Book of Common Prayer
By David.
103 Praise the Lord, my soul!
Praise his holy name, all that is within me.
2 Praise the Lord, my soul,
and never forget all the good he has done:
3 He is the one who forgives all your sins,
the one who heals all your diseases,
4 the one who rescues your life from the pit,
the one who crowns you with mercy and compassion,
5 the one who fills your life with blessings
so that you become young again like an eagle.
6 The Lord does what is right and fair
for all who are oppressed.
7 He let Moses know his ways.
He let the Israelites know the things he had done.
8 The Lord is compassionate, merciful, patient,
and always ready to forgive.
9 He will not always accuse us of wrong
or be angry ⌞with us⌟ forever.
10 He has not treated us as we deserve for our sins
or paid us back for our wrongs.
11 As high as the heavens are above the earth—
that is how vast his mercy is toward those who fear him.
12 As far as the east is from the west—
that is how far he has removed our rebellious acts from himself.
13 As a father has compassion for his children,
so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him.
14 He certainly knows what we are made of.
He bears in mind that we are dust.
15 Human life is as short-lived as grass.
It blossoms like a flower in the field.
16 When the wind blows over the flower, it disappears,
and there is no longer any sign of it.
17 But from everlasting to everlasting,
the Lord’s mercy is on those who fear him.
His righteousness belongs
to their children and grandchildren,
18 to those who are faithful to his promise,[a]
to those who remember to follow his guiding principles.
19 The Lord has set his throne in heaven.
His kingdom rules everything.
20 Praise the Lord, all his angels,
you mighty beings who carry out his orders
and are ready to obey his spoken orders.
21 Praise the Lord, all his armies,
his servants who carry out his will.
22 Praise the Lord, all his creatures
in all the places of his empire.
Praise the Lord, my soul!
114 When Israel left Egypt,
when Jacob’s family left people who spoke a foreign language,
2 Judah became his holy place and Israel became his kingdom.
3 The Red Sea looked at this and ran away.
The Jordan River turned back.
4 The mountains jumped like rams.
The hills jumped like lambs.
5 Red Sea, why did you run away?
Jordan River, what made you turn back?
6 Mountains, what made you jump like rams?
Hills, what made you jump like lambs?
7 Earth, tremble in the presence of the Lord,
in the presence of the God of Jacob.
8 He turns a rock into a pool filled with water
and turns flint into a spring flowing with water.
115 Don’t give glory to us, O Lord.
Don’t give glory to us.
Instead, give glory to your name
because of your mercy and faithfulness.
2 Why should other nations say, “Where is their God?”
3 Our God is in heaven.
He does whatever he wants.
4 Their idols are made of silver and gold.
They were made by human hands.[a]
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.
They cannot ⌞even⌟ make a sound with their throats.
8 Those who make idols end up like them.
So does everyone who trusts them.
9 Israel, trust the Lord.
He is your helper and your shield.
10 Descendants of Aaron, trust the Lord.
He is your helper and your shield.
11 If you fear the Lord, trust the Lord.
He is your helper and your shield.
12 The Lord, who is ⌞always⌟ thinking about us, will bless us.
He will bless the descendants of Israel.
He will bless the descendants of Aaron.
13 He will bless those who fear the Lord,
from the least important to the most important.
14 May the Lord continue to bless you and your children.
15 You will be blessed by the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.
16 The highest heaven belongs to the Lord,
but he has given the earth to the descendants of Adam.
17 Those who are dead do not praise the Lord,
nor do those who go into the silence ⌞of the grave⌟.
18 But we will thank the Lord now and forever.
Hallelujah!
3 This is what the Lord says: You were sold, but no price was paid. You will be bought back, but without money.
4 This is what the Almighty Lord says: In the beginning my people went to Egypt to live there as foreigners. Later the Assyrians oppressed them for no reason. 5 So what do I find here? asks the Lord. My people are taken away for no reason. Their rulers are screaming, declares the Lord. And my name is cursed all day long. 6 Now my people will know my name. When that day comes, ⌞they will know⌟ that I am the one who says, “Here I am!”
A Letter to the Church in Ephesus
2 “To the messenger of the church in Ephesus, write:
The one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven gold lamp stands, says: 2 I know what you have done—how hard you have worked and how you have endured. I also know that you cannot tolerate wicked people. You have tested those who call themselves apostles but are not apostles. You have discovered that they are liars. 3 You have endured, suffered trouble because of my name, and have not grown weary. 4 However, I have this against you: The love you had at first is gone. 5 Remember how far you have fallen. Return to me and change the way you think and act, and do what you did at first. I will come to you and take your lamp stand from its place if you don’t change. 6 But you have this in your favor—you hate what the Nicolaitans are doing. I also hate what they’re doing.
7 “Let the person who has ears listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. I will give the privilege of eating from the tree of life, which stands in the paradise of God, to everyone who wins the victory.
Jesus Changes Water into Wine
2 Three days later a wedding took place in the city of Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there. 2 Jesus and his disciples had been invited too.
3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They’re out of wine.”
4 Jesus said to her, “Why did you come to me? My time has not yet come.”
5 His mother told the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.”
6 Six stone water jars were there. They were used for Jewish purification rituals. Each jar held 18 to 27 gallons.
7 Jesus told the servers, “Fill the jars with water.” The servers filled the jars to the brim. 8 Jesus said to them, “Pour some, and take it to the person in charge.” The servers did as they were told.
9 The person in charge tasted the water that had become wine. He didn’t know where it had come from, although the servers who had poured the water knew. The person in charge called the groom 10 and said to him, “Everyone serves the best wine first. When people are drunk, the host serves cheap wine. But you have saved the best wine for now.”
11 Cana in Galilee was the place where Jesus began to perform miracles. He made his glory public there, and his disciples believed in him.
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