Book of Common Prayer
Let All Creation Praise Yahweh
148 Praise Yah.[a]
Praise Yahweh from the heavens;
praise him in the heights.
2 Praise him, all his angels;
praise him, all his hosts.[b]
3 Praise him, sun and moon;
praise him, all stars of light.
4 Praise him, highest heavens,[c]
and waters above the heavens.
5 Let them praise the name of Yahweh,
because he commanded and they were created.
6 And he put them in place forever and ever,
by a decree he gave that will not pass away.
7 Praise Yahweh from the earth—
great sea creatures and all deeps,
8 fire and hail, snow and cloud,[d]
stormy wind doing his bidding,[e]
9 the mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars,
10 beasts and all cattle,[f]
creeping things and flying birds,[g]
11 kings of the earth and all peoples,
princes and all judges of the earth,
12 young men and young women as well,
the old together with the young—
13 let them praise the name of Yahweh,
because his name alone is is exalted.
His splendor is above earth and heavens.
14 And he has raised high a horn for his people,
praise for all his faithful—
for the children of Israel,
a people close to him.
Praise Yah.[h]
Praise to God for His Future Judgment
149 Praise Yah.[i]
Sing to Yahweh a new song,
his praise in the assembly of the faithful.
2 Let Israel be glad in its maker;
let the children of Zion rejoice in their king.
3 Let them praise his name with dancing;
let them sing praises to him with tambourine and lyre.
4 For Yahweh takes pleasure in his people;
he glorifies the afflicted with salvation.
5 Let the faithful exult in glory;
let them sing for joy on their beds.
6 Let the extolling of God be in their throat,
and a double-edged sword in their hand,
7 to execute vengeance on the nations
and punishment on the peoples,[j]
8 to bind their kings with chains
and their nobles[k] with fetters of iron,
9 to execute on them the judgment that is decreed.[l]
This will be honor for all his faithful ones;
Praise Yah.[m]
Let Everything Praise Yahweh
150 Praise Yah.[n]
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty firmament.
2 Praise him for his mighty deeds;
praise him according to the abundance of his greatness.
3 Praise him with blast of horn;
praise him with harp and lyre.
4 Praise him with tambourine and dancing;
praise him with strings and flute.
5 Praise him with sounding cymbals;
praise him with clashing cymbals.
6 Every breathing thing,
let it praise Yah.[o]
Praise Yah.[p]
Praise to God for His Works During the Exodus
114 When Israel went out from Egypt,
the house of Jacob from a people of a strange language,
2 Judah became his sanctuary,
Israel his dominion.
3 The sea looked and fled;
the Jordan turned back.
4 The mountains skipped like rams,
the hills like lambs.[a]
5 What’s with you, O sea, that you fled?
O Jordan, that you turned back?
6 O mountains, that you skipped like rams?
O hills, like lambs?
7 At the presence of the Lord writhe, O earth,[b]
at the presence of the God of Jacob,
8 who turned the rock into a pool of water,
flinty stone into a spring of water.
Dead Idols and the Living God
115 Not to us, O Yahweh, not to us,
but to your name give glory,
because of your loyal love,
because of your faithfulness.
2 Why should the nations say,
“Where, pray tell,[c] is their God?”
3 But our God is in the heavens;
all that he desires, he does.
4 Their idols are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
5 They have mouths, but cannot speak;
they have eyes, but cannot see;
6 they have ears, but cannot hear;
they have noses, but cannot smell;
7 they have their hands, but they cannot feel,
their feet, but they cannot walk;
they cannot utter a sound in their throats.
8 Those who make them become like them,
as does everyone who trusts in them.
9 O Israel, trust Yahweh;
he is their help and their shield.
10 O house of Aaron, trust in Yahweh;
he is their help and their shield.
11 You who fear Yahweh, trust in Yahweh;
he is their help and their shield.
12 Yahweh remembers us; he will bless us.
He will bless the house of Israel;
he will bless the house of Aaron.
13 He will bless those who fear Yahweh,
the small with the great.
14 May Yahweh give you increase,
you and your children.
15 May you be blessed by Yahweh,
who made heaven and earth.
16 The heavens are Yahweh’s heavens,
but the earth he has given to the children of humankind.
17 The dead do not praise Yah,[d]
nor any descending into silence.
18 It is we, we will bless Yah[e]
from now until forever.
Praise Yah![f]
Nebuchadnezzar Declares What the Most High God Has Done for Him
4 [a] Nebuchadnezzar the king to all of the nations, the peoples and languages that live in the whole earth: “May your prosperity increase! 2 It is pleasing to me to recount the signs and wonders that the Most High God worked for me. 3 How great are his signs and wonders, how strong is his kingdom, an everlasting kingdom;[b] and his sovereignty is from generation to generation.
The Dream and the King’s Search for an Interpreter
4 “I, Nebuchadnezzar, was content in my house and prospering in my palace. 5 And I saw a dream and a revelation on my bed and it frightened me, and the visions of my head terrified me. 6 And a decree was sent out,[c] ordering that all the wise men of Babylon were to be brought in before me so that they may make known to me the explanation of the dream. 7 Then the magicians,[d] the conjurers,[e] the astrologers[f] and the diviners came in and I told them the dream, but they could not make known to me its explanation.[g] 8 Then at last[h] Daniel came before me whose name was[i] Belteshazzar, according to[j] the name of my god, and in whom was the spirit of the holy gods,[k] and I related the dream to him.[l]
9 “‘O Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians,[m] I myself know that the spirit[n] of the holy gods is in you, and no mystery is too difficult[o] for you. Now tell me the visions of my dream that I saw, and its explanation.[p] 10 Now these were the visions of my head as I was lying on my bed: I was gazing[q] and, look, a tree was in the midst of the earth, and its height was exalted.
11 The tree grew and it became strong,
and its height reached to heaven,[r]
and it was visible to the end of the whole earth.[s]
12 Its foliage was beautiful,
and its fruit abundant,
and in it was provision for all.
Under it the animals[t] of the field sought shade,
and in its branches the birds of heaven[u] nested,
and from it all the living beings were fed.
13 “‘I was looking in the vision of my head as I lay on my bed, and look, a watcher,[v] and a holy one, came down from heaven.
14 He cried aloud[w] and so he said:
“Cut down the tree and chop off its branches;
shake off its foliage and scatter its fruit.
Let the animals flee from under it,
and the birds from its branches.
15 But the stump of its roots
leave in the earth,
along with[x] a band of iron and bronze;
leave it in the grass of the field.
And in[y] the dew of heaven
let it[z] be watered,
and with the animals[aa]
let his lot be in the grass of the earth.
16 Let his mind be changed from that of a human,[ab]
and let the mind of an animal be given to him,
and let seven times pass over him.
17 The sentence is by the decree of the watchers,
and the decision by the command of the holy ones,
in order that[ac] the living will know
that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdom of humankind,
and to whomever[ad] he wills he gives it,
and he even sets the humblest of men over it.”
18 “‘This is the dream that I, Nebuchadnezzar the king, saw. Now[ae] you, Belteshazzar, declare its explanation, for[af] all of the wise men of my kingdom were not able to make the explanation known to me, but you are able because the spirit of holy gods is in you.’
Serving to the Glory of God
7 Now the end of all things draws near. Therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for your prayers. 8 Above all, keep[a] your love for one another constant, because love covers a large number of sins. 9 Be hospitable to one another without complaining. 10 Just as each one has received a gift, use it for serving one another, as good stewards of the varied grace of God. 11 If anyone speaks, let it be as the oracles of God; if anyone serves, let it be as by the strength that God provides, so that in all things God will be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom is the glory and the power forever and ever[b]. Amen.
Peter Is Restored Three Times
15 Now when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs!” 16 He said to him again a second time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Shepherd my sheep!” 17 He said to him a third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was distressed because he said to him a third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything! You know that I love you!” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep! 18 Truly, truly I say to you, when you were young, you tied your clothes[a] around yourself and walked wherever you wanted. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will tie you up and carry you where you do not want to go.[b] 19 (Now he said this to indicate by what kind of death he would glorify God.) And after he[c] had said this, he said to him, “Follow me!”
Peter and the Other Disciple Jesus Loved
20 Peter turned and[d] saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them[e] (who also leaned back on his chest at the dinner and said, “Lord, who is the one betraying you?”) 21 So when he[f] saw this one, Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, but what about this one?” 22 Jesus said to him, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that[g] to you? You follow me!” 23 So this saying went out to the brothers that that disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that[h] to you?”
A Concluding Word of Testimony
24 This is the disciple who is testifying about these things, and who has written down these things. And we know that his testimony is true. 25 Now there are also many other things that Jesus did, which—if they were written down one after the other—I suppose not even the world itself could contain the books that would be written.
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