Book of Common Prayer
148 Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord from the heavens.
Praise him in the heavens above.
2 Praise him, all his angels.
Praise him, all his angels in heaven.
3 Praise him, sun and moon.
Praise him, all you shining stars.
4 Praise him, you highest heavens.
Praise him, you waters above the skies.
5 Let all of them praise the name of the Lord,
because at his command they were created.
6 He established them for ever and ever.
He gave them laws they will always have to obey.
7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
you great sea creatures and all the deepest parts of the ocean.
8 Praise him, lightning and hail, snow and clouds.
Praise him, you stormy winds that obey him.
9 Praise him, all you mountains and hills.
Praise him, all you fruit trees and cedar trees.
10 Praise him, all you wild animals and cattle.
Praise him, you small creatures and flying birds.
11 Praise him, you kings of the earth and all nations.
Praise him, all you princes and rulers on earth.
12 Praise him, young men and women.
Praise him, old men and children.
13 Let them praise the name of the Lord.
His name alone is honored.
His glory is higher than the earth and the heavens.
14 He has given his people a strong king.
All his faithful people praise him for that gift.
All the people of Israel are close to his heart.
Praise the Lord.
149 Praise the Lord.
Sing a new song to the Lord.
Sing praise to him in the assembly of his faithful people.
2 Let Israel be filled with joy because God is their Maker.
Let the people of Zion be glad because he is their King.
3 Let them praise his name with dancing.
Let them make music to him with harps and tambourines.
4 The Lord takes delight in his people.
He awards with victory those who are humble.
5 Let his faithful people be filled with joy because of that honor.
Let them sing for joy even when they are lying in bed.
6 May they praise God with their mouths.
May they hold in their hands a sword that has two edges.
7 Let them pay the nations back.
Let them punish the people of the earth.
8 Let them put the kings of those nations in chains.
Let them put their nobles in iron chains.
9 Let them carry out God’s sentence against those nations.
This will bring glory to all his faithful people.
Praise the Lord.
150 Praise the Lord.
Praise God in his holy temple.
Praise him in his mighty heavens.
2 Praise him for his powerful acts.
Praise him because he is greater than anything else.
3 Praise him by blowing trumpets.
Praise him with harps and lyres.
4 Praise him with tambourines and dancing.
Praise him with stringed instruments and flutes.
5 Praise him with clashing cymbals.
Praise him with clanging cymbals.
6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord.
114 The people of Israel came out of Egypt.
The people of Jacob left a land where a different language was spoken.
2 Then Judah became the holy place where God lived.
Israel became the land he ruled over.
3 The Red Sea saw him and parted.
The Jordan River stopped flowing.
4 The mountains leaped like rams.
The hills skipped like lambs.
5 Red Sea, why did you part?
Jordan River, why did you stop flowing?
6 Why did you mountains leap like rams?
Why did you hills skip like lambs?
7 Earth, tremble with fear when the Lord comes.
Tremble when the God of Jacob is near.
8 He turned the rock into a pool.
He turned the hard rock into springs of water.
115 Lord, may glory be given to you, not to us.
You are loving and faithful.
2 Why do the nations ask,
“Where is their God?”
3 Our God is in heaven.
He does anything he wants to do.
4 But the statues of their gods are made out of silver and gold.
They are made by human hands.
5 They have mouths but can’t speak.
They have eyes but can’t see.
6 They have ears but can’t hear.
They have noses but can’t smell.
7 They have hands but can’t feel.
They have feet but can’t walk.
They have throats but can’t say anything.
8 Those who make statues of gods will be like them.
So will all those who trust in them.
9 All you Israelites, trust in the Lord.
He helps you like a shield that keeps you safe.
10 Priests of Aaron, trust in the Lord.
He helps you like a shield that keeps you safe.
11 You who have respect for the Lord, trust in him.
He helps you like a shield that keeps you safe.
12 The Lord remembers us and will bless us.
He will bless Israel, his people.
He will bless the priests of Aaron.
13 The Lord will bless those who have respect for him.
He will bless important and unimportant people alike.
14 May the Lord give you many children.
May he give them to you and to your children after you.
15 May the Lord bless you.
He is the Maker of heaven and earth.
16 The highest heavens belong to the Lord.
But he has given the earth to human beings.
17 Dead people don’t praise the Lord.
Those who lie quietly in the grave don’t praise him.
18 But we who are alive praise the Lord,
both now and forever.
Praise the Lord.
Warnings From Israel’s History
10 Brothers and sisters, I want you to know something about our people who lived long ago. They were all led by the cloud. They all walked through the Red Sea. 2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3 They all ate the same spiritual food. 4 They all drank the same spiritual water. They drank from the spiritual rock that went with them. That rock was Christ. 5 But God was not pleased with most of them. Their bodies were scattered in the desert.
6 Now those things happened as examples for us. They are supposed to keep us from wanting evil things. The people of Israel wanted these evil things. 7 So don’t worship statues of gods, as some of them did. It is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink. Then they got up to dance wildly in front of their god.” (Exodus 32:6) 8 We should not commit sexual sins, as some of them did. In one day 23,000 of them died. 9 We should not test the Messiah, as some of them did. They were killed by snakes. 10 Don’t speak against God. That’s what some of the people of Israel did. And they were killed by the destroying angel.
11 Those things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us. That’s because we are living at the time when God’s work is being completed. 12 So be careful. When you think you are standing firm, you might fall. 13 You are tempted in the same way all other human beings are. God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted any more than you can take. But when you are tempted, God will give you a way out. Then you will be able to deal with it.
Peter Says That Jesus Is the Messiah
13 Jesus went to the area of Caesarea Philippi. There he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist. Others say Elijah. Still others say Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”
15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah. You are the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah! No mere human showed this to you. My Father in heaven showed it to you. 18 Here is what I tell you. You are Peter. On this rock I will build my church. The gates of hell will not be strong enough to destroy it. 19 I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. What you lock on earth will be locked in heaven. What you unlock on earth will be unlocked in heaven.” 20 Then Jesus ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998, 2014 by Biblica, Inc.®. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.