Book of Common Prayer
A song of David.
103 My soul, praise the Lord!
Every part of me, praise his holy name!
2 My soul, praise the Lord
and never forget how kind he is!
3 He forgives all our sins
and heals all our sicknesses.
4 He saves us from the grave,
and he gives us love and compassion.
5 He gives us plenty of good things.
He makes us young again,
like an eagle that grows new feathers.
6 The Lord does what is fair.
He brings justice to all who have been hurt by others.
7 He taught his laws to Moses.
He let Israel see the powerful things he can do.
8 The Lord is kind and merciful.
He is patient and full of love.
9 He does not always criticize.
He does not stay angry with us forever.
10 We sinned against him,
but he didn’t give us the punishment we deserved.
11 His love for his followers is
as high above us as heaven is above the earth.
12 And he has taken our sins
as far away from us as the east is from the west.
13 The Lord is as kind to his followers
as a father is to his children.
14 He knows all about us.
He knows we are made from dust.
15 He knows our lives are short, that they are like grass.
He knows we are like a little wildflower that grows so quickly,
16 but when the hot wind blows, it dies.
Soon, you cannot even see where the flower was.
17 But the Lord has always loved his followers,
and he will continue to love them forever and ever!
He will be good to all their descendants,
18 to those who are faithful to his agreement
and who remember to obey his commands.
19 The Lord set his throne up in heaven,
and he rules over everything.
20 Angels, praise the Lord!
You angels are the powerful soldiers who obey his commands.
You listen to him and obey his commands.
21 Praise the Lord, all his armies.[a]
You are his servants,
and you do what he wants.
22 Everything the Lord has made should praise him
throughout the world that he rules!
My soul, 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!
3 The Lord says,
“You were not sold for money.
So I will not use money to set you free.”
4 The Lord God says, “First, my people went down to Egypt and became slaves. Then Assyria made them slaves. 5 Now look what has happened. Another nation has taken my people,” says the Lord. “That country did not pay to take my people, but they rule over them and laugh at them, and they say bad things about me all the time.” The Lord is the one saying these things.
6 “This happened so that my people will learn about me. My people will know who I am. My people will know my name, and they will know that I Am He[a] is speaking to them.”
Jesus’ Letter to the Church in Ephesus
2 “Write this to the angel of the church in Ephesus:
“Here is a message from the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands.
2 “I know what you do, how hard you work and never give up. I know that you don’t accept evil people. You have tested those who say they are apostles but are not. You found that they are liars. 3 You never stop trying. You have endured troubles for my name and have not given up.
4 “But I have this against you: You have left the love you had in the beginning. 5 So remember where you were before you fell. Change your hearts and do what you did at first. If you don’t change, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. 6 But there is something you do that is right—you hate the things that the Nicolaitans[a] do. I also hate what they do.
7 “Everyone who hears this should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. To those who win the victory I will give the right to eat the fruit from the tree of life, which is in God’s paradise.
The Wedding at Cana
2 Two days later there was a wedding in the town of Cana in Galilee, and Jesus’ mother was there. 2 Jesus and his followers were also invited. 3 At the wedding there was not enough wine, so Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”
4 Jesus answered, “Dear woman, why are you telling me this? It is not yet time for me to begin my work.”
5 His mother said to the servants, “Do what he tells you.”
6 There were six large stone waterpots there that were used by the Jews in their washing ceremonies.[a] Each one held about 20 or 30 gallons.[b]
7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the waterpots with water.” So they filled them to the top.
8 Then he said to them, “Now dip out some water and take it to the man in charge of the feast.”
So they did what he said. 9 Then the man in charge tasted it, but the water had become wine. He did not know where the wine had come from, but the servants who brought the water knew. He called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “People always serve the best wine first. Later, when the guests are drunk, they serve the cheaper wine. But you have saved the best wine until now.”
11 This was the first of all the miraculous signs Jesus did. He did it in the town of Cana in Galilee. By this he showed his divine greatness, and his followers believed in him.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International