Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 146
1 Praise the Eternal!
Praise the Eternal, O my soul;
2 I will praise the Eternal for as long as I live.
I will sing praises to my God as long as breath fills my lungs and blood flows through my veins.
3 Do not put your trust in the rulers of this world—kings and princes.
Do not expect any rescue from mortal men.
4 As soon as their breath leaves them, they return to the earth;
on that day, all of them perish—their dreams, their plans, and their memories.
5 Blessed are those whose help comes from the God of Jacob,
whose hope is centered in the Eternal their God—
6 Who created the heavens, the earth,
the seas, and all that lives within them;
Who stays true and remains faithful forever;
7 Who works justice for those who are pressed down by the world,
providing food for those who are hungry.
The Eternal frees those who are imprisoned;
8 He makes the blind see.
He lifts up those whose backs are bent in labor;
He cherishes those who do what is right.
9 The Eternal looks after those who journey in a land not their own;
He takes care of the orphan and the widow,
but He frustrates the wicked along their way.
10 The Eternal will reign today, tomorrow, and forever.
People of Zion, your God will rule forever over all generations.
Praise the Eternal!
Psalm 147
1 Praise the Eternal!
It is good to sing praises to our God,
for praise is beautiful and pleasant.
2 The Eternal, Architect of earth, is building Jerusalem,
finding the lost, gathering Israel’s outcasts.
3 He binds their wounds,
heals the sorrows of their hearts.
4 He counts all the stars within His hands,
carefully fixing their number
and giving them names.
5 Our Lord is great. Nothing is impossible with His overwhelming power.
He is loving, compassionate, and wise beyond all measure.
6 The Eternal will lift up the lowly
but throw down the wicked to the earth.
Psalm 147 is a postexilic hymn of praise to God as Creator and Sustainer. It celebrates the rebuilding of the walls and gates that protect Jerusalem. God secures the city, grants peace to the border towns, and controls the elements.
7 Open your mouths with thanks!
Sing praises to the Eternal!
Strum the harp in unending praise to our God
8 Who blankets the heavens with clouds,
sends rain to water the thirsty earth,
and pulls up each blade of grass upon the mountainside.
9 He opens His hands to feed all the animals
and scatters seed to nestlings when they cry.
10 He takes no pleasure in the raw strength of horses;
He finds no joy in the speed of the sprinter.
11 But the Eternal does take pleasure in those who worship Him,
those who invest hope in His unfailing love.
12 O Jerusalem, praise the Eternal!
O Zion, praise your God!
13 For His divine power reinforces your city gates,
blesses your children in the womb.
14 He establishes peace within your borders,
fills your markets with hearty golden wheat.
15 His command ripples across the earth;
His word runs out on swift feet.
16 He blankets the earth in wooly snow,
scattering frost like ashes over the land.
17 He throws down hail like stones falling from a mountain.
Can any withstand His wintry blast?
18 But He dispatches His word, and the thaw begins;
at His command, the spring winds blow, gently stirring the waters back to life.
19 He brings Jacob in on His plan, declaring His word—
His statutes and His teachings to Israel.
20 He has not treated any other nation in such a way;
they live unaware of His commands.
Praise the Eternal!
Psalm 111[a]
1 Praise the Eternal.
I will thank Him with all my heart
in the presence of the right-standing and with the assembly.
2 The works of the Eternal are many and wondrous!
They are examined by all who delight in them.
3 His work is marked with beauty and majesty;
His justice has no end.
4 His wonders are reminders that
the Eternal is gracious and compassionate to all.
5 He provides food to those who revere Him.
He will always remember His covenant.
6 He has shown the mighty strength of His works to His people
by giving the land of foreign nations to them.
7 All His accomplishments are truth and justice;
all His instructions are certain.
8 His precepts will continue year in and year out,
performed by His people with honesty and truth.
9 He has redeemed His people,
guaranteeing His covenant forever.
His name is holy and awe-inspiring.
10 Reverence for the Eternal is the first step toward wisdom.
All those who worship Him have a good understanding.
His praise will echo through eternity!
Psalm 112[b]
1 Praise the Eternal!
How blessed are those who revere the Eternal,
who turn from evil and take great pleasure in His commandments.
2 Their children will be a powerful force upon the earth;
this generation that does what is right in God’s eyes will be blessed.
3 His house will be stocked with wealth and riches,
and His love for justice will endure for all time.
4 When life is dark, a light will shine for those who live rightly—
those who are merciful, compassionate, and strive for justice.
5 Good comes to all who are gracious and share freely;
they conduct their affairs with sound judgment.
6 Nothing will ever rattle them;
the just will always be remembered.
7 They will not be afraid when the news is bad
because they have resolved to trust in the Eternal.
8 Their hearts are confident, and they are fearless,
for they expect to see their enemies defeated.
9 They give freely to the poor;
their righteousness endures for all time;[c]
their strength and power is established in honor.
10 The wicked will be infuriated when they see the good man honored!
They will clench their teeth and dissolve to nothing;
and when they go, their wicked desires will follow.
Psalm 113
Psalms 113–118 comprise an important unit called the Hallel, which in Hebrew means “praise.” Composed after the exile, these six psalms are recited together by observant Jews during some of the major holidays on the Jewish calendar. The Gospel writers tell us that Jesus and His disciples sang a song following their last meal together, which was the Passover (Matthew 26:30; Mark 14:26). That may have been the Hallel.
1 Praise the Eternal!
All of you who call yourselves the children of the Eternal, come and praise His name.
Lift Him high to the high place in your hearts.
2 At this moment, and for all the moments yet to come,
may the Eternal’s name ascend in the hearts of His people.
3 At every time and in every place—
from the moment the sun rises to the moment the sun sets—
may the name of the Eternal be high in the hearts of His people.
4 The Eternal is seated high above every nation.
His glory fills the skies.
5 To whom should we compare the Eternal, our God?
No one.
From His seat, high above,
6 He deigns to observe the earth and her thin skies,
stooping even to see her goings on, far beneath His feet.
7 He gathers up the poor from their dirt floors,
pulls the needy from the trash heaps,
8 And places them among heads of state,
seated next to the rulers of His people where they cannot be ignored.
9 Into the home of the childless bride,
He sends children who are, for her, a cause of happiness beyond measure.
Praise the Eternal!
5 When Egypt’s king received the news that the Israelites had run away, the attitude of Pharaoh and his servants changed. They began talking among themselves.
Pharaoh’s Servants: What have we done? We have released the Israelites from serving us and lost our labor force!
6 Pharaoh prepared his chariot and called out his army. 7 He took a select group of the 600 best chariots in the land plus all the other chariots in Egypt with drivers commanding all of them.
8 The Eternal hardened the stubborn heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and he chased after the Israelites just as they were marching out of the land with victorious hands held high.
9 The Egyptians pursued the Israelites. All of Pharaoh’s horses and chariots, his chariot-drivers and army caught up with the Israelites as they were camping by the sea not far from Pi-hahiroth, opposite Baal-zephon.
10 Pharaoh approached the Israelites’ camp, and the Israelites saw the Egyptian army closing in on them. The Israelites were trapped and feared for their lives, so they cried out to the Eternal.
Israelites (to Moses): 11 Were there not enough graves in Egypt? Is that why you brought us out here to die in the desert? Why have you done this to us? Why have you made us leave Egypt? 12 Didn’t we tell you in Egypt, “Stop pestering us so that we can get on with our lives and serve the Egyptians”? It would have been better for us to live as slaves to the Egyptians than to die out here in the desert.
Moses (to the people): 13 Don’t be afraid! Stand your ground and witness how the Eternal will rescue you today. Take a good look at the Egyptians, for after today you will never see them again. 14 The Eternal will fight on your behalf while you watch in silence.
Eternal One (to Moses): 15 Why do you call for Me? Instruct the Israelites to break camp and keep moving. 16 Raise your staff and reach out over the sea to divide it. The Israelites will be able to walk straight through the sea on dry ground. 17-18 I am going to harden the stubborn hearts of the Egyptians, and in their arrogance they will continue to chase the Israelites. My honor will be on display when I defeat Pharaoh, his army, his chariots, and his chariot-drivers. The Egyptians will know that I am the Eternal when I display my glory through Pharaoh, his chariots, and his chariot-drivers.
19 God’s messenger, who had been out front leading the people of Israel, moved to protect the rear of the company; the cloud pillar moved with him from the front to the back of them. 20 The cloud pillar took its position between Egypt’s and Israel’s camps. The cloud cast darkness by day yet it lit up the sky by night. As a result, the Egyptians never got close to the Israelites the entire night. 21 Moses then took his staff and reached out over the sea. The Eternal parted the sea with a strong east wind, which blew all night and turned the floor of the sea into dry ground between the divided waters. 22 The Israelites broke camp and traveled on dry ground through the parted waters, and the sea stood like a solid wall on their right and on their left.
1 We want to tell you about the One who was from the beginning. We have seen Him with our own eyes, heard Him with our own ears, and touched Him with our own hands. This One is the manifestation of the life-giving Voice, 2 and He showed us real life, eternal life. We have seen it all, and we can’t keep what we witnessed quiet—we have to share it with you. We are inviting you to experience eternal life through the One who was with the Father and came down to us. 3 What we saw and heard we pass on to you so that you, too, will be connected with us intimately and become family. Our family is united by our connection with the Father and His Son Jesus, the Anointed One; 4 and we write all this because retelling this story fulfills our[a] joy.
5 What we are telling you now is the very message we heard from Him: God is pure light, undimmed by darkness of any kind. 6 If we say we have an intimate connection with the Father but we continue stumbling around in darkness, then we are lying because we do not live according to truth. 7 If we walk step by step in the light, where the Father is, then we are ultimately connected to each other through the sacrifice of Jesus His Son. His blood purifies us from all our sins.
Ultimately Peter is telling the truth. He is more than willing to lay down his life. But none of His disciples understand the magnitude of the persecution and hatred that is about to be unleashed.
Even Peter, Jesus’ dear Peter, is afraid. He protests any inference to Jesus’ impending departure. Each of the twelve would do the same. Jesus calms their fears over and over again with stories, metaphors, and outright promises, saying, “I will never abandon you like orphans; I will return to be with you” (14:18).
14 Jesus: Don’t get lost in despair; believe in God, and keep on believing in Me. 2 My Father’s home is designed to accommodate all of you. If there were not room for everyone, I would have told you that. I am going to make arrangements for your arrival. 3 I will be there to greet you personally and welcome you home, where we will be together. 4 You know where I am going and how to get there.
Thomas: 5 Lord, we don’t know where You are going, so how can we know the path?
Jesus: 6 I am the path, the truth, and the energy of life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. 7 If you know Me, you know the Father. Rest assured now; you know Him and have seen Him.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.