Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 146
1 Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!) Praise the Lord, O my soul!
2 While I live will I praise the Lord; I will sing praises to my God while I have any being.
3 Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no help.
4 When his breath leaves him, he returns to his earth; in that very day his [previous] thoughts, plans, and purposes perish.(A)
5 Happy (blessed, fortunate, enviable) is he who has the God of [special revelation to] Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God,(B)
6 Who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, Who keeps truth and is faithful forever,
7 Who executes justice for the oppressed, Who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets free the prisoners,
8 The Lord opens the eyes of the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, the Lord loves the [uncompromisingly] righteous (those upright in heart and in right standing with Him).(C)
9 The Lord protects and preserves the strangers and temporary residents, He upholds the fatherless and the widow and sets them upright, but the way of the wicked He makes crooked (turns upside down and brings to ruin).
10 The Lord shall reign forever, even Your God, O Zion, from generation to generation. Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)(D)
Psalm 147
1 Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God, for He is gracious and lovely; praise is becoming and appropriate.
2 The Lord is building up Jerusalem; He is gathering together the exiles of Israel.
3 He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds [curing their pains and their sorrows].(E)
4 He determines and counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by their names.
5 Great is our Lord and of great power; His understanding is inexhaustible and boundless.
6 The Lord lifts up the humble and downtrodden; He casts the wicked down to the ground.
7 Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; sing praises with the harp or the lyre to our God!—
8 Who covers the heavens with clouds, Who prepares rain for the earth, Who makes grass to grow on the mountains.
9 He gives to the beast his food, and to the young ravens that for which they cry.
10 He delights not in the strength of the horse, nor does He take pleasure in the legs of a man.
11 The Lord takes pleasure in those who reverently and worshipfully fear Him, in those who hope in His mercy and loving-kindness.(F)
12 Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion!
13 For He has strengthened and made hard the bars of your gates, and He has blessed your children within you.
14 He makes peace in your borders; He fills you with the finest of the wheat.
15 He sends forth His commandment to the earth; His word runs very swiftly.
16 He gives [to the earth] snow like [a blanket of] wool; He scatters the hoarfrost like ashes.
17 He casts forth His ice like crumbs; who can stand before His cold?
18 He sends out His word, and melts [ice and snow]; He causes His wind to blow, and the waters flow.
19 He declares His word to Jacob, His statutes and His ordinances to Israel.(G)
20 He has not dealt so with any [other] nation; they have not known (understood, appreciated, given heed to, and cherished) His ordinances. Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)(H)
Psalm 111
1 Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!) I will praise and give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart in the council of the upright and in the congregation.
2 The works of the Lord are great, sought out by all those who have delight in them.
3 His work is honorable and glorious, and His righteousness endures forever.
4 He has made His wonderful works to be remembered; the Lord is gracious, merciful, and full of loving compassion.
5 He has given food and provision to those who reverently and worshipfully fear Him; He will remember His covenant forever and imprint it [on His mind].(A)
6 He has declared and shown to His people the power of His works in giving them the heritage of the nations [of Canaan].
7 The works of His hands are [absolute] truth and justice [faithful and right]; and all His decrees and precepts are sure (fixed, established, and trustworthy).
8 They stand fast and are established forever and ever and are done in [absolute] truth and uprightness.
9 He has sent redemption to His people; He has commanded His covenant to be forever; holy is His name, inspiring awe, reverence, and godly fear.
10 The reverent fear and worship of the Lord is the beginning of [a]Wisdom and skill [the preceding and the first essential, the prerequisite and the alphabet]; a good understanding, wisdom, and meaning have all those who do [the will of the Lord]. Their praise of Him endures forever.(B)
Psalm 112
1 Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!) Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man who fears (reveres and worships) the Lord, who delights greatly in His commandments.(C)
2 His [spiritual] offspring shall be mighty upon earth; the generation of the upright shall be blessed.
3 Prosperity and welfare are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever.
4 Light arises in the darkness for the upright, gracious, compassionate, and just [who are in right standing with God].
5 It is well with the man who deals generously and lends, who conducts his affairs with justice.(D)
6 He will not be moved forever; the [uncompromisingly] righteous (the upright, in right standing with God) shall be in everlasting remembrance.(E)
7 He shall not be afraid of evil tidings; his heart is firmly fixed, trusting (leaning on and being confident) in the Lord.
8 His heart is established and steady, he will not be afraid while he waits to see his desire established upon his adversaries.
9 He has distributed freely [he has given to the poor and needy]; his righteousness (uprightness and right standing with God) endures forever; his horn shall be exalted in honor.(F)
10 The wicked man will see it and be grieved and angered, he will gnash his teeth and disappear [in despair]; the desire of the wicked shall perish and come to nothing.
Psalm 113
1 Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!) Praise, O servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord!
2 Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forever
3 From the rising of the sun to the going down of it and from east to west, the name of the Lord is to be praised!
4 The Lord is high above all nations, and His glory above the heavens!
5 Who is like the Lord our God, Who has His seat on high,
6 Who humbles Himself to regard the heavens and the earth!(G)
7 [The Lord] raises the poor out of the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap and the dung hill,
8 That He may seat them with princes, even with the princes of His people.
9 He makes the barren woman to be a homemaker and a joyful mother of [spiritual] children. Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
1 The words of Amos, who was among the herdsmen and sheep masters of Tekoa, which he saw [in divine revelation] concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.(A)
2 And he said, The Lord roars out of Zion and utters His voice from Jerusalem; then the pastures of the shepherds mourn and the top of [Mount] Carmel dries up.(B)
3 Thus says the Lord: For three transgressions of Damascus [the capital of Syria] and for four [for multiplied delinquencies], I will not reverse the punishment of it or revoke My word concerning it, because they have threshed Gilead [east of the Jordan River] with iron sledges.(C)
4 So I will send a fire [of war, conquest, and destruction] upon the house of Hazael [who killed and succeeded King Ben-hadad] which shall devour the palaces and strongholds of Ben-hadad.
5 I will break also the bar [of the gate] of Damascus and cut off the inhabitant from the plain of Aven or On, and him who holds the scepter from Beth-eden; and the people of Syria [conquered by the Assyrians] shall go into exile to Kir, says the Lord.(D)
13 Thus says the Lord: For three transgressions of the children of Ammon [descendants of Lot] and for four [for multiplied delinquencies], I will not reverse the punishment of it or revoke My word concerning it, because [the Ammonites] have ripped up women with child in Gilead, that they might enlarge their border.
14 So I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah [in Ammon] and it shall devour the strongholds of it, with shouting in the day of battle, with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind;
15 And their king shall go into exile, he and his princes together, says the Lord.
2 Thus says the Lord: For three transgressions of Moab [descendants of Lot] and for four [for multiplied delinquencies], I will not reverse the punishment of it or revoke My word concerning it, because he burned the bones of the king of Edom [Esau’s descendant] into lime.
2 So I will send a fire upon Moab and it shall devour the strongholds of Kerioth, and Moab shall die amid uproar, shouting, and the sound of the trumpet.
3 And I will cut off the ruler from its midst and will slay all its princes with him, says the Lord.
4 Thus says the Lord: For three transgressions of Judah and for four [for multiplied delinquencies], I will not reverse the punishment of it or revoke My word concerning it, because they have despised and rejected the law of the Lord and have not kept His commandments, but their lies, after which their fathers have walked, caused them to err and go astray.
5 So I will send a fire upon Judah and it shall devour the strongholds of Jerusalem.
6 Thus says the Lord: For three transgressions of Israel and for four [for multiplied delinquencies], I will not reverse the punishment of it or revoke My word concerning it, because they have sold the [strictly] just and uncompromisingly righteous for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals;
7 They pant after [the sight of] the poor [reduced to such misery that they will be throwing] dust of the earth on their heads [in token of their grief]; they defraud and turn aside the humble [who are too meek to defend themselves]; and a man and his father will have sexual relations with the same maiden, so that My holy name is profaned.
8 And they lay themselves down beside every [pagan] altar upon clothes they have taken in pledge [for indebtedness], and in the house of their God [in daring contempt of Him] they frivolously drink the wine which has been exacted from those [unjustly] fined.
5 But as to the suitable times and the precise seasons and dates, brethren, you have no necessity for anything being written to you.
2 For you yourselves know perfectly well that the day of the [return of the] Lord will come [as unexpectedly and suddenly] as a thief in the night.
3 When people are saying, All is well and secure, and, There is peace and safety, then in a moment unforeseen destruction (ruin and death) will come upon them as suddenly as labor pains come upon a woman with child; and they shall by no means escape, for there will be no escape.
4 But you are not in [given up to the power of] darkness, brethren, for that day to overtake you by surprise like a thief.
5 For you are all sons of light and sons of the day; we do not belong either to the night or to darkness.
6 Accordingly then, let us not sleep, as the rest do, but let us keep wide awake (alert, watchful, cautious, and on our guard) and let us be sober (calm, collected, and circumspect).
7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who are drunk, get drunk at night.
8 But we belong to the day; therefore, let us be sober and put on the breastplate (corslet) of faith and love and for a helmet the hope of salvation.
9 For God has not appointed us to [incur His] wrath [He did not select us to condemn us], but [that we might] obtain [His] salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah)
10 Who died for us so that whether we are still alive or are dead [at Christ’s appearing], we might live together with Him and share His life.
11 Therefore encourage (admonish, exhort) one another and edify (strengthen and build up) one another, just as you are doing.
5 And as some were saying of the temple that it was decorated with handsome (shapely and magnificent) stones and consecrated offerings [[a]laid up to be kept], He said,
6 As for all this that you [thoughtfully] look at, the time will come when there shall not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.
7 And they asked Him, Teacher, when will this happen? And what sign will there be when this is about to occur?
8 And He said, Be on your guard and be careful that you are not led astray; for many will come in My name [[b]appropriating to themselves the name Messiah which belongs to Me], saying, I am He! and, The time is at hand! Do not go out after them.
9 And when you hear of wars and insurrections (disturbances, disorder, and confusion), do not become alarmed and panic-stricken and terrified; for all this must take place first, but the end will not [come] immediately.
10 Then He told them, Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.(A)
11 There will be mighty and violent earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences (plagues: [c]malignant and contagious or infectious epidemic diseases which are deadly and devastating); and there will be sights of terror and great signs from heaven.
12 But previous to all this, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, turning you over to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be led away before kings and governors for My name’s sake.
13 This will be a time (an opportunity) for you to bear testimony.
14 Resolve and settle it in your minds not to meditate and prepare beforehand how you are to make your defense and how you will answer.
15 For I [Myself] will give you a mouth and such utterance and wisdom that all of your foes combined will be unable to stand against or refute.
16 You will be delivered up and betrayed even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and [some] of you they will put to death.
17 And you will be hated (despised) by everyone because [you bear] My name and for its sake.
18 But not a hair of your head shall perish.(B)
19 By your steadfastness and patient endurance you [d]shall win the [e]true life of your souls.
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation