Book of Common Prayer
The Lord an Abundant Helper.
146 Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
2
While I live I will praise the Lord;
I will sing praises to my God as long as I live.
3
Do not trust in princes,
In mortal man, in whom there is no salvation (help).
4
When his spirit leaves him, he returns to the earth;
In that very day his thoughts and plans perish.(A)
5
How blessed and graciously favored is he whose help is the God of Jacob (Israel),
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,(C)
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 [a]righteous [the upright in heart].(D)
9
The Lord protects the strangers;
He supports the fatherless and the widow;
But He makes crooked the way of the wicked.
10
The Lord shall reign forever,
Your God, O Zion, to all generations.
Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)(E)
Praise for Jerusalem’s Restoration and Prosperity.
147 Praise the Lord!
For it is good to sing praises to our [gracious and majestic] God;
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 [healing their pain and comforting their sorrow].(F)
4
He counts the number of the stars;
He calls them all by their names.
5
Great is our [majestic and mighty] Lord and abundant in strength;
His understanding is inexhaustible [infinite, boundless].
6
The Lord lifts up the humble;
He casts the wicked down to the ground.
7
Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
Sing praises to our God with the lyre,
8
Who covers the heavens with clouds,
Who provides rain for the earth,
Who makes grass grow on the mountains.
9
He gives to the beast its food,
And to the young ravens that for which they cry.
10
He does not delight in the strength (military power) of the horse,
Nor does He take pleasure in the legs (strength) of a man.
11
The Lord favors those who fear and worship Him [with awe-inspired reverence and obedience],
Those who wait for His mercy and lovingkindness.(G)
12
Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!
Praise your God, O Zion!
13
For He has strengthened the bars of your gates,
He has blessed your children within you.
14
He makes peace in your borders;
He satisfies you with the finest of the wheat.
15
He sends His command to the earth;
His word runs very swiftly.
16
He gives [to the earth] snow like [a blanket of] wool;
He scatters the frost like ashes.
17
He casts out His ice like fragments;
Who can stand before His cold?
18
He sends out His word and melts the ice;
He causes His wind to blow and the waters to flow.
19
He declares His word to Jacob,
His statutes and His ordinances to Israel.(H)
20
He has not dealt this way with any [other] nation;
They have not known [understood, appreciated, heeded, or cherished] His ordinances.
Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)(I)
The Lord Praised for His Goodness.
111 Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart,
In the company of the upright and in the congregation.
2
Great are the works of the Lord,
Studied by all those who delight in them.
3
Splendid and majestic is His work,
And His righteousness endures forever.
4
He has made His wonderful acts to be remembered;
The Lord is gracious and merciful and full of loving compassion.
5
He has given food to those who fear Him [with awe-inspired reverence];
He will remember His covenant forever.(A)
6
He has declared and made known to His people the power of His works,
In giving them the heritage of the nations.
7
The works of His hands are truth and [absolute] justice;
All His precepts are sure (established, reliable, trustworthy).
8
They are upheld forever and ever;
They are done in [absolute] truth and uprightness.
9
He has sent redemption to His people;
He has ordained His covenant forever;
Holy and awesome is His name—[inspiring reverence and godly fear].
10
The [reverent] fear of the Lord is the beginning (the prerequisite, the absolute essential, the alphabet) of wisdom;
A good understanding and a teachable heart are possessed by all those who do the will of the Lord;
His praise endures forever.(B)
Prosperity of the One Who Fears the Lord.
112 Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
Blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God] is the man who fears the Lord [with awe-inspired reverence and worships Him with obedience],
Who delights greatly in His commandments.(C)
2
His descendants will be mighty on earth;
The generation of the upright will be blessed.
3
Wealth and riches are in his house,
And his righteousness endures forever.
4
Light arises in the darkness for the upright;
He is gracious and compassionate and righteous (upright—in right standing with God).
5
It is well with the man who is gracious and lends;
He conducts his affairs with justice.(D)
6
He will never be shaken;
The righteous will be remembered forever.(E)
7
He will not fear bad news;
His heart is steadfast, trusting [confidently relying on and believing] in the Lord.
8
His heart is upheld, he will not fear
While he looks [with satisfaction] on his adversaries.
9
He has given freely to the poor;
His righteousness endures forever;
His horn will be exalted in honor.(F)
10
The wicked will see it and be angered,
He will gnash his teeth and melt away [in despair and death];
The desire of the wicked will perish and come to nothing.
The Lord Exalts the Humble.
113 [a]Praise the Lord! ([b]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 its setting
The name of the Lord is to be praised [with awe-inspired reverence].
4
The Lord is high above all nations,
And His glory above the heavens.
5
Who is like the Lord our God,
Who is enthroned on high,
6
Who humbles Himself to regard
The heavens and the earth?(G)
7
He raises the poor out of the dust
And lifts the needy from the ash heap,
8
That He may seat them with princes,
With the princes of His people.
9
He makes the barren woman live in the house
As a joyful mother of children.
Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
12 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go up to this mountain (Nebo) [in the] Abarim [range] and look at the land I have given to the sons of Israel. 13 When you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people [in death], just as Aaron your brother was gathered; 14 because in the Wilderness of Zin, during the strife of the congregation, you rebelled against My command to treat me as holy [by following My instruction] before their eyes at the water.” (These are the waters of Meribah in Kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin.)(A)
Joshua to Succeed Moses
15 Then Moses spoke to the Lord, saying, 16 “[a]Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation 17 who will go out and come in before them, and will lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the Lord will not be as sheep without a shepherd.” 18 The Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him; 19 and have him stand before Eleazar the priest and before the whole congregation, and give him a commission in their sight. 20 You shall put some of your authority and honor on him, so that all the congregation of the Israelites will obey him. 21 He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire before the Lord for him by the judgment (decision) of the [b]Urim. At Joshua’s command the people shall go out and at his command they shall come in, he and all the congregation of Israel with him.” 22 Moses did as the Lord commanded him. He took Joshua and had him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole congregation, 23 and Moses laid his hands on Joshua and commissioned him, just as the Lord had commanded through Moses.
Miracles at Ephesus
11 God was doing extraordinary and unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs or face-towels or aprons that had touched his skin were brought to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out [of them]. 13 Then some of the traveling Jewish exorcists also attempted to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I implore you and solemnly command you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches!” 14 Seven sons of one [named] Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. 15 But the evil spirit retorted, “I know and recognize and acknowledge Jesus, and I know about Paul, but as for you, who are you?” 16 Then the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them and subdued [a]all of them and overpowered them, so that they ran out of that house [in terror, stripped] naked and wounded. 17 This became known to all who lived in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified and exalted. 18 Many of those who had become believers were coming, confessing and disclosing their [former sinful] practices. 19 And many of those who had practiced magical arts collected their books and [throwing book after book on the pile] began burning them in front of everyone. They calculated their value and found it to be [b]50,000 pieces of silver. 20 So the word of the Lord [concerning eternal salvation through faith in Christ] was growing greatly and prevailing.
Jesus Preaches in Galilee
14 Now after John [the Baptist] was arrested and [a]taken into custody, Jesus went to Galilee, preaching the good news of [the kingdom of] God, 15 and saying, “The [appointed period of] time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent [change your inner self—your old way of thinking, regret past sins, live your life in a way that proves repentance; seek God’s purpose for your life] and believe [with a deep, abiding trust] in the good news [regarding salvation].”
16 As Jesus was walking by the shore of the [b]Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon [Peter] and Simon’s brother, [c]Andrew, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, “[d]Follow Me [as My disciples, accepting Me as your Master and Teacher and walking the same path of life that I walk], and I will make you fishers of men.” 18 Immediately they left their nets and followed Him [becoming His disciples, believing and trusting in Him and following His example]. 19 Going on a little farther, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John, who were also in the boat mending and cleaning the nets. 20 Immediately Jesus called to them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired workers, and went away to follow Him [becoming His disciples, believing and trusting in Him and following His example].
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