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!
Amos is Called to Prophesy
1 The words of Amos,[a] who was among the sheep breeders of Tekoa, which he spoke[b] concerning Israel during the reign of[c] Uzziah, king of Judah and during the reign of[d] Joash’s son Jeroboam, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake.
2 He said, “From Zion the Lord roars,
and from Jerusalem he shouts aloud.
The shepherds’ pastures will languish,
and Carmel’s summit will wither.”
A Warning to Damascus
3 This is what the Lord says:
“For three transgressions of Damascus
—and now for a fourth—
I will not turn away;
because they have trampled down[e] Gilead
with ironclad threshing sleds.
4 So I will send down fire upon the house of Hazael,
and it will devour the palaces of Ben-hadad.
5 I will shatter the gate bars of Damascus,
and I will cut off the residents of the Aven Valley,
along with the one who holds the scepter from Beth-eden;
and the people of Aram will be exiled to Kir,”
says the Lord.
A Warning to Ammon
13 This is what the Lord says:
“For three transgressions of the Ammonites
—and now for a fourth—
I will not turn away;
because they ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead
in order to enlarge their national borders.[a]
14 So I will send down fire upon the wall of Rabbah,
and it will devour their fortified citadels
with an alarm sounding in the time of battle,
and with a whirlwind in the time of storm.
15 Their king will go into captivity—
he and his princes together,”
says the Lord.
A Warning to Moab
2 This is what the Lord says:
“For three transgressions of Moab
because they[b] cremated the bones of the king of Edom,
burning them[c] to lime.
2 So I will send down fire upon Moab,
and it will devour the fortified citadels of Kerioth.
Moab will die in the uproar of battle,[d]
with a war cry
and with the trumpeting of the ram’s horn.
3 I will execute their rulers among them,
killing all of their officials as well,”
says the Lord.
A Warning to Judah
4 This is what the Lord says:
“For three transgressions of Judah
—and now for a fourth—
I will not turn away;
because they[e] rejected the Law of the Lord
and did not keep his statutes.
Their own lies made them wander off,
following along the same path their ancestors walked.
5 So I will send down fire upon Judah,
and it will devour the fortified citadels of Jerusalem.”
A Warning to Israel
6 This is what the Lord says:
“For three transgressions of Israel
—and now for a fourth—
I will not turn away;
because they sold the righteous for money,
and the poor for sandals,
7 moving quickly[f] to rub the face[g] of the needy in the dirt.
Corrupting[h] the ways of the humble,
a man and his father go to the same woman,
deliberately defiling my holy name.
8 They lay down beside every altar,
on garments pledged as collateral,[i]
drinking wine paid for through fines
imposed by the temple of their gods.
Be Ready for the Day of the Lord
5 Now you do not need to have anything written to you about times and dates, brothers, 2 for you yourselves know very well that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 When people[a] say, “There is peace and security,” destruction will strike them as suddenly as labor pains come[b] to a pregnant woman, and they will not be able to escape.
4 However, brothers, you are not in the darkness, in order that the Day of the Lord[c] might surprise you like a thief. 5 For all of you are children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to darkness. 6 Therefore, let’s not fall asleep like others do, but let’s stay awake and be sober. 7 For people who go to sleep, go to sleep at night; and people who get drunk, get drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let’s be sober. We must put on the breastplate of faith and love, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. 9 For God has not destined us to receive[d] wrath but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus, the Messiah,[e] 10 who died for us in order that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. 11 So then, encourage one another and build each other up, as you are doing.
Jesus Predicts the Destruction of the Temple(A)
5 Now while some people were talking about the Temple—how it was decorated with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God—he said, 6 “As for these things that you’re seeing, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another that won’t be completely demolished.”
The Coming Wars and Revolutions(B)
7 Then they asked him, “Teacher, when will these things happen, and what is to be the sign when these things are about to take place?”
8 He said, “See to it that you aren’t deceived, because many will come in my name, proclaiming, ‘I AM,’ and, ‘The time has come.’ Don’t follow them. 9 But when you hear of wars and revolutions, don’t ever be terrified, because these sorts of things must take place first, but the end won’t come right away.”
10 Then he went on to say to them, “Nation will rise up in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11 In addition there will be great earthquakes, famines, and plagues in various places, as well as terrifying events, including significant signs from heaven.”
Future Persecutions(C)
12 “But before all these things, people[a] will arrest you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake, 13 in order to give you an opportunity to testify. 14 So purpose in your hearts not to prepare your defense ahead of time, 15 because I will give you the ability to speak, along with wisdom, that none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute. 16 You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends, and they will put some of you to death. 17 You will be hated continuously by everyone on account of my name. 18 And yet not a hair on your head will be lost. 19 But the person who endures to the end will be saved.”
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