Book of Common Prayer

106 Praise Yah.^[a] Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good,
for his loyal love is forever.
² Who can utter the mighty deeds of Yahweh,
or proclaim all his praise?
³ Blessed are those who observe justice,
he who does righteousness at all times.
⁴ Remember me, O Yahweh, when you show favor to your people.
Look after me when you deliver,
⁵ that I may see the good done your chosen ones,
to be glad in the joy of your nation,
to glory together with your inheritance.
⁶ We have sinned along with our ancestors.^[b]
We have committed iniquity; we have incurred guilt.
⁷ Our ancestors^[c] in Egypt did not understand your wonderful works.
They did not remember your many acts of loyal love,
and so they rebelled by the sea at the Red Sea.^[d]
8 Yet he saved them for the sake of his name,
to make known his might.
⁹ So he rebuked the Red Sea,^[e] and it dried up,
and he led them through the deep as through a desert.
¹⁰ Thus he saved them from the hand of the hater
and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.
¹¹ But waters covered their adversaries;
not one of them survived.
¹² Then they believed his words;
they sang his praise.
¹³ They quickly forgot his works;
they did not wait for his counsel.
¹⁴ And they craved intensely^[f] in the wilderness,
and tested God in the desert.
¹⁵ So he gave to them their request,
but he sent leanness into their souls.^[g]
16 And they were jealous of Moses in the camp,
and of Aaron, the holy one of Yahweh.
¹⁷ The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan,
and it covered over the gang of Abiram.
¹⁸ Also fire burned in their assembly;
the flame devoured the wicked.
¹⁹ They made a calf at Horeb
and bowed down to a cast image.
²⁰ And so they exchanged their glory
for an image of an ox that eats grass.
²¹ They forgot God their Savior,
who had done great things in Egypt,
²² wonders in the land of Ham,
awesome deeds by the Red Sea.^[h]
23 So he said he would exterminate them,
had not Moses, his chosen one,
stood in the breach before him,
to reverse his wrath from destroying them.
²⁴ Then they refused the desirable land;
they did not believe his word,
²⁵ but grumbled in their tents.
They did not obey the voice of Yahweh.
²⁶ So he made an oath^[i] against them,
to make them drop in the wilderness,
²⁷ and to disperse^[j] their descendants^[k] among the nations
and to scatter them among the lands.
²⁸ They also attached themselves to Baal of Peor,
and they ate sacrifices offered to the dead.^[l]
29 Thus they provoked to anger by their deeds,
and a plague broke out among them.
³⁰ Then Phinehas stood up and intervened,
and so the plague was stopped,
³¹ and it was reckoned to him as righteousness
throughout all generations.^[m]
32 They also angered God at the waters of Meribah,
and it went badly for Moses on account of them,
³³ because they rebelled against his Spirit,^[n]
and he spoke thoughtlessly with his lips.
³⁴ They did not exterminate the peoples,
as Yahweh had commanded them, ^[o]
35 but they mingled with the nations
and learned their works,
³⁶ and served their idols,
which became^[p] a snare to them.
³⁷ They even sacrificed their sons and daughters
to the demons,
³⁸ and they poured out innocent blood,
the blood of their sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,
and so the land was defiled with the blood.^[q]
39 And they became unclean by their works,
and were unfaithful in their deeds.
⁴⁰ So Yahweh’s anger burned against his people,
and he abhorred his inheritance.
⁴¹ Then he gave them into the hand of the nations,
and those who hated them ruled over them.
⁴² And their enemies oppressed them,
and they were subdued under their hand.
⁴³ Many times he delivered them,
but they rebelled in their counsel,
and were brought low by their iniquity.
⁴⁴ Yet he looked upon their distress
when he heard their cry.
⁴⁵ And he remembered his covenant with them,
and relented based on the abundance of his loyal love.
⁴⁶ And he let them find compassion^[r]
before all their captors.
⁴⁷ Save us, O Yahweh our God,
and gather us from the nations,
so that we may give thanks to your holy name
and boast in your praise.
⁴⁸ Blessed is Yahweh, the God of Israel,
from everlasting and to everlasting.
And let all the people say, “Amen!”
Praise Yah.^[s]

⁹ Proclaim this among the nations:
    Prepare for war!^[a]
        Stir up the mighty warriors;
let them approach and come up;
    let all the men of war approach.
¹⁰ Beat your cutting tools of iron into swords
    and your pruning hooks into spears;
        let the weakling say, ‘I am a mighty warrior!’
¹¹ Hurry and come,
    all the nations, from all around,
        and gather yourselves there.
Bring down your mighty warriors, O Yahweh!
¹² Let the nations be roused and let them come up
    to the valley of Jehoshaphat,
for there I will sit to judge
    all the nations from all around.
¹³ Send forth the sickle,
    for the harvest is ripe!
        Go tread,
for the winepress is full!
    The vats overflow,
        because their evil is great!
¹⁴ Commotion, commotion
    in the valley of decision!
For the day of Yahweh is near
    in the valley of decision!
¹⁵ The sun and the moon grow dark,
    and the stars have withheld^[b] their splendor.
¹⁶ And Yahweh roars from Zion;
    from Jerusalem he utters his voice,
and the heavens and the earth shake.
But Yahweh is a refuge for his people,
    and a protection for the children of Israel.
¹⁷ And you will know that I, Yahweh your God,
    am dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain.
And Jerusalem will be a place of holiness,
    and strangers will pass through it no longer.