Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 146[a]
146 Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord, O my soul.
2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live.
I will sing praises to my God as long as I exist.
3 Do not trust in princes,
or in human beings, who cannot deliver.[b]
4 Their life’s breath departs, they return to the ground.
On that day their plans die.[c]
5 How blessed is the one whose helper is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
6 the one who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
who remains forever faithful,[d]
7 vindicates the oppressed,[e]
and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord releases the imprisoned.
8 The Lord gives sight to the blind.
The Lord lifts up all who are bent over.[f]
The Lord loves the godly.
9 The Lord protects the resident foreigner.
He lifts up the fatherless and the widow,[g]
but he opposes the wicked.[h]
10 The Lord rules forever,
your God, O Zion, throughout the generations to come.[i]
Praise the Lord!
Psalm 147[j]
147 Praise the Lord,
for it is good to sing praises to our God.
Yes,[k] praise is pleasant and appropriate.
2 The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem,
and gathers the exiles of Israel.
3 He heals[l] the brokenhearted,
and bandages their wounds.
4 He counts the number of the stars;
he names all of them.
5 Our Lord is great and has awesome power;[m]
there is no limit to his wisdom.[n]
6 The Lord lifts up the oppressed,
but knocks[o] the wicked to the ground.
7 Offer to the Lord a song of thanks.[p]
Sing praises to our God to the accompaniment of a harp.
8 He covers[q] the sky with clouds,
provides the earth with rain,
and causes grass to grow on the hillsides.[r]
9 He gives food to the animals,
and to the young ravens when they chirp.[s]
10 He is not enamored with the strength of a horse,
nor is he impressed by the warrior’s strong legs.[t]
11 The Lord takes delight in his faithful followers,[u]
and in those who wait for his loyal love.
12 Extol the Lord, O Jerusalem.
Praise your God, O Zion.
13 For he makes the bars of your gates strong.
He blesses your children[v] within you.
14 He[w] brings peace to your territory.[x]
He abundantly provides for you[y] the best grain.
15 He[z] sends his command through the earth;[aa]
swiftly his order reaches its destination.[ab]
16 He sends the snow that is white like wool;
he spreads the frost that is white like ashes.[ac]
17 He throws his hailstones[ad] like crumbs.
Who can withstand the cold wind he sends?[ae]
18 He then orders it all to melt;[af]
he breathes on it,[ag] and the water flows.
19 He proclaims his word to Jacob,
his statutes and regulations to Israel.
20 He has not done so with any other nation;
they are not aware of his regulations.
Praise the Lord!
Psalm 111[a]
111 Praise the Lord!
I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,
in the assembly of the godly and the congregation.
2 The Lord’s deeds are great,
eagerly awaited[b] by all who desire them.
3 His work is majestic and glorious,[c]
and his faithfulness endures[d] forever.
4 He does[e] amazing things that will be remembered;[f]
the Lord is merciful and compassionate.
5 He gives[g] food to his faithful followers;[h]
he always remembers his covenant.[i]
6 He announced that he would do mighty deeds for his people,
giving them a land that belonged to other nations.[j]
7 His acts are characterized by[k] faithfulness and justice;
all his precepts are reliable.[l]
8 They are forever firm,
and should be faithfully and properly carried out.[m]
9 He delivered his people;[n]
he ordained that his covenant be observed forever.[o]
His name is holy and awesome.
10 To obey the Lord is the fundamental principle for wise living;[p]
all who carry out his precepts acquire good moral insight.[q]
He will receive praise forever.[r]
Psalm 112[s]
112 Praise the Lord!
How blessed is the one[t] who obeys[u] the Lord,
who takes great delight in keeping his commands.[v]
2 His descendants[w] will be powerful on the earth;
the godly[x] will be blessed.
3 His house contains wealth and riches;
his integrity endures.[y]
4 In the darkness a light[z] shines for the godly,
for each one who is merciful, compassionate, and just.[aa]
5 It goes well for the one[ab] who generously lends money,
and conducts his business honestly.[ac]
6 For he will never be shaken;
others will always remember one who is just.[ad]
7 He does not fear bad news.
He[ae] is confident; he trusts in the Lord.
8 His resolve[af] is firm; he will not succumb to fear
before he looks in triumph on his enemies.
9 He generously gives[ag] to the needy;
his integrity endures.[ah]
He will be vindicated and honored.[ai]
10 When the wicked[aj] see this, they will worry;
they will grind their teeth in frustration[ak] and melt away.
The desire of the wicked will perish.[al]
Psalm 113[am]
113 Praise the Lord.
Praise, you servants of the Lord,
praise the name of the Lord.
2 May the Lord’s name be praised
now and forevermore.
3 From east to west[an]
the Lord’s name is deserving of praise.
4 The Lord is exalted over all the nations;
his splendor reaches beyond the sky.[ao]
5 Who can compare to the Lord our God,
who sits on a high throne?[ap]
6 He bends down to look[aq]
at the sky and the earth.
7 He raises the poor from the dirt,
and lifts up the needy from the garbage pile,[ar]
8 that he might seat him with princes,
with the princes of his people.
9 He makes the barren woman of the family[as]
a happy mother of children.[at]
Praise the Lord.
The Lord Returns to Jerusalem
40 “Comfort, comfort my people,”
says your[a] God.
2 “Speak kindly to[b] Jerusalem and tell her
that her time of warfare is over,[c]
that her punishment is completed.[d]
For the Lord has made her pay double[e] for all her sins.”
3 A voice cries out,
“In the wilderness clear a way for the Lord;
build a level road[f] through the rift valley[g] for our God.
4 Every valley must be elevated,
and every mountain and hill leveled.
The rough terrain will become a level plain,
the rugged landscape a wide valley.
5 The splendor[h] of the Lord will be revealed,
and all people[i] will see it at the same time.
For[j] the Lord has decreed it.”[k]
6 A voice says, “Cry out!”
Another asks,[l] “What should I cry out?”
The first voice responds:[m] “All people are like grass,[n]
and all their promises[o] are like the flowers in the field.
7 The grass dries up,
the flowers wither,
when the wind sent by the Lord[p] blows on them.
Surely humanity[q] is like grass.
8 The grass dries up,
the flowers wither,
but the decree of our God is forever reliable.”[r]
9 Go up on a high mountain, O herald Zion.
Shout out loudly, O herald Jerusalem![s]
Shout, don’t be afraid!
Say to the towns of Judah,
“Here is your God!”
10 Look, the Sovereign Lord comes as a victorious warrior;[t]
his military power establishes his rule.[u]
Look, his reward is with him;
his prize goes before him.[v]
11 Like a shepherd he tends his flock;
he gathers up the lambs with his arm;
he carries them close to his heart;[w]
he leads the ewes along.
Introduction: God Has Spoken Fully and Finally in His Son
1 After God spoke long ago[a] in various portions[b] and in various ways[c] to our ancestors[d] through the prophets, 2 in these last days he has spoken to us in a son,[e] whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he created the world.[f] 3 The Son is[g] the radiance of his glory and the representation of his essence, and he sustains all things by his powerful word,[h] and so when he had accomplished cleansing for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.[i] 4 Thus he became[j] so far better than the angels as[k] he has inherited a name superior to theirs.
The Son Is Superior to Angels
5 For to which of the angels did God[l] ever say, “You are my son! Today I have fathered you”?[m] And in another place[n] he says,[o] “I will be his father and he will be my son.”[p] 6 But when he again brings[q] his firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all the angels of God worship him!”[r] 7 And he says[s] of the angels, “He makes[t] his angels winds[u] and his ministers a flame of fire,”[v] 8 but of[w] the Son he says,[x]
“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever,[y]
and a righteous scepter[z] is the scepter of your kingdom.
9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness.
So God, your God, has anointed you over your companions[aa] with the oil of rejoicing.”[ab]
10 And,
“You founded the earth in the beginning, Lord,[ac]
and the heavens are the works of your hands.
11 They will perish, but you continue.
And they will all grow old like a garment,
12 and like a robe you will fold them up
and like a garment[ad] they will be changed,
but you are the same and your years will never run out.”[ae]
The Prologue to the Gospel
1 In the beginning[a] was the Word, and the Word was with God,[b] and the Word was fully God.[c] 2 The Word[d] was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were created[e] by him, and apart from him not one thing was created[f] that has been created.[g] 4 In him was life,[h] and the life was the light of mankind.[i] 5 And the light shines on[j] in the darkness,[k] but[l] the darkness has not mastered it.[m]
6 A man came, sent from God, whose name was John.[n] 7 He came as a witness[o] to testify[p] about the light, so that everyone[q] might believe through him.
29 On the next day John[a] saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God[b] who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one about whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who is greater than I am,[c] because he existed before me.’ 31 I did not recognize[d] him, but I came baptizing with water so that he could be revealed to Israel.”[e]
32 Then[f] John testified,[g] “I saw the Spirit descending like a dove[h] from heaven,[i] and it remained on him.[j] 33 And I did not recognize him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘The one on whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining—this is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have both seen and testified that this man is the Chosen One of God.”[k]
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