Book of Common Prayer
Praise Yahweh!
148 [a]Praise Yah!
Praise Yahweh (A)from the heavens;
Praise Him (B)in the heights!
2 Praise Him, (C)all His angels;
Praise Him, (D)all His hosts!
3 Praise Him, sun and moon;
Praise Him, all stars of light!
4 Praise Him, (E)heavens of heavens,
And the (F)waters that are above the heavens!
5 Let them praise the name of Yahweh,
For (G)He commanded and they were created.
6 He caused them to (H)stand forever and ever;
He gave a (I)statute and it will never pass away.
7 Praise Yahweh from the earth,
(J)Sea monsters and all (K)deeps;
8 (L)Fire and hail, (M)snow and (N)clouds;
(O)Stormy wind, (P)doing His word;
9 (Q)Mountains and all hills;
Fruit (R)trees and all cedars;
10 (S)Beasts and all cattle;
(T)Creeping things and winged bird;
11 (U)Kings of the earth and all peoples;
Princes and all [b]judges of the earth;
12 Both choice men as well as virgins;
The old with the young.
13 Let them praise the name of Yahweh,
For His (V)name alone is set on high;
His (W)splendor is above earth and heaven.
14 And He has (X)raised up a horn for His people,
(Y)Praise for all His holy ones;
For the sons of Israel, a people (Z)near to Him.
[c]Praise Yah!
Yahweh Takes Pleasure in His People
149 [d]Praise Yah!
Sing to Yahweh a (AA)new song,
His praise (AB)in the assembly of the holy ones.
2 Let Israel be glad in (AC)his Maker;
Let the sons of Zion rejoice in their (AD)King.
3 Let them praise His name with (AE)dancing;
With (AF)tambourine and lyre let them sing praises to Him.
4 For Yahweh (AG)takes pleasure in His people;
He will (AH)beautify the afflicted ones with salvation.
5 Let the (AI)holy ones exult in glory;
Let them (AJ)sing for joy on their beds.
6 Let the (AK)exaltations of God be in their throats,
And a (AL)two-edged (AM)sword in their hand,
7 To (AN)execute vengeance on the nations
And punishments on the peoples,
8 To bind their kings (AO)with chains
And their (AP)honored men with fetters of iron,
9 To (AQ)execute on them the judgment written;
This is the (AR)majesty of all His holy ones.
[e]Praise Yah!
Praise Him, Praise Yah!
150 [f]Praise Yah!
Praise God in His (AS)sanctuary;
Praise Him in His mighty [g](AT)expanse.
2 Praise Him for His (AU)mighty deeds;
Praise Him according to the abundance of His (AV)greatness.
3 Praise Him with (AW)trumpet blast;
Praise Him with (AX)harp and lyre.
4 Praise Him with (AY)tambourine and dancing;
Praise Him with (AZ)stringed instruments and (BA)pipe.
5 Praise Him with resounding (BB)cymbals;
Praise Him with clashing cymbals.
6 Let (BC)everything that has breath praise Yah.
[h]Praise Yah!
When Israel Went Out from Egypt
114 When Israel went out (A)from Egypt,
The house of Jacob from a people of (B)strange language,
2 Judah became (C)His sanctuary,
Israel, (D)His dominion.
3 The (E)sea looked and fled;
The (F)Jordan turned back.
4 The mountains (G)skipped like rams,
The hills, like lambs.
5 What (H)disturbs you, O sea, that you flee?
O Jordan, that you turn back?
6 O mountains, that you skip like rams?
O hills, like lambs?
7 (I)Tremble, O earth, before the Lord,
Before the God of Jacob,
8 Who (J)turned the rock into a (K)pool of water,
The (L)flint into a spring of water.
To Yahweh’s Name Give Glory
115 (M)Not to us, O Yahweh, not to us,
But (N)to Your name give glory
Because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your [a]truth.
2 (O)Why should the nations say,
“(P)Where, now, is their God?”
3 But our (Q)God is in the heavens;
He (R)does whatever He pleases.
4 Their (S)idols are silver and gold,
The (T)work of man’s hands.
5 They have mouths, but they (U)do not speak;
They have eyes, but they do not see;
6 They have ears, but they do not hear;
They have noses, but they do not smell;
7 As for their hands, they do not feel;
As for their feet, they do not walk;
They do not make a sound with their throat.
8 (V)Those who make them [b]will become like them,
Everyone who trusts in them.
9 O (W)Israel, (X)trust in Yahweh;
He is their (Y)help and their shield.
10 O house of (Z)Aaron, trust in Yahweh;
He is their help and their shield.
11 You who [c](AA)fear Yahweh, trust in Yahweh;
He is their help and their shield.
12 Yahweh (AB)remembered us; He will bless!
He will bless the house of Israel.
He will bless the house of Aaron.
13 He will (AC)bless those who [d]fear Yahweh,
(AD)The small together with the great.
14 May Yahweh (AE)give you increase,
You and your children.
15 May you be blessed of Yahweh,
(AF)Who made heaven and earth.
Woe to Those at Ease in Zion
6 (A)Woe to those who are at ease in Zion
And to those who feel secure in the mountain of Samaria,
The (B)distinguished men of the first of the nations,
To whom the house of Israel comes.
2 Pass on over to (C)Calneh and look,
And go from there to (D)Hamath the great,
Then go down to (E)Gath of the Philistines.
Are [a]they better than these kingdoms,
Or are their borders greater than your borders?
3 Do you (F)put off the day of calamity,
And would you (G)cause the seat of violence to approach?
4 Those who lay down on beds of ivory
And sprawl on their (H)couches
And (I)eat lambs from the flock
And calves from the midst of the stall,
5 Who improvise to the [b]sound of the harp,
And like David have [c]composed (J)songs for themselves,
6 Who (K)drink wine from [d]sacrificial bowls
While they anoint themselves with the first pick of the oils,
Yet they have not (L)grieved over the destruction of Joseph.
7 Therefore, they will now (M)go into exile among the first of the exiles,
And the (N)sprawlers’ [e]banqueting will turn aside.
8 Lord Yahweh has (O)sworn by Himself, Yahweh God of hosts has declared:
“I (P)abhor the lofty pride of Jacob
And hate his (Q)citadels;
Therefore I will (R)deliver up the city as well as its fullness.”
9 And it will be, if (S)ten men are left in one house, they will die. 10 Then one’s [f]uncle, or the one who [g](T)burns his bones, will lift him up to bring out his bones from the house, and he will say to the one who is in the innermost part of the house, “Is anyone else with you?” And that one will say, “No one.” Then he will [h]answer, “(U)Keep quiet. For [i]the name of Yahweh is (V)not to be mentioned.” 11 For behold, Yahweh is going to (W)command and will strike the (X)great house to pieces and the small house to fragments.
12 Do horses run on rocks?
Or does one plow [j]them with oxen?
Yet you have overturned (Y)justice into gall
And the fruit of righteousness into [k]wormwood,
13 You who are glad in [l](Z)Lo-debar
[m]And say, “Have we not (AA)by our own strength taken [n]Karnaim for ourselves?”
14 “For behold, (AB)I am going to raise up a nation against you,
O house of Israel,” declares Yahweh God of hosts,
“And they will press down on you from [o](AC)Lebo-hamath
To the (AD)brook of the Arabah.”
God’s Righteous Judgment
5 This is a (A)plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be (B)considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering. 6 [a]Since (C)it is right [b]for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to give rest to you who are afflicted [c]and to us as well (D)at the revelation of the Lord Jesus (E)from heaven (F)with [d]His mighty angels (G)in flaming fire, 8 executing vengeance on those who (H)do not know God and to those who (I)do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 These will pay the penalty of (J)eternal destruction, (K)away from the presence of the [e]Lord and from the glory of His might, 10 when He comes to be (L)glorified [f]in His [g]saints on that (M)day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—for our (N)witness to you was believed. 11 To this end also we (O)pray for you always, that our God will [h](P)count you worthy of your (Q)calling, and fulfill all your (R)good pleasure for (S)goodness and the (T)work of faith with power, 12 so that the (U)name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
John the Baptist Is Born
57 Now the time was fulfilled for Elizabeth to [a]give birth, and she gave birth to a son. 58 And her neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had (A)magnified His great mercy toward her, and they were rejoicing with her.
59 And it happened that on (B)the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to call him Zechariah, after the name of his father. 60 But his mother answered and said, “No, but (C)he shall be called John.” 61 And they said to her, “There is no one among your relatives who is called by this name.” 62 And they (D)were making signs to his father, as to what he wanted him called. 63 And he asked for a tablet and wrote as follows, “(E)His name is John.” And they all marveled. 64 (F)And at once his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he began to speak, blessing God. 65 And fear came on all those living around them, and all these matters were being talked about in all (G)the hill country of Judea. 66 And all who heard these things put them in their heart, saying, “What then will this child be?” For (H)the hand of the [b]Lord was indeed with him.
Zechariah’s Prophecy
67 And his father Zechariah (I)was filled with the Holy Spirit, and (J)prophesied, saying:
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