Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 104
104 Let my whole being[a] bless the Lord!
Lord my God, how fantastic you are!
You are clothed in glory and grandeur!
2 You wear light like a robe;
you open the skies like a curtain.
3 You build your lofty house on the waters;
you make the clouds your chariot,
going around on the wings of the wind.
4 You make the winds your messengers;
you make fire and flame your ministers.
5 You established the earth on its foundations
so that it will never ever fall.
6 You covered it with the watery deep like a piece of clothing;
the waters were higher than the mountains!
7 But at your rebuke they ran away;
they fled in fear at the sound of your thunder.
8 They flowed over the mountains,
streaming down the valleys
to the place you established for them.
9 You set a boundary they cannot cross
so they’ll never again cover the earth.
10 You put gushing springs into dry riverbeds.
They flow between the mountains,
11 providing water for every wild animal—
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 Overhead, the birds in the sky make their home,
chirping loudly in the trees.
13 From your lofty house, you water the mountains.
The earth is filled full by the fruit of what you’ve done.
14 You make grass grow for cattle;
you make plants for human farming
in order to get food from the ground,
15 and wine, which cheers people’s hearts,
along with oil, which makes the face shine,
and bread, which sustains the human heart.
16 The Lord’s trees are well watered—
the cedars of Lebanon, which God planted,
17 where the birds make their nests,
where the stork has a home in the cypresses.
18 The high mountains belong to the mountain goats;
the ridges are the refuge of badgers.
19 God made the moon for the seasons,
and the sun too, which knows when to set.
20 You bring on the darkness and it is night,
when every forest animal prowls.
21 The young lions roar for their prey,
seeking their food from God.
22 When the sun rises, they gather together
and lie down in their dens.
23 Then people go off to their work,
to do their work until evening.
24 Lord, you have done so many things!
You made them all so wisely!
The earth is full of your creations!
25 And then there’s the sea, wide and deep,
with its countless creatures—
living things both small and large.
26 There go the ships on it,
and Leviathan, which you made, plays in it!
27 All your creations wait for you
to give them their food on time.
28 When you give it to them, they gather it up;
when you open your hand, they are filled completely full!
29 But when you hide your face, they are terrified;
when you take away their breath,
they die and return to dust.
30 When you let loose your breath, they are created,
and you make the surface of the ground brand-new again.
31 Let the Lord’s glory last forever!
Let the Lord rejoice in all he has made!
32 He has only to look at the earth, and it shakes.
God just touches the mountains, and they erupt in smoke.
33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I’m still alive.
34 Let my praise be pleasing to him;
I’m rejoicing in the Lord!
35 Let sinners be wiped clean from the earth;
let the wicked be no more.
But let my whole being bless the Lord!
Praise the Lord!
God’s created order
15 Now I’ll call to mind the works
of the Lord,
and I’ll tell about what I’ve seen.
The Lord’s works came into being
by his words.[a]
16 The shining sun looked down
on everything,
and the Lord’s work is radiant
with his glory.
17 The Lord has not allowed his holy ones
to describe all of his wonders,
which the Lord Almighty established
so that the universe would stand firm
in his glory.
18 He has searched the abyss and the heart,
and he took their great achievements
into consideration,
because the Most High
knew everything to be known.
He saw the sign of the age,[b]
19 explaining what has passed
and what will be,
and revealing the clues to things
that are hidden.
20 No thought escaped him,
and not a single word
was hidden from him.
21 He ordered the splendors of his wisdom.
He remains the same[c]
from the beginning of time
all the way to eternity.
Nothing can be added to him
nor be taken away,
and he needed no one to give him advice.
22 How desirable are all of his works,
and how brilliant they are to look upon.
23 All these things live and remain forever
in every circumstance,
and everything obeys him.[d]
24 All things exist in pairs,
one opposite the other,
and he made nothing that
was incomplete.
25 Each thing strengthens the good parts
of the other;
who can get enough of seeing
God’s glory?
Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians
14 This is why I kneel before the Father. 15 Every ethnic group in heaven or on earth is recognized by him. 16 I ask that he will strengthen you in your inner selves from the riches of his glory through the Spirit. 17 I ask that Christ will live in your hearts through faith. As a result of having strong roots in love, 18 I ask that you’ll have the power to grasp love’s width and length, height and depth, together with all believers. 19 I ask that you’ll know the love of Christ that is beyond knowledge so that you will be filled entirely with the fullness of God.
20 Glory to God, who is able to do far beyond all that we could ask or imagine by his power at work within us; 21 glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus for all generations, forever and always. Amen.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible