Book of Common Prayer
A Song of God’s Majesty and Love
A praise of David.[a]
145 I will exalt you, my God, O king,
and I will bless[b] your name forever and ever.
2 Every day I will bless you
and praise your name forever and ever.
3 Great is Yahweh, and very worthy of praise,
and his greatness is unsearchable.
4 One generation will laud your works to another,
and will declare your mighty deeds.
5 On the splendor of the glory of your majesty,
and on your wonderful deeds, I will meditate.
6 And they will speak of the power of your awesome deeds,[c]
and I will tell of your greatness.[d]
7 They will utter [e] the renown of your abundant goodness,
and they will proclaim with joy your righteousness.
8 Yahweh is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger[f] and great in loyal love.
9 Yahweh is good to all,
and his mercies are over all his works.
10 All your works will praise you, O Yahweh,
and your faithful ones will bless[g] you.
11 They will speak of the glory of your kingdom,
and talk of your power,
12 to make known to the children of humankind his mighty deeds,
and the glory of the majesty of his kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures throughout all generations.[h]
14 Yahweh upholds all who are falling,
and raises up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all look hopefully to you,
and you give them their food in due time,
16 opening your hand,
and satisfying the desire of every living creature.
17 Yahweh is righteous in all his ways,
and loyal in all his works.
18 Yahweh is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
19 He fulfills the desire of those who fear him;
he also hears their cry for help, and saves them.
20 Yahweh protects all those who love him,
but all the wicked he will exterminate.
21 My mouth will speak the praise of Yahweh,
and all flesh will bless his holy name
forever and ever.
Praise to Yahweh for His Creation and Providence
104 Bless Yahweh, O my soul.
O Yahweh my God, you are very great.
You clothe yourself with splendor and majesty,
2 you who cover yourself with light as with a garment,
who stretch out the heavens like a tent curtain,
3 the one who sets beams in the waters for his upper chambers,
who makes clouds his chariot,
who rides[a] on the wings of the wind,
4 who makes his messengers the winds,
his attendants a flame of fire.
5 He established the earth on her foundations,
so that it will not be moved forever and ever.
6 You covered it with the deep as with a garment.
The waters stood above the mountains.
7 At your rebuke they fled;
at the sound of your thunder they ran off.
8 They ascended the mountains and drained though the valleys
to the place that you established[b] for them.
9 You set a boundary that they may not cross over,
so that they would not return to cover the earth.
10 You are the one who sends forth springs into the valleys;
they flow between the mountains.
11 They give drink for every beast of the field.
The wild donkeys quench[c] their thirst.
12 Along them the birds of the heavens abide.
From among the branches they sing.[d]
13 You are the one who waters[e] the mountains
from his upper chambers.
The earth is full[f] with the fruit of your labors:
14 who causes grass to grow for the cattle
and herbs for the service of humankind,
to bring forth food from the earth,
15 and wine that makes glad the heart of man,
so that their faces shine from oil,
and bread that strengthens the heart of man.
16 The trees of Yahweh drink their fill,
the cedars of Lebanon that he planted,
17 where birds make their nest.
The stork has its home in the fir trees.
18 The high mountains are for the wild goats;
the cliffs are a refuge for the rock badgers.
19 He made the moon for appointed times;
the sun knows its time for setting.
20 You make darkness, and it is night,
when[g] all the animals of the forest creep about.
21 The young lions are roaring for the prey
and seeking their food from God.
22 When the sun rises, they gather together
and lie down in their dens.
23 Humankind goes out to its work,
and to its labor until evening.
24 How many are your works, O Yahweh;
all of them you have done in wisdom.
The earth is full of your creatures.
25 This is the great and wide[h] sea,
in which are moving animals without number,
living things small and great.
26 There the ships sail.
Leviathan is there that you formed to play with.[i]
27 They all wait for you
to give them their food at the proper time.[j]
28 You give to them; they gather it.
You open your hand, they are filled with what is good.
29 You hide your face, they are terrified.
You take away their breath, they die
and return to their dust.
30 You send forth your Spirit,[k] they are created,
and you renew the face of the ground.
31 May the glory of Yahweh endure forever.
May Yahweh be glad in his works,
32 the one who looks at the earth and it quakes,
and touches the mountains and they smoke.
33 I will sing to Yahweh throughout my life;
I will sing praise to my God while I remain alive.[l]
34 May my meditation be pleasing to him.
I will be glad in Yahweh.
35 Let sinners perish completely from the earth,
and the wicked not remain alive.[m]
Bless Yahweh, O my soul.
Praise Yah.[n]
Praise for Salvation
25 Yahweh, you are my God; I will exalt you.
I will praise your name,
for you have done wonderful things,[a]
plans[b] of old,[c] in faithfulness, trustworthiness.
2 For you have made[d] the city a heap,
the fortified city a ruin,
the palace of foreigners is no longer[e] a city;
it will never[f] be rebuilt.
3 Therefore strong peoples will glorify you;
a city of ruthless nations, they will fear you.
4 For you have been a refuge to the poor,
a refuge to the needy in his distress,
a shelter from the rainstorm,
a shade from the heat.
For the breath of the ruthless was like a rainstorm against a wall,[g]
5 the noise of foreigners like heat in a dry land.
You subdued the heat with the shade of a cloud;
the song of the ruthless was silenced.
6 And on this mountain Yahweh of hosts will make for all peoples a rich feast,[h]
a feast of aged wines, fat filled with marrow, filtered aged wine.
7 And on this mountain he will destroy[i] the face of the shroud,
the shroud over all peoples,
and the woven covering over all nations.
8 He will destroy[j] death forever,
and the Lord Yahweh will wipe off the tears from all faces,
and he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth,
for Yahweh has spoken.
9 And one will say, on that day,
“Look! This is our God! We have waited for him and he saved us!
This is Yahweh; we waited for him!
Let us be glad,
and let us rejoice in his salvation.”
13 Now when they[a] saw the boldness of Peter and John, and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were astonished, and recognized them, that they had been with Jesus. 14 And because they[b] saw the man who had been healed standing there with them, they had nothing to say in return. 15 But after they[c] had ordered them to go outside the Sanhedrin,[d] they began to confer[e] with one another, 16 saying, “What should we do with these men? For that a remarkable sign has taken place through them is evident to all those who live in Jerusalem, and we are not able to deny it![f] 17 But in order that it may not spread much further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more in this name to anyone at all.”[g] 18 And they called them back and[h] commanded them[i] not to speak or to teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered and[j] said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than God, you decide! 20 For we are not able to refrain from speaking about the things that we have seen and heard.” 21 So after[k] threatening them[l] further, they released them, finding no way to punish them on account of the people, because they were all praising God for what had happened. 22 For the man on whom this sign of healing had been performed was more than forty years old.
The Believers Pray for Continued Bold Witness
23 And when they[m] were released, they went to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 And when they[n] heard it,[o] they lifted their voices with one mind to God and said, “Master, you are the one who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all the things in them, 25 the one who said by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of our father David, your servant,
‘Why do the nations[p] rage,
and the peoples conspire in vain?
26 The kings of the earth stood opposed,
and the rulers assembled together at the same place,
against the Lord and against his Christ.’[q]
27 For in truth both Herod and Pontius Pilate, together with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, assembled together in this city against your holy servant Jesus whom you anointed, 28 to do all that your hand and plan[r] had predestined to take place. 29 And now, Lord, concern yourself with their threats and grant your slaves to speak your message with all boldness, 30 as you extend your hand to heal and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 31 And when[s] they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak[t] the word[u] of God with boldness.
Jesus Predicts His Return to the Disciples
16 “A little while and you will see me no more, and again a little while and you will see me. 17 So some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he is saying to us, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going away to the Father’?” 18 So they kept on saying, “What is this that he is saying, ‘A little while’? We do not understand what he is speaking about!”
19 Jesus knew that they were wanting to ask him, and he said to them, “Are you deliberating with one another about this—that I said, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? 20 Truly, truly I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will become sorrowful, but your sorrow will change to joy. 21 A woman, when she gives birth, experiences pain because her hour has come. But when her[a] child is born, she no longer remembers the affliction, on account of the joy that a human being has been born into the world. 22 So you also are experiencing sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy from you. 23 And on that day you will ask me nothing. Truly, truly I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you. 24 Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.
Jesus’ Victory Over the World
25 “I have said these things to you in figurative sayings. An hour is coming when I will speak to you in figurative sayings no longer, but I will tell you plainly about the Father. 26 On that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf. 27 For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. 28 I have gone out from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and am going to the Father.”
29 His disciples said, “Behold, now you are speaking plainly[b] and are telling us[c] no figurative saying! 30 Now we know that you know everything and do not need for[d] anyone to ask you questions.[e] By this we believe that you have come from God.”
31 Jesus replied to them, “Now do you believe? 32 Behold, an hour is coming—and has come—that you will be scattered each one to his own home,[f] and you will leave me alone. And I am not alone, because the Father is with me. 33 I have said these things to you so that in me you may have peace. In the world you have affliction, but have courage! I have conquered the world.”
2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software