Book of Common Prayer
To the Director: An instruction[a] by the Sons of Korah. A love song to the tune of[b] “Lilies”.
A Royal Wedding Song
45 My heart is overflowing with good news;
I speak what I have composed to the king;
my tongue is like the pen of an articulate scribe.
2 You are the most handsome of Adam’s descendants;
grace has anointed your lips;
therefore God has blessed you forever.
3 Strap your sword to your side,
mighty warrior, along with your honor and majesty.
4 In your majesty ride forth for the cause of truth, humility, and righteousness;
and your strong right hand will teach you awesome things.
5 Your arrows are sharpened
to penetrate the hearts of the king’s enemies.
People will fall under you.
6 Your throne, God, exists forever and ever,
and the scepter of your kingdom is a righteous scepter.
7 You love justice and hate wickedness.
That is why God, even your God, has anointed you
rather than your companions with the oil of gladness.
8 All your clothes are scented with[c] myrrh, aloes, and cassia.
From ivory palaces stringed instruments have made you glad.
9 The king’s daughters are among your honorable women;
the queen, dressed in gold from Ophir, has taken her place at your right hand.”
10 Listen, daughter! Consider and pay attention.
Forget your people and your father’s house,
11 and the king will greatly desire your beauty.
Because he is your lord, you should bow in respect before him.
12 The daughter[d] of Tyre will come with[e] a wedding gift;
wealthy people will entreat your favor.
13 In her chamber,[f] the king’s daughter is glorious;
her clothing is embroidered with gold thread.
14 In embroidered garments
she is presented to the king.
Her virgin companions who follow her train
will be presented to you.
15 Filled with joy and gladness, they are presented
when they enter the king’s palace.
16 Your sons will take the place of your ancestors,
and you will set them up as princes in all the earth.
17 From generation to generation,
I will cause your name to be remembered.
Therefore people will thank you forever and ever.
To the Director: A song by the Sons of Korah.
The Ruler over the Nations
47 Clap your hands, all you peoples!
Shout to God with a loud cry of joy!
2 For the Lord, the Most High, is to be feared,
a great king over all the earth.
3 He subdued peoples under us,
and nations under our feet.
4 He chose our inheritance for us,
even the pride of Jacob whom he loved.
5 God has ascended on high with a shout,
the Lord has ascended[a] with the blast of a trumpet.
6 Sing songs to God!
Sing songs!
Sing songs to our King!
Sing songs!
7 Indeed, God is king over all the earth;
sing a song of praise.
8 God is king over the nations;
God is seated on his holy throne.
9 The nobles among the nations
have joined the people of the God of Abraham.
For the shields of the earth belong to God;
he is greatly exalted.
A song: Lyrics[b] by the Sons of Korah.
Zion, City of God
48 Great is the Lord!
For he is to be praised greatly,
even in the city of our God,
his holy mountain.
2 Beautifully situated,
the joy of all the earth,
Mount Zion towards the north,[c]
the city of the great King.
3 Within her citadels
God is known as a place of refuge.
4 Behold, when the kings assembled together,
when they traveled together,
5 they looked and were awestruck;
they became afraid and ran away.
6 Trembling seized them there,
pains like those of a woman in labor,
7 as when an east wind destroyed the ships of Tarshish.
8 Just as we have heard,
so have we seen;
in the city of the Lord of the heavenly armies—
even in the city of our God—
God will establish her forever.
9 God, we have meditated on your gracious love
in the midst of your Temple.
10 God, according to your name,
so is your praise to the ends of the earth.
Your right hand is filled with righteousness.
11 Mount Zion will be glad;
the towns[d] of Judah will rejoice because of your judgments.
12 March around Zion;
encircle her;
count her towers.
13 Take note of her ramparts;
investigate her citadels;
that you may speak about them to the next generation.
14 For this God is our God forever and ever.
He will guide us until death.
The Destruction of Ai
8 The Lord then told Joshua, “Don’t be afraid or lose heart! Take all the fighting men with you, and go up right now to Ai. Take note that I have handed over the king of Ai into your control, along with his people, his city, and his land. 2 Do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king, but take its spoil and its livestock as war booty for yourselves. Set an ambush around the city.”
3 So Joshua and all of the fighting men prepared to go out against Ai. Joshua selected 30,000 valiant warriors and sent them out by night, 4 telling them, “Pay attention now! You are to set up an ambush around the city. Don’t go very far from the city, and all of you remain on alert. 5 I and all of the army with me will advance upon the city. When they come out after us like they did before, we’ll run away from them. 6 They’ll come after us until we’ve drawn them away from the city, because they’ll say, ‘They’re running away from us just like they did before.’ While we’re running away from them, 7 you get up from the ambush and seize the city, because the Lord your God will give it into your control. 8 When you’ve taken the city, set it on fire, just as the Lord ordered. Look! These are your orders!”[a] 9 So Joshua sent them out, and they set up an ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai.
Joshua spent that night in the camp[b] among the army. 10 In the morning, Joshua got up early, mustered his army, and set off for Ai, accompanied by the elders of Israel in full view of the army. 11 The entire fighting force with him attacked, approaching the city, and camped on the north side of Ai, with a ravine between them and Ai. 12 Taking about 5,000 men, he set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai to the west of the city, 13 stationing their forces with its main encampment north of the city and its rear guard to the west. Joshua spent that night in the valley.
14 When the king of Ai saw what had happened,[c] he and his army quickly got up early and went out to meet Israel in battle. He and all his people met at the place adjacent to the desert plain. But he didn’t know about the ambush that had been set for him on the other side of the city. 15 Because Joshua and the entire fighting force of[d] Israel pretended to lose the battle by running away in front of them toward the wilderness, 16 everyone in the city followed after them. As they pursued Joshua, they were drawn away from the town. 17 There wasn’t a single man left in Ai or Bethel who didn’t run out after Israel. They left the city open and pursued Israel.
18 Then the Lord told Joshua, “Stretch out the battle lance[e] that’s in your hand toward Ai, because I will give it into your control.” So Joshua stretched out the battle lance[f] that was in his hand toward the city. 19 As soon as he stretched out his hand, the troops in ambush quickly got up from their place of hiding[g] and attacked. They entered the city, seized it, and immediately set it[h] on fire.
20 Then the men of Ai looked back behind them—and all of a sudden!—smoke from the city was rising into the sky. They were unable to run in any direction, because the Israelis[i] who had fled toward the wilderness had turned around to attack their pursuers. 21 When Joshua and the entire fighting force of[j] Israel observed that the men who had been in ambush had seized the city and that the smoke from the city was rising, they turned around and attacked the men of Ai. 22 Then the others came out from the city against them, so the men of Ai[k] were surrounded by the Israelis, some on one side and some on the other. Israel attacked them until no one was left to survive or escape.
How to Treat Weak Believers
14 Accept anyone who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of arguing over differences of opinion. 2 One person believes that he may eat anything, while the weak[a] person eats only[b] vegetables. 3 The person who eats any kind of food[c] must not ridicule the person who does not eat them,[d] and the person who does not eat certain foods[e] must not criticize the person who eats them,[f] for God has accepted him. 4 Who are you to criticize someone else’s servant? He stands or falls before his own Lord—and stand he will, because the Lord[g] makes him stand.
5 One person decides in favor of one day over another, while another person decides that all days are the same. Let each one be fully convinced in his own mind: 6 The one who observes a special day,[h] observes it to honor the Lord. The one who eats, eats to honor the Lord, since he gives thanks to God. And the one who does not eat, refrains from eating to honor the Lord; yet he, too, gives thanks to God.
7 For none of us lives for himself, and no one dies for himself. 8 If we live, we live to honor the Lord; and if we die, we die to honor the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. 9 For this reason the Messiah[i] died and returned to life, so that he might become the Lord of both the dead and the living.
10 Why, then, do you criticize your brother? Or why do you despise your brother? For all of us will stand before the judgment seat of God.[j] 11 For it is written,
“As certainly as I live, declares the Lord,[k]
every knee will bow to me,
and every tongue will praise[l] God.”[m]
12 Consequently, each of us will give an account of himself to God.
Jesus is Arrested(A)
47 Just then, while Jesus[a] was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, arrived. A large crowd armed with swords and clubs was with him. They were from the high priests and elders of the people. 48 Now the betrayer personally had given them a signal, saying, “The one I kiss[b] is the man. Arrest him.”
49 So Judas[c] immediately went up to Jesus and said, “Hello, Rabbi!”[d] and kissed him tenderly.
50 Jesus asked him, “Friend, why are you here?”[e] Then the other men[f] surged forward, took hold of Jesus, and arrested him.
51 Suddenly, one of the men with Jesus reached out his hand, drew his sword, and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his ear. 52 Jesus told him, “Put your sword back in its place! Everyone who uses a sword will be killed by a sword. 53 Don’t you think that I could call on my Father, and he would send me more than twelve legions of angels now? 54 How, then, would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say this must happen?”
55 At this point,[g] Jesus asked the crowds, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me as if I were a bandit?[h] Day after day I sat teaching in the Temple, yet you didn’t arrest me. 56 But all of this has happened so that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled.”
Then all the disciples deserted Jesus[i] and ran away.
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