Book of Common Prayer

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.

³² And what shall I say further? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets,^(A)

³³ Who by [the help of] faith subdued kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promised blessings, closed the mouths of lions,^(B)

³⁴ Extinguished the power of raging fire, escaped the devourings of the sword, out of frailty and weakness won strength and became stalwart, even mighty and resistless in battle, routing alien hosts.^(C)

³⁵ [Some] women received again their dead by a resurrection. Others were tortured ^[a]to death with clubs, refusing to accept release [offered on the terms of denying their faith], so that they might be resurrected to a better life.^(D)

³⁶ Others had to suffer the trial of mocking and scourging and even chains and imprisonment.

³⁷ They were stoned to death; they were lured with tempting offers [to renounce their faith]; they were sawn asunder; they were slaughtered by the sword; [while they were alive] they had to go about wrapped in the skins of sheep and goats, utterly destitute, oppressed, cruelly treated—

³⁸ [Men] of whom the world was not worthy—roaming over the desolate places and the mountains, and [living] in caves and caverns and holes of the earth.

³⁹ And all of these, though they won divine approval by [means of] their faith, did not receive the fulfillment of what was promised,

⁴⁰ Because God had us in mind and had something better and greater in view for us, so that they [these heroes and heroines of faith] should not come to perfection apart from us [before we could join them].

12 Therefore then, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us,

² Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]. He, for the joy [of obtaining the prize] that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.^(E)

Psalm 148

¹ Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise Him in the heights!

² Praise Him, all His angels, praise Him, all His hosts!

³ Praise Him, sun and moon, praise Him, all you stars of light!

⁴ Praise Him, you highest heavens and you waters above the heavens!

⁵ Let them praise the name of the Lord, for He commanded and they were created.

⁶ He also established them forever and ever; He made a decree which shall not pass away [He fixed their bounds which cannot be passed over].

⁷ Praise the Lord from the earth, you sea monsters and all deeps!

⁸ You lightning, hail, fog, and frost, you stormy wind fulfilling His orders!

⁹ Mountains and all hills, fruitful trees and all cedars!

¹⁰ Beasts and all cattle, creeping things and flying birds!

¹¹ Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers and judges of the earth!

¹² Both young men and maidens, old men and children!

¹³ Let them praise and exalt the name of the Lord, for His name alone is exalted and supreme! His glory and majesty are above earth and heaven!

¹⁴ He has lifted up a horn for His people [giving them power, prosperity, dignity, and preeminence], a song of praise for all His godly ones, for the people of Israel, who are near to Him. Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)^(A)

Psalm 150

¹ Praise the Lord! Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in the heavens of His power!

² Praise Him for His mighty acts; praise Him according to the abundance of His greatness!^(A)

³ Praise Him with trumpet sound; praise Him with lute and harp!

⁴ Praise Him with tambourine and [single or group] dance; praise Him with stringed and wind instruments or flutes!

⁵ Praise Him with resounding cymbals; praise Him with loud clashing cymbals!

⁶ Let everything that has breath and every breath of life praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)

21 Then I saw a new ^[a]sky (heaven) and a new earth, for the former ^[b]sky and the former earth had passed away (vanished), and there no longer existed any sea.^(A)

² And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, all arrayed like a bride beautified and adorned for her husband;

³ Then I heard a mighty voice from the throne and I perceived its distinct words, saying, See! The abode of God is with men, and He will live (encamp, tent) among them; and they shall be His people, and God shall personally be with them and be their God.^(B)

⁴ God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more, neither shall there be anguish (sorrow and mourning) nor grief nor pain any more, for the old conditions and the former order of things have passed away.^(C)

²² I saw no temple in the city, for the Lord God Omnipotent [Himself] and the Lamb [Himself] are its temple.

²³ And the city has no need of the sun nor of the moon to give light to it, for the splendor and radiance (glory) of God illuminate it, and the Lamb is its lamp.^(A)

²⁴ The nations shall walk by its light and the rulers and leaders of the earth shall bring into it their glory.

²⁵ And its gates shall never be closed by day, and there shall be no night there.^(B)

²⁶ They shall bring the glory (the splendor and majesty) and the honor of the nations into it.

²⁷ But nothing that defiles or profanes or is ^[a]unwashed shall ever enter it, nor anyone who commits abominations (unclean, detestable, morally repugnant things) or practices falsehood, but only those whose names are recorded in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

22 Then he showed me the river whose waters give life, sparkling like crystal, flowing out from the throne of God and of the Lamb

² Through the middle of the broadway of the city; also, on either side of the river was the tree of life with its twelve varieties of fruit, yielding each month its fresh crop; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing and the restoration of the nations.^(C)

³ There shall no longer exist there anything that is accursed (detestable, foul, offensive, impure, hateful, or horrible). But the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall worship Him [pay divine honors to Him and do Him holy service].^(D)

⁴ They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads.^(E)

⁵ And there shall be no more night; they have no need for lamplight or sunlight, for the Lord God will illuminate them and be their light, and they shall reign [as kings] forever and ever (through the eternities of the eternities).