Book of Common Prayer
Praise to God the King
A song of praise. Of David.
145 I praise your greatness, my God the King.
I will praise you forever and ever.
2 I will praise you every day.
I will praise you forever and ever.
3 The Lord is great. He is worthy of our praise.
No one can understand how great he is.
4 Parents will tell their children what you have done.
They will retell your mighty acts,
5 wonderful majesty and glory.
And I will think about your miracles.
6 They will tell about the amazing things you do.
I will tell how great you are.
7 They will remember your great goodness.
They will sing about your fairness.
8 The Lord is kind and shows mercy.
He does not become angry quickly but is full of love.
9 The Lord is good to everyone.
He is merciful to all he has made.
10 Lord, everything you have made will praise you.
Those who belong to you will bless you.
11 They will tell about the glory of your kingdom.
They will speak about your power.
12 Then everyone will know what powerful things you do.
They will know about the glory and majesty of your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom will continue forever.
And you will be King from now on.
The Lord will keep his promises.
With love he takes care of all he has made.
14 The Lord helps those who have been defeated.
He takes care of those who are in trouble.
15 All living things look to you for food.
And you give it to them at the right time.
16 You open your hand,
and you satisfy all living things.
17 Everything the Lord does is right.
With love he takes care of all he has made.
18 The Lord is close to everyone who prays to him,
to all who truly pray to him.
19 He gives those who fear him what they want.
He listens when they cry, and he saves them.
20 The Lord protects everyone who loves him.
But he will destroy the wicked.
21 I will praise the Lord.
Let everyone praise his holy name forever.
Praise to God Who Made the World
104 My whole being, praise the Lord.
Lord my God, you are very great.
You are clothed with glory and majesty.
2 You wear light like a robe.
You stretch out the skies like a tent.
3 You build your room above the clouds.
You make the clouds your chariot.
You ride on the wings of the wind.
4 You make the winds your messengers.
Flames of fire are your servants.
5 You built the earth on its foundations.
So it can never be moved.
6 You covered the earth with oceans.
The water was above the mountains.
7 But at your command, the water rushed away.
When you gave your orders like thunder, it hurried away.
8 The mountains rose.
The valleys sank.
The water went to the places you made for it.
9 You set borders for the seas that they cannot cross.
The water will never cover the earth again.
10 You make springs pour into the ravines.
They flow between the mountains.
11 They water all the wild animals.
The wild donkeys come there to drink.
12 Wild birds make nests by the water.
They sing among the tree branches.
13 You water the mountains from above.
The earth is full of the things you made.
14 You make the grass for cattle
and vegetables for the use of man.
You make food grow from the earth.
15 You give us wine that makes happy hearts.
And you give us olive oil that makes our faces shine.
You give us bread that gives us strength.
16 The Lord’s trees have plenty of water.
They are the cedar trees of Lebanon, which he planted.
17 The birds make their nests there.
The stork’s home is in the fir trees.
18 The high mountains belong to the wild goats.
The rocks are hiding places for the badgers.
19 You made the moon to mark the seasons.
And the sun always knows when to set.
20 You make it dark, and it becomes night.
Then all the wild animals creep around.
21 The lions roar as they attack.
They look to God for food.
22 When the sun rises, they leave.
They go back to their dens to lie down.
23 Then people go to work.
And they work until evening.
24 Lord, you have made many things.
With your wisdom you made them all.
The earth is full of your riches.
25 Look at the sea, so big and wide.
Its creatures large and small cannot be counted.
26 Ships travel over the ocean.
And there is the sea monster Leviathan,
which you made to play there.
27 All these things depend on you
to give them their food at the right time.
28 When you give it to them,
they gather it up.
When you open your hand, they are filled with good food.
29 When you turn away from them,
they become frightened.
When you take away their breath,
they die and turn into dust.
30 When you breathe on them,
they are created.
You make the land new again.
31 May the glory of the Lord be forever.
May the Lord enjoy what he has made.
32 He just looks at the earth, and it shakes.
He touches the mountains, and they smoke.
33 I will sing to the Lord all my life.
I will sing praises to my God as long as I live.
34 May my thoughts please him.
I am happy in the Lord.
35 Let sinners be destroyed from the earth.
Let the wicked people live no longer.
My whole being, praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord.
The Way Out of Egypt
17 The king sent the people out of Egypt. God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country. That road is the shortest way. But God said, “They might think they will have to fight. Then they might change their minds and go back to Egypt.” 18 So God led them through the desert toward the Red Sea. The Israelites were dressed for fighting when they left the land of Egypt.
19 Moses carried the bones of Joseph with him. Before Joseph died, he had made the sons of Israel promise to do this. He had said, “When God saves you, remember to carry my bones with you out of Egypt.”
20 The people of Israel left Succoth and camped at Etham. Etham was on the edge of the desert. 21 The Lord showed them the way. During the day he went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud. And during the night the Lord was in a pillar of fire to give them light. They could travel during the day or night. 22 The pillar of cloud was always with them during the day. And the pillar of fire was always with them at night.
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell the Israelites to turn back to Pi Hahiroth. Tell them to camp for the night between Migdol and the Red Sea. This is near Baal Zephon. 3 The king will think, ‘The Israelites are lost, trapped by the desert.’ 4 I will make the king stubborn again so he will chase after them. But I will defeat the king and his army. This will bring honor to me. Then the people of Egypt will know that I am the Lord.” The people of Israel did just as they were told.
Living by Faith
16 So we do not give up. Our physical body is becoming older and weaker, but our spirit inside us is made new every day. 17 We have small troubles for a while now, but they are helping us gain an eternal glory. That glory is much greater than the troubles. 18 So we set our eyes not on what we see but on what we cannot see. What we see will last only a short time. But what we cannot see will last forever.
5 We know that our body—the tent we live in here on earth—will be destroyed. But when that happens, God will have a house for us to live in. It will not be a house made by men. It will be a home in heaven that will last forever. 2 But now we are tired of this body. We want God to give us our heavenly home. 3 It will clothe us, and we will not be naked. 4 While we live in this body, we have burdens, and we complain. We do not want to be naked. We want to be clothed with our heavenly home. Then this body that dies will be fully covered with life. 5 This is what God made us for. And he has given us the Spirit to be a guarantee for this new life.
6 So we always have courage. We know that while we live in this body, we are away from the Lord. 7 We live by what we believe, not by what we can see. 8 So I say that we have courage. And we really want to be away from this body and be at home with the Lord. 9 Our only goal is to please God. We want to please him whether we live here or there. 10 For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. Each one will receive what he should get—good or bad—for the things he did when he lived in the earthly body.
Sadducees Try to Trick Jesus
18 Then some Sadducees came to Jesus. (Sadducees believe that no person will rise from death.) The Sadducees asked Jesus a question. 19 They said, “Teacher, Moses wrote that a man’s brother might die. He leaves a wife but no children. Then that man must marry the widow and have children for the dead brother. 20 There were seven brothers. The first brother married but died. He had no children. 21 So the second brother married the widow. But he also died and had no children. The same thing happened with the third brother. 22 All seven brothers married her and died. None of the brothers had any children. The woman was last to die. 23 But all seven brothers had married her. So at the time people rise from death, whose wife will the woman be?”
24 Jesus answered, “Why did you make this mistake? Is it because you don’t know what the Scriptures say? Or is it because you don’t know about the power of God? 25 When people rise from death, there will be no marriage. People will not be married to each other but will be like angels in heaven. 26 Surely you have read what God said about people rising from death. In the book in which Moses wrote about the burning bush,[a] it says that God told Moses this: ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’[b] 27 God is the God of living people, not dead people. You Sadducees are wrong!”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.