Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 148
1 Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
praise Him in the heights.
2 Praise Him, all His angels;
praise Him, all His heavenly hosts.
3 Praise Him, sun and moon;
praise Him, all you stars of light.
4 Praise Him, you highest of heavens,
and you waters that are above the skies.
5 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for He commanded, and they were created.
6 He has also established them forever and ever;
He has made a decree that shall not pass away.
7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
you great sea creatures, and all you depths,
8 fire and hail, snow and mist,
storming wind fulfilling His word,
9 mountains and all hills,
fruitful trees and all cedars;
10 animals and all cattle,
creeping things and flying birds;
11 kings of the earth and all peoples,
princes and all rulers of the earth;
12 both young men and maidens,
old men and children.
13 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for His name alone is excellent;
His glory is above the earth and heaven.
14 He has raised up a victory horn for His people,
praise for all His saints,
even for the people of Israel near Him.
Praise the Lord!
Psalm 149
1 Praise the Lord!
Sing unto the Lord a new song,
and His praise in the assembly of the godly ones.
2 Let Israel rejoice in its Maker;
let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.
3 Let them praise His name with dancing;
let them sing praises unto Him with the tambourine and harp.
4 For the Lord takes pleasure in His people;
He will beautify the meek with salvation.
5 Let the godly ones be joyful in glory;
let them sing for joy on their beds.
6 Let the high praises of God be in their mouths,
and two-edged swords in their hands,
7 to execute vengeance on the nations,
and punishments on the peoples;
8 to bind their kings with chains,
and their nobles with shackles of iron;
9 to execute upon them the written judgment;
this is honor for all His godly ones.
Praise the Lord!
Psalm 150
1 Praise the Lord!
Praise God in His sanctuary;
praise Him in the firmament of His power!
2 Praise Him for His mighty acts;
praise Him according to His excellent greatness!
3 Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet;
praise Him with the lyre and harp!
4 Praise Him with the tambourine and dancing;
praise Him with stringed instruments and flute!
5 Praise Him with loud cymbals;
praise Him with the clanging cymbals!
6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord!
Psalm 114
1 When Israel went out of Egypt,
the house of Jacob from a people of strange language,
2 Judah was His sanctuary,
and Israel His dominion.
3 The sea saw it and fled;
the Jordan was driven back;
4 the mountains skipped like rams
and the hills like lambs.
5 What alarmed you, O sea, that you fled,
O Jordan, that you turned back,
6 O mountains, that you skipped like rams,
O hills, like lambs?
7 Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Jacob
8 who turned the rock into a pool of water,
the hard stone into a spring of waters.
Psalm 115(A)
1 Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us,
but unto Your name give glory,
for the sake of Your mercy, and for the sake of Your truth.
2 Why should the nations say,
“Where now is their God?”
3 But our God is in the heavens;
He does whatever He pleases.
4 Their idols are silver and gold,
the work of men’s hands.
5 They have mouths, but they cannot speak;
eyes, but they cannot see;
6 they have ears, but they cannot hear;
noses, but they cannot smell;
7 they have hands, but they cannot feel;
feet, but they cannot walk;
neither can they speak with their throat.
8 Those who make them are like them;
so is everyone who trusts in them.
9 O Israel, trust in the Lord;
He is their help and their shield.
10 O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord;
He is their help and their shield.
11 You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord;
He is their help and their shield.
12 The Lord has been mindful of us; He will bless us;
He will bless the house of Israel;
He will bless the house of Aaron.
13 He will bless those who fear the Lord,
both the small and great ones.
14 The Lord shall increase you more and more,
you and your children.
15 You are blessed of the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
16 The heavens belong to the Lord,
but the earth He has given to the children of men.
17 The dead do not praise the Lord,
nor do any who go down into silence.
18 But we will bless the Lord
from this time and for evermore.
Praise the Lord!
Nebuchadnezzar’s Second Dream
4 Nebuchadnezzar the king,
to all peoples, nations, and languages, who dwell in all the earth:
Peace be multiplied to you.
2 I thought it good to declare the signs and wonders that the Most High God has done for me.
3 How great are His signs,
and how mighty are His wonders!
His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and His dominion is from generation to generation.
4 I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at rest in my house, and flourishing in my palace. 5 I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me. 6 Therefore I made a decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream. 7 Then came in the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers, and I told the dream before them; but they did not make known to me its interpretation.
8 But at the last Daniel came in before me, whose name was Belteshazzar according to the name of my god and in whom is the Spirit of the Holy God, and before him I told the dream, saying, 9 “Belteshazzar, master of the magicians, because I know that the Spirit of the Holy God is in you and no secret troubles you, tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen, and its interpretation. 10 Now these were the visions of my mind while on my bed: I saw a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height was great. 11 The tree grew and became strong, and its height reached heaven, and it was visible to the end of all the earth. 12 Its leaves were fair, and its fruit much, and in it was food for all. The animals of the field had shadow under it, and the fowl of the heavens lived in its boughs, and all flesh was fed of it.
13 “I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and there was a holy watcher coming down from heaven. 14 He cried aloud and said thus: ‘Hew down the tree and cut off its branches, shake off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the animals get away from under it, and the fowl from its branches. 15 Nevertheless leave the stump of its roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and bronze, in the tender grass of the field.
“ ‘And let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let its portion be with the animals in the grass of the earth. 16 Let its heart be changed from that of a man, let him be given the heart of an animal. And let seven periods of time pass over it.
17 “ ‘This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones, in order that the living may know that the Most High rules over the kingdom of men and gives it to whomever He wills and sets up over it the basest of men.’
18 “This dream I, King Nebuchadnezzar, have seen. Now you, Belteshazzar, tell its interpretation to me, because all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known to me the interpretation. But you are able, for the Spirit of the Holy God is in you.”
7 The end of all things is near. Therefore be solemn and sober so you can pray. 8 Above all things, have unfailing love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Show hospitality to one another without complaining. 10 As everyone has received a gift, even so serve one another with it, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 11 If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone serves, let him serve with the strength that God supplies, so that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Jesus and Peter
15 So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?”
He said to Him, “Yes, Lord. You know that I love You.”
He said to him, “Feed My lambs.”
16 He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?”
He said to Him, “Yes, Lord. You know that I love You.”
He said to him, “Tend My sheep.”
17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?”
Peter was grieved because He asked him the third time, “Do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Lord, You know everything. You know that I love You.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep. 18 Truly, truly I say to you, when you were young, you dressed yourself and walked where you desired. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” 19 He said this, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. When He had said this, He said to him, “Follow Me.”
Jesus and the Beloved Disciple
20 Peter turned and saw following them the disciple whom Jesus loved, who also leaned against His bosom at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray You?” 21 When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?”
22 Jesus said to him, “If it is My will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow Me!” 23 The saying went out among the brothers that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, “If it is My will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?”
24 This is the disciple who testifies about these things, and wrote these things. We know that his testimony is true.
25 There are also many other things which Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that not even the world itself could contain the books that would be written. Amen.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.