Book of Common Prayer
A Call for the Universe to Praise God
148 Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from heaven,
you that live in the heights above.
2 Praise him, all his angels,
all his heavenly armies.
3 Praise him, sun and moon;
praise him, shining stars.
4 Praise him, highest heavens,
and the waters above the sky.[a]
5 Let them all praise the name of the Lord!
He commanded, and they were created;
6 by his command they were fixed in their places forever,
and they cannot disobey.[b]
7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
sea monsters and all ocean depths;
8 lightning and hail, snow and clouds,
strong winds that obey his command.
9 Praise him, hills and mountains,
fruit trees and forests;
10 all animals, tame and wild,
reptiles and birds.
11 Praise him, kings and all peoples,
princes and all other rulers;
12 young women and young men,
old people and children too.
13 Let them all praise the name of the Lord!
His name is greater than all others;
his glory is above earth and heaven.
14 He made his nation strong,
so that all his people praise him—
the people of Israel, so dear to him.
Praise the Lord!
A Hymn of Praise
149 Praise the Lord!
Sing a new song to the Lord;
praise him in the assembly of his faithful people!
2 Be glad, Israel, because of your Creator;
rejoice, people of Zion, because of your king!
3 Praise his name with dancing;
play drums and harps in praise of him.
4 The Lord takes pleasure in his people;
he honors the humble with victory.
5 Let God's people rejoice in their triumph
and sing joyfully all night long.
6 (A)Let them shout aloud as they praise God,
with their sharp swords in their hands
7 to defeat the nations
and to punish the peoples;
8 to bind their kings in chains,
their leaders in chains of iron;
9 to punish the nations as God has commanded.
This is the victory of God's people.
Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!
150 Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his Temple!
Praise his strength in heaven!
2 Praise him for the mighty things he has done.
Praise his supreme greatness.
3 Praise him with trumpets.
Praise him with harps and lyres.
4 Praise him with drums and dancing.
Praise him with harps and flutes.
5 Praise him with cymbals.
Praise him with loud cymbals.
6 Praise the Lord, all living creatures!
Praise the Lord!
A Passover Song
114 (A)When the people of Israel left Egypt,
when Jacob's descendants left that foreign land,
2 Judah became the Lord's holy people,
Israel became his own possession.
3 (B)The Red Sea looked and ran away;
the Jordan River stopped flowing.
4 The mountains skipped like goats;
the hills jumped around like lambs.
5 What happened, Sea, to make you run away?
And you, O Jordan, why did you stop flowing?
6 You mountains, why did you skip like goats?
You hills, why did you jump around like lambs?
7 Tremble, earth, at the Lord's coming,
at the presence of the God of Jacob,
8 (C)who changes rocks into pools of water
and solid cliffs into flowing springs.
The One True God
115 To you alone, O Lord, to you alone,
and not to us, must glory be given
because of your constant love and faithfulness.
2 Why should the nations ask us,
“Where is your God?”
3 Our God is in heaven;
he does whatever he wishes.
4 (D)Their gods are made of silver and gold,
formed by human hands.
5 They have mouths, but cannot speak,
and eyes, but cannot see.
6 They have ears, but cannot hear,
and noses, but cannot smell.
7 They have hands, but cannot feel,
and feet, but cannot walk;
they cannot make a sound.
8 May all who made them and who trust in them
become[a] like the idols they have made.
9 Trust in the Lord, you people of Israel.
He helps you and protects you.
10 Trust in the Lord, you priests of God.
He helps you and protects you.
11 Trust in the Lord, all you that worship him.
He helps you and protects you.
12 The Lord remembers us and will bless us;
he will bless the people of Israel
and all the priests of God.
13 (E)He will bless everyone who honors him,
the great and the small alike.
14 May the Lord give you children—
you and your descendants!
15 May you be blessed by the Lord,
who made heaven and earth!
16 Heaven belongs to the Lord alone,
but he gave the earth to us humans.
17 The Lord is not praised by the dead,
by any who go down to the land of silence.[b]
18 But we, the living, will give thanks to him
now and forever.
Praise the Lord!
Nebuchadnezzar's Second Dream
4 King Nebuchadnezzar sent the following message to the people of all nations, races, and languages in the world:
“Greetings! 2 Listen to my account of the wonders and miracles which the Supreme God has shown me.
3 “How great are the wonders God shows us!
How powerful are the miracles he performs!
God is king forever; he will rule for all time.
4 “I was living comfortably in my palace, enjoying great prosperity. 5 But I had a frightening dream and saw terrifying visions while I was asleep. 6 I ordered all the royal advisers in Babylon to be brought to me so that they could tell me what the dream meant. 7 Then all the fortunetellers, magicians, wizards, and astrologers were brought in, and I told them my dream, but they could not explain it to me. 8 Then Daniel came in. (He is also called Belteshazzar, after the name of my god.) The spirit of the holy gods[a] is in him, so I told him what I had dreamed. I said to him: 9 Belteshazzar, chief of the fortunetellers, I know that the spirit of the holy gods[b] is in you and that you understand all mysteries. This is[c] my dream. Tell me what it means.
10 “While I was asleep, I had a vision of a huge tree in the middle of the earth. 11 It grew bigger and bigger until it reached the sky and could be seen by everyone in the world. 12 Its leaves were beautiful, and it was loaded down with fruit—enough for the whole world to eat. Wild animals rested in its shade, birds built nests in its branches, and every kind of living being ate its fruit.
13 “While I was thinking about the vision, I saw coming down from heaven an angel, alert and watchful. 14 He proclaimed in a loud voice, ‘Cut the tree down and chop off its branches; strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Drive the animals from under it and the birds out of its branches. 15 But leave the stump in the ground with a band of iron and bronze around it. Leave it there in the field with the grass.
“‘Now let the dew fall on this man, and let him live with the animals and the plants. 16 For seven years he will not have a human mind, but the mind of an animal. 17 This is the decision of the alert and watchful angels. So then, let all people everywhere know that the Supreme God has power over human kingdoms and that he can give them to anyone he chooses—even to those who are least important.’
18 “This is the dream I had,” said King Nebuchadnezzar. “Now, Belteshazzar, tell me what it means. None of my royal advisers could tell me, but you can, because the spirit of the holy gods[d] is in you.”
Good Managers of God's Gifts
7 The end of all things is near. You must be self-controlled and alert, to be able to pray. 8 (A)Above everything, love one another earnestly, because love covers over many sins. 9 Open your homes to each other without complaining. 10 Each one, as a good manager of God's different gifts, must use for the good of others the special gift he has received from God. 11 Those who preach must preach God's messages; those who serve must serve with the strength that God gives them, so that in all things praise may be given to God through Jesus Christ, to whom belong glory and power forever and ever. Amen.
Jesus and Peter
15 After they had eaten, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these others do?”
“Yes, Lord,” he answered, “you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Take care of my lambs.” 16 A second time Jesus said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
“Yes, Lord,” he answered, “you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Take care of my sheep.” 17 A third time Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
Peter became sad because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” and so he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you!”
Jesus said to him, “Take care of my sheep. 18 I am telling you the truth: when you were young, you used to get ready and go anywhere you wanted to; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will tie you up and take you where you don't want to go.” 19 (In saying this, Jesus was indicating the way in which Peter would die and bring glory to God.) Then Jesus said to him, “Follow me!”
Jesus and the Other Disciple
20 (A)Peter turned around and saw behind him that other disciple, whom Jesus loved—the one who had leaned close to Jesus at the meal and had asked, “Lord, who is going to betray you?” 21 When Peter saw him, he asked Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?”
22 Jesus answered him, “If I want him to live until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!”
23 So a report spread among the followers of Jesus that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say he would not die; he said, “If I want him to live until I come, what is that to you?”
24 He is the disciple who spoke of these things, the one who also wrote them down; and we know that what he said is true.
Conclusion
25 Now, there are many other things that Jesus did. If they were all written down one by one, I suppose that the whole world could not hold the books that would be written.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.