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Psalm 48

1  Great is the Lord and highly to be praised, ♦︎
   in the city of our God.
2  His holy mountain is fair and lifted high, ♦︎
   the joy of all the earth.
3  On Mount Zion, the divine dwelling place, ♦︎
   stands the city of the great king.
4  In her palaces God has shown himself ♦︎
   to be a sure refuge.
5  For behold, the kings of the earth assembled ♦︎
   and swept forward together.
6  They saw, and were dumbfounded; ♦︎
   dismayed, they fled in terror.
7  Trembling seized them there;
      they writhed like a woman in labour, ♦︎
   as when the east wind shatters the ships of Tarshish.
8  As we had heard, so have we seen
      in the city of the Lord of hosts, the city of our God: ♦︎
   God has established her for ever.
9  We have waited on your loving-kindness, O God, ♦︎
   in the midst of your temple.
10  As with your name, O God,
      so your praise reaches to the ends of the earth; ♦︎
   your right hand is full of justice.
11  Let Mount Zion rejoice and the daughters of Judah be glad, ♦︎
   because of your judgements, O Lord.
12  Walk about Zion and go round about her;
      count all her towers; ♦︎
   consider well her bulwarks; pass through her citadels,
13  That you may tell those who come after
      that such is our God for ever and ever. ♦︎
   It is he that shall be our guide for evermore.

Psalm 87

1  His foundation is on the holy mountains. ♦︎
   The Lord loves the gates of Zion
      more than all the dwellings of Jacob.
2  Glorious things are spoken of you, ♦︎
   Zion, city of our God.
3  I record Egypt and Babylon as those who know me; ♦︎
   behold Philistia, Tyre and Ethiopia:
      in Zion were they born.
4  And of Zion it shall be said, ‘Each one was born in her, ♦︎
   and the Most High himself has established her.’
5  The Lord will record as he writes up the peoples, ♦︎
   ‘This one also was born there.’
6  And as they dance they shall sing, ♦︎
   ‘All my fresh springs are in you.’

22 Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. ²³I will sanctify my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord, says the Lord God, when through you I display my holiness before their eyes. ²⁴I will take you from the nations, and gather you from all the countries, and bring you into your own land. ²⁵I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. ²⁶A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷I will put my spirit within you, and make you follow my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances.

The Whole Armour of God

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. ¹¹Put on the whole armour of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. ¹²For our^* struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. ¹³Therefore take up the whole armour of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. ¹⁴Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. ¹⁵As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. ¹⁶With all of these,^* take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18 Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints. ¹⁹Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel,^{* 20}for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak.

Personal Matters and Benediction

21 So that you also may know how I am and what I am doing, Tychicus will tell you everything. He is a dear brother and a faithful minister in the Lord. ²²I am sending him to you for this very purpose, to let you know how we are, and to encourage your hearts.

23 Peace be to the whole community,^* and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴Grace be with all who have an undying love for our Lord Jesus Christ.^*