Book of Common Prayer
The World Should Praise the Lord
148 Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the ·skies [heavens].
Praise him ·high above the earth [in the heights].
2 Praise him, all you ·angels [messengers].
Praise him, all ·you armies of heaven [his hosts; C the angelic army].
3 Praise him, sun and moon.
Praise him, all you ·shining stars [L stars of light].
4 Praise him, ·highest heavens [L heaven of heavens]
and you waters above the ·sky [heavens].
5 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
because ·they were created by his command [L he commands and they were created; Gen. 1].
6 He ·put them in place [L made them stand] forever and ever;
he made a ·law [statute; requirement; ordinance] that will never ·change [pass].
7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
you large sea ·animals [monsters; C like Leviathan; 74:12–17; 104:26; Gen. 1:21; Job 3:8; 41; Is. 27:1] and all the ·oceans [deeps],
8 ·lightning [L fire] and hail, snow and ·mist [cloud; or smoke],
and stormy winds that ·obey him [L do his word],
9 mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars,
10 wild animals and all cattle,
crawling animals and birds,
11 kings of the earth and all ·nations [peoples],
princes and all ·rulers [judges] of the earth,
12 young men and women,
old people and ·children [youth].
13 Praise the name of the Lord,
because ·he [L his name] alone is ·great [exalted].
·He is more wonderful than [L His splendor is over] heaven and earth.
14 God has ·given his people a king [exalted/raised a horn over his people; C an animal’s horn symbolizes power].
He should be praised by all ·who belong to him [his saints/loyal ones];
he should be praised by the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel], the people ·closest to his heart [L nearest to him].
Praise the Lord!
Praise the God of Israel
149 Praise the Lord!
Sing a new song [C celebrating victory; 33:3; 40:3; 96:1; 98:1; 144:9; Is. 42:10; Rev. 5:9; 14:3] to the Lord;
sing his praise in the ·meeting [assembly; congregation] of his ·people [saints; loyal ones].
2 Let the Israelites ·be happy [rejoice] because of God, [L in] their Maker.
Let the ·people of Jerusalem [L sons of Zion; C location of the Temple] rejoice ·because [L in] of their King.
3 They should praise him with dancing.
They should ·sing praises [make a psalm] to him with tambourines and harps.
4 The Lord is pleased with his people;
he ·saves [L endows with salvation/victory] the ·humble [needy].
5 Let ·those who worship him [the saints/loyal ones] rejoice in his glory [C God’s manifest presence].
Let them sing for joy even in bed!
6 Let them ·shout his praise [L exalt God with their throats]
with their two-edged swords in their hands.
7 They will ·punish [execute vengeance against] the nations
and ·defeat [punish] the people.
8 They will put those kings in chains
and ·those important men [honored men] in iron bands.
9 They will ·punish them as God has written [L accomplish a written judgment].
God is honored by ·all who worship him [his saints/loyal ones].
Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord with Music
150 Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his ·Temple [L holy place; or holiness];
praise him in his ·mighty heaven [L strong firmament; Gen. 1:7].
2 Praise him for his strength;
praise him for his [L abundant] greatness.
3 Praise him with trumpet blasts;
praise him with harps and lyres.
4 Praise him with tambourines and dancing;
praise him with stringed instruments and flutes.
5 Praise him with loud cymbals;
praise him with crashing cymbals.
6 Let everything that breathes praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord!
God Brought Israel from Egypt
114 When ·the Israelites [Israel] went out of Egypt,
the ·people [L house] of Jacob left ·that foreign country [L a people of incomprehensible language].
2 Then Judah became God’s holy place [Ex. 19:6];
Israel became ·the land he ruled [his dominion].
3 The Sea [C Red (or Reed) Sea; Ex. 14–15] looked and ·ran away [fled];
the Jordan River turned back [Josh. 3].
4 The mountains ·danced [skipped] like ·sheep [rams]
and the hills like little lambs.
5 Sea, why did you ·run away [flee]?
Jordan, why did you turn back?
6 Mountains, why did you ·dance [skip] like ·sheep [rams]?
Hills, why did you ·dance [skip] like little lambs?
7 Earth, ·shake with fear [writhe; tremble] before the Lord,
before the God of Jacob.
8 He turned a rock into a pool of water,
a hard ·rock [flint] into a spring of water [Ex. 17:1–7; Num. 20:1–13].
The One True God
115 ·It does not belong [L Not to us, not] to us, Lord.
The glory belongs to ·you [L your name]
because of your ·love [loyalty] and ·loyalty [faithfulness].
2 Why do the nations ask,
“Where is their God?”
3 Our God is in heaven.
He does what he pleases.
4 Their idols are made of silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
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.
No sounds come from their throats.
8 People who make ·idols [L them] ·will be [or are] like them,
and so will those who ·trust [have confidence in] them [135:15–18; Is. 44:9–20; 46:6–7; Jer. 10:1–9; Hab. 2:18–19].
9 ·Family of [L O] Israel, ·trust [have confidence in] the Lord;
he is your helper and your ·protection [L shield].
10 ·Family [L House] of Aaron [C the priests], ·trust [have confidence in] the Lord;
he is your helper and your ·protection [L shield].
11 You who ·respect [fear] the Lord [Prov. 1:7] should ·trust [have confidence in] him;
he is your helper and your ·protection [L shield].
12 The Lord remembers us and will bless us.
He will bless the ·family [L house] of Israel;
he will bless the ·family [L house] of Aaron [C the priests].
13 The Lord will bless those who ·respect [fear] him [Prov. 1:7],
from the ·smallest [or least] to the greatest.
14 May the Lord ·give you success [make you increase],
and may he give you and your children ·success [increase].
15 May you be blessed by the Lord,
who made heaven and earth [Gen. 1].
16 Heaven belongs to the Lord,
but he gave the earth to people.
17 Dead people do not praise the Lord;
those ·in the grave are silent [L who go down in silence].
18 But we will praise the Lord
now and forever.
Praise the Lord!
7 The ·law [or old system; L ministry] that brought death was ·written in words [L engraved with letters] on stone. It came with ·God’s glory [L glory], which made Moses’ face so ·bright [glorious] that the ·Israelites [L children of Israel] could not ·continue to look [gaze] at it. But that glory ·later disappeared [was fading; or was made ineffective (by the veil on his face)]. 8 So ·surely [L will not…?] the ·new way that brings [L ministry of] the Spirit has even more glory. 9 [L For] If the ·law that judged people guilty of sin [L ministry of condemnation] had glory, surely the ·new way that makes people right with God [L ministry of righteousness] has much greater glory. 10 For that which had glory [C the law] ·really loses its glory [L has no glory] when it is compared to the much greater glory [C the new way through the Spirit]. 11 [L For] If that which ·disappeared [faded; was made ineffective; C the law; v. 7] came with glory, then that which ·continues forever [remains; abides; C the new way through the Spirit] has much greater glory.
12 We have this hope, so we ·are very bold [or speak with boldness/confidence]. 13 We are not like Moses, who put a ·covering [veil] over his face so the ·Israelites [L children of Israel] would not see it [Ex. 34:29–35]. The glory was ·disappearing [fading; or made ineffective], and Moses did not want them to see it end. 14 But their minds were ·closed [stubborn; hardened], and even today that same ·covering [veil] ·hides the meaning [L remains] when they read the old ·agreement [covenant]. That covering is ·taken away [L not lifted, because it is removed] only through Christ. 15 Even today, when they read ·the law of Moses [L Moses], there is a ·covering over [L veil laying upon] their ·minds [hearts]. 16 But when a person ·changes and follows [L turns to] the Lord, that ·covering [veil] is taken away [Ex. 34:34]. 17 The Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 ·Our faces, then, are not covered [L With an unveiled face…]. We all ·show [reflect; or behold; or contemplate] the Lord’s glory, and we are being ·changed [transformed] ·to be like him [L into the same image]. This change in us ·brings ever greater glory [or is from one degree of glory to another; L is from glory to glory], which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
Jesus Is the Christ(A)
18 One time when Jesus was praying alone, his ·followers [disciples] were with him, and he asked them, “Who do the ·people [crowds] say I am?”
19 They answered, “Some say you are John the Baptist. Others say you are Elijah [see 9:8; 1 Kin. 17]. And others say you are one of the prophets from long ago who has ·come back to life [risen/appeared again].”
20 Then Jesus asked, “But who do you say I am?”
Peter answered, “You are ·the Christ from God [God’s Messiah; the Messiah sent from God].”
Jesus Speaks of His Crucifixion(B)
21 Jesus ·warned [sternly commanded] them not to tell anyone, saying, 22 “The Son of Man [C a title for the Messiah; Dan. 7:13–14] must suffer many things. He will be rejected by the Jewish elders, the ·leading [T chief] priests, and the ·teachers of the law [scribes]. He will be killed and ·after three days [L on the third day] will be raised from the dead.”
23 Jesus said to all of them, “If ·people want [L anyone wants] to follow me, they must ·give up the things they want [deny themselves; set aside their own interests]. They must ·be willing to give up their lives [L take up their cross] daily and follow me. 24 [L For] Those who want to save their lives will ·give up true life [L lose their life/soul; C Greek psychē can mean “life” or “soul”]. But those who ·give up [lose; sacrifice] their lives for ·me [my sake] will ·have true life [save their lives/souls]. 25 ·It is worthless [L What good/profit/benefit is it…?] to ·have [gain] the whole world if they themselves are destroyed or lost. 26 ·If people are [L For whoever is] ashamed of me and my ·teaching [message; words], then the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and with the glory of the Father and the holy angels. 27 I tell you the truth, some people standing here will not ·die [L taste death] before they see the kingdom of God.” [C “Seeing the kingdom of God” may refer to the Transfiguration which follows (9:28–36), Jesus’ resurrection, or the destruction of Jerusalem in ad 70.]
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