Book of Common Prayer
The Concluding Hallel—Pss 146–150[a]
Psalm 146[b]
Trust in God, Creator and Redeemer
1 [c]Alleluia.
Praise the Lord, O my soul.[d]
2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God throughout my life.[e]
3 Do not place your trust in princes,
in mortal men who have no power to save.
4 When the spirit departs, they return to the earth;
on that very day all their plans come to naught.[f]
5 [g]Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,[h]
whose hope is in the Lord, his God,
6 the Maker of heaven and earth,[i]
the sea, and everything in them—
the one who keeps faith forever.
7 He grants justice to the oppressed[j]
and gives bread to the hungry.
The Lord releases prisoners
8 and opens the eyes of those who cannot see.[k]
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
the Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord watches over the stranger
and sustains the fatherless and the widow,[l]
but he blocks the way of the wicked.
10 The Lord will reign forever,[m]
your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Alleluia.
Psalm 147[n]
Hymn to the City of God
1 [o]Alleluia.
How good it is to sing praises to our God;
how pleasant it is to give him fitting praise.[p]
2 The Lord restores Jerusalem
and gathers together the dispersed people of Israel.[q]
3 He heals the brokenhearted
and bandages their wounds.[r]
4 He fixes the number of the stars
and assigns a name to each.[s]
5 Great is our Lord and awesome in power;
his wisdom is without limit.[t]
6 The Lord sustains the poor
but humbles the wicked in the dust.[u]
7 [v]Offer songs of thanksgiving to the Lord;
play the lyre in honor of our God.
8 He veils the heavens with clouds,
supplies the earth with rain,
and makes the hills sprout with grass.[w]
9 He provides food for the animals
and for the young ravens when they call.[x]
10 [y]He takes no pleasure in the strength of the horse,
or delight in the fleetness of a runner.
11 The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him,
those who place their hope in his kindness.
12 [z]Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!
Glorify your God, O Zion!
13 For he strengthens the bars of your gates
and blesses your children within you.[aa]
14 He brings peace to your borders
and fills you with the finest of wheat.[ab]
15 He sends a command to the earth;
his word runs with utmost speed.
16 He gives the snow like wool
and scatters the frost like ashes.[ac]
17 He hurls down his hail like crumbs;
who can withstand his cold?[ad]
18 He sends his word, and the ice melts;
he stirs up his breezes, and the waters flow.
19 [ae]He has revealed his word to Jacob,
his decrees and his judgments to Israel.
20 He has not done this for the other nations;
they are not aware of his judgments.
Alleluia.
Psalm 111[a]
Praise of God for His Wondrous Works
1 Alleluia.
I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart[b]
in the council of the upright and in the assembly.
2 Great are the works of the Lord;[c]
they are pondered by all who delight in them.
3 His deeds[d] show forth majesty and splendor,
and his righteousness endures forever.
4 He has won renown for his wonders;[e]
gracious and compassionate is the Lord.
5 He provides food for those who fear him,[f]
and is forever mindful of his covenant.
6 He has manifested the power of his works to his people
by giving them the lands[g] of the nations.
7 The works of his hands[h] are faithful and right,
and all his commandments are trustworthy.
8 They are established forever and ever
to be observed in fidelity and truthfulness.
9 He has granted deliverance to his people
and established his covenant forever;
holy and awe-inspiring is his name.[i]
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;[j]
those who are guided by it will grow in understanding.
His praise will last forever.
Psalm 112[k]
The Blessings of the Righteous
1 Alleluia.
Blessed[l] is the man who fears the Lord,
who greatly delights in his precepts.
2 His descendants will be powerful upon the earth;
the generation of the upright will be blessed.[m]
3 His house will be filled with wealth and riches,[n]
and his righteousness will endure forever.
4 He shines as a light for the upright in the darkness;
kindness, mercy, and justice are his hallmarks.[o]
5 The future bodes well[p] for him
who is generous in helping those in need
and who conducts his affairs with justice.
6 [q]He will never be swayed;
the righteous man will be remembered forever.
7 He has no fear of bad news,
for his heart remains steadfast, trusting in the Lord.
8 Since his heart is tranquil, he will not be afraid,
and he will witness the downfall of his enemies.
9 He bestows gifts lavishly on the poor;
his righteousness will endure forever,
and his horn[r] will be exalted in glory.
10 The wicked will be furious when he sees this,
gnashing his teeth and pining away;
the desires of the wicked will be fruitless.[s]
The Egyptian Hallel—Pss 113–118[t]
Psalm 113[u]
Praise of the Lord for His Care of the Lowly
1 Alleluia.
Praise, you servants of the Lord,[v]
praise the name of the Lord.
2 [w]Blessed be the name of the Lord
now and forevermore.
3 From the rising of the sun to its setting
the name of the Lord is to be praised.
4 [x]High is the Lord over all the nations,
and supreme over the heavens is his glory.
5 Who is like the Lord, our God,
the one who is enthroned on high
and who stoops down to look
6 on the heavens and the earth?
7 [y]He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the rubbish heap,
8 seating them with princes,
with the princes of his people.
9 He settles the barren woman[z] in a home
and makes her the joyful mother of children.
Alleluia.
12 Joshua Commissioned by Moses. The Lord said to Moses, “Go up onto Mount Abarim and look upon the land that I have given to the people of Israel. 13 After you have seen it, you will be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother was, 14 for in the Desert of Zin, in the strife over the water with the assembly, you both disobeyed my command to treat me as holy before their eyes.” (This is the water of Meribah in Kadesh, in the Desert of Zin.)
15 Moses spoke to the Lord, saying, 16 “May the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, place a man over the assembly 17 who will go out and come in before them, and who will lead them out and bring them in, so that the assembly of the Lord might not be like sheep without a shepherd.”[a] 18 So the Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua, the son of Nun, a man in whom the Spirit is found, and lay your hand upon him. 19 Have him stand before Eleazar the priest and before the whole assembly and commission him in their sight. 20 Give him some of your authority, so that the assembly of the people of Israel might obey. 21 He will stand before Eleazar, the priest, who will inquire for him before the Lord with the judgment of the Urim. At his word they will go out, and at his word they will come in, he and all the people of Israel with him, the whole assembly.”[b]
22 So Moses did as the Lord had commanded him. He took Joshua and brought him before Eleazar the priest and the whole assembly. 23 He laid his hand upon him and commissioned him, as the Lord had commanded through Moses.
11 New Encounter of the Church with Magic.[a] So extraordinary were the wonders God worked through Paul 12 that when handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were brought to the sick, they were cured of their diseases and the evil spirits came out of them.
13 Then some itinerant Jewish exorcists used the name of the Lord Jesus over those possessed by evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” 14 Seven sons of a Jewish leading priest named Sceva were among those who were doing this. 15 But the evil spirit responded, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are you?” 16 Then the man with the evil spirit sprang at them, overpowered them, and prevailed over them so violently that they fled out of the house battered and naked.
17 When this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks, everyone was awestruck, and the name of the Lord Jesus came to be held in ever increasing honor. 18 Moreover, many of those who had become believers came forward and openly confessed their deeds, 19 while a great number of those who practiced magic collected their books and burned them publicly. When the value of these books was calculated, it was found to come to fifty thousand silver pieces.[b] 20 In such ways did the word of the Lord spread ever more widely and successfully.
Is Jesus the Messiah?[a]
First Testimonies of the Messiah’s Mission
14 Jesus Inaugurates His Mission. After John had been arrested,[b] Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, 15 “The time of fulfillment has arrived, and the kingdom of God is close at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
16 The First Disciples.[c] As Jesus was walking along by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea, for they were fishermen. 17 Jesus said to them, “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 18 Immediately, they abandoned their nets and followed him.
19 As he proceeded farther, he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They also were in a boat mending their nets. 20 Immediately, he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired workers and followed him.
Copyright © 2019 by Catholic Book Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.