Book of Common Prayer

God Is King

93 The Lord rules. He is dressed with great power. The Lord has dressed Himself with strength. For sure, the world is built to last. It will not be moved. ² Your throne is set up from long ago. You have always been. ³ The floods have lifted up, O Lord. The floods have lifted up their voice. The floods lift up their beating waves. ⁴ The Lord on high is more powerful than the sound of many waters and the strong waves of the sea. ⁵ Your Word is very sure. O Lord, Your house is holy forever.

A Call to Worship the Lord

96 Sing to the Lord a new song. Let all the earth sing to the Lord. ² Sing to the Lord. Honor His name. Make His saving power known from day to day. ³ Tell of His shining-greatness among the nations. Tell of His wonderful works among all the people. ⁴ For the Lord is great and should be given much praise. He is to be honored with fear above all gods. ⁵ For all the gods of the nations are false gods. But the Lord made the heavens. ⁶ Honor and great power are with Him. Strength and beauty are in His holy place.

⁷ Give to the Lord, O families of the nations, give to the Lord the honor and strength that He should have. ⁸ Give to the Lord the honor of His name. Bring a gift and come into His holy place. ⁹ Worship the Lord in holy clothing. May all the earth shake in fear before Him. ¹⁰ Say among the nations that the Lord rules. The world is built to last. It will not be moved. He will be right when He says who is guilty or not.

¹¹ Let the heavens be glad. And let the earth be full of joy. Let the sea and all that is in it make a loud noise. ¹² Let the fields and all that is in them be full of joy. Then all the trees of the land will sing for joy ¹³ before the Lord. For He is coming. He is coming to say who is guilty or not on the earth. He will be right in what He decides about the world. And He will be faithful to the people.

The Whole World Should Praise the Lord

148 Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens! Praise Him on high! ² Praise Him, all His angels! Praise Him, all His army! ³ Praise Him, sun and moon! Praise Him, all you shining stars! ⁴ Praise Him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens! ⁵ Let them praise the name of the Lord! For He spoke and they came into being. ⁶ He has made them last forever and ever. He has set a Law which will not pass away.

⁷ Praise the Lord from the earth, you large sea animals and all seas, ⁸ fire and hail, snow and clouds, and wind storms, obeying His Word. ⁹ Praise the Lord, you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all tall trees, ¹⁰ wild animals and all cattle, small animals that move on the ground and birds that fly, ¹¹ kings of the earth and all people, princes and all leaders of the earth, ¹² both young men and women who have never had men, and old men and children.

¹³ Let them praise the name of the Lord. For His name alone is honored. His shining-greatness is above earth and heaven. ¹⁴ He has raised up a horn for His people, praise for all who belong to Him, for the people of Israel, who are near to Him. Praise the Lord!

A Song of Praise

150 Praise the Lord! Praise God in His holy place! Praise Him in the heavens of His power! ² Praise Him for His great works! Praise Him for all His greatness!

³ Praise Him with the sound of a horn. Praise Him with harps. ⁴ Praise Him with timbrels and dancing. Praise Him with strings and horns. ⁵ Praise Him with loud sounds. Praise Him with loud and clear sounds. ⁶ Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!

¹⁷ Your eyes will see the King in His beauty. They will see a land that is far away. ¹⁸ Your heart will think about fear, asking, “Where is he who numbers? Where is he who weighs? Where is he who numbers the towers?” ¹⁹ You will not see people who show no pity, people whose language no one knows, whose strange tongue you cannot understand. ²⁰ Look upon Zion, the city of our special suppers! Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a quiet resting place, a tent that will not be moved. Its tie-downs will never be pulled up, and none of its ropes will be broken. ²¹ But there the Lord in His great power will be for us. It will be a place of rivers and wide waterways, where no rowboats can go, and where no powerful ships can pass. ²² For the Lord is our judge. The Lord is our law-giver. The Lord is our king. He will save us.

Jesus Is Coming Soon

⁶ Then the angel said to me, “These words are faithful and true. The Lord God of the early preachers has sent His angel to show the servants He owns what must happen soon.” ⁷ “See! I am coming soon. The one who obeys what is written in this Book is happy!”

⁸ It was I, John, who heard and saw these things. Then I got down at the feet of the angel who showed me these things. I was going to worship him. ⁹ But he said to me, “No! You must not do that. I am a servant together with you and with your Christian brothers and the early preachers and with all those who obey the words in this Book. You must worship God!” ¹⁰ Then he said to me, “Do not lock up the words of this Book. These things will happen soon. ¹¹ And let the sinful people keep on being sinful. Let the dirty-minded people keep on being dirty-minded. And let those right with God keep on being right with God. Let the holy people keep on being holy.

¹⁸ I am telling everyone who hears the words that are written in this book: If anyone adds anything to what is written in this book, God will add to him the kinds of trouble that this book tells about. ¹⁹ If anyone takes away any part of this book that tells what will happen in the future, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the Holy City, which are told about in this book.

²⁰ He Who tells these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon!” Let it be so. Come, Lord Jesus.

The Birth of John the Baptist

⁵⁷ When the time came, Elizabeth gave birth to a son. ⁵⁸ Her neighbors and family heard how the Lord had shown loving-kindness to her. They were happy for her. ⁵⁹ On the eighth day they did the religious act of the Jews on the child. They named him Zacharias, after his father. ⁶⁰ But his mother said, “No! His name is John.” ⁶¹ They said to her, “No one in your family has that name.”

⁶² Then they talked to his father with their hands to find out what he would name the child. ⁶³ He asked for something to write on. He wrote, “His name is John.” They were all surprised and wondered about it. ⁶⁴ Zacharias was able to talk from that time on and he gave thanks to God.

⁶⁵ All those who lived near them were afraid. The news of what had happened was told through all the hill country of Judea. ⁶⁶ And all who heard those words remembered them and said, “What is this child going to be?” For the hand of the Lord was on him.