Book of Common Prayer
For the choir director; according to shoshannim; [a] a maskil by Korah’s descendants; a love song.
45 My heart is overflowing with good news.
I will direct my song to the king.
My tongue is a pen for a skillful writer.
2 You are the most handsome of Adam’s descendants.
Grace is poured on your lips.
That is why God has blessed you forever.
3 O warrior, strap your sword to your side
with your splendor and majesty.
4 Ride on victoriously in your majesty
for the cause of truth, humility, and righteousness.
Let your right hand teach you awe-inspiring things.
5 Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies.
Nations fall beneath you.
6 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.
The scepter in your kingdom is a scepter for justice.
7 You have loved what is right and hated what is wrong.
That is why God, your God, has anointed you,
rather than your companions, with the oil of joy.
8 All your robes are ⌞fragrant⌟ with myrrh, aloes, and cassia.
From ivory palaces the music of stringed instruments delights you.
9 The daughters of kings are among your noble ladies.
The queen takes her place at your right hand
and wears gold from Ophir.
10 Listen, daughter! Look closely!
Turn your ear ⌞toward me⌟.
Forget your people, and forget your father’s house.
11 The king longs for your beauty.
He is your Lord.
Worship him.
12 The people of Tyre, the richest people,
want to win your favor with a gift.
13 The daughter of the king is glorious inside ⌞the palace⌟.
Her dress is embroidered with gold.
14 Wearing a colorful gown, she is brought to the king.
Her bridesmaids follow her.
They will be brought to you.
15 With joy and delight they are brought in.
They enter the palace of the king.
16 Your sons will take the place of your father.
You will make them princes over the whole earth.
17 I will cause your name to be remembered throughout every generation.
That is why the nations will give thanks to you forever and ever.
For the choir director; a psalm by Korah’s descendants.
47 Clap your hands, all you people.
Shout to God with a loud, joyful song.
2 We must fear the Lord, the Most High.
He is the great king of the whole earth.
3 He brings people under our authority
and ⌞puts⌟ nations under our feet.
4 He chooses our inheritance for us,
the pride of Jacob, whom he loved. Selah
5 God has gone up with a joyful shout.
The Lord has gone up with the sound of a ram’s horn.
6 Make music to praise God.
Play music for him!
Make music to praise our king.
Play music for him!
7 God is the king of the whole earth.
Make your best music for him!
8 God rules the nations.
He sits upon his holy throne.
9 The influential people from the nations gather together
as the people of the God of Abraham.
The rulers of the earth belong to God.
He rules everything.
A song; a psalm by Korah’s descendants.
48 The Lord is great.
He should be highly praised.
His holy mountain is in the city of our God.
2 Its beautiful peak is the joy of the whole earth.
Mount Zion is on the northern ridge.
It is the city of the great king.
3 God is in its palaces.
He has proved that he is a stronghold.
4 The kings have gathered.
They marched together.
5 ⌞When⌟ they saw ⌞Mount Zion⌟,
they were astonished.
They were terrified and ran away in fear.
6 Trembling seized them
like the trembling that a woman experiences during labor.
7 With the east wind you smash the ships of Tarshish.
8 The things we had only heard about, we have now seen
in the city of the Lord of Armies,
in the city of our God.
God makes Zion stand firm forever. Selah
9 Inside your temple we carefully reflect on your mercy, O God.
10 Like your name, O God,
your praise ⌞reaches⌟ to the ends of the earth.
Your right hand is filled with righteousness.
11 Let Mount Zion be glad
and the cities of Judah rejoice
because of your judgments.
12 Walk around Zion.
Go around it.
Count its towers.
13 Examine its embankments.
Walk through its palaces.
Then you can tell the next generation,
14 “This God is our God forever and ever.
He will lead us beyond death.”
The Lord Will Choose Jerusalem
2 [a]I looked up and saw a man with a measuring line in his hand. 2 I asked him, “Where are you going?”
He answered, “I am going to measure Jerusalem to see how wide and how long it is.”
3 Then the angel who was speaking with me left. Another angel came out to meet him 4 and said to him, “Run, and say to that young man, ‘Jerusalem will be inhabited like an unwalled village because it will have so many people and animals in it. 5 I will be a wall of fire around it, declares the Lord. I will be the glory within it.’
6 “Hurry, hurry! Flee from the land of the north, declares the Lord. I’ve scattered you to the four winds of heaven. 7 Hurry, Zion! Escape, you inhabitants of Babylon! 8 This is what the Lord of Armies says: Afterwards, the Glory sent me to the nations who looted you. Whoever touches you touches the apple of his eye. 9 I’m going to shake my fist at the nations, and their own slaves will loot them. Then you will know that the Lord of Armies has sent me. 10 Sing for joy and rejoice, people of Zion. I’m going to come and live among you, declares the Lord. 11 On that day many nations will join the Lord and become my people. I will live among you. Then you will know that the Lord of Armies has sent me to you. 12 The Lord will claim Judah as his own in the holy land and will again choose Jerusalem.
13 “Everyone be silent in the presence of the Lord. He is waking up and setting out from his holy dwelling place.”
A Letter to the Church in Laodicea
14 “To the messenger of the church in Laodicea, write: The amen, the witness who is faithful and true, the source of God’s creation, says:
15 I know what you have done, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot. 16 But since you are lukewarm and not hot or cold, I’m going to spit you out of my mouth. 17 You say, ‘I’m rich. I’m wealthy. I don’t need anything.’ Yet, you do not realize that you are miserable, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. 18 I advise you: Buy gold purified in fire from me so that you may be rich. Buy white clothes from me. Wear them so that you may keep your shameful, naked body from showing. Buy ointment to put on your eyes so that you may see. 19 I correct and discipline everyone I love. Take this seriously, and change the way you think and act. 20 Look, I’m standing at the door and knocking. If anyone listens to my voice and opens the door, I’ll come in and we’ll eat together.
21 I will allow everyone who wins the victory to sit with me on my throne, as I have won the victory and have sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 Let the person who has ears listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.”
32 “Learn from the story of the fig tree. When its branch becomes tender and it sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 In the same way, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the door.
34 “I can guarantee this truth: This generation will not disappear until all these things take place. 35 The earth and the heavens will disappear, but my words will never disappear.
No One Knows When the Son of Man Will Return
36 “No one knows when that day or hour will come. Even the angels in heaven and the Son don’t know. Only the Father knows.
37 “When the Son of Man comes again, it will be exactly like the days of Noah. 38 In the days before the flood, people were eating, drinking, and getting married until the day that Noah went into the ship. 39 They were not aware of what was happening until the flood came and swept all of them away. That is how it will be when the Son of Man comes again.
40 “At that time two men will be working in the field. One will be taken, and the other one will be left. 41 Two women will be working at a mill. One will be taken, and the other one will be left.
42 “Therefore, be alert, because you don’t know on what day your Lord will return. 43 You realize that if a homeowner had known at what time of the night a thief was coming, he would have stayed awake. He would not have let the thief break into his house. 44 Therefore, you, too, must be ready because the Son of Man will return when you least expect him.
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