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.
Job Continues
29 Job continued to speak:
2 “How I wish for the months that have passed
and the days when God watched over me.
3 God’s lamp shined on my head,
and I walked through darkness by his light.
4 I wish for the days when I was strong,
when God’s close friendship blessed my house.
5 The Almighty was still with me,
and my children were all around me.
6 It was as if my path were covered with cream
and the rocks poured out olive oil for me.
7 I would go to the city gate
and sit in the public square.
8 When the young men saw me, they would step aside,
and the old men would stand up in respect.
9 The leading men stopped speaking
and covered their mouths with their hands.
10 The voices of the important men were quiet,
as if their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.
11 Anyone who heard me spoke well of me,
and those who saw me praised me,
12 because I saved the poor who called out
and the orphan who had no one to help.
13 The dying person blessed me,
and I made the widow’s heart sing.
14 I put on right living as if it were clothing;
I wore fairness like a robe and a turban.
15 I was eyes for the blind
and feet for the lame.
16 I was like a father to needy people,
and I took the side of strangers who were in trouble.
17 I broke the fangs of evil people
and snatched the captives from their teeth.
18 “I thought, ‘I will live for as many days as there are grains of sand,
and I will die in my own house.
19 My roots will reach down to the water.
The dew will lie on the branches all night.
20 New honors will come to me continually,
and I will always have great strength.’
Paul and Barnabas in Iconium
14 In Iconium, Paul and Barnabas went as usual to the synagogue. They spoke so well that a great many Jews and Greeks believed. 2 But some people who did not believe excited the others and turned them against the believers. 3 Paul and Barnabas stayed in Iconium a long time and spoke bravely for the Lord. He showed that their message about his grace was true by giving them the power to work miracles and signs. 4 But the city was divided. Some of the people agreed with the Jews, and others believed the apostles.
5 Some who were not Jews, some Jews, and some of their rulers wanted to mistreat Paul and Barnabas and to stone them to death. 6 When Paul and Barnabas learned about this, they ran away to Lystra and Derbe, cities in Lycaonia, and to the areas around those cities. 7 They announced the Good News there, too.
Paul in Lystra and Derbe
8 In Lystra there sat a man who had been born crippled; he had never walked. 9 As this man was listening to Paul speak, Paul looked straight at him and saw that he believed God could heal him. 10 So he cried out, “Stand up on your feet!” The man jumped up and began walking around. 11 When the crowds saw what Paul did, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have become like humans and have come down to us!” 12 Then the people began to call Barnabas “Zeus”[a] and Paul “Hermes,”[b] because he was the main speaker. 13 The priest in the temple of Zeus, which was near the city, brought some bulls and flowers to the city gates. He and the people wanted to offer a sacrifice to Paul and Barnabas. 14 But when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard about it, they tore their clothes. They ran in among the people, shouting, 15 “Friends, why are you doing these things? We are only human beings like you. We are bringing you the Good News and are telling you to turn away from these worthless things and turn to the living God. He is the One who made the sky, the earth, the sea, and everything in them. 16 In the past, God let all the nations do what they wanted. 17 Yet he proved he is real by showing kindness, by giving you rain from heaven and crops at the right times, by giving you food and filling your hearts with joy.” 18 Even with these words, they were barely able to keep the crowd from offering sacrifices to them.
31 Again some of the people picked up stones to kill Jesus. 32 But he said to them, “I have done many good works from the Father. Which of these good works are you killing me for?”
33 They answered, “We are not killing you because of any good work you did, but because you speak against God. You are only a human, but you say you are the same as God!”
34 Jesus answered, “It is written in your law that God said, ‘I said, you are gods.’[a] 35 This Scripture called those people gods who received God’s message, and Scripture is always true. 36 So why do you say that I speak against God because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? I am the one God chose and sent into the world. 37 If I don’t do what my Father does, then don’t believe me. 38 But if I do what my Father does, even though you don’t believe in me, believe what I do. Then you will know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”
39 They tried to take Jesus again, but he escaped from them.
40 Then he went back across the Jordan River to the place where John had first baptized. Jesus stayed there, 41 and many people came to him and said, “John never did a miracle, but everything John said about this man is true.” 42 And in that place many believed in Jesus.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.