Book of Common Prayer
148 Halleluyah!
Praise Adonai from the heavens!
Praise him in the heights!
2 Praise him, all his angels!
Praise him, all his armies!
3 Praise him, sun and moon!
Praise him, all shining stars!
4 Praise him, highest heaven,
and waters above the heavens!
5 Let them praise the name of Adonai;
for he commanded, and they were created.
6 He established them forever and ever;
he has given a law to which they must conform.
7 Praise Adonai from the earth,
sea monsters and watery depths,
8 fire and hail, snow and mist,
storm-winds that obey his word,
9 mountains and every hill,
fruit trees and all cedars,
10 wild animals and all livestock,
creeping reptiles, flying birds,
11 kings of the earth and all peoples,
princes and all rulers on earth,
12 young men and women alike,
old men and children.
13 Let them praise the name of Adonai,
for his name alone is exalted;
his glory is above both earth and heaven.
14 He has increased the power of his people,
granted praise to all his faithful,
to the descendants of Isra’el,
a people close to him.
Halleluyah!
149 Halleluyah!
Sing to Adonai a new song,
his praise in the assembly of the faithful.
2 Let Isra’el rejoice in their maker,
let Tziyon’s children take joy in their king.
3 Let them praise his name with dancing,
make melody to him with tambourine and lyre;
4 for Adonai takes delight in his people,
he crowns the humble with salvation.
5 Let the faithful exult gloriously,
let them sing for joy on their beds.
6 Let the high praises of God be in their throats,
but a two-edged sword in their hands
7 to carry out vengeance on the nations
and punishment on the peoples,
8 to bind their kings with chains
and put their nobles in irons,
9 to execute the judgments decreed for them;
for this will glorify all his faithful.
Halleluyah!
150 Halleluyah!
Praise God in his holy place!
Praise him in the heavenly dome of his power!
2 Praise him for his mighty deeds!
Praise him for his surpassing greatness!
3 Praise him with a blast on the shofar!
Praise him with lute and lyre!
4 Praise him with tambourines and dancing!
Praise him with flutes and strings!
5 Praise him with clanging cymbals!
Praise him with loud crashing cymbals!
6 Let everything that has breath praise Adonai!
Halleluyah!
114 When Isra’el came out of Egypt,
the house of Ya‘akov from a people of foreign speech,
2 Y’hudah became [God’s] sanctuary,
Isra’el his domain.
3 The sea saw this and fled;
the Yarden turned back;
4 the mountains skipped like rams,
the hills like young sheep.
5 Why is it, sea, that you flee?
Why, Yarden, do you turn back?
6 Why, mountains, do you skip like rams;
and you hills like young sheep?
7 Tremble, earth, at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Ya‘akov,
8 who turned the rock into a pool of water,
flint into flowing spring.
115 Not to us, Adonai, not to us,
but to your name give glory,
because of your grace and truth.
2 Why should the nations ask,
“Where is their God?”
3 Our God is in heaven;
he does whatever pleases him.
4 Their idols are mere silver and gold,
made by human hands.
5 They have mouths, but they can’t speak;
they have eyes, but they can’t see;
6 they have ears, but they can’t hear;
they have noses, but they can’t smell;
7 they have hands, but they can’t feel;
they have feet, but they can’t walk;
with their throats they can’t make a sound.
8 The people who make them will become like them,
along with everyone who trusts in them.
9 Isra’el, trust in Adonai!
He is their help and shield.
10 House of Aharon, trust in Adonai!
He is their help and shield.
11 You who fear Adonai, trust in Adonai!
He is their help and shield.
12 Adonai has kept us in mind,
and he will bless.
He will bless the house of Isra’el;
he will bless the house of Aharon;
13 he will bless those who fear Adonai,
great and small alike.
14 May Adonai increase your numbers,
both yours and those of your children.
15 May you be blessed by Adonai,
the maker of heaven and earth.
16 Heaven belongs to Adonai,
but the earth he has given to humankind.
17 The dead can’t praise Adonai,
not those who sink down into silence.
18 But we will bless Adonai
from now on and forever.
Halleluyah!
1 After the death of Moshe the servant of Adonai, Adonai said to Y’hoshua the son of Nun, Moshe’s assistant, 2 “Moshe my servant is dead. So now, get up and cross over this Yarden, you and all the people, to the land I am giving to them, the people of Isra’el. 3 I am giving you every place you will step on with the sole of your foot, as I said to Moshe. 4 All the land from the desert and the L’vanon to the great river, the Euphrates River — all the land of the Hitti — and on to the Great Sea in the west will be your territory. 5 No one will be able to withstand you as long as you live. Just as I was with Moshe, so I will be with you. I will neither fail you nor abandon you.
6 “Be strong, be bold; for you will cause this people to inherit the land I swore to their fathers I would give them. 7 Only be strong and very bold in taking care to follow all the Torah which Moshe my servant ordered you to follow; do not turn from it either to the right or to the left; then you will succeed wherever you go. 8 Yes, keep this book of the Torah on your lips, and meditate on it day and night, so that you will take care to act according to everything written in it. Then your undertakings will prosper, and you will succeed. 9 Haven’t I ordered you, ‘Be strong, be bold’? So don’t be afraid or downhearted, because Adonai your God is with you wherever you go.”
10 Y’hoshua instructed the officials of the people 11 to go through the camp and order the people, “Prepare provisions, because in three days you will cross this Yarden to go in and take possession of the land Adonai your God is giving you.”
12 To the Re’uveni, the Gadi and the half-tribe of M’nasheh Y’hoshua said, 13 “Remember what Moshe the servant of Adonai ordered you: ‘Adonai your God has let you rest and will give you this land.’ 14 Your wives, your little ones and your livestock will stay in the land Moshe gave you on the east side of the Yarden; but you are to cross over armed as a fighting force ahead of your brothers, to help them; 15 until Adonai allows your brothers to rest, as he has allowed you; and they too have taken possession of the land Adonai your God is giving them. At that point, you will return to the land which is yours and possess it, the land Moshe the servant of Adonai gave you in ‘Ever-HaYarden to the east, toward the sunrise.”
16 They answered Y’hoshua, “We will do everything you have ordered us to do, and we will go wherever you send us. 17 Just as we listened to everything Moshe said, so will we listen to you. Only may Adonai your God be with you as he was with Moshe. 18 If anyone rebels against your order and doesn’t heed what you say in every detail of your order, he will be put to death. Just be strong, be bold!”
3 After sighting Cyprus, we passed it on the left, sailed to Syria and landed at Tzor, because that was where the ship was unloading its cargo. 4 Having searched out the talmidim there, we remained for a week. Guided by the Spirit, they told Sha’ul not to go up to Yerushalayim; 5 but when the week was over, we left to continue our journey. All of them, with their wives and children, accompanied us until we were outside the town. Kneeling on the beach and praying, 6 we said good-bye to each other. Then we boarded the ship, and they returned home.
7 When the voyage from Tzor was over, we arrived at Ptolemais. There we greeted the brothers and stayed with them overnight. 8 The following day, we left and came to Caesarea, where we went to the home of Philip the proclaimer of the Good News, one of the Seven, and stayed with him. 9 He had four unmarried daughters with the gift of prophecy.
10 While we were staying there, a prophet named Agav came down from Y’hudah 11 to visit us. He took Sha’ul’s belt, tied up his own hands and feet and said, “Here is what the Ruach HaKodesh says: the man who owns this belt — the Judeans in Yerushalayim will tie him up just like this and hand him over to the Goyim.” 12 When we heard this, both we and the people there begged him not to go up to Yerushalayim; 13 but Sha’ul answered, “What are you doing, crying and trying to weaken my resolve? I am prepared not only to be tied up, but even to die in Yerushalayim for the name of the Lord Yeshua.” 14 And when he would not be convinced, we said, “May the Lord’s will be done,” and kept quiet.
15 So at the end of our stay, we packed and went up to Yerushalayim;
21 They entered K’far-Nachum, and on Shabbat Yeshua went into the synagogue and began teaching. 22 They were amazed at the way he taught, for he did not instruct them like the Torah-teachers but as one who had authority himself.
23 In their synagogue just then was a man with an unclean spirit in him, who shouted, 24 “What do you want with us, Yeshua from Natzeret? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are — the Holy One of God!” 25 But Yeshua rebuked the unclean spirit, “Be quiet and come out of him!” 26 Throwing the man into a convulsion, it gave a loud shriek and came out of him. 27 They were all so astounded that they began asking each other, “What is this? A new teaching, one with authority behind it! He gives orders even to the unclean spirits, and they obey him!”
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.