guy owns—so that he lost none of the things belonging to him—for nothing. We did him a good turn, and now he rewards us with evil. 22 May the True God do so to my enemies[b]—and more—if tomorrow morning I’ve left alive a single male of Nabal’s household.
Paul never forsakes the Jews, the ones to whom the covenants were given. He shares with them first the good news about how God has fulfilled His promises through Jesus. Only when he faces opposition does he turn to the outsiders, because this hope is for them too.
14 The results in Iconium were similar. Paul and Barnabas began in the Jewish synagogue, bringing a great number of ethnic Jews and Greek converts to faith in Jesus. 2 But the other Jews who wouldn’t believe agitated the outsiders and poisoned their minds against the brothers. 3 Paul and Barnabas stayed in Iconium for a long time, speaking with great confidence for the Lord. He confirmed the message of His grace by granting them the power to do signs and wonders. 4 But over time the people were divided, some siding with the unbelieving Jews and some siding with the apostles. 5 Finally the Jews and outsiders who opposed them joined forces and enlisted the political leaders in their plan to beat and stone Paul and Barnabas. 6 They learned of the plan and escaped to Lystra and Derbe in Lycaonia, and the surrounding countryside, 7 where they continued proclaiming the good news.
8 In Lystra they met a man who had been crippled since birth; his feet were completely useless. 9 He listened to Paul speak, and Paul could see in this man’s face that he had faith to be healed.
Paul (shouting): 10 Stand up on your own two feet, man!
The man jumped up and walked! 11 When the crowds saw this, they started shouting in Lycaonian.
Crowd: The gods have come down to us! They’ve come in human form!
12 They decided that Barnabas was Zeus and Paul was Hermes (since he was the main speaker). 13 Before they knew it, the priest of Zeus, whose temple was prominent in that city, came to the city gates with oxen and garlands of flowers so the Lycaonians could offer sacrifices in worship to Paul and Barnabas! 14 When they heard of this, Paul and Barnabas were beside themselves with frustration—they ripped their tunics as an expression of disapproval and rushed out into the crowd.
Paul and Barnabas (shouting): 15 Friends! No! No! Don’t do this! We’re just humans like all of you! We’re not here to be worshiped! We’re here to bring you good news—good news that you should turn from these worthless forms of worship and instead serve the living God, the God who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that they contain. 16 Through all previous generations, God has allowed all the nations to follow their own customs and religions, 17 but even then God revealed Himself by doing good to you—giving you rain for your crops and fruitful harvests season after season, filling your stomachs with food and your hearts with joy.
18 In spite of these words, they were barely able to keep the crowds from making sacrifices to them.
Jesus’ teaching often includes parables: stories that explain the truth about the Kingdom with examples from everyday life. Considering that most of His listeners know about farming, it’s no wonder most of Jesus’ parables are based on agricultural realities.
Parables like this force Jesus’ listeners to think about the kingdom of God differently. He challenges their ideas, and He also knows they are unlikely to forget it. When they see farmers broadcasting their seeds, they will remember this parable and ponder the mysteries of the Kingdom. It never seems to bother Him that people are confused by His teaching. He doesn’t expect them to understand everything; He wants them to wrestle with His teachings so His words will sit in their hearts and germinate—much like the seed sitting in good soil that eventually grows to bear fruit.
Jesus: 21 When you bring a lamp into the house, do you put it under a box or stuff it under your bed? Or do you set it on top of a table or chest? 22 Those things that are hidden are meant to be revealed, and what is concealed is meant to be brought out where its light can shine.
23 All who have ears to hear, let them listen.
24 So consider carefully the things you’re hearing. If you put it to use, you’ll be given more to wrestle with—much more. 25 Those who have listened will receive more, but those who don’t hear will forget even the little they’ve failed to understand.
26 Here is what the kingdom of God is like: a man who throws seeds onto the earth. 27 Day and night, as he works and as he sleeps, the seeds sprout and climb out into the light, even though he doesn’t understand how it works. 28 It’s as though the soil itself produced the grain somehow—from a sprouted stalk to ripened fruit. 29 But however it happens, when he sees that the grain has grown and ripened, he gets his sickle and begins to cut it because the harvest has come.
30 What else is the kingdom of God like? What earthly thing can we compare it to? 31 The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed, the tiniest seed you can sow. 32 But after that seed is planted, it grows into the largest plant in the garden, a plant so big that birds can build their nests in the shade of its branches.
33 Jesus spoke many parables like these to the people who followed Him. 34 This was the only way He taught them, although when He was alone with His chosen few, He interpreted all the stories so the disciples truly understood.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.