Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer for the Nation
80 Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel, You Who lead Joseph like a flock! You Who sit on Your throne above the angels, let Your light shine! 2 Stir up Your power in front of Ephraim and Benjamin and Manassah, and come to save us! 3 O God, bring us back to You. Make Your face shine upon us, that we may be saved.
4 O Lord God of all, how long will You be angry with the prayers of Your people? 5 You have fed them with the bread of tears. And You have made them drink a big amount of tears. 6 You have made us an object of arguing to our neighbors. Those who hate us laugh among themselves. 7 O God of all, bring us back to You. Make Your face shine upon us, and we will be saved.
8 You brought a vine out of Egypt. You drove out the nations, and You planted it. 9 You cleared the land for it. And its roots went deep and filled the land. 10 The mountains were covered with its shadow. And the tall trees were covered with its branches. 11 It sent out its branches to the sea, and its new branches to the River. 12 Why have You broken down its walls so that all who pass by pick its fruit? 13 The wild pig from among the trees eats it away. And whatever moves in the field eats from it.
14 O God of all, we beg You to return. Look down from heaven and see. Take care of this vine. 15 Take care of the root Your right hand has planted, and the branch that You have raised up for Yourself. 16 They have burned it with fire. It is cut down. May they be lost when they hear Your strong words. 17 Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand, the son of man you have made strong for Yourself. 18 Then we will not turn away from You. Give us new life again, and we will call on Your name. 19 O Lord God of all, bring us back to You. Make Your face shine upon us, and we will be saved.
The Lord—Our Helper
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 live. 3 Do not put your trust in princes, in a son of a man, who cannot save us. 4 When his spirit leaves, he returns to the earth. His thoughts end on that day. 5 Happy is he whose help is the God of Jacob, and whose hope is in the Lord his God. 6 The Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them. He is faithful forever. 7 He helps those who have a bad power over them. He gives food to the hungry. And He sets those in prison free.
8 The Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord raises up those who are brought down. The Lord loves those who are right and good. 9 The Lord keeps the strangers safe. He takes care of the children who have no father and the woman whose husband has died. But He destroys the way of the sinful. 10 The Lord will rule forever. Your God, O Zion, will rule over all people for all time. Praise the Lord!
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!
13 The Lord said, “These people show respect to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. Their worship of Me is worth nothing. They teach rules that men have made. 14 So see, I will once again do great things with these people, great and wonderful things. And the wisdom of their wise men will be gone. The understanding of their wise men will be hidden.”
Hope for the Future
15 It is bad for those who try to hide their plans from the Lord, and whose works are done in a dark place. They say, “Who sees us?” or, “Who knows us?” 16 You turn things up-side-down! Is the pot-maker the same as the clay? Should what is made say to its maker, “He did not make me”? Should what is made say to him who made it, “He has no understanding”?
17 Is it not yet a very little while before Lebanon will be turned into a rich good field? The rich good field will be thought of as being full of many trees. 18 In that day those who cannot hear will hear the words of a book. And the eyes of the blind will see out of the darkness. 19 Those who have suffered will be happier in the Lord. Those who are in need will have joy in the Holy One of Israel. 20 For those who show no pity will come to an end. And those who laugh at the truth will be stopped. All who want to be sinful will be cut off. 21 Those who say something to make a man seem to be in the wrong, and who trap the one who acts as a judge at the gate, and who tell lies to cause a good man to be punished, will be cut off.
22 So this is what the Lord, Who made Abraham free, said about the family of Jacob: “Jacob will not be ashamed. No more will their faces become white with fear. 23 But when they see their children with them, the work of My hands, they will keep My Name holy, and will give honor to the Holy One of Jacob. They will stand in wonder of the God of Israel. 24 Those who do wrong in spirit will understand the truth. And those who complain will receive teaching.”
22 I did not see a house of God in the city. The All-powerful Lord God and the Lamb are the house of God in this city. 23 There is no need for the sun and moon to shine in the city. The shining-greatness of God makes it full of light. The Lamb is its light. 24 The nations will walk by its light. The kings of the earth will bring their greatness into it. 25 The gates are open all day. They will never be shut. There will be no night there. 26 The greatness and honor of all the nations will be brought into it. 27 Nothing sinful will go into the city. No one who is sinful-minded or tells lies can go in. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life can go in.
More About the New Jerusalem
22 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life. It was as clear as glass and came from the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 It runs down the center of the street in the city. On each side of the river was the tree of life. It gives twelve different kinds of fruit. It gives this fruit twelve times a year, new fruit each month. Its leaves are used to heal the nations.
3 There will be nothing in the city that is sinful. The place where God and the Lamb sit will be there. The servants He owns will serve Him. 4 They will see His face and His name will be written on their foreheads. 5 There will be no night there. There will be no need for a light or for the sun. Because the Lord God will be their light. They will be leaders forever.
Mary Visits Elizabeth
39 At once Mary went from there to a town in the hill country of Judea. 40 She went to the house of Zacharias to see Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary speak, the baby moved in her body. At the same time Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.
42 Elizabeth spoke in a loud voice, “You are honored among women! Your Child is honored! 43 Why has this happened to me? Why has the mother of my Lord come to me? 44 As soon as I heard your voice, the baby in my body moved for joy. 45 You are happy because you believed. Everything will happen as the Lord told you it would happen.”
Mary’s Song of Thanks
46 Then Mary said, “My heart sings with thanks for my Lord. 47 And my spirit is happy in God, the One Who saves from the punishment of sin. 48 The Lord has looked on me, His servant-girl and one who is not important. But from now on all people will honor me.
48 The Lord has looked on me, His servant-girl and one who is not important. But from now on all people will honor me. 49 He Who is powerful has done great things for me. His name is holy. 50 The loving-kindness of the Lord is given to the people of all times who honor Him. 51 He has done powerful works with His arm. He has divided from each other those who have pride in their hearts. 52 He has taken rulers down from their thrones. He has put those who are in a place that is not important to a place that is important. 53 He has filled those who are hungry with good things. He has sent the rich people away with nothing. 54 He has helped Israel His servant. This was done to remember His loving-kindness. 55 He promised He would do this to our early fathers and to Abraham and to his family forever.” 56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth about three months. Then she went to her own home.
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