Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 45[a]
Nuptial Ode for the Messianic King
1 For the director.[b] According to “Lilies.” A maskil of the sons of Korah. A love song.
2 [c]My heart[d] is moved by a noble theme
as I sing my poem to the king;
my tongue is like the pen of a skillful scribe.
3 You are the most handsome of men;[e]
grace has anointed your lips,
for God has blessed you forever.
4 Gird your sword upon your thigh, O warrior,
and advance in splendor and majesty.
5 Ride on triumphantly in truth, humility, and justice;
may your right hand perform wondrous deeds.
6 Your arrows are sharp;
nations will lie beneath your feet;
the enemies of the king will lose heart.[f]
7 Your throne, O God,[g] will last forever and ever;
the scepter of your kingdom will be a scepter of justice.
8 You love righteousness and hate wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has established you above your fellow kings
by anointing you with the oil of gladness.
9 [h]All your robes are fragrant
with myrrh and aloes and cassia;
from palaces of ivory
stringed instruments bring joy to your heart.
10 Daughters of kings[i] are among your women in waiting;
at your right hand is your queen
adorned in gold of Ophir.
11 My daughter, listen carefully to my words
and follow them diligently.
Forget your people and your father’s house;[j]
12 then the king will desire your beauty.
Since he is your lord,
13 bow down before him.
The Daughter of Tyre[k] will bring you gifts,
people of wealth will seek your favor.
14 Within the palace the king’s daughter is adorned
in robes threaded with gold.
15 In embroidered garments she is led to the king,
followed by her virgin companions,
who are also led to you.,[l]
16 They are brought in with joy and gladness
as they enter the palace of the king.
17 Your[m] sons will take the place of your ancestors;
you will make them princes in all the earth.
18 I will extol your name through all generations;
therefore, the nations will praise you forever and ever.[n]
Psalm 47[a]
The Lord, King of All Nations
1 For the director.[b] A psalm of the sons of Korah.
2 All you peoples, clap your hands,[c]
shout to God with cries of gladness.
3 For the Lord, the Most High, is awesome;
he is the great King over all the earth.
4 He subdued nations under us
and brought peoples under our feet.
5 He chose our inheritance for us,
the pride of Jacob,[d] whom he loved. Selah
6 [e]God has ascended amid shouts of joy;
the Lord, amid the sound of trumpets.
7 Sing praises to God, sing praises;
sing praises to our King, sing praises.
8 For God is the King of the entire earth;
sing hymns of praise to him.
9 God reigns over all the nations;
God is seated on his holy throne.
10 The princes of the nations assemble
with the people of the God of Abraham;
for the rulers[f] of the earth belong to God,
and he is exalted on high.
Psalm 48[g]
Thanksgiving for the Deliverance of God’s People
1 A psalm of the sons of Korah.[h] A song.
2 Great is the Lord and worthy of high praise
in the city of our God.
His holy mountain,[i] 3 towering in its beauty,
is the joy of the entire earth.
Mount Zion, the true heights of the north,[j]
is the city of the great King.
4 God is in her citadels
and has revealed himself as her fortress.[k]
5 [l]For the kings conspired together
and came onward in unison.
6 As soon as they beheld her, they were astounded;
filled with panic, they fled.
7 They were seized with trembling,
with pains like those of a woman in labor,
8 as though a wind from the east[m]
were breaking up the ships of Tarshish.
9 What we had heard,
we have now beheld for ourselves[n]
in the city of the Lord of hosts,
in the city of our God
that he established to endure forever. Selah
10 O God, as we stand in the midst of your temple,
we will meditate on your kindness.[o]
11 Like your name,[p] O God,
your praise extends to the ends of the earth.
Your right hand is filled with righteousness;
12 let Mount Zion rejoice.
Let the towns of Judah exult
in your saving judgments.[q]
13 [r]Walk around Zion; pass throughout her;
count the number of her towers.
14 Take careful note of her ramparts,
walk through her citadels,
so that you may recount for future generations
15 that such is God;
our God forever and ever,
he will be our guide eternally.[s]
21 The Zeal of the Levites. Moses said to Aaron, “What has this people done to you that you have brought such a great sin upon them?” 22 But Aaron answered, “Let my lord not be angry, for you know this people and that they are set on evil. 23 They said to me, ‘Make a god to walk before us, because we do not know what has happened to Moses, the man who brought us out of the land of Egypt.’ 24 I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, take it off.’ They gave it to me, and I threw it in the fire, and out came this calf.”
25 Moses saw that the people had lost control of themselves (for Aaron had let them run so wild that their enemies mocked them). 26 So he stood at the gate to the camp and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me!” All the sons of Levi gathered around him. 27 He cried out to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Each man strap a sword to his side. Then pass back and forth in the camp from one gate to another and slay your brother, your companion, and your neighbor.”
28 The sons of Levi did as Moses had commanded them. On that day three thousand men from among the people perished. 29 Moses then said, “Today you have consecrated yourself to the service of the Lord, each one at the cost of his son or his brother, that he might bestow a blessing upon you this day.”
30 Moses Intercedes for His People. The next day Moses said to the people, “You have committed a great sin. Today I will climb up to the Lord. Perhaps I will obtain pardon for your sin.”
31 Moses returned to the Lord and said, “This people has committed a great sin. They made a god out of gold for themselves.[a] 32 But now, if you will, pardon their sin—if not, I pray, blot me out of the book that you have written.”[b]
33 The Lord said to Moses, “I will blot out of my book only him who has sinned against me. 34 Now go, lead the people to the place about which I told you. Behold, my angel will go before you. But on the day of reckoning, I will punish them for their sin.”
Salutation
Chapter 1
Address and Greeting. 1 Paul, Silvanus,[a] and Timothy to the Church of Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: grace to you and peace.
Evangelization Is the Work of the Spirit[b]
A Model for All Believers.[c] 2 We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers. 3 We constantly remember before our God and Father your work of faith and your labor of love and your perseverance in hope[d] in our Lord Jesus Christ.
4 Brethren, beloved by God, we know that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel[e] came to you not merely in words alone but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with profound conviction. And you are fully aware what sort of people we proved to be when we were among you for your sake.
6 And you in turn became imitators[f] of us and of the Lord, for despite great suffering you received the word with joy in the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became a model for all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.[g]
8 Not only has the word of the Lord rung forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but also your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore, we do not have the need to speak about it. 9 For the people themselves report what kind of reception we had from you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God 10 and await his Son from heaven whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who will deliver us from the wrath that is to come.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and utter all kinds of calumnies against you for my sake. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven. In the same manner, they persecuted the prophets who preceded you.
13 Salt of the Earth and Light of the World.[a]“You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, what can be done to make it salty once again? It is no longer good for anything, and thus it is cast out and trampled underfoot.
14 “You are the light of the world. A city built upon a mountain cannot be hidden. 15 Nor would someone light a lamp and then put it under a basket; rather, it is placed upon a lampstand so that it may afford light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, your light must shine so that it can be seen by others; this will enable them to observe your good works and give praise to your Father in heaven.
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