Book of Common Prayer
Great Is the Lord
[a] A Song of Praise. Of David.
145 (A)I will extol you, my God and (B)King,
and bless your name forever and ever.
2 Every day I will bless you
(C)and praise your name forever and ever.
3 (D)Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
and his (E)greatness is unsearchable.
4 (F)One generation shall commend your works to another,
and shall declare your mighty acts.
5 On (G)the glorious splendor of your majesty,
and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.
6 They shall speak of (H)the might of your awesome deeds,
and I will declare your greatness.
7 They shall pour forth the fame of your (I)abundant goodness
and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.
8 The Lord is (J)gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 The Lord is (K)good to all,
and his mercy is over all that he has made.
10 (L)All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord,
and all your (M)saints shall bless you!
11 They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom
and tell of your power,
12 to (N)make known to the children of man your[b] (O)mighty deeds,
and (P)the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
13 (Q)Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures throughout all generations.
[The Lord is faithful in all his words
and kind in all his works.][c]
14 The Lord (R)upholds all who are falling
and (S)raises up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all (T)look to you,
and you give them their food in due season.
16 You (U)open your hand;
you (V)satisfy the desire of every living thing.
17 The Lord is (W)righteous in all his ways
and (X)kind in all his works.
18 The Lord is (Y)near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him (Z)in truth.
19 He (AA)fulfills the desire of those who fear him;
he also (AB)hears their cry and saves them.
20 The Lord (AC)preserves all who love him,
but all the wicked he will destroy.
21 My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord,
and (AD)let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.
O Lord My God, You Are Very Great
104 (A)Bless the Lord, O my soul!
O Lord my God, you are (B)very great!
(C)You are clothed with splendor and majesty,
2 covering yourself with light as with a garment,
(D)stretching out the heavens (E)like a tent.
3 He (F)lays the beams of his (G)chambers on the waters;
he makes (H)the clouds his chariot;
he rides on (I)the wings of the wind;
4 he (J)makes his messengers winds,
his (K)ministers (L)a flaming fire.
5 He (M)set the earth on its foundations,
so that it should never be moved.
6 You (N)covered it with the deep as with a garment;
the waters stood above the mountains.
7 At (O)your rebuke they fled;
at (P)the sound of your thunder they (Q)took to flight.
8 The mountains rose, the valleys sank down
to the place that you (R)appointed for them.
9 You set (S)a boundary that they may not pass,
so that they (T)might not again cover the earth.
10 You make springs gush forth in the valleys;
they flow between the hills;
11 they (U)give drink to every beast of the field;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell;
they sing among the branches.
13 (V)From your lofty abode you (W)water the mountains;
the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.
14 You cause (X)the grass to grow for the livestock
and (Y)plants for man to cultivate,
that he may bring forth (Z)food from the earth
15 and (AA)wine to gladden the heart of man,
(AB)oil to make his face shine
and bread to (AC)strengthen man's heart.
16 The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly,
(AD)the cedars of Lebanon (AE)that he planted.
17 In them the birds build their nests;
the stork has her home in the fir trees.
18 The high mountains are for (AF)the wild goats;
the rocks are a refuge for (AG)the rock badgers.
19 He made the moon to mark the (AH)seasons;[a]
the sun knows its time for setting.
20 (AI)You make darkness, and it is night,
when all the beasts of the forest creep about.
21 (AJ)The young lions roar for their prey,
seeking their food from God.
22 When the sun rises, they steal away
and lie down in their (AK)dens.
23 (AL)Man goes out to his work
and to his labor until the evening.
24 O Lord, how manifold are your works!
In (AM)wisdom have you made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.
25 Here is the sea, great and wide,
(AN)which teems with creatures innumerable,
living things both small and great.
26 There go the ships,
and (AO)Leviathan, which you formed to (AP)play in it.[b]
27 These (AQ)all look to you,
to (AR)give them their food in due season.
28 When you give it to them, they gather it up;
when you (AS)open your hand, they are filled with good things.
29 When you (AT)hide your face, they are (AU)dismayed;
when you (AV)take away their breath, they die
and (AW)return to their dust.
30 When you (AX)send forth your Spirit,[c] they are created,
and you (AY)renew the face of the ground.
31 May the glory of the Lord (AZ)endure forever;
may the Lord (BA)rejoice in his works,
32 who looks on the earth and it (BB)trembles,
who (BC)touches the mountains and they smoke!
33 I will sing to the Lord (BD)as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
34 May my (BE)meditation be pleasing to him,
for I rejoice in the Lord.
35 Let (BF)sinners be consumed from the earth,
and let the wicked be no more!
(BG)Bless the Lord, O my soul!
(BH)Praise the Lord!
Pillars of Cloud and Fire
17 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did (A)not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, “Lest the people (B)change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.” 18 But God (C)led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle. 19 Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for Joseph[a] had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, (D)“God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones with you from here.” 20 And (E)they moved on from Succoth and encamped at Etham, on the edge of the wilderness. 21 And (F)the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. 22 The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.
Crossing the Red Sea
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell the people of Israel to (G)turn back and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between (H)Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall encamp facing it, by the sea. 3 For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, ‘They are wandering in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’ 4 And (I)I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them, and I will (J)get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, (K)and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.” And they did so.
16 So we do not lose heart. (A)Though our outer self[a] is wasting away, (B)our inner self (C)is being renewed day by day. 17 For (D)this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 (E)as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
Our Heavenly Dwelling
5 For we know that if (F)the tent that is (G)our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, (H)a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this tent (I)we groan, longing to (J)put on our heavenly dwelling, 3 if indeed by putting it on[b] we may not be found naked. 4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal (K)may be swallowed up by life. 5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, (L)who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
6 So we are always of good courage. We know that (M)while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for (N)we walk by faith, not (O)by sight. 8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we (P)would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to (Q)please him. 10 For (R)we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, (S)so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
The Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection
18 And (A)Sadducees came to him, (B)who say that there is no resurrection. And they asked him a question, saying, 19 “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that (C)if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife, but leaves no child, the man[a] must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 20 There were seven brothers; the first took a wife, and when he died left no offspring. 21 And the second took her, and died, leaving no offspring. And the third likewise. 22 And the seven left no offspring. Last of all the woman also died. 23 In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as wife.”
24 Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because (D)you know neither the Scriptures nor (E)the power of God? 25 For when they rise from the dead, they neither (F)marry nor (G)are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 26 And as for the dead being raised, (H)have you not read in (I)the book of Moses, in (J)the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, (K)‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? 27 He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong.”
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.