Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 45
The Wedding of the Victorious King
Heading
For the choir director. According to “Lilies.”[a]
By the Sons of Korah. A maskil. A love song.
Introduction
1 My heart is bubbling over with a beautiful theme.
I am reciting my works for the King.
My tongue is the pen of a rapid writer.
The Glory of the Royal Groom
2 You are the most beautiful of the sons of Adam.
Grace is poured out on your lips.
Therefore God has blessed you forever.
3 Strap your sword on your thigh, you mighty warrior,
in your splendor and your majesty.
4 In your majesty advance successfully.
Ride forward in the cause of truth, humility, and righteousness.
Let your right hand teach you awesome deeds.
5 Your arrows are sharpened.
Let peoples fall beneath you.
Your arrows are in the heart of the king’s enemies.
6 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.
The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of justice.
7 You love righteousness and hate wickedness.
Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of joy
more than any of your companions.
8 Myrrh, aloes, and cassia perfume all your garments.
From ivory palaces stringed instruments make you glad.
9 Daughters of kings are among your honored attendants.
The royal wife[b] stands at your right hand in gold from Ophir.
The Beauty of the Bride
10 Hear, O daughter, look and listen.
Forget your people and your father’s house,
11 because the king desires your beauty.
Because he is your lord, bow down to him.
12 Then the daughter of Tyre will come with a gift.
The richest people will seek your favor.
13 The princess, who waits inside, is all glorious.
Her dress is interwoven with gold.
14 In embroidered garments she is led to the king.
Virgins who follow her as attendants are brought to you.
15 They are brought with joyful celebration.
They enter the palace of the king.
The Glory of the King’s Children
16 Your sons will take the place of your fathers.
You will make them princes in all the earth.
17 I will preserve the memory of your name through all generations.
Therefore peoples will praise you forever and ever.
Psalm 47
The King’s Empire
Heading
For the choir director. By the Sons of Korah. A psalm.
Praise the Great King of All the Earth!
1 All you peoples, clap your hands!
Shout to God! Sing a loud song!
2 Yes, the Lord Most High is awesome.
He is the great King over all the earth!
3 He subdues peoples under us
and nations under our feet.
4 He chooses our inheritance for us.
It is the pride of Jacob, whom he loves. Interlude
5 God has ascended with a joyful shout.
The Lord goes up with the sound of the ram’s horn.
6 Make music for God! Make music!
Make music for our King! Make music!
7 For God is the King of all the earth.
Make music for him with a wise song.
8 God reigns as king over the nations.
God is seated on his holy throne.
9 The nobles of the peoples come together
as the people of the God of Abraham.
Yes, the shields of the earth[a] belong to God.
He is greatly exalted.
Psalm 48
The Security of the King’s Holy City
Heading
A song. A psalm by the Sons of Korah.
Call to Praise
1 The Lord is great. He deserves to be praised
in the city of our God, on his holy mountain.
2 His mountain is lofty and beautiful, the joy of the whole earth.
Mount Zion, the northern mountain, is the city of the Great King.
3 God is in her citadels.
He is famous as her fortress.
Defeat of the Enemies
4 Look! See! The kings came together.
They advanced together.
5 They saw. Yes, they were amazed.
They were terrified. They were put to flight.
6 Trembling seized them there,
pain like a woman giving birth.
7 You shattered them with an east wind, like ships of Tarshish.
Thanksgiving
8 What we have heard, we now have also seen:
In the city of the Lord of Armies,
in the city of our God, Interlude
God establishes her forever.
9 Inside your temple, O God, we meditate on your mercy.
10 Your praise, O God, reaches to the ends of the earth,
just as your fame does.
Righteousness fills your right hand.
11 Mount Zion rejoices.
The daughters of Judah[b] celebrate because of your judgments.
12 Go around Zion. Yes, go all the way around her.
Count her towers. 13 Consider her rampart.[c]
View her citadels, so that you may tell the next generation about them.
14 For this God is our God forever and ever.
He will guide us beyond death.[d]
23 In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri became king over Israel for twelve years. He ruled for six years in Tirzah. 24 Then he bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents[a] of silver. He built up the hill, and he named the city he built after Shemer, the owner of the hill of Samaria.[b]
25 Omri did evil in the eyes of the Lord. He committed more evil than all those who had gone before him. 26 He walked in all the ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat and in the sin which he caused Israel to commit, provoking the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger with his useless idols. 27 As for the rest of Omri’s acts, the things he did, and the mighty deeds he accomplished, are they not written in the annals of the kings of Israel? 28 Omri rested with his fathers, and he was buried in Samaria. Then his son Ahab became king in his place.
Ahab Son of Omri, King of Israel
29 Ahab son of Omri became king over Israel in the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah. Ahab son of Omri ruled over Israel in Samaria for twenty-two years. 30 Ahab son of Omri committed more evil in the eyes of the Lord than all those who had gone before him. 31 He considered it a trivial thing to walk in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat. He married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians. He served Baal and bowed down to him. 32 He erected an altar to Baal in the house of Baal which he built in Samaria. 33 Ahab made an Asherah pole and did even more to provoke the Lord God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who had gone before him.
34 In the days of Ahab, Hiel of Bethel built Jericho. At the cost of his firstborn son Abiram, he laid its foundations, and at the cost of his youngest son Segub, he set up its gates. This fulfilled the word of the Lord which he had spoken through Joshua son of Nun.
Christ Is Proclaimed
12 I want you to know, brothers,[a] that the things which happened to me actually took place to advance the gospel. 13 And so it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to all the rest, that I am in chains because of Christ.[b] 14 And, through my chains, the majority of the brothers in the Lord have become much more confident about daring to speak the word of God[c] fearlessly. 15 Some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, and others out of good will. 16 The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am placed here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, but thinking they can cause trouble for me while I am in chains. 18 What does it matter? Only this, that in every way, whether for outward appearance or for the truth, Christ is being proclaimed, and in this I rejoice.
To Live Is Christ, to Die Is Gain
Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, 19 because I know that this will turn out for my deliverance, through your prayer and the support of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. 20 This matches my earnest expectation and hope that I will in no way be put to shame, but with all boldness, as always, so even now, Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 Yes, for me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22 But if I am to go on living in the flesh, that will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet which should I prefer? I do not know. 23 I am pulled in two directions, because I have the desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far. 24 But, it is more necessary for your sake that I remain in the flesh. 25 And since I am convinced of this, I know that I will remain and will continue with all of you, for your progress and joy in the faith. 26 And so by my coming to you again, my goal is to give you even more reason to boast in Christ Jesus.
Stand Firm
27 Just conduct yourselves in a way that is worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come to see you or am absent, I may hear about you that you are standing firm in one spirit, contending together with one soul for the faith of the gospel, 28 not frightened in any way by the adversaries. This is a sign for them of their destruction and of your salvation, and that from God. 29 For it has been graciously granted to you on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, 30 having the same kind of struggle that you saw I was in, and that you now hear I am still experiencing.
The Resurrection
16 When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so they could go and anoint Jesus. 2 Very early on the first day of the week, at sunrise, they went to the tomb. 3 They were saying to each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance to the tomb for us?” 4 When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.
5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. 6 He said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”
8 They went out and hurried away from the tomb, trembling and perplexed. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.
The Risen Savior Appears
9 After Jesus had risen early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. 10 She went and reported to those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept. 11 When they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe it.
12 After these things, Jesus appeared in another form to two of them as they were walking along on their way to the country. 13 These two also returned and reported it to the rest. But they did not believe them either.
14 Later, he appeared to the Eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table. He rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen him after he had risen.
15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
17 “These signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons. They will speak in new languages. 18 They will pick up snakes. And if they drink any deadly poison, it will not harm them. They will lay their hands on the sick, and they will get well.”
19 Then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.
20 Those who went out preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.[a]
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.