Book of Common Prayer
Praise God Who Helps the Weak
146 Praise the Lord!
My whole being, praise the Lord.
2 I will praise the Lord all my life.
I will sing praises to my God as long as I live.
3 Do not put your trust in princes
or other people, who cannot save you.
4 When people die, they are buried.
Then all of their plans come to an end.
5 Happy are those who are helped by the God of Jacob.
Their hope is in the Lord their God.
6 He made heaven and earth,
the sea and everything in it.
He remains loyal forever.
7 The Lord does what is fair for those who have been wronged.
He gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets the prisoners free.
8 The Lord gives sight to the blind.
The Lord lifts up people who are in trouble.
The Lord loves those who do right.
9 The Lord protects the foreigners.
He defends the orphans and widows.
But he overthrows the wicked.
10 The Lord will be King forever.
Jerusalem, your God is everlasting.
Praise the Lord!
Praise God Who Helps His People
147 Praise the Lord!
It is good to sing praises to our God.
It is good and pleasant to praise him.
2 The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem.
He brings back the scattered Israelites who were taken captive.
3 He heals the brokenhearted.
He bandages their wounds.
4 He counts the stars
and names each one.
5 Our Lord is great and very powerful.
There is no limit to what he knows.
6 The Lord defends those who are not proud.
But he throws the wicked to the ground.
7 Sing praises to the Lord.
Praise our God with harps.
8 He fills the sky with clouds.
He sends rain to the earth.
He makes grass grow on the hills.
9 He gives food to cattle
and to the little birds that call.
10 He is not pleased by the strength of a horse
or the power of a man.
11 The Lord is pleased with those who fear him,
with those who trust his love.
12 Jerusalem, praise the Lord.
Jerusalem, praise your God.
13 He makes your city gates strong.
He blesses the people inside.
14 He brings peace to your country.
He fills you with the finest grain.
15 He gives a command to the earth,
and it quickly obeys him.
16 He spreads the snow like wool.
He scatters the frost like ashes.
17 He throws down hail like rocks.
No one can stand the cold he sends.
18 Then he gives a command, and it melts.
He sends the breezes, and the waters flow.
19 He gave his word to Jacob.
He gave his laws and demands to Israel.
20 He didn’t do this for any other nation.
They don’t know his laws.
Praise the Lord!
Praise for God’s Goodness
111 Praise the Lord!
I will thank the Lord with all my heart
in the meeting of his good people.
2 The Lord does great things.
Those people who love them think about them.
3 What he does is glorious and splendid.
His goodness continues forever.
4 His miracles are unforgettable.
The Lord is kind and merciful.
5 He gives food to those who fear him.
He remembers his agreement forever.
6 He has shown his people his power
when he gave them the lands of other nations.
7 Everything he does is good and fair.
All his orders can be trusted.
8 They will continue forever.
They were made true and right.
9 He sets his people free.
He made his agreement everlasting.
He is holy and wonderful.
10 Wisdom begins with respect for the Lord.
Those who obey his orders have good understanding.
He should be praised forever.
Honest People Are Blessed
112 Praise the Lord!
Happy is the person who fears the Lord.
He loves what the Lord commands.
2 His descendants will be powerful in the land.
The children of honest people will be blessed.
3 His house will be full of wealth and riches.
His goodness will continue forever.
4 A light shines in the dark for honest people.
It shines for those who are good and kind and merciful.
5 It is good to be kind and generous.
Whoever is fair in his business
6 will never be defeated.
A good person will be remembered from now on.
7 He won’t be afraid of bad news.
He is safe because he trusts the Lord.
8 That person is confident. He will not be afraid.
He will look down on his enemies.
9 He gives freely to the poor.
The things he does are right and will continue forever.
He will be given great honor.
10 The wicked will see this and become angry.
They will grind their teeth in anger and then disappear.
The wishes of the wicked will come to nothing.
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!
Judah Is God’s Witness
8 Bring out the people who have eyes but don’t see.
Bring out those who have ears but don’t hear.
9 All the nations should gather together.
All the people should come together.
Which of their gods said that this would happen?
Which of their gods can tell what happened in the beginning?
They should bring their witnesses to prove they were right.
Then others will say, “It is true.”
10 The Lord says, “You are my witnesses.
You are the servant I chose.
I chose you so you would know and believe me.
I chose you so you would understand that I am the true God.
There was no God before me,
and there will be no God after me.
11 I myself am the Lord.
I am the only Savior.
12 I myself have spoken to you, saved you and told you these things.
It was not some foreign god among you.
You are my witnesses, and I am God,”
says the Lord.
13 “I have always been God.
No one can save people from my power.
When I do something, no one can change it.”
2 As newborn babies want milk, you should want the pure and simple teaching. By it you can mature in your salvation. 3 For you have already examined and seen how good the Lord is.
4 The Lord Jesus is the “stone”[a] that lives. The people of the world did not want this stone. But he was the stone God chose. To God he was worth much. So come to him. 5 You also are like living stones. Let yourselves be used to build a spiritual temple—to be holy priests who offer spiritual sacrifices to God. He will accept those sacrifices through Jesus Christ. 6 The Scripture says:
“I will put a stone in the ground in Jerusalem.
Everything will be built on this important and precious rock.
Anyone who trusts in him
will never be disappointed.” Isaiah 28:16
7 This stone is worth much to you who believe. But to the people who do not believe, he is
“the stone that the builders did not want.
It has become the cornerstone.” Psalm 118:22
8 To people who do not believe, he is
“a stone that causes people to stumble.
It is a rock that makes them fall.” Isaiah 8:14
They stumble because they do not obey what God says. This is what God planned to happen to them.
9 But you are chosen people. You are the King’s priests. You are a holy nation. You are a nation that belongs to God alone. God chose you to tell about the wonderful things he has done. He called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 At one time you were not God’s people. But now you are his people. In the past you had never received mercy. But now you have received God’s mercy.
Jesus Comforts His Followers
14 Jesus said, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God. And trust in me. 2 There are many rooms in my Father’s house. I would not tell you this if it were not true. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 After I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back. Then I will take you to be with me so that you may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”[a]
5 Thomas said to Jesus, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going. So how can we know the way?”
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way. And I am the truth and the life. The only way to the Father is through me. 7 If you really knew me, then you would know my Father, too. But now you do know him, and you have seen him.”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.