Book of Common Prayer
The World Should Praise the Lord
148 Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the ·skies [heavens].
Praise him ·high above the earth [in the heights].
2 Praise him, all you ·angels [messengers].
Praise him, all ·you armies of heaven [his hosts; C the angelic army].
3 Praise him, sun and moon.
Praise him, all you ·shining stars [L stars of light].
4 Praise him, ·highest heavens [L heaven of heavens]
and you waters above the ·sky [heavens].
5 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
because ·they were created by his command [L he commands and they were created; Gen. 1].
6 He ·put them in place [L made them stand] forever and ever;
he made a ·law [statute; requirement; ordinance] that will never ·change [pass].
7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
you large sea ·animals [monsters; C like Leviathan; 74:12–17; 104:26; Gen. 1:21; Job 3:8; 41; Is. 27:1] and all the ·oceans [deeps],
8 ·lightning [L fire] and hail, snow and ·mist [cloud; or smoke],
and stormy winds that ·obey him [L do his word],
9 mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars,
10 wild animals and all cattle,
crawling animals and birds,
11 kings of the earth and all ·nations [peoples],
princes and all ·rulers [judges] of the earth,
12 young men and women,
old people and ·children [youth].
13 Praise the name of the Lord,
because ·he [L his name] alone is ·great [exalted].
·He is more wonderful than [L His splendor is over] heaven and earth.
14 God has ·given his people a king [exalted/raised a horn over his people; C an animal’s horn symbolizes power].
He should be praised by all ·who belong to him [his saints/loyal ones];
he should be praised by the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel], the people ·closest to his heart [L nearest to him].
Praise the Lord!
Praise the God of Israel
149 Praise the Lord!
Sing a new song [C celebrating victory; 33:3; 40:3; 96:1; 98:1; 144:9; Is. 42:10; Rev. 5:9; 14:3] to the Lord;
sing his praise in the ·meeting [assembly; congregation] of his ·people [saints; loyal ones].
2 Let the Israelites ·be happy [rejoice] because of God, [L in] their Maker.
Let the ·people of Jerusalem [L sons of Zion; C location of the Temple] rejoice ·because [L in] of their King.
3 They should praise him with dancing.
They should ·sing praises [make a psalm] to him with tambourines and harps.
4 The Lord is pleased with his people;
he ·saves [L endows with salvation/victory] the ·humble [needy].
5 Let ·those who worship him [the saints/loyal ones] rejoice in his glory [C God’s manifest presence].
Let them sing for joy even in bed!
6 Let them ·shout his praise [L exalt God with their throats]
with their two-edged swords in their hands.
7 They will ·punish [execute vengeance against] the nations
and ·defeat [punish] the people.
8 They will put those kings in chains
and ·those important men [honored men] in iron bands.
9 They will ·punish them as God has written [L accomplish a written judgment].
God is honored by ·all who worship him [his saints/loyal ones].
Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord with Music
150 Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his ·Temple [L holy place; or holiness];
praise him in his ·mighty heaven [L strong firmament; Gen. 1:7].
2 Praise him for his strength;
praise him for his [L abundant] greatness.
3 Praise him with trumpet blasts;
praise him with harps and lyres.
4 Praise him with tambourines and dancing;
praise him with stringed instruments and flutes.
5 Praise him with loud cymbals;
praise him with crashing cymbals.
6 Let everything that breathes praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord!
God Brought Israel from Egypt
114 When ·the Israelites [Israel] went out of Egypt,
the ·people [L house] of Jacob left ·that foreign country [L a people of incomprehensible language].
2 Then Judah became God’s holy place [Ex. 19:6];
Israel became ·the land he ruled [his dominion].
3 The Sea [C Red (or Reed) Sea; Ex. 14–15] looked and ·ran away [fled];
the Jordan River turned back [Josh. 3].
4 The mountains ·danced [skipped] like ·sheep [rams]
and the hills like little lambs.
5 Sea, why did you ·run away [flee]?
Jordan, why did you turn back?
6 Mountains, why did you ·dance [skip] like ·sheep [rams]?
Hills, why did you ·dance [skip] like little lambs?
7 Earth, ·shake with fear [writhe; tremble] before the Lord,
before the God of Jacob.
8 He turned a rock into a pool of water,
a hard ·rock [flint] into a spring of water [Ex. 17:1–7; Num. 20:1–13].
The One True God
115 ·It does not belong [L Not to us, not] to us, Lord.
The glory belongs to ·you [L your name]
because of your ·love [loyalty] and ·loyalty [faithfulness].
2 Why do the nations ask,
“Where is their God?”
3 Our God is in heaven.
He does what he pleases.
4 Their idols are made of silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
5 They have mouths, but they cannot speak.
They have eyes, but they cannot see.
6 They have ears, but they cannot hear.
They have noses, but they cannot smell.
7 They have hands, but they cannot feel.
They have feet, but they cannot walk.
No sounds come from their throats.
8 People who make ·idols [L them] ·will be [or are] like them,
and so will those who ·trust [have confidence in] them [135:15–18; Is. 44:9–20; 46:6–7; Jer. 10:1–9; Hab. 2:18–19].
9 ·Family of [L O] Israel, ·trust [have confidence in] the Lord;
he is your helper and your ·protection [L shield].
10 ·Family [L House] of Aaron [C the priests], ·trust [have confidence in] the Lord;
he is your helper and your ·protection [L shield].
11 You who ·respect [fear] the Lord [Prov. 1:7] should ·trust [have confidence in] him;
he is your helper and your ·protection [L shield].
12 The Lord remembers us and will bless us.
He will bless the ·family [L house] of Israel;
he will bless the ·family [L house] of Aaron [C the priests].
13 The Lord will bless those who ·respect [fear] him [Prov. 1:7],
from the ·smallest [or least] to the greatest.
14 May the Lord ·give you success [make you increase],
and may he give you and your children ·success [increase].
15 May you be blessed by the Lord,
who made heaven and earth [Gen. 1].
16 Heaven belongs to the Lord,
but he gave the earth to people.
17 Dead people do not praise the Lord;
those ·in the grave are silent [L who go down in silence].
18 But we will praise the Lord
now and forever.
Praise the Lord!
Being Wise or Foolish
9 Wisdom has built her house;
she has made its seven ·columns [pillars; C a large house].
2 She has ·prepared her food [L slaughtered her slaughter] and prepared [mixed] her wine;
she has set her table.
3 She has sent out her servant girls,
and she calls out from the highest place in the city [C the location of the Temple, indicating she symbolizes God].
4 She says to those who are ·uneducated [naive; immature; simpleminded],
“·Come in [Turn aside] here, you ·foolish people [who lack sense]!
5 Come and eat my food
and drink the wine I have ·prepared [mixed].
6 Stop your ·foolish [naive; immature; simpleminded] ways, and you will live;
take the road of understanding.
7 “If you ·correct [instruct; discipline] ·someone who makes fun of wisdom [a mocker], you will be insulted.
If you correct an evil person, you will ·get hurt [L be blemished].
8 Do not correct ·those who make fun of wisdom [mockers], or they will hate you.
But correct the wise, and they will love you.
9 ·Teach [L Give to] the wise, and they will become even wiser;
·teach [inform] ·good people [the righteous], and they will ·learn even more [L add to their learning].
10 “Wisdom begins with ·respect [fear; awe] for the Lord,
and understanding begins with knowing the Holy One.
11 ·If you live wisely [L Through/By me], you will live a long time;
wisdom will add years to your life.
12 The wise person is rewarded by wisdom,
but ·whoever makes fun of wisdom will suffer for it [L mockers will bear it alone].”
14 When the apostles who were still in Jerusalem heard that the people of Samaria [8:1] had ·accepted [received] the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. 15 When Peter and John arrived, they prayed that the Samaritan believers might receive the Holy Spirit. 16 These people had [L only] been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, but the Holy Spirit had not yet ·come [L fallen] upon any of them. 17 Then, when ·the two apostles [L they] began ·laying [placing] their hands on the people [C a ritual of blessing and/or conferring of authority], they received the Holy Spirit.
18 Simon saw that the Spirit was given to people when the apostles ·laid [placed] their hands on them. So he offered the apostles money, 19 saying, “Give me also this power so that anyone on whom I ·lay [place] my hands will receive the Holy Spirit.”
20 Peter said to him, “·You and your money should both be destroyed [L May your silver perish with you], because you thought you could ·buy [get; obtain] God’s gift with money. 21 You ·cannot [L have no part or] share with us in this ·work [ministry; L thing; word] since your heart is not right before God. 22 ·Change your heart! Turn away from [L Repent of] this evil thing you have done, and pray to the Lord. Maybe he will forgive you for ·thinking this [L the intent of your heart]. 23 [L For] I see that you are full of ·bitter jealousy [L the gall/bile of bitterness; C a metaphor; gall is a bitter fluid; Deut. 29:18] and ·ruled by sin [L in bondage to wickedness/unrighteousness].”
24 Simon answered, “Both of you pray for me to the Lord so the things you have said will not happen to me.”
25 After ·Peter and John [L they] ·told the people what they had seen Jesus do [L testified; bore witness] and after they had spoken the ·message [word] of the Lord, they went back to Jerusalem. On the way, they went through many Samaritan ·towns [villages] and preached the ·Good News [Gospel] to the people.
The Good Samaritan(A)
25 Then an expert on the law stood up to test Jesus, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to ·get life forever [L inherit eternal life]?”
26 Jesus said, “What is written in the law? ·What do you read there [or How do you interpret it]?”
27 The man answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind [Deut. 6:5].” Also, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself [Lev. 19:18].”
28 Jesus said to him, “Your answer is right. Do this and you will live.”
Mary and Martha
38 While ·Jesus and his followers [L they] were traveling, Jesus went into a ·town [village]. A woman named Martha ·let Jesus stay at her house [L welcomed/received him]. 39 Martha had a sister named Mary, who was sitting at the Lord’s feet and listening to ·him teach [what he said; L his word/message; C sitting at a teacher’s feet indicates the position of a disciple; see Acts 22:3]. 40 But Martha was ·busy [worried; distracted] with ·all the work to be done [the many preparations]. She went in and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me alone to ·do all the work [serve; prepare the meal]? [Please; L Therefore] Tell her to help me.”
41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are ·worried [anxious] and upset about many things. 42 Only one thing is ·important [necessary; needed]. Mary has chosen the better thing, and it will never be taken away from her.”
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