Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 146[a]
Trust in God the Creator and Redeemer
1 Hallelujah!
2 Praise the Lord, my soul;
I will praise the Lord all my life,
sing praise to my God while I live.(A)
I
3 Put no trust in princes,
in children of Adam powerless to save.(B)
4 Who breathing his last, returns to the earth;
that day all his planning comes to nothing.(C)
II
5 Blessed the one whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord, his God,
6 The maker of heaven and earth,
the seas and all that is in them,(D)
Who keeps faith forever,
7 secures justice for the oppressed,(E)
who gives bread to the hungry.
The Lord sets prisoners free;(F)
8 the Lord gives sight to the blind.
The Lord raises up those who are bowed down;(G)
the Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord protects the resident alien,
comes to the aid of the orphan and the widow,(H)
but thwarts the way of the wicked.
10 The Lord shall reign forever,
your God, Zion, through all generations!(I)
Hallelujah!
Psalm 147[b]
God’s Word Restores Jerusalem
1 Hallelujah!
I
How good to sing praise to our God;
how pleasant to give fitting praise.(J)
2 The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem,
and gathers the dispersed of Israel,(K)
3 Healing the brokenhearted,
and binding up their wounds.(L)
4 He numbers the stars,
and gives to all of them their names.(M)
5 Great is our Lord, vast in power,
with wisdom beyond measure.(N)
6 The Lord gives aid to the poor,
but casts the wicked to the ground.(O)
II
7 Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
with the lyre make music to our God,(P)
8 [c]Who covers the heavens with clouds,
provides rain for the earth,
makes grass sprout on the mountains,(Q)
9 Who gives animals their food
and young ravens what they cry for.(R)
10 [d]He takes no delight in the strength of horses,
no pleasure in the runner’s stride.(S)
11 Rather the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him,
those who put their hope in his mercy.
III
12 Glorify the Lord, Jerusalem;
Zion, offer praise to your God,
13 For he has strengthened the bars of your gates,
blessed your children within you.(T)
14 He brings peace to your borders,
and satisfies you with finest wheat.(U)
15 [e]He sends his command to earth;
his word runs swiftly!(V)
16 Thus he makes the snow like wool,
and spreads the frost like ash;(W)
17 He disperses hail like crumbs.
Who can withstand his cold?
18 Yet when again he issues his command, it melts them;
he raises his winds and the waters flow.
19 He proclaims his word to Jacob,
his statutes and laws to Israel.(X)
20 He has not done this for any other nation;
of such laws they know nothing.
Hallelujah!
Psalm 148[f]
All Creation Summoned to Praise
1 Hallelujah!
I
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
praise him in the heights.
2 Praise him, all you his angels;
give praise, all you his hosts.(Y)
3 Praise him, sun and moon;
praise him, all shining stars.
4 Praise him, highest heavens,[g]
you waters above the heavens.
5 Let them all praise the Lord’s name;
for he commanded and they were created,(Z)
6 Assigned them their station forever,
set an order that will never change.
II
7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
you sea monsters and all the deeps of the sea;(AA)
8 Lightning and hail, snow and thick clouds,
storm wind that fulfills his command;
9 Mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars;(AB)
10 Animals wild and tame,
creatures that crawl and birds that fly;(AC)
11 Kings of the earth and all peoples,
princes and all who govern on earth;
12 Young men and women too,
old and young alike.
13 Let them all praise the Lord’s name,
for his name alone is exalted,
His majesty above earth and heaven.(AD)
14 [h]He has lifted high the horn of his people;
to the praise of all his faithful,
the Israelites, the people near to him.
Hallelujah!
Psalm 149[i]
Praise God with Song and Sword
1 Hallelujah!
Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise in the assembly of the faithful.(AE)
2 Let Israel be glad in its maker,
the people of Zion rejoice in their king.
3 Let them praise his name in dance,
make music with tambourine and lyre.[j](AF)
4 For the Lord takes delight in his people,
honors the poor with victory.
5 Let the faithful rejoice in their glory,
cry out for joy on their couches,[k]
6 With the praise of God in their mouths,
and a two-edged sword in their hands,(AG)
7 To bring retribution on the nations,
punishment on the peoples,(AH)
8 To bind their kings in shackles,
their nobles in chains of iron,
9 To execute the judgments decreed for them—
such is the glory[l] of all God’s faithful.
Hallelujah!
Chapter 37
Vision of the Dry Bones.[a] 1 The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he led me out in the spirit of the Lord and set me in the center of the broad valley. It was filled with bones. 2 He made me walk among them in every direction. So many lay on the surface of the valley! How dry they were! 3 He asked me: Son of man, can these bones come back to life? “Lord God,” I answered, “you alone know that.”(A) 4 Then he said to me: Prophesy over these bones, and say to them: Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Listen! I will make breath enter you so you may come to life. 6 I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow over you, cover you with skin, and put breath into you so you may come to life. Then you shall know that I am the Lord. 7 I prophesied as I had been commanded. A sound started up, as I was prophesying, rattling like thunder. The bones came together, bone joining to bone. 8 As I watched, sinews appeared on them, flesh grew over them, skin covered them on top, but there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me: Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man! Say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: From the four winds come, O breath, and breathe into these slain that they may come to life.[b](B) 10 I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath entered them; they came to life and stood on their feet, a vast army.(C) 11 He said to me: Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel! They are saying, “Our bones are dried up, our hope is lost, and we are cut off.” 12 Therefore, prophesy and say to them: Thus says the Lord God: Look! I am going to open your graves; I will make you come up out of your graves, my people, and bring you back to the land of Israel.(D) 13 You shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and make you come up out of them, my people! 14 I will put my spirit in you that you may come to life, and I will settle you in your land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord. I have spoken; I will do it—oracle of the Lord.(E)
Peter’s Speech. 11 As he clung to Peter and John, all the people hurried in amazement toward them in the portico called “Solomon’s Portico.”(A) 12 When Peter saw this, he addressed the people, “You Israelites, why are you amazed at this, and why do you look so intently at us as if we had made him walk by our own power or piety?(B) 13 The God of Abraham, [the God] of Isaac, and [the God] of Jacob, the God of our ancestors, has glorified[a] his servant Jesus whom you handed over and denied in Pilate’s presence, when he had decided to release him.(C) 14 You denied the Holy and Righteous One[b] and asked that a murderer be released to you.(D) 15 [c]The author of life you put to death, but God raised him from the dead; of this we are witnesses.(E) 16 And by faith in his name, this man, whom you see and know, his name has made strong, and the faith that comes through it has given him this perfect health, in the presence of all of you. 17 Now I know, brothers, that you acted out of ignorance,[d] just as your leaders did;(F) 18 but God has thus brought to fulfillment what he had announced beforehand through the mouth of all the prophets,[e] that his Messiah would suffer.(G) 19 Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be wiped away,(H) 20 and that the Lord may grant you times of refreshment and send you the Messiah already appointed for you, Jesus,[f] 21 whom heaven must receive until the times of universal restoration[g] of which God spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old. 22 For Moses said:[h]
‘A prophet like me will the Lord, your God, raise up for you
from among your own kinsmen;
to him you shall listen in all that he may say to you.(I)
23 Everyone who does not listen to that prophet
will be cut off from the people.’(J)
24 Moreover, all the prophets who spoke, from Samuel and those afterwards, also announced these days. 25 You are the children of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your ancestors when he said to Abraham, ‘In your offspring all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’(K) 26 For you first, God raised up his servant and sent him to bless you by turning each of you from your evil ways.”(L)
12 This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.(A) 13 [a]No one has greater love than this,(B) to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends,[b] because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.(C) 16 It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.(D) 17 This I command you: love one another.(E)
The World’s Hatred.[c] 18 “If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first.(F) 19 If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you.(G) 20 Remember the word I spoke to you,[d] ‘No slave is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.(H) 21 And they will do all these things to you on account of my name,[e] because they do not know the one who sent me.(I) 22 If I had not come and spoken[f] to them, they would have no sin; but as it is they have no excuse for their sin.(J) 23 Whoever hates me also hates my Father.(K) 24 If I had not done works among them that no one else ever did, they would not have sin; but as it is, they have seen and hated both me and my Father.(L) 25 But in order that the word written in their law[g] might be fulfilled, ‘They hated me without cause.’(M)
26 “When the Advocate comes whom I will send[h] you from the Father, the Spirit of truth that proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me.(N) 27 And you also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.(O)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.