Book of Common Prayer
Praise to God the Help of Israel
146 Hallelujah!
Praise the Lord, my soul!
2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live,
singing praises to my God while I exist.
3 Do not look to nobles,
nor to mere human beings who cannot save.
4 When they stop breathing,
they return to the ground;
on that very day their plans evaporate!
5 Happy is the one whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
6 maker of heaven and earth,
the seas and everything in them,
forever the guardian of truth,
7 who brings justice for the oppressed,
and who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord frees the prisoners;
8 the Lord gives sight to the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are weighed down.
The Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord stands guard over the stranger;
he supports both widows and orphans,
but makes the path of the wicked slippery.[a]
10 The Lord will reign forever,
your God, Zion, for all generations!
Hallelujah!
Praise for God’s Provision
147 Hallelujah!
It is good to sing praise to our God,
and it is fitting to sing glorious praise.
2 The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem;
he gathers together the outcasts of Israel.
3 He heals the brokenhearted,
binding up their injuries.
4 He keeps track of the number of stars,
assigning names to all of them.
5 Our Lord is great,
and rich in power;
his understanding has no limitation.
6 The Lord supports the afflicted
while he casts the wicked to the ground.
7 Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving,
and compose music to our God with the lyre.
8 He shields the heavens with clouds,
preparing rain for the earth
and making grass grow on the hills.
9 He gives wild animals their food,
including the young ravens when they cry.
10 He takes no delight in the strength of a horse,
and gains no pleasure in the runner’s swiftness.[b]
11 But the Lord is pleased with those who fear him,
with those who depend on his gracious love.
12 Glorify the Lord, Jerusalem!
Praise your God, Zion!
13 For he has strengthened the bars of your gates,
blessing your children within you.
14 He grants peace within your borders,
satisfying[c] you with the finest of wheat.
15 He sends out his command to the earth,
making[d] his word go forth quickly.
16 He supplies snow like wool,
scattering frost like ashes.
17 He casts down his ice crystals like bread[e] fragments.
Who can endure his freezing cold?
18 He sends out his word
and melts them.
He makes his wind blow
and the water flows.
19 He declares his words to Jacob,
his statutes and decrees to Israel.
20 He has not dealt with any other nation like this;
they never knew[f] his decrees.
Hallelujah!
Praise for God’s Amazing Deeds[a]
111 Hallelujah!
I will give thanks to the Lord with all of my heart
in the assembled congregation of the upright.
2 Great are the acts of the Lord;
they are within reach of[b] all who desire them.
3 Splendid and glorious are his awesome deeds,
and his righteousness endures forever.
4 He is remembered for his awesome deeds;
the Lord is gracious and compassionate.
5 He prepares food[c] for those who fear him;
he is ever mindful of his covenant.
6 He revealed his mighty deeds to his people
by giving them a country of their own.[d]
7 Whatever he does is[e] reliable and just,
and all his precepts are trustworthy,
8 sustained through all eternity,
and fashioned in both truth and righteousness.
9 He sent deliverance to his people;
he ordained his covenant to last forever;
his name is holy and awesome.
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
sound understanding belongs to those who practice it.
Praise of God[f] endures forever.
The Gracious Person[g]
112 Hallelujah!
How happy is the person who fears the Lord,
who truly delights in his commandments.
2 His descendants will be powerful in the land,
a generation of the upright who will be blessed.
3 Wealth and riches are in his house,
and his righteousness endures forever.
4 A light shines in the darkness for the upright,
for the one who is gracious, compassionate, and just.
5 It is good for the person who lends generously,
conducting his affairs with fairness.
6 He will never be shaken;
the one who is just will always be remembered.
7 He need not fear a bad report,
for his heart is unshaken, since he trusts in the Lord.
8 His heart is steadfast, he will not fear.
In the end he will look in triumph over his enemy.
9 He gives generously to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever;
his horn is exalted in honor.
10 The wicked person sees this and flies into a rage;
his teeth gnash and wear away.
The desire of the wicked will amount to nothing.
Praise to the Loving God
113 Hallelujah!
Give praise, you servants of the Lord.
Praise the name of the Lord!
2 May the name of the Lord be blessed
from now to eternity.
3 From rising[h] to setting[i] sun,
may the name of the Lord be praised.
4 The Lord is exalted high above all the nations;
his glory beyond the heavens.
5 Who is like the Lord our God,
enthroned on high,
6 yet stooping low to observe
the sky and the earth?
7 He lifts the poor person from the dust,
raising the needy from the trash pile
8 and giving him a seat among nobles—
with the nobles of his people.
9 He makes the barren woman among her household
a happy mother of joyful children.
Hallelujah!
Jeremiah’s Scroll Read in the Temple
36 In the fourth year of the reign of[a] Josiah’s son King Jehoiakim of Judah, this message came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Take a scroll and write on it all the words that I’ve spoken to you about Israel, about Judah, and about all the nations, since I first spoke to you[b] in the time of Josiah until the present time. 3 Perhaps the house of Judah will hear about all the calamity that I’m planning to bring on them, and so each of them will turn from his wicked way and I’ll forgive their iniquities and sins.”
4 Jeremiah summoned Neriah’s son Baruch and at Jeremiah’s dictation, Baruch wrote on the scroll all the words of the Lord that he had spoken to him.
5 Jeremiah instructed Baruch, “I’m confined and can’t go to the Lord’s Temple. 6 You go and read the words of the Lord that you wrote at my dictation from the scroll. Read them[c] to[d] the people at the Lord’s Temple on the fast day. Also read them to all the people of Judah who are coming from their towns. 7 Perhaps their pleas for help will come to the Lord’s attention, and each of them will turn from his evil lifestyle in light of the great anger and wrath that the Lord has declared against this people.” 8 So Neriah’s son Baruch did just as Jeremiah the prophet instructed him, reading the words of the Lord from the scroll at the Lord’s Temple.
9 In the ninth month of the fifth year of the reign of[e] Josiah’s son Jehoiakim, king of Judah, a fast was proclaimed in the Lord’s presence in Jerusalem for all the people of Jerusalem, as well as all the people who were coming from the towns of Judah. 10 Baruch read the words of Jeremiah from the scroll to[f] all the people at the Lord’s Temple. He did this[g] from the office of Shaphan’s son Gemariah the scribe, in the upper court at the entrance of the New Gate of the Lord’s Temple.
Paul and Barnabas in Lystra
8 Now in Lystra there was a man sitting down who couldn’t use his feet. He had been crippled from birth and had never walked. 9 He was listening to Paul as he spoke. Paul[a] watched him closely, and when he saw that he had faith to be healed, 10 he said in a loud voice, “Stand up straight on your feet!” Then the man[b] jumped up and began to walk.
11 When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have become like men and have come down to us!” 12 They began to call Barnabas Zeus, and Paul Hermes, because he was the main speaker. 13 The priest of the temple of Zeus, which was just outside the city, brought bulls and garlands to the gates. He and the crowds wanted to offer sacrifices.
14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting, 15 “Men, why are you doing this? We are merely human beings with natures like yours. We are telling you the good news so you’ll turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them.[c] 16 In past generations he allowed all the nations to go their own ways, 17 yet he has not abandoned his witness: he continues to do good, to give you rain from heaven, to give you[d] fruitful seasons, and to fill you with food and your hearts with joy.” 18 Even by saying this, it was all Paul and Barnabas[e] could do to keep the crowds from offering sacrifices to them.
Jesus Forgives a Sinful Woman
36 Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus[a] to eat with him. So he went to the Pharisee’s home and took his place at the table. 37 There was a woman who was a notorious[b] sinner in that city. When she learned that Jesus[c] was eating at the Pharisee’s home, she took an alabaster jar of perfume 38 and knelt at his feet behind him. She was crying and began to wash his feet with her tears and dry them with her hair.[d] Then she kissed his feet over and over again, anointing them constantly with the perfume.
39 Now the Pharisee who had invited Jesus[e] saw this and told himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who is touching him and what kind of woman she is. She’s a sinner!”
40 Jesus told him, “Simon, I have something to ask you.”
“Teacher,” he replied, “ask it.”
41 “Two men were in debt to a moneylender. One owed him 500 denarii,[f] and the other 50. 42 When they couldn’t pay it back, he generously canceled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?”
43 Simon answered, “I suppose the one who had the larger debt canceled.”
Jesus[g] told him, “You have answered correctly.”
44 Then, turning to the woman, he told Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You didn’t give me any water for my feet, but this woman has washed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. 45 You didn’t give me a kiss,[h] but this woman, from the moment I came in, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You didn’t anoint my head with oil, but this woman has anointed my feet with perfume. 47 So I’m telling you that her sins, as many as they are, have been forgiven, and that’s why she has shown such great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven loves little.”
48 Then Jesus[i] told her, “Your sins are forgiven!”
49 Those who were at the table with them began to say among themselves, “Who is this man who even forgives sins?”
50 But Jesus[j] told the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”
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