Book of Common Prayer

Praise for God’s Goodness

147 Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God. For it is pleasing and praise is right. ² The Lord builds up Jerusalem. He gathers those of Israel who had been taken away. ³ He heals those who have a broken heart. He heals their sorrows. ⁴ He knows the number of the stars. He gives names to all of them. ⁵ Great is our Lord, and great in power. His understanding has no end. ⁶ The Lord lifts up those who are suffering, and He brings the sinful down to the ground.

⁷ Sing to the Lord with thanks. Sing praises to our God on the harp. ⁸ He covers the heavens with clouds. He gives rain for the earth. He makes grass grow on the mountains. ⁹ He gives food to the animals, and to the young ravens that cry. ¹⁰ His joy is not in the strength of a horse. He does not find joy in the legs of a man. ¹¹ But the Lord favors those who fear Him and those who wait for His loving-kindness.

¹² Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion! ¹³ For He has made your gates strong. He has made good come to your children within you. ¹⁴ He makes peace within your walls. He fills you with the best grain. ¹⁵ He sends His Word to the earth. And His Word runs fast. ¹⁶ He gives snow like wool. He spreads ice like ashes. ¹⁷ He throws down His ice as hail stones. Who can stand before His cold? ¹⁸ He sends out His Word and melts them. He makes His wind blow and the waters flow. ¹⁹ He speaks His Word to Jacob, and His Law to Israel. ²⁰ He has not done this with any other nation. They do not know His Law. Praise the Lord!

Gifts at Gathering Time

26 “When you go into the land the Lord your God gives you, it will be yours and you will live in it. ² You must take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you gather from the land the Lord your God gives you, and put it in a basket and go to the place where the Lord your God chooses to have His name. ³ Go to the religious leader who is working at that time, and say to him, ‘I make known this day to the Lord my God that I have come into the land which the Lord promised to our fathers to give us.’ ⁴ Then the religious leader will take the basket from your hand and set it down in front of the altar of the Lord your God. ⁵ And you will say before the Lord your God, ‘My father was a traveling Aramean. He went to Egypt, few in number, and stayed there. But there he became a nation, great, powerful, and with many people. ⁶ The Egyptians made it hard for us. They brought us much trouble and made us work very hard. ⁷ Then we cried to the Lord, the God of our fathers. The Lord heard our voice and saw our troubles, our work, and how hard our lives were. ⁸ And the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand and a long arm, causing much fear by doing powerful works. ⁹ He has brought us to this place. He has given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. ¹⁰ Now see, I have brought the first of the fruit of the ground that You have given me, O Lord.’ Then you will set it down before the Lord your God, and worship Him. ¹¹ You and the Levite and the stranger who is among you will be full of joy because of all the good the Lord your God has given you and those of your house.

²⁶ Jesus said to them, “For sure, I tell you, you are not looking for Me because of the powerful works. You are looking for Me because you ate bread and were filled. ²⁷ Do not work for food that does not last. Work for food that lasts forever. The Son of Man will give you that kind of food. God the Father has shown He will do this.”

Jesus Teaches about Doing the Work of God

²⁸ Then the people said to Him, “What are the works God wants us to do?” ²⁹ Jesus said to them, “This is the work of God, that you put your trust in the One He has sent.” ³⁰ They said to Him, “Can You show us some powerful work? Then we can see it and believe You. What will You do? ³¹ Our early fathers ate bread that came from heaven in the desert. This happened as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” ^(A)

Jesus Is the Bread of Life

³² Then Jesus said to the people, “For sure, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you bread from heaven. My Father gives you the true Bread from heaven. ³³ The Bread of God is He Who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” ³⁴ They said to Him, “Sir, give us this Bread all the time.”

³⁵ Jesus said to them, “I am the Bread of Life. He who comes to Me will never be hungry. He who puts his trust in Me will never be thirsty.

A Song of Praise

145 I will praise You, my God and King. I will honor Your name forever and ever. ² I will honor You every day, and praise Your name forever and ever. ³ The Lord is great and our praise to Him should be great. He is too great for anyone to understand. ⁴ Families of this time will praise Your works to the families-to-come. They will tell about Your powerful acts. ⁵ I will think about the shining-greatness of Your power and about Your great works. ⁶ Men will speak of Your powerful acts that fill us with fear. And I will tell of Your greatness. ⁷ Many words will come from their mouths about how good You are. They will sing for joy about how right You are.

⁸ The Lord is full of loving-favor and pity, slow to anger and great in loving-kindness. ⁹ The Lord is good to all. And His loving-kindness is over all His works. ¹⁰ All Your works will give thanks to You, O Lord. And all those who belong to You will honor You. ¹¹ They will speak of the shining-greatness of Your holy nation, and talk of Your power. ¹² They will make Your powerful acts and the great power of Your holy nation known to the sons of men. ¹³ Your holy nation is a nation that lasts forever. And Your rule lasts for all time.

¹⁴ The Lord holds up all who fall. He raises up all who are brought down. ¹⁵ The eyes of all look to You. And You give them their food at the right time. ¹⁶ You open Your hand and fill the desire of every living thing.

¹⁷ The Lord is right and good in all His ways, and kind in all His works. ¹⁸ The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth. ¹⁹ He will fill the desire of those who fear Him. He will also hear their cry and will save them. ²⁰ The Lord takes care of all who love Him. But He will destroy all the sinful. ²¹ My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord. And all flesh will honor His holy name forever and ever.

Christian Living

¹² We ask you, Christian brothers, to respect those who work among you. The Lord has placed them over you and they are your teachers. ¹³ You must think much of them and love them because of their work. Live in peace with each other.

¹⁴ We ask you, Christian brothers, speak to those who do not want to work. Comfort those who feel they cannot keep going on. Help the weak. Understand and be willing to wait for all men. ¹⁵ Do not let anyone pay back for the bad he received. But look for ways to do good to each other and to all people.

¹⁶ Be full of joy all the time. ¹⁷ Never stop praying. ¹⁸ In everything give thanks. This is what God wants you to do because of Christ Jesus. ¹⁹ Do not try to stop the work of the Holy Spirit. ²⁰ Do not laugh at those who speak for God. ²¹ Test everything and do not let good things get away from you. ²² Keep away from everything that even looks like sin.

²³ May the God of peace set you apart for Himself. May every part of you be set apart for God. May your spirit and your soul and your body be kept complete. May you be without blame when our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. ²⁴ The One Who called you is faithful and will do what He promised.