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.
Message to the Exiles
29 Now these are the words of the (A)letter which Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the rest of the elders of the exile, the priests, the prophets and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.
4 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have (A)sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, 5 ‘(B)Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their [a]produce. 6 Take (C)wives and [b]become the fathers of sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there and do not decrease. 7 (D)Seek the [c]welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and (E)pray to the Lord on its behalf; for in its [d]welfare you will have [e]welfare.’ 8 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, ‘Do not let your (F)prophets who are in your midst and your diviners (G)deceive you, and do not listen to [f](H)the dreams which [g]they dream. 9 For they (I)prophesy falsely to you in My name; (J)I have not sent them,’ declares the Lord.
10 “For thus says the Lord, ‘When (K)seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My (L)good word to you, to bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the (M)plans that I [h]have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for (N)welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a (O)hope. 12 Then you will (P)call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will (Q)listen to you. 13 You will (R)seek Me and find Me when you (S)search for Me with all your heart. 14 I will be (T)found by you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will (U)restore your [i]fortunes and will (V)gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will (W)bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’
6 They passed through the [a](A)Phrygian and (B)Galatian region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in [b](C)Asia; 7 and after they came to (D)Mysia, they were trying to go into (E)Bithynia, and the (F)Spirit of Jesus did not permit them; 8 and passing by (G)Mysia, they came down to (H)Troas. 9 (I)A vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of (J)Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 When he had seen (K)the vision, immediately (L)we sought to [c]go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to (M)preach the gospel to them.
11 So putting out to sea from (N)Troas, we ran (O)a straight course to Samothrace, and on the day following to Neapolis; 12 and from there to (P)Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of (Q)Macedonia, (R)a Roman colony; and we were staying in this city for some days. 13 And on (S)the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to a riverside, where we were supposing that there would be a place of prayer; and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had assembled.
First Convert in Europe
14 A woman named Lydia, from the city of (T)Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, (U)a worshiper of God, was listening; [d]and the Lord (V)opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul. 15 And when she and (W)her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.
The Seventy Sent Out
10 Now after this (A)the Lord appointed [a]seventy (B)others, and sent them (C)in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come. 2 And He was saying to them, “(D)The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. 3 Go; (E)behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. 4 (F)Carry no money belt, no [b]bag, no shoes; and greet no one on the way. 5 Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house.’ 6 If a [c]man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. 7 Stay in [d]that house, eating and drinking [e]what they give you; for (G)the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not keep moving from house to house. 8 Whatever city you enter and they receive you, (H)eat what is set before you; 9 and heal those in it who are sick, and say to them, ‘(I)The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10 But whatever city you enter and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, 11 ‘(J)Even the dust of your city which clings to our feet we wipe off in protest against you; yet [f]be sure of this, that (K)the kingdom of God has come near.’ 12 I say to you, (L)it will be more tolerable in that day for (M)Sodom than for that city.
The Happy Results
17 The [a]seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even (A)the demons are subject to us in Your name.” 18 And He said to them, “I was watching (B)Satan fall from heaven like lightning. 19 Behold, I have given you authority to (C)tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you. 20 Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that (D)your names are recorded in heaven.”
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