Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 146
Praise Him for Protection
Praise for Protection
1 Praise the Lord.[a]
A Lifetime of Praise
Praise the Lord, O my soul.
2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live.
I will make music to my God as long as I exist.
No Help in Humans
3 Do not trust in human helpers,[b]
in a mortal man who cannot save you.
4 His spirit departs.
He returns to the ground he came from.
On that day, his plans have perished.
Help in the Lord
5 Blessed is everyone who has the God of Jacob as his help.
His hope is in the Lord his God,
6 the Maker of heaven and earth,
the sea, and everything which is in them.
He is the one who stays faithful forever.
7 He obtains justice for the oppressed.
He gives food to the hungry.
The Lord releases prisoners.
8 The Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down.
The Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord watches over the aliens.
The fatherless and the widow he sustains,
but he turns aside the way of the wicked.
An Eternity for Praise
10 The Lord reigns forever.
Your God, O Zion, rules for all generations.
Praise the Lord.
Psalm 147
Praise Him for Providing for His People
The Creator Restores His People
1 Praise the Lord.[c]
How good it is to make music to our God.
Yes, praise is pleasant and fitting!
2 The one who builds Jerusalem is the Lord.
He assembles the outcasts of Israel.
3 He is the one who heals the brokenhearted
and who bandages their wounds.
4 He counts the number of the stars.
He calls them all by name.
5 Great is our Lord and mighty in power.
To his understanding there is no limit.
6 The one who sustains the humble is the Lord.
He pushes the wicked down to the ground.
The Creator Loves His People
7 Respond to the Lord with thanksgiving.
Make music to our God on the lyre.
8 He is the one who covers the sky with clouds.
He determines rain for the earth.
He makes grass sprout on the mountains.
9 He gives their food to the cattle
and to the young ravens when they call.
10 He is not impressed by the strength of the horse.
He is not pleased with the legs of a man.
11 The Lord is pleased with those who fear him,
those who wait for his mercy.
The Creator Reveals His Word
12 Worship the Lord, O Jerusalem.
Praise your God, O Zion,
13 because he strengthens the bars on your gates.
He blesses your children within you.
14 He brings peace to your borders.
He satisfies you with the best wheat.
15 He sends his message to the earth.
His word runs swiftly.
16 He gives snow like wool.
He scatters frost like ashes.
17 He sends his hail like pieces of bread.
Who can stand in the face of his cold winds?
18 He sends his word, and the ice melts.
He breathes on the snow.[d] The waters flow.[e]
19 He reveals his words to Jacob,
his statutes and his judgments to Israel.
20 He has not done this for any other nation.
They do not know his judgments.
Praise the Lord.
Psalm 111
God’s Works and God’s Word
Opening Praise
1 Praise the Lord.[a]
I will thank the Lord with all my heart
in the assembly of the upright and in the congregation.
God’s Works
2 Great are the deeds of the Lord.
They are studied by all who delight in them.
3 Glorious and majestic is his work,
and his righteousness stands forever.
4 He has set up a memorial to his wonders.
Gracious and compassionate is the Lord.
5 He gives food to those who fear him.
He remembers his covenant forever.
6 He has declared the power of his deeds to his people,
to give them the nations as their possession.
7 The works of his hands are truth and justice.
God’s Word
All his precepts are trustworthy,
8 steadfast forever and ever,
done in truth and uprightness.
9 He sent redemption for his people.
He commanded his covenant forever.
Holy and awesome is his name.
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning[b] of wisdom.
All who do his precepts have good understanding.
Closing Praise
His praise stands forever.
Psalm 112
The Man Who Fears the Lord
The Man Who Fears the Lord
1 Praise the Lord.[c]
How blessed is a man who fears the Lord.
In his commands he delights greatly.
2 His descendants will be mighty in the land.
The circle of the upright will be blessed.
3 Wealth and riches are in his house,
and his righteousness stands forever.
4 In darkness, light dawns for the upright.
He is gracious and compassionate and righteous.
5 Good things will come to the man
who is gracious and lends,
who conducts his business with justice.
6 Surely he will never fall.
The righteous will be remembered forever.
7 He will not fear bad news.
His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.
8 His heart is secure.
He will have no fear, until he looks in triumph on his foes.
9 He scatters seed—he gives to the poor.
His righteousness stands forever.
His horn[d] will be lifted high in glory.
The End of the Wicked
10 The wicked person will see and be frustrated.
He will gnash his teeth and melt away.
The desire of the wicked will perish.
Psalm 113
The Mighty Deliverer
Invitation to Praise
1 Praise the Lord.[e]
Praise, you servants of the Lord,
praise the name of the Lord.
2 Let the name of the Lord be blessed, from now to eternity.
3 From the rising of the sun to its setting,
the name of the Lord is to be praised.
The Basis for Praise
4 High above all the nations is the Lord.
His glory towers above the heavens.
5 Who is like the Lord our God?
He is seated on high.
6 He bends down to look at the heavens and at the earth.
7 He raises the poor from the dust.
He lifts the needy from the garbage pile
8 to seat them with nobles,
with the nobles of his people.
9 He is the one who settles the barren woman in her home
as a joyful mother of children.
Praise the Lord.
Round One: Eliphaz’s Speech
4 Then Eliphaz the Temanite responded:
2 If someone ventures to have a word with you, will you grow impatient?
But who can refrain from speaking up?
3 You yourself have instructed many,
and you have strengthened weak hands.
4 Your words have raised up people who were stumbling,
and you have given support to buckling knees.
5 But now that this has happened to you, you grow impatient.
This strikes you and you are disturbed.
6 Shouldn’t your piety give you confidence?
Don’t your blameless ways give you reason to hope?
12 A word was delivered to me secretly.
My ears caught a whisper of it.
13 In the middle of anxious thoughts arising from visions in the night,
at the time when deep sleep falls upon people,
14 terror and trembling came over me
and made all my bones tremble.
15 A spirit[a] passed in front of my face.
The hair on my body stood on end.
16 A figure stood in front of me,
but I could not tell what it was.
A form stood before my eyes,
and I heard a quiet voice say,
17 “Can a person be righteous before God?
Can a man be pure before his Maker?”[b]
18 If God does not trust his own servants,
if he charges his messengers with error,
19 how much more those who dwell in clay houses,
whose foundations are in the dust,
who are crushed more quickly than a moth!
20 From dawn to dusk they are smashed to pieces.
They perish forever, and no one even notices.
21 Won’t the ropes that hold up their tents be pulled up,[c]
so that they die without gaining wisdom?
John’s Vision of God
4 After these things I looked, and there was a door opened in heaven! And the first voice that I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after these things.” 2 Immediately I was in spirit. And look! A throne was standing in heaven, and someone was sitting on the throne. 3 The one who was sitting there looked like a jasper stone and a ruby.[a] Around the throne there was a rainbow that looked like an emerald.
4 Also around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and sitting on those thrones were twenty-four elders dressed in white garments, with gold crowns on their heads. 5 Out of the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings, and crashes of thunder. In front of the throne seven flaming lamps were burning, which are the seven spirits of God. 6 Also in front of the throne was something resembling a glassy sea, which was like crystal.
In the middle, near the throne and around the throne, there were four living creatures, full of eyes in front and in back. 7 The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature was like an ox, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. 8 Each one of the four living creatures had six wings, and the wings were full of eyes all around and underneath.[b] Day and night, without pause, they keep saying:
Holy, holy, holy,
Lord God Almighty,
who was and who is and who is coming.
9 Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to him who sits on the throne, the one who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders bow down before him who sits on the throne. They worship the one who lives forever and ever and lay down their crowns in front of his throne as they say:
11 Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
to receive the glory and the honor and the power,
for you have created all things,
and because of your will they existed and were created.
A Prophet Without Honor
6 Jesus left there and went to his hometown. His disciples followed him. 2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue. Many who heard him were amazed. They asked, “Where did this man learn these things? What is this wisdom that has been given to this man? How is it that miracles such as these are performed by his hands? 3 Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.
4 Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his own relatives and in his own house.” 5 He could not do any miracles there except to lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 He was amazed at their unbelief. Then he went around the villages teaching.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.