Book of Common Prayer
The Lord Is King
1 Our Lord, you are King!
Majesty and power
are your royal robes.
You put the world in place,
and it will never be moved.
2 You have always ruled,
and you are eternal.
3 The ocean is roaring, Lord!
The sea is pounding hard.
4 Its mighty waves are majestic,
but you are even more majestic,
and you rule over all.
5 Your decisions are firm,
and your temple will always
be beautiful and holy.
Sing a New Song to the Lord
1 Sing a new song to the Lord!
Everyone on this earth,
sing praises to the Lord,
2 sing and praise his name.
Day after day announce,
“The Lord has saved us!”
3 Tell every nation on earth,
“The Lord is wonderful
and does marvelous things!
4 The Lord is great and deserves
our greatest praise!
He is the only God
worthy of our worship.
5 Other nations worship idols,
but the Lord created
the heavens.
6 Give honor and praise
to the Lord,
whose power and beauty
fill his holy temple.”
7 (A) Tell everyone of every nation,
“Praise the glorious power
of the Lord.
8 He is wonderful! Praise him
and bring an offering
into his temple.
9 Everyone on earth, now tremble
and worship the Lord,
majestic and holy.”
10 Announce to the nations,
“The Lord is King!
The world stands firm,
never to be shaken,
and he will judge its people
with fairness.”
11 Tell the heavens and the earth
to be glad and celebrate!
Command the ocean to roar
with all its creatures
12 and the fields to rejoice
with all their crops.
Then every tree in the forest
will sing joyful songs
13 to the Lord.
He is coming to judge
all people on earth
with fairness and truth.
Come Praise the Lord
1 Shout praises to the Lord!
Shout the Lord's praises
in the highest heavens.
2 All of you angels,
and all who serve him above,
come and offer praise.
3 Sun and moon,
and all of you bright stars,
come and offer praise.
4 Highest heavens, and the water
above the highest heavens,[a]
come and offer praise.
5 Let all things praise
the name of the Lord,
because they were created
at his command.
6 He made them to last forever,
and nothing can change
what he has done.[b]
7 All creatures on earth,
you obey his commands,
so come praise the Lord!
8 Sea monsters and the deep sea,
fire and hail, snow and frost,
and every stormy wind,
come praise the Lord!
9 All mountains and hills,
fruit trees and cedars,
10 every wild and tame animal,
all reptiles and birds,
come praise the Lord!
11 Every king and every ruler,
all nations on earth,
12 every man and every woman,
young people and old,
come praise the Lord!
13 All creation, come praise
the name of the Lord.
Praise his name alone.
The glory of God is greater
than heaven and earth.
14 Like a bull with mighty horns,
the Lord protects
his faithful nation Israel,
because they belong to him.
Shout praises to the Lord!
The Lord Is Good to His People
1 Shout praises to the Lord!
Praise God in his temple.
Praise him in heaven,
his mighty fortress.
2 Praise our God!
His deeds are wonderful,
too marvelous to describe.
3 Praise God with trumpets
and all kinds of harps.
4 Praise him with tambourines
and dancing,
with stringed instruments
and woodwinds.
5 Praise God with cymbals,
with clashing cymbals.
6 Let every living creature
praise the Lord.
Shout praises to the Lord!
The Lord Is Our King
17 With your own eyes
you will see the glorious King;
you will see his kingdom
reaching far and wide.
18 Then you will ask yourself,
“Where are those officials
who terrified us and forced us
to pay such heavy taxes?”
19 You will never again have to see
the proud people who spoke
a strange and foreign language
you could not understand.
20 Look to Mount Zion
where we celebrate
our religious festivals.
You will see Jerusalem,
secure as a tent with pegs
that cannot be pulled up
and fastened with ropes
that can never be broken.
21 Our wonderful Lord
will be with us!
There will be deep rivers
and wide streams
safe from enemy ships.[a]
The Lord Is Our Judge
22 The Lord is our judge
and our ruler;
the Lord is our king
and will keep us safe.
The Coming of Christ
6 Then I was told:
These words are true and can be trusted. The Lord God controls the spirits of his prophets, and he is the one who sent his angel to show his servants what must happen very soon. 7 Remember, I am coming soon! God will bless everyone who pays attention to the message of this book.
8 My name is John, and I am the one who heard and saw these things. Then after I had heard and seen all this, I knelt down and began to worship at the feet of the angel who had shown it to me.
9 But the angel said,
Don't do that! I am a servant, just like you. I am the same as a follower or a prophet or anyone else who obeys what is written in this book. God is the one you should worship.
10 Don't keep the prophecies in this book a secret. These things will happen soon.
11 (A) Evil people will keep on being evil, and everyone who is dirty-minded will still be dirty-minded. But good people will keep on doing right, and God's people will always be holy.
18 (A) Here is my warning for everyone who hears the prophecies in this book:
If you add anything to them, God will make you suffer all the terrible troubles written in this book. 19 If you take anything away from these prophecies, God will not let you have part in the life-giving tree and in the holy city described in this book.
20 The one who has spoken these things says, “I am coming soon!”
So, Lord Jesus, please come soon!
The Birth of John the Baptist
57 When Elizabeth's son was born, 58 her neighbors and relatives heard how kind the Lord had been to her, and they too were glad.
59 (A) Eight days later they did for the child what the Law of Moses commands.[a] They were going to name him Zechariah, after his father. 60 But Elizabeth said, “No! His name is John.”
61 The people argued, “No one in your family has ever been named John.” 62 So they motioned to Zechariah to find out what he wanted to name his son.
63 Zechariah asked for a writing tablet. Then he wrote, “His name is John.” Everyone was amazed. 64 At once, Zechariah started speaking and praising God.
65 All the neighbors were frightened because of what had happened, and everywhere in the hill country people kept talking about these things. 66 Everyone who heard about this wondered what this child would grow up to be. They knew the Lord was with him.
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