Book of Common Prayer
A Song for the King’s Wedding
For the director of music. To the tune of “Lilies.” A ·maskil [skillful psalm; meditation]. A love song of the sons of Korah [C descendants of Kohath, son of Levi, who served as Temple musicians; 1 Chr. 6:22].
45 ·Beautiful words fill my mind [L My heart is stirred with a good word].
I ·am speaking of royal things [or address my work to the king].
My tongue is like the pen of a skilled writer [Ezra 7:6].
2 You are more ·handsome [or excellent] than anyone,
and ·you are an excellent speaker [L grace flows from your lips; Prov. 22:11],
so God has blessed you forever.
3 Put on your sword ·at your side [L on your thigh], powerful warrior.
Show your ·glory [splendor] and majesty.
4 In your majesty ·win [L ride forth for] the victory
for what is ·true [faithful] and ·right [righteous].
Your ·power [L right hand] ·will do [L teaches you] amazing things.
5 Your sharp arrows will ·enter [pierce]
the hearts of the king’s enemies.
·Nations [Peoples] will ·be defeated before [L fall beneath] you.
6 ·God, your throne will last [or Your throne is a throne of God] forever and ever.
·You will rule your kingdom with fairness [L A scepter of virtue will be the scepter of your kingdom].
7 You love ·right [righteousness] and hate ·evil [wickedness],
so God has ·chosen [anointed] you from among your ·friends [companions];
·he has set you apart with much joy [L …with the oil of joy; C kings were anointed with oil at their coronation; 1 Sam. 10:1; 16:13; Heb. 1:8–9].
8 Your clothes smell like myrrh, aloes, and cassia.
From palaces of ivory
·music [stringed instruments] comes to make you happy.
9 Kings’ daughters are among your honored women.
Your ·bride [queen; consort] stands at your right side
wearing gold from Ophir [C perhaps a region in southern Arabia].
10 Listen to me, daughter; look and ·pay attention [L incline your ear].
Forget your people and your father’s ·family [L house; Gen. 2:24].
11 The king ·loves [L desires; longs for] your beauty.
Because he is your ·master [lord], you should ·obey [L bow yourself before] him.
12 ·People from the city [L The daughter] of Tyre have brought ·a gift [tribute].
Wealthy people ·will want to meet you [seek your favor].
13 The ·princess [L daughter of the king] is ·very beautiful [L all glorious within].
Her gown is woven with gold.
14 In her ·beautiful [embroidered] clothes she is brought to the king.
·Her bridesmaids [Virgins] follow behind her,
and ·they are also brought to him [L her friends follow].
15 They come with happiness and joy;
they enter the king’s palace.
16 You will have sons to replace your fathers [C addressed to the king].
You will make them ·rulers [princes] through all the land.
17 I will make your name famous from now on,
so people will praise you forever and ever.
God, the King of the World
For the director of music. A psalm of the sons of Korah [C descendants of Kohath, son of Levi, who served as Temple musicians; 1 Chr. 6:22].
47 Clap your hands, all you people.
Shout to God with ·joy [jubilant shouts/cries/L sound].
2 The Lord Most High is ·wonderful [awesome].
He is the great King over all the earth!
3 He ·defeated [subdues] ·nations [or armies] ·for [L under] us
and ·put them under our control [L peoples under our feet].
4 He chose ·the land we would inherit [L for us our heritage/inheritance].
We are the ·children [L pride] of Jacob, whom he loved. ·
5 God has risen with a shout of joy;
the Lord has risen ·as the trumpets sounded [L with the sound of the ram’s horn].
6 Sing praises to God. Sing praises.
Sing praises to our King. Sing praises.
7 God is King of all the earth,
so sing a ·song of praise [psalm; a skillful psalm; meditation; L maskil] to him.
8 God is King over the nations.
God sits on his holy throne.
9 The ·leaders [princes] of the ·nations [or armies] ·meet [L gather together]
with the ·people [or army] of the God of Abraham,
because the ·leaders [L shields; C military leaders] of the earth belong to God.
He is ·supreme [highly exalted].
Jerusalem, the City of God
A psalm of the sons of Korah [C descendants of Kohath, son of Levi, who served as Temple musicians; 1 Chr. 6:22].
48 The Lord is great; ·he should [L and greatly to] be praised
in the city of our God, on his holy mountain [C Mount Zion, the location of the Temple].
2 It is ·high and beautiful [beautiful in elevation]
·and brings joy to [L the joy of] the whole world [Lam. 2:15].
Mount Zion ·is like the high mountains [L on the sides] of ·the north [or Zaphon; C comparing Yahweh’s mountain with the mountain of Baal];
it is the city of the Great King.
3 God is within its ·palaces [citadels];
he is known as its defender.
4 Kings joined together
and came ·to attack the city [L on together; 2:1].
5 But when they saw it, they were ·amazed [astonished].
They ran away in ·fear [panic].
6 ·Fear [L Trembling] ·took hold of [seized] them;
they ·hurt [were in pain] like a woman ·having a baby [in labor].
7 You ·destroyed [broke up] the ·large trading ships [L ships of Tarshish; C large trading vessels capable of going to distant ports; Tarshish may have been in Spain (Tartessus) or an island in the eastern Mediterranean; Is. 2:16; Jon. 1:3]
with an east wind.
8 First we heard
and now we have seen
that God ·will always keep his city safe [establishes forever].
It is the city of the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts],
the city of our God. ·
9 God, we come into your Temple
to ·think [ponder; meditate] about your ·love [loyalty].
10 God, your name is known everywhere;
·all over the earth people [L the ends of the earth] praise you.
Your right hand is full of ·goodness [righteousness; or victory].
11 Mount Zion is happy
and ·all the towns [L the daughters] of Judah rejoice,
because ·your decisions are fair [or of your judgments].
12 Walk around Jerusalem
and count its towers.
13 ·Notice how strong they are [L Set your heart on its ramparts].
Look at the ·palaces [citadels].
Then you can ·tell [recount it to] ·your children about them [L a later generation].
14 This God is our God forever and ever.
He will guide us from now on.
The Place for Worship
12 These are the ·commands [statutes; ordinances; requirements] and laws you must carefully obey in the land the Lord, the God of your ·ancestors [fathers], is giving you to possess. Obey them as long as you live in the land. 2 When you ·inherit [possess] the lands of these nations, you must completely destroy all the places where they serve their gods, on high mountains and hills and under every green tree. 3 Tear down their altars, smash their holy stone pillars, and burn their ·Asherah idols [L Asherim; 7:5; Judg. 3:7] in the fire. Cut down their idols and destroy their names from those places.
4 Don’t ·worship [act for] the Lord your God that way, 5 but look for the place the Lord your God will choose—·a place among your tribes where he is to be worshiped [L as his dwelling where he will place his name]. Go there, 6 and bring to that place your burnt offerings [Lev. 1:1–17] and sacrifices; bring ·a tenth of what you gain [T your tithes] and your special gifts; bring what you have ·promised [vowed] and the special gifts you want to give the Lord, and bring the first animals born to your herds and flocks.
7 There you and your families will eat in the presence of the Lord, and you will enjoy all ·the good things for which you have worked [your undertakings; L all that is sent out from your hand], because the Lord your God has blessed you.
8 Do not ·worship [act] the way we have been ·doing [acting] today, each person doing what ·he thinks is right [L is right/virtuous in his own eyes]. 9 You have not yet come to a resting place, to the ·land [L inheritance] the Lord your God will give you as your own. 10 But soon you will cross the Jordan River to live in the land the Lord your God is ·giving you as your own [L causing you to inherit], where he will give you rest from all your enemies and you will live in safety [2 Sam. 7:1; C David would achieve rest from enemies; Solomon would build the temple in an era of peace]. 11 Then the Lord your God will choose a place where he ·is to be worshiped [L will cause his name to dwell; C Zion, where the Temple would be built]. To that place you must bring everything I ·tell [command] you: your burnt offerings [Lev. 1:1–17] and sacrifices, your ·offerings of a tenth of what you gain [T tithes], your special gifts, and all your best things you ·promised [vowed] to the Lord. 12 There rejoice before the Lord your God. Everyone should rejoice: you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites ·from your towns [L in your gates] who have no ·land [allotment] of their own.
3 We try not to ·be a problem [cause offense; place an obstacle/stumbling block] for anyone in any way, so that no one will find fault with our ·work [ministry]. 4 But in every way ·we show we are servants of God [or as God’s servants/ministers, we commend ourselves]: ·in accepting many hard things [in/with great endurance], in ·troubles [trials; tribulation], in ·difficulties [hardships; times of need], ·and in great problems [in distress/calamities/L tight spots]. 5 ·We are beaten [L …in beatings/floggings] ·and thrown into prison [L in imprisonments]. ·We meet those who become upset with us and start riots [L …in riots/rebellions]. ·We work hard [L …in hard labors], ·and sometimes we get no sleep [L …in sleepless nights] ·or food [L …in hunger]. 6 ·We show we are servants of God by our pure lives [L …in/by purity; C Paul continues the same list, but moves to positive character traits], ·our understanding [L …in/by knowledge], patience, and kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by ·true [sincere; unhypocritical] love, 7 by ·speaking the truth [or the message/word of truth; C the Gospel], and by God’s power. ·We use our right living [L …with weapons of righteousness] ·to defend ourselves against everything [or both to attack (with a sword) and defend (with a shield); L in our right hands and in our left]. 8 ·Some people honor us, but others blame us [L …through honor/glory and dishonor/disgrace…]. ·Some people say evil things about us, but others say good things [L …through slander and praise…]. ·Some people say we are liars, but we speak the truth [L …(treated) as deceivers, yet true…]. 9 ·We are not known, but we are well known [L …as unknown, yet known…]. ·We seem to be dying, but we continue to live [L …as dying, yet look/behold we live!]. ·We are punished [L …as punished/scourged], but we are not killed. 10 ·We have much sadness [L …as sorrowful/grieving], but we are always rejoicing. ·We are poor [L …as poor], but we are making many people ·rich in faith [L rich]. ·We have [L …as having] nothing, but really we have everything.
11 We have spoken ·freely [openly; frankly] to you, ·Corinthian friends [L Corinthians], and have opened our hearts to you. 12 ·Our feelings of love for you have not stopped [We have not withheld our affection from you; L You are not constrained/held back by us], but you have ·stopped your feelings of love [L constrained/held back your affection] for us. 13 I speak to you ·as if you were [L as] my children. ·Do to us as we have done [As a fair exchange]—open your hearts to us [v. 11].
Warning About Non-Christians
14 Do not ·join yourselves to [become partners with; L be mismatched/unevenly yoked with] unbelievers. ·Good and bad do not belong together [L For what partnership has righteousness and wickedness/lawlessness?]. ·Light and darkness cannot share together [Or what fellowship/partnership can light have with darkness?]. 15 How can Christ and Belial [C the devil; Satan] have any ·agreement [harmony; accord]? What can a believer ·have together [share in common] with a nonbeliever? 16 What ·agreement [union] can the temple of God have with idols? For we are the temple of the living God [1 Cor. 3:16]. As God said: “I will live with them and walk with them. And I will be their God, and they will be my people [Lev. 26:11–12; Jer. 32:38; Ezek. 37:27].”
17 “[L Therefore] ·Leave those people [L Come out from their midst],
and be separate, says the Lord.
Touch nothing that is ·unclean [polluted, defiled],
and I will ·accept [receive; welcome] you [Is. 52:11; Ezek. 20:41].”
18 “I will be your father,
and you will be my sons and daughters,
says the Lord Almighty [2 Sam. 7:14].”
7 [L Therefore] ·Dear friends [Beloved], we have these promises from God, so we should make ourselves pure—free from ·anything that makes body or soul unclean [L every defilement of flesh and spirit]. ·We should try to become holy in the way we live [or …and in this way bring our holiness to completion/perfection], ·because we respect [out of reverence for; in the fear of] God.
Be Thankful
11 [L Now it happened that] While Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, he was going through the ·area between [middle of; borderlands of] Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he came into a ·small town [village], ten men ·who had a skin disease [T with leprosy; C the term does not refer to modern leprosy (Hansen’s disease), but to various skin disorders; see Lev. 14] met him there. They ·did not come close to Jesus [L stood at a distance] 13 but ·called [shouted; raised their voices] to him, “Jesus! Master! Have ·mercy [pity] on us!”
14 When Jesus saw the men, he said, “Go and show yourselves to the priests [C only a priest could declare a person cleansed of such skin disorders; Lev. 14].”
As the ten men were going, they were ·healed [L cleansed; C skin disorders like this rendered the person afflicted ceremonially unclean]. 15 When one of them saw that he was healed, he went back to Jesus, praising God in a loud voice. 16 Then he ·bowed down [L fell on his face] at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. (And this man was a Samaritan [C a shocking revelation, since Samaritans were despised by Jews].) 17 Jesus said, “Weren’t ten men ·healed [L cleansed; v. 14]? Where are the other nine? 18 Is this ·Samaritan [L foreigner] the only one who came back to ·thank [L give glory to] God?” 19 Then Jesus said to him, “Stand up and go on your way. ·You were healed because you believed [L Your faith has saved/healed you].”
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