Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 146[a]
146 Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord, O my soul.
2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live.
I will sing praises to my God as long as I exist.
3 Do not trust in princes,
or in human beings, who cannot deliver.[b]
4 Their life’s breath departs, they return to the ground.
On that day their plans die.[c]
5 How blessed is the one whose helper is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
6 the one who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
who remains forever faithful,[d]
7 vindicates the oppressed,[e]
and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord releases the imprisoned.
8 The Lord gives sight to the blind.
The Lord lifts up all who are bent over.[f]
The Lord loves the godly.
9 The Lord protects the resident foreigner.
He lifts up the fatherless and the widow,[g]
but he opposes the wicked.[h]
10 The Lord rules forever,
your God, O Zion, throughout the generations to come.[i]
Praise the Lord!
Psalm 147[j]
147 Praise the Lord,
for it is good to sing praises to our God.
Yes,[k] praise is pleasant and appropriate.
2 The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem,
and gathers the exiles of Israel.
3 He heals[l] the brokenhearted,
and bandages their wounds.
4 He counts the number of the stars;
he names all of them.
5 Our Lord is great and has awesome power;[m]
there is no limit to his wisdom.[n]
6 The Lord lifts up the oppressed,
but knocks[o] the wicked to the ground.
7 Offer to the Lord a song of thanks.[p]
Sing praises to our God to the accompaniment of a harp.
8 He covers[q] the sky with clouds,
provides the earth with rain,
and causes grass to grow on the hillsides.[r]
9 He gives food to the animals,
and to the young ravens when they chirp.[s]
10 He is not enamored with the strength of a horse,
nor is he impressed by the warrior’s strong legs.[t]
11 The Lord takes delight in his faithful followers,[u]
and in those who wait for his loyal love.
12 Extol the Lord, O Jerusalem.
Praise your God, O Zion.
13 For he makes the bars of your gates strong.
He blesses your children[v] within you.
14 He[w] brings peace to your territory.[x]
He abundantly provides for you[y] the best grain.
15 He[z] sends his command through the earth;[aa]
swiftly his order reaches its destination.[ab]
16 He sends the snow that is white like wool;
he spreads the frost that is white like ashes.[ac]
17 He throws his hailstones[ad] like crumbs.
Who can withstand the cold wind he sends?[ae]
18 He then orders it all to melt;[af]
he breathes on it,[ag] and the water flows.
19 He proclaims his word to Jacob,
his statutes and regulations to Israel.
20 He has not done so with any other nation;
they are not aware of his regulations.
Praise the Lord!
Psalm 111[a]
111 Praise the Lord!
I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,
in the assembly of the godly and the congregation.
2 The Lord’s deeds are great,
eagerly awaited[b] by all who desire them.
3 His work is majestic and glorious,[c]
and his faithfulness endures[d] forever.
4 He does[e] amazing things that will be remembered;[f]
the Lord is merciful and compassionate.
5 He gives[g] food to his faithful followers;[h]
he always remembers his covenant.[i]
6 He announced that he would do mighty deeds for his people,
giving them a land that belonged to other nations.[j]
7 His acts are characterized by[k] faithfulness and justice;
all his precepts are reliable.[l]
8 They are forever firm,
and should be faithfully and properly carried out.[m]
9 He delivered his people;[n]
he ordained that his covenant be observed forever.[o]
His name is holy and awesome.
10 To obey the Lord is the fundamental principle for wise living;[p]
all who carry out his precepts acquire good moral insight.[q]
He will receive praise forever.[r]
Psalm 112[s]
112 Praise the Lord!
How blessed is the one[t] who obeys[u] the Lord,
who takes great delight in keeping his commands.[v]
2 His descendants[w] will be powerful on the earth;
the godly[x] will be blessed.
3 His house contains wealth and riches;
his integrity endures.[y]
4 In the darkness a light[z] shines for the godly,
for each one who is merciful, compassionate, and just.[aa]
5 It goes well for the one[ab] who generously lends money,
and conducts his business honestly.[ac]
6 For he will never be shaken;
others will always remember one who is just.[ad]
7 He does not fear bad news.
He[ae] is confident; he trusts in the Lord.
8 His resolve[af] is firm; he will not succumb to fear
before he looks in triumph on his enemies.
9 He generously gives[ag] to the needy;
his integrity endures.[ah]
He will be vindicated and honored.[ai]
10 When the wicked[aj] see this, they will worry;
they will grind their teeth in frustration[ak] and melt away.
The desire of the wicked will perish.[al]
Psalm 113[am]
113 Praise the Lord.
Praise, you servants of the Lord,
praise the name of the Lord.
2 May the Lord’s name be praised
now and forevermore.
3 From east to west[an]
the Lord’s name is deserving of praise.
4 The Lord is exalted over all the nations;
his splendor reaches beyond the sky.[ao]
5 Who can compare to the Lord our God,
who sits on a high throne?[ap]
6 He bends down to look[aq]
at the sky and the earth.
7 He raises the poor from the dirt,
and lifts up the needy from the garbage pile,[ar]
8 that he might seat him with princes,
with the princes of his people.
9 He makes the barren woman of the family[as]
a happy mother of children.[at]
Praise the Lord.
Leadership Change
12 [a] Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go up this mountain of the Abarim range,[b] and see[c] the land I have given[d] to the Israelites. 13 When you have seen it, you will be gathered[e] to your ancestors,[f] as Aaron your brother was gathered to his ancestors.[g] 14 For[h] in the wilderness of Zin when the community rebelled against me, you[i] rebelled against my command[j] to show me as holy[k] before their eyes over the water—the water of Meribah in Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.”
15 Then Moses spoke to the Lord: 16 “Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all humankind,[l] appoint[m] a man over the community, 17 who will go out before them, and who will come in before them,[n] and who will lead them out, and who will bring them in, so that[o] the community of the Lord may not be like sheep that have no shepherd.”
18 The Lord replied[p] to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit,[q] and lay your hand on him;[r] 19 set him[s] before Eleazar the priest and before the whole community, and commission[t] him publicly.[u] 20 Then you must delegate[v] some of your authority[w] to him, so that the whole community of the Israelites will be obedient.[x] 21 And he will stand before Eleazar the priest, who[y] will seek counsel[z] for him before the Lord by the decision of the Urim.[aa] At his command[ab] they will go out, and at his command they will come in, he and all the Israelites with him, the whole community.”
22 So Moses did as the Lord commanded him; he took Joshua and set[ac] him before Eleazar the priest and before the whole community. 23 He laid his hands on him and commissioned him, just as the Lord commanded,[ad] by the authority[ae] of Moses.
The Seven Sons of Sceva
11 God was performing extraordinary[a] miracles by Paul’s hands, 12 so that when even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his body[b] were brought[c] to the sick, their diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them.[d] 13 But some itinerant[e] Jewish exorcists tried to invoke the name[f] of the Lord Jesus over those who were possessed by[g] evil spirits, saying, “I sternly warn[h] you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.” 14 (Now seven sons of a man named[i] Sceva, a Jewish high priest, were doing this.)[j] 15 But the evil spirit replied to them,[k] “I know about Jesus[l] and I am acquainted with[m] Paul, but who are you?”[n] 16 Then the man who was possessed by[o] the evil spirit jumped on[p] them and beat them all into submission.[q] He prevailed[r] against them so that they fled from that house naked and wounded. 17 This became known to all who lived in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks; fear came over[s] them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was praised.[t] 18 Many of those who had believed came forward,[u] confessing and making their deeds known.[v] 19 Large numbers[w] of those who had practiced magic[x] collected their books[y] and burned them up in the presence of everyone.[z] When[aa] the value of the books was added up, it was found to total 50,000 silver coins.[ab] 20 In this way the word of the Lord[ac] continued to grow in power[ad] and to prevail.[ae]
Preaching in Galilee and the Call of the Disciples
14 Now after John was imprisoned,[a] Jesus went into Galilee and proclaimed the gospel[b] of God.[c] 15 He[d] said, “The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God[e] is near. Repent and believe the gospel!” 16 As he went along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, Simon’s brother, casting a net into the sea (for they were fishermen).[f] 17 Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will turn you into fishers of people!”[g] 18 They left their nets immediately and followed him.[h] 19 Going on a little farther, he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and John his brother in their[i] boat[j] mending nets. 20 Immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.
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