Psalm 148
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 148
Praise for God’s Universal Glory
1 Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
praise him in the heights!
2 Praise him, all his angels;
praise him, all his host!(A)
3 Praise him, sun and moon;
praise him, all you shining stars!
4 Praise him, you highest heavens
and you waters above the heavens!(B)
5 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for he commanded and they were created.(C)
6 He established them forever and ever;
he fixed their bounds, which cannot be passed.[a](D)
7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
you sea monsters and all deeps,(E)
8 fire and hail, snow and frost,
stormy wind fulfilling his command!(F)
9 Mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars!(G)
10 Wild animals and all cattle,
creeping things and flying birds!
11 Kings of the earth and all peoples,
princes and all rulers of the earth!
12 Young men and women alike,
old and young together!
13 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for his name alone is exalted;
his glory is above earth and heaven.(H)
14 He has raised up a horn for his people,
praise for all his faithful,
for the people of Israel who are close to him.
Praise the Lord!(I)
Footnotes
- 148.6 Or he set a law that cannot pass away
Psalm 149
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 149
Praise for God’s Goodness to Israel
1 Praise the Lord!
Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise in the assembly of the faithful.(A)
2 Let Israel be glad in its Maker;
let the children of Zion rejoice in their King.(B)
3 Let them praise his name with dancing,
making melody to him with tambourine and lyre.(C)
4 For the Lord takes pleasure in his people;
he adorns the humble with victory.(D)
5 Let the faithful exult in glory;
let them sing for joy on their couches.(E)
6 Let the high praises of God be in their throats
and two-edged swords in their hands,(F)
7 to execute vengeance on the nations
and punishment on the peoples,
8 to bind their kings with fetters
and their nobles with chains of iron,
9 to execute on them the judgment decreed.
This is glory for all his faithful ones.
Praise the Lord!(G)
Psalm 150
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 150
Praise for God’s Surpassing Greatness
1 Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty firmament
2 Praise him for his mighty deeds;
praise him according to his surpassing greatness!(B)
3 Praise him with trumpet sound;
praise him with lute and harp!(C)
4 Praise him with tambourine and dance;
praise him with strings and pipe!(D)
5 Praise him with clanging cymbals;
praise him with loud clashing cymbals!(E)
6 Let everything that breathes praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!
Footnotes
- 150.1 Or dome
Amos 6
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Complacent Self-Indulgence Will Be Punished
6 Woe to those who are at ease in Zion
and for those who feel secure on Mount Samaria,
the notables of the first of the nations,
to whom the house of Israel resorts!(A)
2 Cross over to Calneh and see;
from there go to Hamath the great;
then go down to Gath of the Philistines.
Are you better[a] than these kingdoms?
Or is your[b] territory greater than their[c] territory,(B)
3 you who put far away the evil day
and bring near a reign of violence?(C)
4 Woe to those who lie on beds of ivory
and lounge on their couches
and eat lambs from the flock
and calves from the stall,(D)
5 who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp
and like David improvise on instruments of music,(E)
6 who drink wine from bowls
and anoint themselves with the finest oils
but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph!(F)
7 Therefore they shall now be the first to go into exile,
and the revelry of the loungers shall pass away.(G)
8 The Lord God has sworn by himself
(says the Lord, the God of hosts):
I abhor the pride of Jacob
and hate his strongholds,
and I will deliver up the city and all that is in it.(H)
9 If ten people remain in one house, they shall die. 10 And if a relative, one who burns it,[d] takes up the body to bring it out of the house and says to someone in the innermost parts of the house, “Is anyone else with you?” the answer will come, “No.” Then the relative[e] shall say, “Hush! We must not mention the name of the Lord.”
11 For the Lord commands,
and he will shatter the great house to bits
and the little house to pieces.(I)
12 Do horses run on rocky crags?
Does one plow the sea with oxen?[f]
But you have turned justice into poison
and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood,(J)
13 you who rejoice in Lo-debar,[g]
who say, “Have we not by our own strength
taken Karnaim[h] for ourselves?”
14 Indeed, I am raising up against you a nation,
O house of Israel, says the Lord, the God of hosts,
and they shall oppress you from Lebo-hamath
to the Wadi Arabah.(K)
Luke 1:57-68
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Birth of John the Baptist
57 Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. 58 Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.(A)
59 On the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to name him Zechariah after his father.(B) 60 But his mother said, “No; he is to be called John.” 61 They said to her, “None of your relatives has this name.” 62 Then they began motioning to his father to find out what name he wanted to give him. 63 He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And all of them were amazed. 64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue freed, and he began to speak, praising God. 65 Fear came over all their neighbors, and all these things were talked about throughout the entire hill country of Judea. 66 All who heard them pondered them and said, “What then will this child become?” For indeed the hand of the Lord was with him.(C)
Zechariah’s Prophecy
67 Then his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:(D)
68 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for he has looked favorably on[a] his people and redeemed them.(E)
Footnotes
- 1.68 Or has visited
Psalm 114
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 114
God’s Wonders at the Exodus
1 [a]When Israel went out from Egypt,
the house of Jacob from a people of strange language,(A)
2 Judah became God’s[b] sanctuary,
Israel his dominion.(B)
3 The sea looked and fled;
Jordan turned back.(C)
4 The mountains skipped like rams,
the hills like lambs.(D)
5 Why is it, O sea, that you flee?
O Jordan, that you turn back?
6 O mountains, that you skip like rams?
O hills, like lambs?
7 Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Jacob,(E)
8 who turns the rock into a pool of water,
the flint into a spring of water.(F)
Footnotes
- 114.1 Psalms 114–115 are a single psalm in the earliest witnesses
- 114.2 Heb his
Psalm 115
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 115
The Impotence of Idols and the Greatness of God
1 [a]Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory,
for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness.(A)
2 Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”(B)
3 Our God is in the heavens;
he does whatever he pleases.(C)
4 Their idols are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.(D)
5 They have mouths, but they do not speak;
they have eyes, but they do not see.
6 They have ears, but they do not hear;
they have noses, but they do not smell.
7 They have hands, but they do not feel;
they have feet, but they do not walk;
they make no sound in their throats.
8 Those who make them are like them;
so are all who trust in them.(E)
9 O Israel, trust in the Lord!
He is their help and their shield.(F)
10 O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord!
He is their help and their shield.
11 You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord!
He is their help and their shield.(G)
12 The Lord has been mindful of us; he will bless us;
he will bless the house of Israel;
he will bless the house of Aaron;
13 he will bless those who fear the Lord,
both small and great.
14 May the Lord give you increase,
both you and your children.(H)
15 May you be blessed by the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.(I)
16 The heavens are the Lord’s heavens,
but the earth he has given to human beings.(J)
17 The dead do not praise the Lord,
nor do any who go down into silence.(K)
18 But we will bless the Lord
from this time on and forevermore.
Praise the Lord!(L)
Footnotes
- 115.1 Psalms 114–115 are a single psalm in the earliest witnesses
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.