Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 146
1 Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
2 While I live I will praise the Lord;
I will sing praises unto my God while I have my life.
3 Do not put your trust in princes,
nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help.
4 His breath leaves him, and he returns to the earth;
on that very day his plans perish.
5 Blessed is he who has the God of Jacob for his help,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
6 who made heaven, and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
who keeps faithfulness forever,
7 who executes justice for the oppressed,
who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord releases the prisoners.
8 The Lord opens the eyes of the blind;
the Lord raises those who are brought down;
the Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord preserves the sojourners;
He lifts up the fatherless and widow,
but on the way of the wicked He brings disaster.
10 The Lord shall reign forever,
your God, O Zion, unto all generations.
Praise you the Lord!
Psalm 147
1 Praise the Lord!
For it is good to sing praises unto our God;
for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting.
2 The Lord builds up Jerusalem;
He gathers together the outcasts of Israel.
3 He heals the broken in heart,
and binds up their wounds.
4 He counts the number of the stars;
He calls them all by their names.
5 Great is our Lord and great in power;
His understanding is without measure.
6 The Lord lifts up the meek;
He casts the wicked down to the ground.
7 Sing unto the Lord with thanksgiving;
sing praise upon the harp unto our God:
8 who covers the heaven with clouds,
who provides rain for the earth,
who makes grass to grow upon the mountains.
9 He gives food to the animals
and to the young ravens that chirp.
10 He delights not in the strength of the horse,
nor does He take pleasure in the legs of a man,
11 but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him,
in those who hope in His mercy.
12 Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem;
praise your God, O Zion.
13 For He has strengthened the bars of your gates;
He has blessed your children within you.
14 He makes peace in your borders,
and fills you with the finest of the wheat.
15 He sends forth His commandment on the earth;
His word goes out swiftly.
16 He gives snow like wool;
He scatters the frost like ashes;
17 He casts forth His ice like morsels;
who can stand before His cold?
18 He sends out His word and melts them;
He causes His wind to blow and the waters flow.
19 He shows His word to Jacob,
and His statutes and His judgments to Israel.
20 He has not dealt so with any other nation;
they have not known His judgments.
Praise the Lord!
Psalm 111
1 Praise the Lord!
I will praise the Lord with my whole heart,
in the assembly of the upright, and in the congregation.
2 The works of the Lord are great,
sought out by all who have pleasure in them.
3 His work is honorable and glorious,
and His righteousness endures forever.
4 He has made His wonderful works to be remembered;
the Lord is gracious and full of compassion.
5 He has given food to those who fear Him;
He will ever be mindful of His covenant.
6 He has shown His people the power of His works,
that He may give them the inheritance of the nations.
7 The works of His hands are true and just;
all His commands are sure.
8 They stand forever and ever,
and are done in truth and uprightness.
9 He sent redemption to His people;
He has commanded His covenant forever;
holy and fearful is His name.
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
all who live it have insight.
His praise endures forever!
Psalm 112
1 Praise the Lord!
Blessed is the man who fears the Lord,
who delights greatly in His commandments.
2 His offspring shall be mighty in the land;
the generation of the upright shall be blessed.
3 Wealth and riches shall be in his house,
and his righteousness endures forever.
4 To the upright there arises light in the darkness;
he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.
5 A good man shows generous favor, and lends;
he will guide his affairs with justice.
6 Surely the righteous man shall not be moved;
the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance.
7 He shall not be afraid of evil tidings;
his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord.
8 His heart is established; he shall not be afraid,
until he sees triumph upon his enemies.
9 He has given away freely; he has given to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever;
his horn shall be exalted with honor.
10 The wicked shall see it and be grieved;
he shall gnash his teeth and melt away;
the desire of the wicked shall perish.
Psalm 113
1 Praise the Lord!
Praise, O you servants of the Lord,
praise the name of the Lord.
2 Blessed be the name of the Lord
from this time forth and for evermore.
3 From the rising of the sun to its going down,
the Lord’s name is to be praised.
4 The Lord is high above all nations,
and His glory above the heavens.
5 Who is like the Lord our God,
who dwells on high,
6 who looks down on the things
that are in heaven and on the earth?
7 He raises up the poor out of the dust
and lifts the needy out of the ash heap,
8 to make them sit with princes,
even with the princes of His people.
9 He gives the barren woman a dwelling,
making her the joyful mother of children.
Praise the Lord!
Comfort for God’s People
40 Comfort, O comfort, My people,
says your God.
2 Speak kindly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that her warfare has ended,
that her iniquity has been pardoned,
that she has received of the hand of the Lord
double for all her sins.
3 The voice of him who cries out,
“Prepare the way of the Lord
in the wilderness,
make straight in the desert
a highway for our God.
4 Let every valley be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low,
and let the rough ground become a plain,
and the rough places a plain;
5 then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it.”
6 The voice said, “Cry out.”
And he said, “What shall I cry out?”
All flesh is grass,
and all its loveliness is as the flower of the field.
7 The grass withers, the flower fades
because the Spirit of the Lord blows upon it;
surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God shall stand forever.
9 O Zion, bearer of good news,
get yourself up onto a high mountain;
O Jerusalem, bearer of good news,
lift up your voice with strength,
lift it up, do not be afraid;
say to the cities of Judah,
“Here is your God!”
10 See, the Lord God will come with a strong hand,
and His arm shall rule for Him;
see, His reward is with Him,
and His recompense before Him.
11 He shall feed His flock like a shepherd;
He shall gather the lambs with His arm,
and carry them in His bosom,
and shall gently lead those that are with young.
God Has Spoken by His Son
1 God, who at various times and in diverse ways spoke long ago to the fathers through the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the world. 3 He is the brightness of His glory, the express image of Himself, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had by Himself purged our sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. 4 He was made so much better than the angels as He has inherited a more excellent name than they.
The Son Superior to Angels
5 For to which of the angels did He at any time say:
“You are My Son;
today I have become Your Father”[a]?
Or again,
“I will be a Father to Him,
and He shall be a Son to Me”[b]?
6 And again, when He brings the firstborn into the world, He says:
“Let all the angels of God worship Him.”[c]
7 Of the angels He says:
“He makes His angels spirits,
and His servants a flame of fire.”[d]
8 But to the Son He says:
“Your throne, O God, lasts forever and ever;
a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.[e]
9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
therefore God, Your God, has anointed You
with the oil of gladness more than Your companions.”[f]
10 And,
“You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning,
and the heavens are the works of Your hands.
11 They will perish, but You remain;
and they all will wear out like a garment;
12 as a cloak You will fold them up,
and they will be changed.
But You are the same,
and Your years will not end.”[g]
The Word Became Flesh
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were created through Him, and without Him nothing was created that was created. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of mankind. 5 The light shines in darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it.
6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 This man came as a witness in order to testify concerning the Light, that all men through Him might believe.
The Testimony of John the Baptist(A)
19 Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”
The Lamb of God
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. 30 This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ 31 I did not know Him, but for this reason I came baptizing with water: so that He might be revealed to Israel.”
32 Then John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on Him. 33 I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘The One on whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen and have borne witness that He is the Son of God.”
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.