Book of Common Prayer
A Song for the King’s Wedding
For the director of music. To the tune of “Lilies.” A maskil. A love song of the sons of Korah.
45 Beautiful words fill my mind.
I am speaking of royal things.
My tongue is like the pen of a skilled writer.
2 You are more handsome than anyone,
and you are an excellent speaker,
so God has blessed you forever.
3 Put on your sword, powerful warrior.
Show your glory and majesty.
4 In your majesty win the victory
for what is true and right.
Your power will do amazing things.
5 Your sharp arrows will enter
the hearts of the king’s enemies.
Nations will be defeated before you.
6 God, your throne will last forever and ever.
You will rule your kingdom with fairness.
7 You love right and hate evil,
so God has chosen you from among your friends;
he has set you apart with much joy.
8 Your clothes smell like myrrh, aloes, and cassia.
From palaces of ivory
music comes to make you happy.
9 Kings’ daughters are among your honored women.
Your bride stands at your right side
wearing gold from Ophir.
10 Listen to me, daughter; look and pay attention.
Forget your people and your father’s family.
11 The king loves your beauty.
Because he is your master, you should obey him.
12 People from the city of Tyre have brought a gift.
Wealthy people will want to meet you.
13 The princess is very beautiful.
Her gown is woven with gold.
14 In her beautiful clothes she is brought to the king.
Her bridesmaids follow behind her,
and they are also brought to him.
15 They come with happiness and joy;
they enter the king’s palace.
16 You will have sons to replace your fathers.
You will make them rulers 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.
47 Clap your hands, all you people.
Shout to God with joy.
2 The Lord Most High is wonderful.
He is the great King over all the earth!
3 He defeated nations for us
and put them under our control.
4 He chose the land we would inherit.
We are the children of Jacob, whom he loved. Selah
5 God has risen with a shout of joy;
the Lord has risen as the trumpets sounded.
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 to him.
8 God is King over the nations.
God sits on his holy throne.
9 The leaders of the nations meet
with the people of the God of Abraham,
because the leaders of the earth belong to God.
He is supreme.
Jerusalem, the City of God
A psalm of the sons of Korah.
48 The Lord is great; he should be praised
in the city of our God, on his holy mountain.
2 It is high and beautiful
and brings joy to the whole world.
Mount Zion is like the high mountains of the north;
it is the city of the Great King.
3 God is within its palaces;
he is known as its defender.
4 Kings joined together
and came to attack the city.
5 But when they saw it, they were amazed.
They ran away in fear.
6 Fear took hold of them;
they hurt like a woman having a baby.
7 You destroyed the large trading ships
with an east wind.
8 First we heard
and now we have seen
that God will always keep his city safe.
It is the city of the Lord All-Powerful,
the city of our God. Selah
9 God, we come into your Temple
to think about your love.
10 God, your name is known everywhere;
all over the earth people praise you.
Your right hand is full of goodness.
11 Mount Zion is happy
and all the towns of Judah rejoice,
because your decisions are fair.
12 Walk around Jerusalem
and count its towers.
13 Notice how strong they are.
Look at the palaces.
Then you can tell your children about them.
14 This God is our God forever and ever.
He will guide us from now on.
Ai Is Destroyed
8 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Don’t be afraid or give up. Lead all your fighting men to Ai. I will help you defeat the king of Ai, his people, his city, and his land. 2 You will do to Ai and its king what you did to Jericho and its king. Only this time you may take all the wealth and keep it for yourselves. Now tell some of your soldiers to set up an ambush behind the city.”
3 So Joshua led his whole army toward Ai. Then he chose thirty thousand of his best fighting men and sent them out at night. 4 Joshua gave them these orders: “Listen carefully. You must set up an ambush behind the city. Don’t go far from it, but continue to watch and be ready. 5 I and the men who are with me will march toward the city, and the men in the city will come out to fight us, just as they did before. Then we will turn and run away from them. 6 They will chase us away from the city, thinking we are running away from them as we did before. When we run away, 7 come out from your ambush and take the city. The Lord your God will give you the power to win. 8 After you take the city, burn it. See to it! You have your orders.”
9 Then Joshua sent them to wait in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai. But Joshua stayed the night with his people.
10 Early the next morning Joshua gathered his men together. He and the older leaders of Israel led them up to Ai. 11 All of the soldiers who were with Joshua marched up to Ai and stopped in front of the city and made camp north of it. There was a valley between them and the city. 12 Then Joshua chose about five thousand men and set them in ambush in the area west of the city between Bethel and Ai. 13 So the people took their positions; the main camp was north of the city, and the other men were hiding to the west. That night Joshua went down into the valley.
14 Now when the king of Ai saw the army of Israel, he and his people got up early the next morning and hurried out to fight them. They went out to a place east of the city, but the king did not know soldiers were waiting in ambush behind the city. 15 Joshua and all the men of Israel let the army of Ai push them back. Then they ran toward the desert. 16 The men in Ai were called to chase Joshua and his men, so they left the city and went after them. 17 All the men of Ai and Bethel chased the army of Israel. The city was left open; not a man stayed to protect it.
18 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Hold your spear toward Ai, because I will give you that city.” So Joshua held his spear toward the city of Ai. 19 When the Israelites who were in ambush saw this, they quickly came out of their hiding place and hurried toward the city. They entered the city, took control of it, and quickly set it on fire.
20 When the men of Ai looked back, they saw smoke rising from their city. At the same time the Israelites stopped running and turned against the men of Ai, who could not escape in any direction. 21 When Joshua and all his men saw that the army had taken control of the city and saw the smoke rising from it, they stopped running and turned to fight the men of Ai. 22 The men who were in ambush also came out of the city to help with the fight. So the men of Ai were caught between the armies of Israel. None of the enemy escaped. The Israelites fought until not one of the men of Ai was left alive, except
Do Not Criticize Other People
14 Accept into your group someone who is weak in faith, and do not argue about opinions. 2 One person believes it is right to eat all kinds of food.[a] But another, who is weak, believes it is right to eat only vegetables. 3 The one who knows that it is right to eat any kind of food must not reject the one who eats only vegetables. And the person who eats only vegetables must not think that the one who eats all foods is wrong, because God has accepted that person. 4 You cannot judge another person’s servant. The master decides if the servant is doing well or not. And the Lord’s servant will do well because the Lord helps him do well.
5 Some think that one day is more important than another, and others think that every day is the same. Let all be sure in their own mind. 6 Those who think one day is more important than other days are doing that for the Lord. And those who eat all kinds of food are doing that for the Lord, and they give thanks to God. Others who refuse to eat some foods do that for the Lord, and they give thanks to God. 7 We do not live or die for ourselves. 8 If we live, we are living for the Lord, and if we die, we are dying for the Lord. So living or dying, we belong to the Lord.
9 The reason Christ died and rose from the dead to live again was so he would be Lord over both the dead and the living. 10 So why do you judge your brothers or sisters in Christ? And why do you think you are better than they are? We will all stand before God to be judged, 11 because it is written in the Scriptures:
“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,
‘Everyone will bow before me;
everyone will say that I am God.’” Isaiah 45:23
12 So each of us will have to answer to God.
Jesus Is Arrested
47 While Jesus was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve apostles, came up. With him were many people carrying swords and clubs who had been sent from the leading priests and the Jewish elders of the people. 48 Judas had planned to give them a signal, saying, “The man I kiss is Jesus. Arrest him.” 49 At once Judas went to Jesus and said, “Greetings, Teacher!” and kissed him.
50 Jesus answered, “Friend, do what you came to do.”
Then the people came and grabbed Jesus and arrested him. 51 When that happened, one of Jesus’ followers reached for his sword and pulled it out. He struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear.
52 Jesus said to the man, “Put your sword back in its place. All who use swords will be killed with swords. 53 Surely you know I could ask my Father, and he would give me more than twelve armies of angels. 54 But it must happen this way to bring about what the Scriptures say.”
55 Then Jesus said to the crowd, “You came to get me with swords and clubs as if I were a criminal. Every day I sat in the Temple teaching, and you did not arrest me there. 56 But all these things have happened so that it will come about as the prophets wrote.” Then all of Jesus’ followers left him and ran away.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.