Book of Common Prayer
The 3rd Hallelujah Psalm[a]
148 Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the sky above!
Praise him high in the heavens.
2 Praise him, all his angels.
Praise him all his armies in heaven.
3 Praise him, sun and moon.
Praise him, all bright stars.
4 Praise him, skies above,
and the water above the sky.
5 They should all praise the name of the Lord.
It was his command that created them.
6 He has fixed them in their places for all time.
Nothing can change the command that he has given.
7 Praise the Lord from the earth!
Praise him, sea monsters and all the deep seas.
8 Praise him, fire and hail, snow and clouds.
Praise him, wind and storm, as you obey his commands.
9 Praise him, mountains and all hills.
Praise him fruit trees and all trees in the forests.
10 Praise him, wild animals and farm animals.
Praise him, snakes and birds.
11 Praise him, kings all over the world,
and people of every nation.
Praise him, princes and all rulers on earth.
12 Praise him, young men and young women.
Praise him, old men, as well as children.
13 They should all praise the name of the Lord.
Only the Lord's name is great above all other names.
He is the king who rules over heaven and earth.
14 He has made his own people strong,
so that other nations respect them.
All the people who serve him should praise him.
They are the Israelite nation, who belong to him.
Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
The 5th Hallelujah Psalm[a]
150 Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his temple.
Praise him high in the sky,
where he shows his great strength.
2 Praise God for the great things that he has done.
Praise him because he is great and powerful.
3 Praise him with music!
Yes! Use trumpets, harps and lyres
to praise God![b]
4 Dance and hit drums to praise him!
Make music with harps and flutes
to praise him!
5 Make music with big cymbals and small cymbals
to praise him!
6 Everything that is alive should praise the Lord.
Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
God is a safe place[a]
91 If anyone lives in Almighty God's safe place,
the Most High God protects that person.
2 I will say to the Lord,
‘You are the strong place where I will be safe.
You are my God,
and I trust in you.’
3 God will keep you safe,
so that no trap will catch you.[b]
He will not let any illness kill you.
4 He will keep you safe,
like a bird keeps its babies safe under its wings.
Because he keeps his promises,
he will keep you safe like a shield and armour.
5 Do not be afraid of troubles that come in the night,
or of your enemy's arrows during the day.
6 Do not be afraid of any illness that comes when it is dark,
or any trouble that comes in the middle of the day.
7 A thousand people may die near you.
Even ten thousand people may die at your side.
But nothing will hurt you.
8 Your own eyes will see this happen.
You will see wicked people
receive the punishment that they deserve.
9 You have come to the Lord to make you safe.
The Most High God has become your home.
10 No bad thing will happen to you.
No illness will come to your home.
11 For God will tell his angels to keep you safe.[c]
They will protect you wherever you go.
12 They will hold you safely in their hands,
so that you do not hurt your foot on a stone.[d]
13 You will win against lions and snakes.
You will walk over them!
14 The Lord says, ‘If someone loves me,
I will keep him safe.
Because he worships me,
I will protect him.
15 When he calls to me for help,
I will answer him.
When he has trouble,
I will be with him.
I will rescue him,
and people will respect him.
16 I will give to him a long life,
so that he is happy.
He will see that I have the power to save people.’
This psalm is a song to sing on Sabbath days.
A song to praise God
92 It is good to thank the Lord!
We sing to praise your name, Most High God.
2 We sing in the morning
to thank you for your faithful love.
We sing at night
to say that you are always faithful.
3 We make beautiful music
with lutes, harps and lyres.[e]
4 The things that you do, Lord,
make me very happy.
I sing with joy
because of the things that your hands have made!
5 Yes, Lord, you have done great things!
Your thoughts are more than we can understand!
6 Here is something that stupid people do not know.
Fools do not understand it.
7 Wicked people may continue to grow,
like green grass.
Evil people may grow like weeds.
But in the end you will destroy them
and they will never grow again.[f]
8 You, Lord, will rule as King for ever!
9 Yes, Lord, look at your enemies!
Your enemies will all die!
Those people who do evil things will all disappear!
10 You have made me as strong as a wild bull.
You have poured pure olive oil on me.[g]
11 With my own eyes,
I have seen my enemies fall.
With my own ears,
I have heard them cry out in pain.
12 Righteous people will do well,
like a palm tree that makes new leaves.
They will become strong,
like a tall cedar tree in Lebanon.
13 They are like trees that someone has planted in the Lord's house.
They grow well in the yard of our God's temple.
14 When they are old,
they will still give fruit!
They will always be strong,
with fresh, green leaves.
15 They will tell everyone,
‘The Lord always does what is right.
He is my strong, safe rock.
There is nothing bad in him.’
3 Come to me and listen carefully.
If you accept my teaching,
you will have real life!
Then I will make a covenant with you,
to be my people.
My promise will continue for ever,
like the promise that I made to King David.
4 So look! I chose David
to show my power to other people.
I made him a leader to rule the people of the nations.
5 Now you will call other nations to come to you.
They will be nations that you did not know before.
Nations that did not know you before
will now run quickly to you.
They will come to you,
because they see that you are great.
The Lord your God, Israel's Holy God,
will make people honour you.’
6 Come to serve the Lord now,
while he lets you find him.
Call out to him for help,
while he is near you.
7 Wicked people need to change the way that they live.
Evil people must stop thinking their evil thoughts.
They must turn back to the Lord our God,
because he will be kind to them.
Yes, God will completely forgive them,
if they turn back to him.
8 The Lord says,
‘Remember! My thoughts are not the same as your thoughts.
The way that you do things is not the same as the way that I do things.
9 The sky is far higher than the earth.
In the same way, I do things in a much better way than you do.
Also, my thoughts are much higher than your thoughts.
The old life and the new life
3 God has raised you with Christ to a new life. So you should want more and more the things that belong to heaven. That is where Christ is now. He sits there at God's right side. 2 So think about the good things that are there in heaven above. Do not think only about things that are on the earth. 3 Remember that your old nature has died. God is keeping your new life safe with Christ. 4 You have that new life because you belong to Christ. One day, Christ will show himself clearly to everyone. Then everyone will see that you are with him. They will see that you also are great, like he is.
5 Your old nature likes to do bad things that belong to this earth. But your old nature is dead, so do not do these bad things any more. Do not have sex with someone that you are not married to. Do not think bad, disgusting thoughts. Do not want to have sex in a wrong way. Do not want to do any kinds of bad things. Do not want to have many things for yourselves. That shows that you worship those things as your idol. 6 God will certainly punish people who do those kinds of bad things.
7 At one time, you lived like that. You did those kinds of bad things. 8 But now you must refuse to do all kinds of things like that. Do not become angry with people or shout at them. Do not do anything or say anything that will hurt other people. Do not speak any bad or disgusting words. 9 Do not deceive each other with lies. Remember that you have taken off your old nature, like an old coat. As a result, you can stop doing all the bad things that you liked to do before.
10 Now you have received a new nature. It is God who made it for you so that you can become more and more like him. You will learn to know him better and better. 11 People have this new nature only because they belong to Christ. That is the important thing. Jews are not different from Gentiles. It does not matter whether someone has circumcised you or not. It does not matter which country you come from or how clever you are. It does not matter whether you are a slave or a free person. Christ is all that matters. He lives in every believer.
12 God has chosen you to be his own special people. You belong to him and he loves you very much. So this is how you should live: Be kind to other people and help them. Do not think that you are better than other people. Instead, respect them and be patient with them. 13 Do not become angry with each other. If you think that someone has done something wrong against you, forgive them. Remember that the Lord has forgiven you. So you should also forgive other people. 14 And you must also love each other. That is the most important thing that you should do. Love holds all these good things completely together.
15 Christ has given you peace in your minds. So let that peace rule your thoughts. God has chosen you to be like one body, as his people. So he wants you to live together in peace. Thank God for everything that he gives to you. 16 Let Christ's message always be in your thoughts, with all the good things that it brings. Use that message to teach and to warn each other. Be very wise as you do that. And also sing all kinds of spiritual songs to praise God. Sing psalms and Christian songs. As you sing, thank God from inside yourselves. 17 Show that you belong to the Lord Jesus with everything that you do and with everything that you say. Always thank God the Father in the way that you serve Jesus.
6 Jesus answered, ‘I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. Nobody comes to the Father except by me. 7 If you really know me, you will also know my Father. From now on, you do know him and you have seen him.’
8 Philip said, ‘Lord, show the Father to us. That is all that we need.’ 9 Jesus answered, ‘I have been with all of you for a long time. But still you do not seem to know me, Philip! Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. So why do you say, “Show the Father to us”? 10 I am in the Father and the Father is in me. You should believe that. The words that I say to you do not come from me myself. But the Father lives in me, and he is doing his work. 11 I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Believe me when I say that. You have seen the things that I have done. So, if you do not believe my words, believe because of my work. 12 I tell you this: Whoever believes in me will do the same things that I have been doing. Yes, he will do even greater things than these, because I will go to my Father. 13 Ask me to help you. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it for you. In that way, the Son will show everyone how great the Father is. 14 Yes, you should ask me for anything in my name.[a] I will do it for you.’
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