Book of Common Prayer
A Song Celebrating the King’s Marriage.
For the choir director; according to the [a]Shoshannim. A [b]Maskil of the sons of Korah. A Song of Love.
45 My heart [c]overflows with a good theme;
I [d]address my [e]verses to the [f]King;
My tongue is the pen of (A)a ready writer.
2 You are fairer than the sons of men;
(B)Grace is poured [g]upon Your lips;
Therefore God has (C)blessed You forever.
3 Gird (D)Your sword on Your thigh, O [h](E)Mighty One,
In Your splendor and Your majesty!
4 And in Your majesty ride on victoriously,
For the cause of truth and (F)meekness and righteousness;
Let Your (G)right hand teach You [i]awesome things.
5 Your (H)arrows are sharp;
The (I)peoples fall under You;
Your arrows are (J)in the heart of the King’s enemies.
6 (K)Your throne, O God, is forever and ever;
A scepter of (L)uprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom.
7 You have (M)loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
Therefore God, Your God, has (N)anointed You
With the oil of joy above Your fellows.
8 All Your garments are fragrant with (O)myrrh and aloes and cassia;
Out of ivory palaces (P)stringed instruments have made You glad.
9 Kings’ daughters are among (Q)Your noble ladies;
At Your (R)right hand stands the queen in (S)gold from Ophir.
10 Listen, O daughter, give attention and incline your ear:
(T)Forget your people and your father’s house;
11 Then the King will desire your beauty.
Because He is your (U)Lord, (V)bow down to Him.
12 The daughter of (W)Tyre will come with a gift;
The (X)rich among the people will seek your favor.
13 The King’s daughter is all glorious within;
Her clothing is (Y)interwoven with gold.
14 She will be (Z)led to the King (AA)in embroidered work;
The (AB)virgins, her companions who follow her,
Will be brought to You.
15 They will be led forth with gladness and rejoicing;
They will enter into the King’s palace.
God the King of the Earth.
For the choir director. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.
47 O (A)clap your hands, all peoples;
(B)Shout to God with the voice of [a]joy.
2 For the Lord Most High is to be (C)feared,
A (D)great King over all the earth.
3 He (E)subdues peoples under us
And nations under our feet.
4 He chooses our (F)inheritance for us,
The (G)glory of Jacob whom He loves. [b]Selah.
5 God has (H)ascended [c]with a shout,
The Lord, [d]with the (I)sound of a trumpet.
6 (J)Sing praises to God, sing praises;
Sing praises to (K)our King, sing praises.
7 For God is the (L)King of all the earth;
Sing praises (M)with a [e]skillful psalm.
8 God (N)reigns over the nations,
God [f]sits on (O)His holy throne.
9 The [g](P)princes of the people have assembled themselves as the (Q)people of the God of Abraham,
For the (R)shields of the earth belong to God;
He [h]is (S)highly exalted.
The Beauty and Glory of Zion.
A Song; a Psalm of the sons of Korah.
48 (T)Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
In the (U)city of our God, His (V)holy mountain.
2 (W)Beautiful in elevation, (X)the joy of the whole earth,
Is Mount Zion in the far north,
The (Y)city of the great King.
3 God, in her palaces,
Has made Himself known as a (Z)stronghold.
4 For, lo, the (AA)kings assembled themselves,
They passed by together.
5 They saw it, then they were amazed;
They were (AB)terrified, they [i]fled in alarm.
6 [j]Panic seized them there,
Anguish, as of (AC)a woman in childbirth.
7 With the (AD)east wind
You (AE)break the (AF)ships of Tarshish.
8 As we have heard, so have we seen
In the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God;
God will (AG)establish her forever. [k]Selah.
9 We have thought on (AH)Your lovingkindness, O God,
In the midst of Your temple.
10 As is Your (AI)name, O God,
So is Your (AJ)praise to the ends of the earth;
Your (AK)right hand is full of righteousness.
11 Let Mount (AL)Zion be glad,
Let the (AM)daughters of Judah rejoice
Because of Your judgments.
12 Walk about Zion and go around her;
Count her (AN)towers;
13 Consider her (AO)ramparts;
Go through her palaces,
That you may (AP)tell it to the next generation.
14 For [l]such is God,
Our God forever and ever;
He will (AQ)guide us [m]until death.
16 For there is (A)no [a]lasting remembrance of the wise man as with the fool, inasmuch as in the coming days all will be forgotten. And (B)how the wise man and the fool alike die! 17 So I (C)hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun was [b]grievous to me; because everything is futility and striving after wind.
The Futility of Labor
18 Thus I hated (D)all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun, for I must (E)leave it to the man who will come after me. 19 And who knows whether he will be a wise man or (F)a fool? Yet he will have [c]control over all the fruit of my labor for which I have labored by acting wisely under the sun. This too is (G)vanity. 20 Therefore I [d]completely despaired of all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun. 21 When there is a man who has labored with wisdom, knowledge and (H)skill, then he (I)gives his [e]legacy to one who has not labored with them. This too is vanity and a great evil. 22 For what does a man get in (J)all his labor and in [f]his striving with which he labors under the sun? 23 Because all his days his task is painful and (K)grievous; even at night his [g]mind (L)does not rest. This too is vanity.
24 There is (M)nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and [h]tell himself that his labor is good. This also I have seen that it is (N)from the hand of God. 25 For who can eat and who can have enjoyment without [i]Him? 26 For to a person who is good in His sight (O)He has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, while to the sinner He has given the task of gathering and collecting so that he may (P)give to one who is good in God’s sight. This too is (Q)vanity and striving after wind.
18 Then (A)three years later I went up (B)to Jerusalem to [a]become acquainted with (C)Cephas, and stayed with him fifteen days. 19 But I did not see any other of the apostles except [b](D)James, the Lord’s brother. 20 (Now in what I am writing to you, [c]I assure you (E)before God that I am not lying.) 21 Then (F)I went into the regions of (G)Syria and (H)Cilicia. 22 I was still unknown by [d]sight to (I)the churches of Judea which were (J)in Christ; 23 but only, they kept hearing, “He who once persecuted us is now preaching (K)the faith which he once (L)tried to destroy.” 24 And they (M)were glorifying God [e]because of me.
The Council at Jerusalem
2 Then after an interval of fourteen years I (N)went up again to Jerusalem with (O)Barnabas, taking (P)Titus along also. 2 [f]It was because of a (Q)revelation that I went up; and I submitted to them the (R)gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but I did so in private to those who were of reputation, for fear that I might be (S)running, or had run, in vain. 3 But not even (T)Titus, who was with me, though he was a Greek, was (U)compelled to be circumcised. 4 But it was because of the (V)false brethren secretly brought in, who (W)had sneaked in to spy out our (X)liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to (Y)bring us into bondage. 5 But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that (Z)the truth of the gospel would remain with you. 6 But from those who [g]were of high (AA)reputation (what they were makes no difference to me; (AB)God [h]shows no partiality)—well, those who were of reputation contributed nothing to me. 7 But on the contrary, seeing that I had been (AC)entrusted with the (AD)gospel [i]to the uncircumcised, just as (AE)Peter had been [j]to the circumcised 8 (for He who effectually worked for Peter in his (AF)apostleship [k]to the circumcised effectually worked for me also to the Gentiles), 9 and recognizing (AG)the grace that had been given to me, [l](AH)James and (AI)Cephas and John, who were (AJ)reputed to be (AK)pillars, gave to me and (AL)Barnabas the (AM)right [m]hand of fellowship, so that we might (AN)go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10 They only asked us to remember the poor—(AO)the very thing I also was eager to do.
Jesus Revisits Nazareth
53 (A)When Jesus had finished these parables, He departed from there. 54 (B)He came to [a]His hometown and (C)began teaching them in their synagogue, so that (D)they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these [b]miraculous powers? 55 Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not (E)His mother called Mary, and His (F)brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? 56 And (G)His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” 57 And they took (H)offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, “(I)A prophet is not without honor except in his [c]hometown and in his own household.” 58 And He did not do many [d]miracles there because of their unbelief.
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