Book of Common Prayer
Come Praise the Lord
1 (A) All of you nations,
come praise the Lord!
Let everyone praise him.
2 God's love for us is wonderful;
his faithfulness never ends.
Shout praises to the Lord!
The Lord Is Always Merciful
1 (B) Tell the Lord
how thankful you are,
because he is kind
and always merciful.
2 Let Israel shout,
“God is always merciful!”
3 Let the family of Aaron
the priest shout,
“God is always merciful!”
4 Let every true worshiper
of the Lord shout,
“God is always merciful!”
5 When I was really hurting,
I prayed to the Lord.
He answered my prayer,
and took my worries away.
6 (C) The Lord is on my side,
and I am not afraid
of what others can do to me.
7 With the Lord on my side,
I will defeat
my hateful enemies.
8 It is better to trust the Lord
for protection
than to trust anyone else,
9 including strong leaders.
10 Nations surrounded me,
but I got rid of them
by the power of the Lord.
11 They attacked from all sides,
but I got rid of them
by the power of the Lord.
12 They swarmed around like bees,
but by the power of the Lord,
I got rid of them
and their fiery sting.
13 Their attacks were so fierce
that I nearly fell,
but the Lord helped me.
14 (D) My power and my strength
come from the Lord,
and he has saved me.
15 From the tents of God's people
come shouts of victory:
“The Lord is powerful!
16 With his mighty arm
the Lord wins victories!
The Lord is powerful!”
17 And so my life is safe,
and I will live to tell
what the Lord has done.
18 He punished me terribly,
but he did not let death
lay its hands on me.
19 Open the gates of justice!
I will enter and tell the Lord
how thankful I am.
20 Here is the gate of the Lord!
Everyone who does right
may enter this gate.
21 I praise the Lord
for answering my prayers
and saving me.
22 (E)(F) The stone that the builders
tossed aside
has now become
the most important stone.
23 The Lord has done this,
and it is amazing to us.
24 This day belongs to the Lord!
Let's celebrate
and be glad today.
25 (G) We'll ask the Lord to save us!
We'll sincerely ask the Lord
to let us win.
26 (H) God bless the one who comes
in the name of the Lord!
We praise you from here
in the house of the Lord.
27 The Lord is our God,
and he has given us light!
Start the celebration!
March with palm branches
all the way to the altar.[a]
28 The Lord is my God!
I will praise him and tell him
how thankful I am.
29 Tell the Lord
how thankful you are,
because he is kind
and always merciful.
God Blesses His Worshipers
1 Shout praises to the Lord!
The Lord blesses everyone
who worships him and gladly
obeys his teachings.
2 Their descendants will have
great power in the land,
because the Lord blesses
all who do right.
3 They will get rich and prosper
and will always be remembered
for their fairness.
4 They will be so kind
and merciful and good,
that they will be a light
in the dark for others
who do the right thing.
5 Life will go well for those
who freely lend
and are honest in business.
6 They won't ever be troubled,
and the kind things they do
will never be forgotten.
7 Bad news won't bother them;
they have decided
to trust the Lord.
8 They are dependable
and not afraid,
and they will live to see
their enemies defeated.
9 (A) They will always be remembered
and greatly praised,
because they were kind
and freely gave to the poor.
10 When evil people see this,
they angrily bite their tongues
and disappear.
They will never get
what they really want.
The Lord Helps People in Need
1 Shout praises to the Lord!
Everyone who serves him,
come and praise his name.
2 Let the name of the Lord
be praised now and forever.
3 From dawn until sunset
the name of the Lord
deserves to be praised.
4 The Lord is far above
all of the nations;
he is more glorious
than the heavens.
5 No one can compare
with the Lord our God.
His throne is high above,
6 and he looks down to see
the heavens and the earth.
7 God lifts the poor and needy
from dust and ashes,
8 and he lets them take part
in ruling his people.
9 When a wife has no children,
he blesses her with some,
and she is happy.
Shout praises to the Lord!
The Lord Gives Water from a Rock
17 (A) The Israelites left the desert and moved from one place to another each time the Lord ordered them to. Once they camped at Rephidim,[a] but there was no water for them to drink.
2 The people started complaining to Moses, “Give us some water!”
Moses replied, “Why are you complaining to me and trying to put the Lord to the test?”
3 But the people were thirsty and kept on complaining, “Moses, did you bring us out of Egypt just to let us and our families and our animals die of thirst?”
4 Then Moses prayed to the Lord, “What am I going to do with these people? They are about to stone me to death!”
5 The Lord answered, “Take some of the leaders with you and go ahead of the rest of the people. Also take along the walking stick with which you struck the Nile River. 6 When you get to the rock at Mount Sinai,[b] I will be there with you. Strike the rock with the stick, and water will pour out for the people to drink.” Moses did this while the leaders watched.
7 The people had complained and tested the Lord by asking, “Is the Lord really with us?” So Moses named that place Massah, which means “testing” and Meribah, which means “complaining.”
15 (A) Christ is exactly like God,
who cannot be seen.
He is the first-born Son,
superior to all creation.
16 Everything was created by him,
everything in heaven
and on earth,
everything seen and unseen,
including all forces
and powers,
and all rulers
and authorities.
All things were created
by God's Son,
and everything was made
for him.
17 God's Son was before all else,
and by him everything
is held together.
18 (B) He is the head of his body,
which is the church.
He is the very beginning,
the first to be raised
from death,
so that he would be
above all others.
19 God himself was pleased
to live fully in his Son.
20 (C) And God was pleased
for him to make peace
by sacrificing his blood
on the cross,
so that all beings in heaven
and on earth
would be brought back to God.
21 You used to be far from God. Your thoughts made you his enemies, and you did evil things. 22 But his Son became a human and died. So God made peace with you, and now he lets you stand in his presence as people who are holy and faultless and innocent. 23 But you must stay deeply rooted and firm in your faith. You must not give up the hope you received when you heard the good news. It was preached to everyone on earth, and I myself have become a servant of this message.
Streams of Life-Giving Water
37 (A) On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and shouted, “If you are thirsty, come to me and drink! 38 (B) Have faith in me, and you will have life-giving water flowing from deep inside you, just as the Scriptures say.” 39 Jesus was talking about the Holy Spirit, who would be given to everyone that had faith in him. The Spirit had not yet been given to anyone, since Jesus had not yet been given his full glory.[a]
The People Take Sides
40 When the crowd heard Jesus say this, some of them said, “He must be the Prophet!”[b] 41 Others said, “He is the Messiah!” Others even said, “Can the Messiah come from Galilee? 42 (C) The Scriptures say that the Messiah will come from the family of King David. Doesn't this mean that he will be born in David's hometown of Bethlehem?” 43 The people started taking sides against each other because of Jesus. 44 Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him.
The Leaders Refuse To Have Faith in Jesus
45 When the temple police returned to the chief priests and Pharisees, they were asked, “Why didn't you bring Jesus here?”
46 They answered, “No one has ever spoken like this man!”
47 The Pharisees said to them, “Have you also been fooled? 48 Not one of the chief priests or the Pharisees has faith in him. 49 And these people who don't know the Law are under God's curse anyway.”
50 (D) Nicodemus was there at the time. He was a member of the council, and was the same one who had earlier come to see Jesus.[c] He said, 51 “Our Law doesn't let us condemn people before we hear what they have to say. We cannot judge them before we know what they have done.”
52 Then they said, “Nicodemus, you must be from Galilee! Read the Scriptures, and you will find that no prophet is to come from Galilee.”
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