Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 148[a]
Song of the Universe
1 [b]Alleluia.
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
offer praise to him in the heights!
2 Praise him, all his angels;
offer praise to him, all his hosts![c]
3 Praise him, sun and moon;
offer praise to him, all you shining stars!
4 Praise him, you highest heavens,[d]
and you waters above the heavens.
5 Let them praise the name[e] of the Lord,
for it was at his command that they were created.
6 He established them in place forever and ever;
he issued a law that will never pass away.[f]
7 [g]Praise the Lord from the earth,
you sea monsters and ocean depths,
8 fire and hail, snow and clouds,
storm winds that carry out his word,[h]
9 all mountains and hills,
all fruit trees and cedars,
10 wild animals and all cattle,
creeping creatures and flying birds,[i]
11 kings of the earth and all nations,
princes and all rulers on the earth,
12 young men and women,
the elderly, as well as children.[j]
13 [k]Let them all praise the name of the Lord,
for his name alone is exalted;
his majesty is above the earth and the heavens.[l]
14 He has raised high a horn[m] for his people,
to the glory of all his saints,
for the people of Israel who are close to him.
Alleluia.
Psalm 149[n]
Glorification of God, Lord and Creator
1 [o]Alleluia.
Sing to the Lord a new song,[p]
his praise in the assembly of the saints.
2 Let Israel rejoice in its Maker;
let the children of Zion rejoice in their King.
3 Let them praise his name[q] with dancing
and make music to him with tambourine and lyre.
4 For the Lord takes delight in his people,
and he crowns the humble with salvation.[r]
5 Let the saints exult in their glory
and sing for joy on their beds.[s]
6 [t]May the praises of God be on their lips
and a double-edged sword in their hands[u]
7 to wreak vengeance[v] on the nations
and punishment on the peoples,
8 to shackle their kings with chains
and their nobles with iron fetters,
9 to execute the judgments decreed against them:
such is the glory for all his saints.[w]
Alleluia.
Psalm 150[x]
Harmonious Praise of God
1 Alleluia.
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in the firmament of his power.[y]
2 Praise him for his awesome acts,[z]
praise him for his immeasurable greatness.
3 [aa]Praise him with the sound of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre.
4 Praise him with tambourines and dancing,
praise him with strings and flutes.
5 Praise him with clanging cymbals,
praise him with crashing cymbals.
6 Let everything that breathes
offer praise to the Lord.
Alleluia.[ab]
Psalm 114[a]
The Lord’s Wonders at the Exodus
1 [b]When Israel came out of Egypt,
the house of Jacob from a people of alien tongue,
2 Judah became God’s sanctuary
and Israel his domain.
3 [c]The sea fled at the sight;
the Jordan turned back.
4 The mountains skipped like rams,
the hills like lambs of the flock.
5 [d]What causes you to flee, O sea?
Why, O Jordan, do you turn back?
6 Why do you skip like rams, O mountains,
and like lambs of the flock, O hills?
7 [e]Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Jacob,
8 who turns the rock into a pool of water,
and flint into a flowing spring.
Psalm 115[f]
Hymn to the Lord, the One God
1 [g]Not to us,[h] O Lord, not to us,
but to your name give glory
because of your kindness and faithfulness.
2 Why should the nations ask,
“Where is their God?”[i]
3 Our God is in heaven;
he does whatever he pleases.[j]
4 Their idols are merely silver and gold,
the work of human hands.[k]
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;
their throats can emit no sound.
8 Those who make them end up like them,
as do all who place their trust in them.
9 [l]The house of Israel trusts in the Lord;
he is their help and their shield.
10 The house of Aaron trusts in the Lord;
he is their help and their shield.
11 Those who fear the Lord trust in the Lord;
he is their help and their shield.
12 [m]The Lord will be mindful of us and bless us;
he will bless the house of Israel;
he will bless the house of Aaron.
13 He will bless those who fear the Lord,
the small no less than the great.[n]
14 [o]May the Lord cause you to increase,
both you and your children.
15 May you be blessed by the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
16 [p]The heavens belong to the Lord,
but he has given the earth to humanity.
17 It is not the dead who praise the Lord,
those who sink into silence.[q]
18 It is we who bless the Lord
from this time forward and forevermore.[r]
Alleluia.
Chapter 6
1 These are the commands, statutes, and decrees that the Lord, your God, directed me to teach you so that you might observe them in the land to which you are going as your inheritance. 2 Thus, you will fear the Lord, your God, and observe the statutes and commandments that I give you—you, and your children, and your children’s children—all the days of your life, so that you might live a long time.
3 Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey so that you might prosper and multiply greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you.
The Law of Love.[a] 4 Hear, O Israel, the Lord, our God, is Lord alone. 5 You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. 6 You shall keep these things that I command you today in your heart. 7 Teach them to your children. You shall talk of them when you are sitting in your home, and when you are walking along the way, and when you lie down and when you rise up. 8 [b]Bind them as a reminder upon your hand, and wear them as a pendant between your eyes 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and your gates.
Loyalty to the Lord.18 Listen to the One Who Is Speaking.[a] You have not come to something that can be touched: a blazing fire, or complete darkness, or gloom, or a storm, 19 or the sound of a trumpet, or a voice speaking words that made those who heard them beg that nothing more be said to them. 20 For they could not bear to hear the command that was given, “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.” 21 Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses cried out, “I am terrified and trembling.”
22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to myriads of angels in joyful gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn[b] whose names are written in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous who have been made perfect. 24 You have come to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant and to the sprinkled blood that speaks more powerfully than even the blood of Abel.
25 See that you do not reject the one who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they rejected the one who warned them on earth, how much more is this true of us if we turn away from the one who is from heaven? 26 At that time, his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but heaven as well.”
27 The words “once more” indicate the removal of what can be shaken—that is, all created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us give thanks, offering to God a worship that is pleasing to him. 29 For our God is a consuming fire.
24 Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless a grain of wheat
falls into the earth and dies,
it remains just a grain of wheat.
However, if it dies,
it bears much fruit.
25 “Anyone who loves his life loses it,
but the one who hates his life in this world
will preserve it for eternal life.
26 If anyone wishes to serve me,
he must follow me.
Where I am,
there also will my servant be.
If anyone serves me,
my Father will honor that person.
27 “Now my soul is troubled.
Yet what should I say:
‘Father, save me from this hour’?
No, it was for this
that I have come to this hour.
28 Father, glorify your name.”
Then a voice came from heaven,
“I have glorified it,
and I will glorify it again.”
29 The crowd that was present heard this, and some of them said that it was thunder, while others asserted, “An angel has spoken to him.” 30 Jesus answered,
“This voice did not come for my sake
but for yours.
31 Now is the judgment on this world.
Now the prince of this world[a]
will be driven out.
32 And when I am lifted up from the earth,
I will draw all to myself.”
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