Book of Common Prayer
The World Should Praise the Lord
148 Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the heavens.
Praise him high above the earth.
2 Praise him, all you angels.
Praise him, all you armies of heaven.
3 Praise him, sun and moon.
Praise him, all you shining stars.
4 Praise him, highest heavens
and you waters above the sky.
5 Let them praise the Lord
because they were created by his command.
6 He set them in place forever and ever.
He made a law that will never end.
7 Praise the Lord from the earth.
Praise him, you large sea animals and all the oceans.
8 Praise him, lightning and hail, snow and clouds,
and stormy winds that obey him.
9 Praise him, mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedar trees.
10 Praise him, you wild animals and all cattle,
small crawling animals and birds.
11 Praise him, you kings of the earth and all nations,
princes and all rulers of the earth.
12 Praise him, you young men and women,
old people and children.
13 Praise the Lord.
He alone is great.
He is greater than heaven and earth.
14 God has given his people a king.
He should be praised by all who belong to him.
He should be praised by the Israelites, the people closest to his heart.
Praise the Lord!
Praise the God of Israel
149 Praise the Lord!
Sing a new song to the Lord.
Sing his praise in the meeting of his people.
2 Let the Israelites be happy because of God, their Maker.
Let the people of Jerusalem rejoice because of their King.
3 They should praise him with dancing.
They should praise him with tambourines and harps.
4 The Lord is pleased with his people.
He saves those who are not proud.
5 Let those who worship him rejoice in his glory.
Let them sing for joy even in bed!
6 Let them shout his praise
with their two-edged swords in their hands.
7 They will punish the nations.
They will defeat the people.
8 They will put those kings in chains
and those important men in iron bands.
9 They will punish them as God has written.
God is honored by all who worship him.
Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord with Music
150 Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his Temple.
Praise him in his mighty heaven.
2 Praise him for his strength.
Praise him for his greatness.
3 Praise him with trumpet blasts.
Praise him with harps and lyres.
4 Praise him with tambourines and dancing.
Praise him with stringed instruments and flutes.
5 Praise him with loud cymbals.
Praise him with crashing cymbals.
6 Let everything that breathes praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord!
God Brought Israel from Egypt
114 The Israelites went out of Egypt.
The people of Jacob left that foreign country.
2 Then Judah became God’s holy place.
Israel became the land he ruled.
3 The Red Sea looked and ran away.
The Jordan River turned back.
4 The mountains danced like sheep
and the hills like little lambs.
5 Sea, why did you run away?
Jordan, why did you turn back?
6 Mountains, why did you dance like sheep?
Hills, why did you dance like little lambs?
7 Earth, shake with fear before the Lord.
Tremble in the presence of the God of Jacob.
8 He turned a rock into a pool of water.
He changed a hard rock into a spring of water.
The One True God
115 It does not belong to us, Lord.
The praise belongs to you
because of your love and loyalty.
2 Why do the nations ask,
“Where is their God?”
3 Our God is in heaven.
He does what he wants.
4 Their idols are made of silver and gold.
They are made by human hands.
5 They have mouths, but they cannot speak.
They have eyes, but they cannot see.
6 They have ears, but they cannot hear.
They have noses, but they cannot smell.
7 They have hands, but they cannot feel.
They have feet, but they cannot walk.
And no sounds come from their throats.
8 The people who make idols and trust them
are all like them.
9 Family of Israel, trust the Lord.
He is your helper and your protection.
10 Family of Aaron, trust the Lord.
He is your helper and your protection.
11 You people who fear the Lord should trust him.
He is your helper and your protection.
12 The Lord remembers us and will bless us.
He will bless the family of Israel.
He will bless the family of Aaron.
13 The Lord will bless those who fear him,
from the smallest to the greatest.
14 May the Lord give you many children.
And may he give them children also.
15 May the Lord bless you.
He made heaven and earth.
16 Heaven belongs to the Lord.
But he gave the earth to people.
17 Dead people do not praise the Lord.
Those in the grave are silent.
18 But we will praise the Lord
now and forever.
Praise the Lord!
God’s Command to Joshua
1 Moses was the servant of the Lord. Joshua son of Nun was Moses’ assistant. After Moses died, the Lord said to Joshua: 2 “My servant Moses is dead. Now you and all these people go across the Jordan River. Go into the land I am giving to the people of Israel. 3 I promised Moses I would give you this land. So I will give you every place you go in the land. 4 All the land from the desert in the south to Lebanon in the north will be yours. All the land from the great river, the Euphrates, in the east, to the Mediterranean Sea in the west will be yours. This includes the land of the Hittites. 5 Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. No one will be able to stop you all your life. I will not leave you. I will never leave you alone.
6 “Joshua, be strong and brave! You must lead these people so they can take their land. This is the land I promised their fathers I would give them. 7 Be strong and brave. Be sure to obey all the teachings my servant Moses gave you. If you follow them exactly, you will be successful in everything you do. 8 Always remember what is written in the Book of the Teachings. Study it day and night. Then you will be sure to obey everything that is written there. If you do this, you will be wise and successful in everything. 9 Remember that I commanded you to be strong and brave. So don’t be afraid. The Lord your God will be with you everywhere you go.”
Joshua’s Orders to the People
10 So Joshua gave orders to the officers of the people. He said, 11 “Go through the camp and tell the people, ‘Get your supplies ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan River. You will go and take the land the Lord your God is giving you.’”
12 Then Joshua spoke to the people of Reuben, Gad and the eastern half-tribe of Manasseh. Joshua said, 13 “Remember what Moses, the servant of the Lord, told you. He said the Lord your God would give you rest. And he said the Lord would give you this land. 14 Now the Lord has given you this land east of the Jordan River. Your wives, your children and your animals may stay here. But your fighting men must dress for war and cross the Jordan River ahead of your brothers. You must help your brothers. 15 The Lord has given you a place to rest. He will do the same for your brothers. But you must help them until they take the land. This is the land the Lord their God is giving them. Then you may return to your own land east of the Jordan River. That is the land that Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave you.”
16 Then the people answered Joshua, “Anything you command us to do, we will do. Any place you send us, we will go. 17 Just as we fully obeyed Moses, we will obey you. We ask only that the Lord your God be with you just as he was with Moses. 18 Then, if anyone refuses to obey your commands or turns against you, he will be put to death. Just be strong and brave!”
3 We sailed near the island of Cyprus. We could see it to the north, but we sailed on to Syria. We stopped at Tyre because the ship needed to unload its cargo there. 4 We found some followers in Tyre, and we stayed with them for seven days. Through the Holy Spirit they warned Paul not to go to Jerusalem. 5 When we finished our visit, we left and continued our trip. All the followers, even the women and children, came outside the city with us. We all knelt down on the beach and prayed. 6 Then we said good-bye and got on the ship. The followers went back home.
7 We continued our trip from Tyre and arrived at Ptolemais. We greeted the believers there and stayed with them for a day. 8 We left Ptolemais and went to the city of Caesarea. There we went into the home of Philip and stayed with him. Philip had the work of telling the Good News. He was one of the seven helpers.[a] 9 He had four unmarried daughters who had the gift of prophesying. 10 After we had been there for some time, a prophet named Agabus arrived from Judea. 11 He came to us and borrowed Paul’s belt. Then he used the belt to tie his own hands and feet. He said, “The Holy Spirit says, ‘This is how the Jews in Jerusalem will tie up the man who wears this belt. Then they will give him to the non-Jewish people.’”
12 We all heard these words. So we and the people there begged Paul not to go to Jerusalem. 13 But he said, “Why are you crying and making me so sad? I am ready to be tied up in Jerusalem. And I am ready to die for the Lord Jesus!”
14 We could not persuade him to stay away from Jerusalem. So we stopped begging him and said, “We pray that what the Lord wants will be done.”
15 After this, we got ready and started on our way to Jerusalem.
Jesus Removes an Evil Spirit
21 Jesus and his followers went to Capernaum. On the Sabbath day Jesus went to the synagogue and began to teach. 22 The people there were amazed at his teaching. He did not teach like their teachers of the law. He taught like a person who had authority. 23 While he was in the synagogue, a man was there who had an evil spirit in him. The man shouted, 24 “Jesus of Nazareth! What do you want with us? Did you come to destroy us? I know who you are—God’s Holy One!”
25 Jesus said strongly, “Be quiet! Come out of the man!” 26 The evil spirit made the man shake violently. Then the spirit gave a loud cry and came out of him.
27 The people were amazed. They asked each other, “What is happening here? This man is teaching something new. And he teaches with authority. He even gives commands to evil spirits, and they obey him.”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.