Book of Common Prayer
The Whole Creation Invoked to Praise the Lord.
148 [a]Praise [b]the Lord!
Praise the Lord (A)from the heavens;
Praise Him (B)in the heights!
2 Praise Him, (C)all His angels;
Praise Him, (D)all His hosts!
3 Praise Him, sun and moon;
Praise Him, all stars of light!
4 Praise Him, [c](E)highest heavens,
And the (F)waters that are above the heavens!
5 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
For (G)He commanded and they were created.
6 He has also (H)established them forever and ever;
He has made a (I)decree which will not pass away.
7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
(J)Sea monsters and all (K)deeps;
8 (L)Fire and hail, (M)snow and (N)clouds;
(O)Stormy wind, (P)fulfilling His word;
9 (Q)Mountains and all hills;
Fruit (R)trees and all cedars;
10 (S)Beasts and all cattle;
(T)Creeping things and winged fowl;
11 (U)Kings of the earth and all peoples;
Princes and all judges of the earth;
12 Both young men and virgins;
Old men and children.
13 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
For His (V)name alone is exalted;
His (W)glory is above earth and heaven.
14 And He has (X)lifted up a horn for His people,
(Y)Praise for all His godly ones;
Even for the sons of Israel, a people (Z)near to Him.
[d]Praise [e]the Lord!
Israel Invoked to Praise the Lord.
149 [f]Praise [g]the Lord!
Sing to the Lord a (AA)new song,
And His praise (AB)in the congregation of the godly ones.
2 Let Israel be glad in (AC)his Maker;
Let the sons of Zion rejoice in their (AD)King.
3 Let them praise His name with (AE)dancing;
Let them sing praises to Him with (AF)timbrel and lyre.
4 For the Lord (AG)takes pleasure in His people;
He will (AH)beautify the afflicted ones with salvation.
5 Let the (AI)godly ones exult in glory;
Let them (AJ)sing for joy on their beds.
6 Let the (AK)high praises of God be in their [h]mouth,
And a (AL)two-edged (AM)sword in their hand,
7 To (AN)execute vengeance on the nations
And punishment on the peoples,
8 To bind their kings (AO)with chains
And their (AP)nobles with fetters of iron,
9 To (AQ)execute on them the judgment written;
This is an (AR)honor for all His godly ones.
[i]Praise [j]the Lord!
A Psalm of Praise.
150 [k]Praise [l]the Lord!
Praise God in His (AS)sanctuary;
Praise Him in His mighty [m](AT)expanse.
2 Praise Him for His (AU)mighty deeds;
Praise Him according to His excellent (AV)greatness.
3 Praise Him with (AW)trumpet sound;
Praise Him with (AX)harp and lyre.
4 Praise Him with (AY)timbrel and dancing;
Praise Him with (AZ)stringed instruments and (BA)pipe.
5 Praise Him with loud (BB)cymbals;
Praise Him with resounding cymbals.
6 Let (BC)everything that has breath praise [n]the Lord.
[o]Praise [p]the Lord!
God’s Deliverance of Israel from Egypt.
114 When Israel went forth (A)from Egypt,
The house of Jacob from a people of (B)strange language,
2 Judah became (C)His sanctuary,
Israel, (D)His dominion.
3 The (E)sea looked and fled;
The (F)Jordan turned back.
4 The mountains (G)skipped like rams,
The hills, like lambs.
5 What (H)ails you, O sea, that you flee?
O Jordan, that you turn back?
6 O mountains, that you skip like rams?
O hills, like lambs?
7 (I)Tremble, O earth, before the Lord,
Before the God of Jacob,
8 Who (J)turned the rock into a (K)pool of water,
The (L)flint into a fountain of water.
Heathen Idols Contrasted with the Lord.
115 (M)Not to us, O Lord, not to us,
But (N)to Your name give glory
Because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your [a]truth.
2 (O)Why should the nations say,
“(P)Where, now, is their God?”
3 But our (Q)God is in the heavens;
He (R)does whatever He pleases.
4 Their (S)idols are silver and gold,
The (T)work of man’s hands.
5 They have mouths, but they (U)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 [b]They have hands, but they cannot feel;
[c]They have feet, but they cannot walk;
They cannot make a sound with their throat.
8 (V)Those who make them [d]will become like them,
Everyone who trusts in them.
9 O (W)Israel, (X)trust in the Lord;
He is their (Y)help and their shield.
10 O house of (Z)Aaron, trust in the Lord;
He is their help and their shield.
11 You who [e](AA)fear the Lord, trust in the Lord;
He is their help and their shield.
12 The Lord (AB)has been mindful of us; He will bless us;
He will bless the house of Israel;
He will bless the house of Aaron.
13 He will (AC)bless those who [f]fear the Lord,
(AD)The small together with the great.
14 May the Lord (AE)give you increase,
You and your children.
15 May you be blessed of the Lord,
(AF)Maker of heaven and earth.
Babylon to Be Destroyed
14 Thus says the Lord your (A)Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel,
“For your sake I have sent to Babylon,
And will bring them all down as fugitives,
[a]Even the (B)Chaldeans, into the (C)ships [b]in which they rejoice.
15 “I am the Lord, your Holy One,
(D)The Creator of Israel, your (E)King.”
16 Thus says the Lord,
Who (F)makes a way through the sea
And a path through the mighty waters,
17 Who brings forth the (G)chariot and the horse,
The army and the mighty man
(They will lie down together and not rise again;
They have been (H)quenched and extinguished like a wick):
18 “(I)Do not call to mind the former things,
Or ponder things of the past.
19 “Behold, I will do something (J)new,
Now it will spring forth;
Will you not be aware of it?
I will even (K)make a roadway in the wilderness,
Rivers in the desert.
20 “The beasts of the field will glorify Me,
The (L)jackals and the ostriches,
Because I have (M)given waters in the wilderness
And rivers in the desert,
To give drink to My chosen people.
21 “The people whom (N)I formed for Myself
(O)Will declare My praise.
The Shortcomings of Israel
22 “Yet you have not called on Me, O Jacob;
But you have become (P)weary of Me, O Israel.
23 “You have (Q)not brought to Me the sheep of your burnt offerings,
Nor have you (R)honored Me with your sacrifices.
I have not (S)burdened you with [c]offerings,
Nor wearied you with (T)incense.
24 “You have bought Me not [d](U)sweet cane with money,
Nor have you [e]filled Me with the fat of your sacrifices;
Rather you have burdened Me with your sins,
You have (V)wearied Me with your iniquities.
25 “I, even I, am the one who (W)wipes out your transgressions (X)for My own sake,
And I will (Y)not remember your sins.
26 “[f]Put Me in remembrance, (Z)let us argue our case together;
State your cause, (AA)that you may be proved right.
27 “Your (AB)first [g]forefather sinned,
And your [h](AC)spokesmen have [i]transgressed against Me.
28 “So I will [j]pollute the [k]princes of the sanctuary,
And I will consign Jacob to the (AD)ban and Israel to (AE)revilement.
The Blessings of Israel
44 “But now listen, O Jacob, My (AF)servant,
And Israel, whom I have chosen:
2 Thus says the Lord who made you
And (AG)formed you from the womb, who (AH)will help you,
‘(AI)Do not fear, O Jacob My servant;
And you (AJ)Jeshurun whom I have chosen.
3 ‘For (AK)I will pour out water on [l]the thirsty land
And streams on the dry ground;
I will (AL)pour out My Spirit on your (AM)offspring
And My blessing on your descendants;
4 And they will spring up [m]among the grass
Like (AN)poplars by streams of water.’
5 “This one will say, ‘I am the Lord’s’;
And that one [n]will call on the name of Jacob;
And another will (AO)write [o]on his hand, ‘Belonging to the Lord,’
And will name Israel’s name with honor.
17 [a]In the same way God, desiring even more to show to (A)the heirs of the promise (B)the unchangeableness of His purpose, [b]interposed with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things in which (C)it is impossible for God to lie, we who have [c]taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of (D)the hope set before us. 19 [d]This (E)hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which (F)enters [e]within the veil, 20 (G)where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a (H)high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
Melchizedek’s Priesthood Like Christ’s
7 For this (I)Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the (J)Most High God, who met Abraham as he was returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, 2 to whom also Abraham apportioned a tenth part of all the spoils, was first of all, by the translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then also king of Salem, which is king of peace. 3 Without father, without mother, (K)without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like (L)the Son of God, he remains a priest perpetually.
4 Now observe how great this man was to whom Abraham, the (M)patriarch, (N)gave a tenth of the choicest spoils. 5 And those indeed of (O)the sons of Levi who receive the priest’s office have commandment [f]in the Law to collect [g]a tenth from the people, that is, from their brethren, although these [h]are descended from Abraham. 6 But the one (P)whose genealogy is not traced from them (Q)collected [i]a tenth from Abraham and [j](R)blessed the one who (S)had the promises. 7 But without any dispute the lesser is blessed by the greater. 8 In this case mortal men receive tithes, but in that case one receives them, (T)of whom it is witnessed that he lives on. 9 And, so to speak, through Abraham even Levi, who received tithes, paid tithes, 10 for he was still in the loins of his father when Melchizedek met him.
27 At this point His (A)disciples came, and they were amazed that He had been speaking with a woman, yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why do You speak with her?” 28 So the woman left her waterpot, and went into the city and *said to the men, 29 “Come, see a man (B)who told me all the things that I have done; (C)this is not [a]the Christ, is it?” 30 They went out of the city, and were coming to Him.
31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging Him, saying, “(D)Rabbi, eat.” 32 But He said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33 So the (E)disciples were saying to one another, “No one brought Him anything to eat, did he?” 34 Jesus *said to them, “My food is to (F)do the will of Him who sent Me and to (G)accomplish His work. 35 Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white (H)for harvest. 36 Already he who reaps is receiving (I)wages and is gathering (J)fruit for (K)life eternal; so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. 37 For in this case the saying is true, ‘(L)One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored and you have entered into their labor.”
The Samaritans
39 From (M)that city many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “(N)He told me all the things that I have done.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they were asking Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. 41 Many more believed because of His word; 42 and they were saying to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed (O)the Savior of the world.”
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