Book of Common Prayer
148 Praise the Lord!
Angels above,
praise the Lord from heaven!
2 Praise him, all you angels!
Praise him, all his army[a]!
3 Sun and moon, praise him!
Stars and lights in the sky, praise him!
4 Praise him, highest heaven!
Waters above the sky, praise him!
5 Let them praise the Lord’s name,
because he gave the command and created them all!
6 He made all these continue forever.
He made the laws that will never end.
7 Everything on earth, praise him!
Great sea animals and all the oceans, praise the Lord!
8 Praise him, fire and hail, snow and clouds,
and the stormy winds that obey him.
9 Praise him, mountains and hills,
fruit trees and cedar trees.
10 Praise him, wild animals and cattle, reptiles and birds.
11 Praise him, kings of the earth and all nations,
princes and all rulers on earth.
12 Praise him, young men and women,
old people and children.
13 Praise the Lord’s name!
Honor his name forever!
His name is greater than any other.
He is more glorious than heaven and earth.
14 He made his people strong.
His loyal followers praise him.
Israel, his precious people, praise the Lord!
149 Praise the Lord!
Sing a new song[b] to the Lord!
Sing his praise in the assembly of his followers.
2 Let Israel be happy with their Maker.
Let the people of Zion rejoice with their King.
3 Let them praise him by dancing
and playing their tambourines and harps.
4 The Lord is happy with his people.
He did a wonderful thing for his humble people.
He saved them!
5 Let his followers rejoice in this victory!
Let them sing for joy, even in their beds!
6 Let the people shout praise to God.
And with a sharp sword in their hand,
7 let them take revenge on the other nations.
Let them go punish those people.
8 They will put their kings in chains
and their leaders in chains of iron.
9 They will punish those nations as God commanded.
This is an honor for all his followers.
Praise the Lord!
150 Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his Temple!
Praise him in heaven, his strong fortress!
2 Praise him for the great things he does!
Praise him for all his greatness!
3 Praise him with trumpets and horns!
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 Everything that breathes, praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!
114 The people of Israel escaped from Egypt.
Yes, Jacob’s descendants left that foreign country.
2 Then Judah became God’s special people,
and Israel became his kingdom.
3 The Red Sea saw this and ran away.
The Jordan River turned and ran.
4 The mountains danced like rams.
The hills danced like lambs.
5 Red Sea, why did you run away?
Jordan River, why did you turn and run away?
6 Mountains, why did you dance like rams?
Hills, why did you dance like lambs?
7 The earth shook in front of the Lord,
the God of Jacob.
8 He is the one who caused water to flow from a rock.
He made a spring of water flow from that hard rock.
115 Lord, you should receive the honor, not us.
The honor belongs to you
because of your faithful love and loyalty.
2 Why should the nations wonder
where our God is?
3 Our God is in heaven,
and he does whatever he wants.
4 The “gods” of those nations are only statues
that some human made from gold and silver.
5 Those statues have mouths, but cannot talk.
They have eyes, but cannot see.
6 They have ears, but cannot hear.
They have noses, but cannot smell.
7 They have hands, but cannot feel.
They have feet, but cannot walk.
No sounds come from their throats.
8 The people who make and trust in those statues
will become like them!
9 People of Israel, trust in the Lord!
He is your strength and shield.
10 Aaron’s family, trust in the Lord!
He is your strength and shield.
11 Followers of the Lord, trust in the Lord!
He is your strength and shield.
12 The Lord remembers us.
He will bless us.
He will bless Israel.
He will bless Aaron’s family.
13 The Lord will bless his followers,
great and small.
14 May the Lord give more and more to you
and to your children.
15 May you receive blessings from the Lord,[a]
who made heaven and earth.
16 Heaven belongs to the Lord,
but he gave the earth to people.
17 The dead don’t praise him.
Those in the grave don’t praise the Lord.
18 But we will praise the Lord
now and forever!
Praise the Lord!
Advice From Moses’ Father-in-Law
18 Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, was a priest in Midian. He heard about the many ways that God helped Moses and the Israelites. He heard about the Lord leading the Israelites out of Egypt. 2 So Jethro went to Moses while Moses was camped near the mountain of God.[a] Jethro brought Moses’ wife, Zipporah, with him. (Zipporah was not with Moses, because Moses had sent her home.) 3 Jethro also brought Moses’ two sons with him. The first son was named Gershom,[b] because when he was born, Moses said, “I am a stranger in a foreign country.” 4 The other son was named Eliezer,[c] because when he was born, Moses said, “The God of my father helped me and saved me from the king of Egypt.” 5 So Jethro went to Moses while Moses was camped in the desert near the mountain of God. Moses’ wife and his two sons were with Jethro.
6 Jethro sent a message to Moses that said, “This is your father-in-law Jethro. I am bringing your wife and her two sons to you.”
7 So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law. Moses bowed down before him and kissed him. The two men asked about each other’s health. Then they went into Moses’ tent to talk more. 8 Moses told Jethro everything the Lord had done for the Israelites. He told what the Lord did to Pharaoh and the people of Egypt. He told about all the problems they had along the way. And he told his father-in-law how the Lord saved the Israelites every time there was trouble.
9 Jethro was happy when he heard all the good things the Lord had done for Israel. He was glad that the Lord had freed the Israelites from the Egyptians. 10 He said, “Praise the Lord! He freed you from the power of Egypt. He saved you from Pharaoh. 11 Now I know the Lord is greater than all the gods. They thought they were in control, but look what God did!”
12 Jethro got some sacrifices and offerings to honor God. Then Aaron and all the elders of Israel came to eat with Moses’ father-in-law Jethro. They all ate together there with God.
Jesus Told Us to Love Others
7 My dear friends, I am not writing a new command to you. It is the same command you have had since the beginning. This command is the teaching you have already heard. 8 But what I write is also a new command. It is a true one; you can see its truth in Jesus and in yourselves. The darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining.
9 Someone might say, “I am in the light,” but if they hate any of their brothers or sisters in God’s family, they are still in the darkness. 10 Those who love their brothers and sisters live in the light, and there is nothing in them that will make them do wrong. 11 But whoever hates their brother or sister is in darkness. They live in darkness. They don’t know where they are going, because the darkness has made them blind.
12 I write to you, dear children,
because your sins are forgiven through Christ.
13 I write to you, fathers,
because you know the one who existed from the beginning.
I write to you, young people,
because you have defeated the Evil One.
14 I write to you, children,
because you know the Father.
I write to you, fathers,
because you know the one who existed from the beginning.
I write to you, young people,
because you are strong.
The word of God lives in you,
and you have defeated the Evil One.
15 Don’t love this evil world or the things in it. If you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. 16 This is all there is in the world: wanting to please our sinful selves, wanting the sinful things we see, and being too proud of what we have. But none of these comes from the Father. They come from the world. 17 The world is passing away, and all the things that people want in the world are passing away. But whoever does what God wants will live forever.
Some Followers See Jesus(A)
9 Jesus rose from death early on the first day of the week. He appeared first to Mary Magdalene. One time in the past Jesus had forced seven demons out of Mary. 10 After Mary saw Jesus, she went and told his followers. They were very sad and were crying. 11 But Mary told them that Jesus was alive. She said that she had seen Jesus, but they did not believe her.
12 Later, Jesus appeared to two followers while they were walking in the country. But Jesus did not look the same as before he was killed. 13 These followers went back to the other followers and told them what happened. Again, the followers did not believe them.
Jesus Talks to His Followers(B)
14 Later, Jesus appeared to the eleven followers while they were eating. He criticized them because they had so little faith. They were stubborn and refused to believe the people who said Jesus had risen from death.
15 He said to them, “Go everywhere in the world. Tell the Good News to everyone. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved. But those who do not believe will be judged guilty. 17 And the people who believe will be able to do these things as proof: They will use my name to force demons out of people. They will speak in languages they never learned. 18 If they pick up snakes or drink any poison, they will not be hurt. They will lay their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”
Jesus Goes Back to Heaven(C)
19 After the Lord Jesus said these things to his followers, he was carried up into heaven. There, Jesus sat at the right side of God. 20 The followers went everywhere in the world telling people the Good News, and the Lord helped them. By giving them power to do miracles the Lord proved that their message was true.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International