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.
Parable of the Vineyard
5 Let me sing now for my well-beloved
A song of my beloved concerning His vineyard.
My well-beloved had a (A)vineyard on [a]a fertile hill.
2 He dug it all around, removed its stones,
And planted it with [b]the (B)choicest vine.
And He built a tower in the middle of it
And also hewed out a [c]wine vat in it;
Then He (C)expected it to produce good grapes,
But it produced only [d]worthless ones.
3 “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah,
(D)Judge between Me and My vineyard.
4 “(E)What more was there to do for My vineyard [e]that I have not done in it?
Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce [f]worthless ones?
5 “So now let Me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard:
I will (F)remove its hedge and it will be consumed;
I will (G)break down its wall and it will become (H)trampled ground.
6 “I will (I)lay it waste;
It will not be pruned or hoed,
But briars and thorns will come up.
I will also charge the clouds to (J)rain no rain on it.”
11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 (A)looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which (B)the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the (C)elements will melt with intense heat! 13 But according to His (D)promise we are looking for (E)new heavens and a new earth, (F)in which righteousness dwells.
14 (G)Therefore, (H)beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be (I)found by Him in peace, (J)spotless and blameless, 15 and regard the (K)patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also (L)our beloved brother Paul, (M)according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, 16 as also in all his letters, speaking in them of (N)these things, (O)in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and (P)unstable distort, as they do also (Q)the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. 17 You therefore, (R)beloved, knowing this beforehand, (S)be on your guard so that you are not carried away by (T)the error of (U)unprincipled men and (V)fall from your own steadfastness, 18 but grow in the grace and (W)knowledge of our (X)Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (Y)To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
28 I say to you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet he who is [a]least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” 29 When all the people and the tax collectors heard this, they [b]acknowledged (A)God’s justice, (B)having been baptized with (C)the baptism of John. 30 But the Pharisees and the [c](D)lawyers rejected God’s purpose for themselves, not having been baptized by [d]John.
31 “To what then shall I compare the men of this generation, and what are they like? 32 They are like children who sit in the market place and call to one another, and they say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.’ 33 For John the Baptist has come (E)eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon!’ 34 The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a [e]drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and [f]sinners!’ 35 Yet wisdom (F)is vindicated by all her children.”
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