Book of Common Prayer
The World Should Praise the Lord
148 Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the heavens.
Praise him high above the earth.
2 Praise him, all you angels.
Praise him, all you armies of heaven.
3 Praise him, sun and moon.
Praise him, all you shining stars.
4 Praise him, highest heavens
and you waters above the sky.
5 Let them praise the Lord
because they were created by his command.
6 He set them in place forever and ever.
He made a law that will never end.
7 Praise the Lord from the earth.
Praise him, you large sea animals and all the oceans.
8 Praise him, lightning and hail, snow and clouds,
and stormy winds that obey him.
9 Praise him, mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedar trees.
10 Praise him, you wild animals and all cattle,
small crawling animals and birds.
11 Praise him, you kings of the earth and all nations,
princes and all rulers of the earth.
12 Praise him, you young men and women,
old people and children.
13 Praise the Lord.
He alone is great.
He is greater than heaven and earth.
14 God has given his people a king.
He should be praised by all who belong to him.
He should be praised by the Israelites, the people closest to his heart.
Praise the Lord!
Praise the God of Israel
149 Praise the Lord!
Sing a new song to the Lord.
Sing his praise in the meeting of his people.
2 Let the Israelites be happy because of God, their Maker.
Let the people of Jerusalem rejoice because of their King.
3 They should praise him with dancing.
They should praise him with tambourines and harps.
4 The Lord is pleased with his people.
He saves those who are not proud.
5 Let those who worship him rejoice in his glory.
Let them sing for joy even in bed!
6 Let them shout his praise
with their two-edged swords in their hands.
7 They will punish the nations.
They will defeat the people.
8 They will put those kings in chains
and those important men in iron bands.
9 They will punish them as God has written.
God is honored by all who worship him.
Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord with Music
150 Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his Temple.
Praise him in his mighty heaven.
2 Praise him for his strength.
Praise him for his greatness.
3 Praise him with trumpet blasts.
Praise him with harps and lyres.
4 Praise him with tambourines and dancing.
Praise him with stringed instruments and flutes.
5 Praise him with loud cymbals.
Praise him with crashing cymbals.
6 Let everything that breathes praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord!
Praise for God’s Kindness
113 Praise the Lord!
Praise him, you servants of the Lord.
Praise the name of the Lord.
2 The Lord’s name should be praised
now and forever.
3 The Lord’s name should be praised
from where the sun rises to where it sets.
4 The Lord is supreme over all the nations.
His glory reaches to the skies.
5 No one is like the Lord our God.
He rules from heaven.
6 He bends down to look
at the skies and the earth.
7 The Lord lifts the poor from the dirt.
He takes the helpless from the ashes.
8 And he seats them with princes,
the princes of his people.
9 He gives children to the woman who has none.
He makes her a happy mother.
Praise the Lord!
God Brought Israel from Egypt
114 The Israelites went out of Egypt.
The people of Jacob left that foreign country.
2 Then Judah became God’s holy place.
Israel became the land he ruled.
3 The Red Sea looked and ran away.
The Jordan River turned back.
4 The mountains danced like sheep
and the hills like little lambs.
5 Sea, why did you run away?
Jordan, why did you turn back?
6 Mountains, why did you dance like sheep?
Hills, why did you dance like little lambs?
7 Earth, shake with fear before the Lord.
Tremble in the presence of the God of Jacob.
8 He turned a rock into a pool of water.
He changed a hard rock into a spring of water.
Thanksgiving for Victory
118 Thank the Lord because he is good.
His love continues forever.
2 Let the people of Israel say,
“His love continues forever.”
3 Let the family of Aaron say,
“His love continues forever.”
4 Let those who fear the Lord say,
“His love continues forever.”
5 I was in trouble. So I called to the Lord.
The Lord answered me and set me free.
6 I will not be afraid because the Lord is with me.
People can’t do anything to me.
7 The Lord is with me to help me.
I will see my enemies defeated.
8 It is better to trust the Lord
than to trust people.
9 It is better to trust the Lord
than to trust princes.
10 All the nations surrounded me.
But I defeated them in the name of the Lord.
11 They surrounded me on every side.
But with the Lord’s power, I defeated them.
12 They surrounded me like a swarm of bees.
But they died as quickly as thorns burn.
By the Lord’s power, I defeated them.
13 They chased me until I was almost defeated.
But the Lord helped me.
14 The Lord gives me strength and makes me sing.
He has saved me.
15 Shouts of joy and victory
come from the tents of those who do right:
“The Lord has done powerful things.”
16 The power of the Lord has won the victory.
With his power the Lord has done mighty things.
17 I will not die, but live.
And I will tell what the Lord has done.
18 The Lord has taught me a hard lesson.
But he did not let me die.
19 Open for me the Temple gates.
Then I will come in and thank the Lord.
20 This is the Lord’s gate.
Only those who are good may enter it.
21 Lord, I thank you for answering me.
You have saved me.
22 The stone that the builders did not want
became the cornerstone.
23 The Lord did this,
and it is wonderful to us.
24 This is the day that the Lord has made.
Let us rejoice and be glad today!
25 Please, Lord, save us.
Please, Lord, give us success.
26 God bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
We bless all of you from the Temple of the Lord.
27 The Lord is God.
And he has shown kindness to us.
With branches in your hands, join the feast.
Come to the corners of the altar.
28 You are my God, and I will thank you.
You are my God, and I will praise your greatness.
29 Thank the Lord because he is good.
His love continues forever.
Passover
12 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: 2 “This month will be the first month of the year for you. 3 Both of you are to tell the whole community of Israel: On the tenth day of this month each man must get one lamb. It is for the people in his house. 4 There may not be enough people in his house to eat a whole lamb. Then he must share it with his closest neighbor. There must be enough lamb for everyone to eat. 5 The lamb must be a one-year-old male. It must have nothing wrong with it. This animal can be either a young sheep or a young goat. 6 Keep the animal with you to take care of it until the fourteenth day of the month. On that day all the people of the community of Israel will kill these animals. They will do this as soon as the sun goes down. 7 The people must take some of the blood. They must put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes. These are the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. 8 On this night they must roast the lamb over a fire. Then they must eat it with bitter herbs and bread made without yeast. 9 Do not eat the lamb raw or boiled in water. Roast the whole lamb over a fire—with its head, legs and inner organs. 10 You must not leave any of it until morning. But if any of it is left over until morning, you must burn it with fire.
11 “This is the way you must eat it: You must be fully dressed as if you were going on a trip. You must have your sandals on, and you must have your walking stick in your hand. You must eat it in a hurry. This is the Lord’s Passover.
12 “That night I will go through the land of Egypt. I will kill all the firstborn of animals and people in the land of Egypt. I will punish all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. 13 But the blood will be a sign on the houses where you are. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. Nothing terrible will hurt you when I punish the land of Egypt.
14 “You are always to remember this day. Celebrate it with a feast to the Lord. Your descendants are to honor the Lord with this feast from now on.
9 Wake up, wake up, and use your strength,
powerful Lord.
Wake up as you did in the old times.
Wake up as you did a long time ago.
With your own power, you cut Rahab into pieces.
You killed that sea monster.
10 You caused the sea to become dry.
You dried the waters of the deep ocean.
You made the deepest parts of the sea into a road.
Your people crossed over on that road and were saved.
11 The people the Lord has freed will return.
They will enter Jerusalem with joy.
Their happiness will last forever.
They will have joy and gladness.
All sadness and sorrow will be gone far away.
Christ Comes to the World
1 Before the world began, there was the Word.[a] The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were made through him. Nothing was made without him. 4 In him there was life. That life was light for the people of the world. 5 The Light shines in the darkness. And the darkness has not overpowered[b] the Light.
6 There was a man named John[c] who was sent by God. 7 He came to tell people about the Light. Through him all people could hear about the Light and believe. 8 John was not the Light, but he came to tell people about the Light. 9 The true Light was coming into the world. The true Light gives light to all.
10 The Word was in the world. The world was made through him, but the world did not know him. 11 He came to the world that was his own. But his own people did not accept him. 12 But some people did accept him. They believed in him. To them he gave the right to become children of God. 13 They did not become his children in the human way. They were not born because of the desire or wish of some man. They were born of God.
14 The Word became a man and lived among us. We saw his glory—the glory that belongs to the only Son of the Father. The Word was full of grace and truth. 15 John told about him. He said, “This is the One I was talking about. I said, ‘The One who comes after me is greater than I am. He was living before me.’”
16 The Word was full of grace and truth. From him we all received more and more blessings. 17 The law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No man has ever seen God. But God the only Son is very close to the Father.[d] And the Son has shown us what God is like.
On the Road to Emmaus
13 That same day two of Jesus’ followers were going to a town named Emmaus. It is about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking about everything that had happened. 15 While they were discussing these things, Jesus himself came near and began walking with them. 16 (They were not allowed to recognize Jesus.) 17 Then he said, “What are these things you are talking about while you walk?”
The two followers stopped. Their faces were very sad. 18 The one named Cleopas answered, “You must be the only one in Jerusalem who does not know what just happened there.”
19 Jesus said to them, “What are you talking about?”
The followers said, “It is about Jesus of Nazareth. He was a prophet from God to all the people. He said and did many powerful things. 20 Our leaders and the leading priests gave him up to be judged and killed. They nailed him to a cross. 21 But we were hoping that he would free the Jews. It is now the third day since this happened. 22 And today some women among us told us some amazing things. Early this morning they went to the tomb, 23 but they did not find his body there. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels. The angels said that Jesus was alive! 24 So some of our group went to the tomb, too. They found it just as the women said, but they did not see Jesus.”
25 Then Jesus said to them, “You are foolish and slow to realize what is true. You should believe everything the prophets said. 26 They said that the Christ must suffer these things before he enters his glory.” 27 Then Jesus began to explain everything that had been written about himself in the Scriptures. He started with Moses, and then he talked about what all the prophets had said about him.
28 They came near the town of Emmaus, and Jesus acted as if he did not plan to stop there. 29 But they begged him, “Stay with us. It is late; it is almost night.” So he went in to stay with them.
30 Jesus sat down with them and took some bread. He gave thanks for the food and divided it. Then he gave it to them. 31 And then, they were allowed to recognize Jesus. But when they saw who he was, he disappeared. 32 They said to each other, “When Jesus talked to us on the road, it felt like a fire burning in us. It was exciting when he explained the true meaning of the Scriptures.”
33 So the two followers got up at once and went back to Jerusalem. There they found the 11 apostles and others gathered. 34 They were saying, “The Lord really has risen from death! He showed himself to Simon.”
35 Then the two followers told what had happened on the road. They talked about how they recognized Jesus when he divided the bread.
Jesus Appears to His Followers
19 It was the first day of the week. That evening Jesus’ followers were together. The doors were locked, because they were afraid of the Jews. Then Jesus came and stood among them. He said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. His followers were very happy when they saw the Lord.
21 Then Jesus said again, “Peace be with you! As the Father sent me, I now send you.” 22 After he said this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven. If you don’t forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.