Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 148[a]
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.(A)
3 Praise him, sun and moon;
praise him, all shining stars.
4 Praise him, highest heavens,[b]
you waters above the heavens.
5 Let them all praise the Lord’s name;
for he commanded and they were created,(B)
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;(C)
8 Lightning and hail, snow and thick clouds,
storm wind that fulfills his command;
9 Mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars;(D)
10 Animals wild and tame,
creatures that crawl and birds that fly;(E)
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.(F)
14 [c]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[d]
Praise God with Song and Sword
1 Hallelujah!
Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise in the assembly of the faithful.(G)
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.[e](H)
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,[f]
6 With the praise of God in their mouths,
and a two-edged sword in their hands,(I)
7 To bring retribution on the nations,
punishment on the peoples,(J)
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[g] of all God’s faithful.
Hallelujah!
Psalm 150[h]
Final Doxology
1 Hallelujah!
Praise God in his holy sanctuary;[i](K)
give praise in the mighty dome of heaven.
2 Give praise for his mighty deeds,(L)
praise him for his great majesty.
3 Give praise with blasts upon the horn,(M)
praise him with harp and lyre.
4 Give praise with tambourines and dance,
praise him with strings and pipes.(N)
5 Give praise with crashing cymbals,
praise him with sounding cymbals.
6 Let everything that has breath
give praise to the Lord!(O)
Hallelujah!
Psalm 114[a]
The Lord’s Wonders at the Exodus
1 When Israel came forth from Egypt,
the house of Jacob from an alien people,
2 Judah became God’s sanctuary,
Israel, God’s domain.(A)
3 [b]The sea saw and fled;
the Jordan turned back.(B)
4 The mountains skipped like rams;
the hills, like lambs.(C)
5 Why was it, sea, that you fled?
Jordan, that you turned back?
6 Mountains, that you skipped like rams?
You hills, like lambs?
7 Tremble, earth, before the Lord,(D)
before the God of Jacob,
8 [c]Who turned the rock into pools of water,
flint into a flowing spring.(E)
Psalm 115[d]
The Greatness of the True God
I
1 Not to us, Lord, not to us
but to your name give glory
because of your mercy and faithfulness.(F)
2 Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”[e](G)
3 Our God is in heaven
and does whatever he wills.(H)
II
4 Their idols are silver and gold,(I)
the work of human hands.(J)
5 They have mouths but do not speak,
eyes but do not see.
6 They have ears but do not hear,
noses but do not smell.
7 They have hands but do not feel,
feet but do not walk;
they produce no sound from their throats.
8 Their makers will be like them,
and anyone who trusts in them.
III
9 [f]The house of Israel trusts in the Lord,(K)
who is their help and shield.(L)
10 The house of Aaron trusts in the Lord,
who is their help and shield.
11 Those who fear the Lord trust in the Lord,
who is their help and shield.
12 The Lord remembers us and will bless us,
will bless the house of Israel,
will bless the house of Aaron,
13 Will bless those who fear the Lord,
small and great alike.
14 May the Lord increase your number,
yours and your descendants.
15 May you be blessed by the Lord,
maker of heaven and earth.
16 [g]The heavens belong to the Lord,
but he has given the earth to the children of Adam.(M)
17 [h]The dead do not praise the Lord,
not all those go down into silence.(N)
18 It is we who bless the Lord,
both now and forever.
Hallelujah!
Chapter 18
Meeting with Jethro. 1 Now Moses’ father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for his people Israel: how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. 2 So his father-in-law Jethro took along Zipporah, Moses’ wife—now this was after Moses had sent her back—[a] 3 and her two sons. One of these was named Gershom;(A) for he said, “I am a resident alien in a foreign land.” 4 The other was named Eliezer; for he said, “The God of my father is my help; he has rescued me from Pharaoh’s sword.” 5 Together with Moses’ wife and sons, then, his father-in-law Jethro came to him in the wilderness where he was encamped at the mountain of God,[b] 6 and he sent word to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you, along with your wife and her two sons.”
7 Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, bowed down, and then kissed him. Having greeted each other, they went into the tent. 8 Moses then told his father-in-law of all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for the sake of Israel, and of all the hardships that had beset them on their journey, and how the Lord had rescued them. 9 Jethro rejoiced over all the goodness that the Lord had shown Israel in rescuing them from the power of the Egyptians. 10 “Blessed be the Lord,” he said, “who has rescued you from the power of the Egyptians and of Pharaoh. 11 Now I know that the Lord is greater than all the gods; for he rescued the people from the power of the Egyptians when they treated them arrogantly.” 12 Then Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, brought a burnt offering[c] and sacrifices for God, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to share with Moses’ father-in-law in the meal before God.
7 Beloved, I am writing no new commandment to you but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard.(A) 8 And yet I do write a new commandment to you, which holds true in him and among you,[a] for the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining.(B) 9 Whoever says he is in the light, yet hates his brother, is still in the darkness.(C) 10 Whoever loves his brother remains in the light, and there is nothing in him to cause a fall.(D) 11 Whoever hates his brother is in darkness; he walks in darkness and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
Members of the Community.[b] 12 I am writing to you, children, because your sins have been forgiven(E) for his name’s sake.[c]
13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young men, because you have conquered the evil one.(F)
14 I write to you, children, because you know the Father.
I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men, because you are strong and the word of God remains in you, and you have conquered the evil one.
15 Do not love the world or the things of the world.[d] If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.(G) 16 For all that is in the world, sensual lust,[e] enticement for the eyes, and a pretentious life, is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 Yet the world and its enticement are passing away. But whoever does the will of God remains forever.(H)
The Longer Ending[a]
The Appearance to Mary Magdalene. [9 (A)When he had risen, early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. 10 (B)She went and told his companions who were mourning and weeping. 11 When they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.
The Appearance to Two Disciples. 12 (C)After this he appeared in another form to two of them walking along on their way to the country. 13 They returned and told the others; but they did not believe them either.
The Commissioning of the Eleven. 14 (D)[But] later, as the eleven were at table, he appeared to them and rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart because they had not believed those who saw him after he had been raised. 15 (E)He said to them, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages. 18 They will pick up serpents [with their hands], and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”(F)
The Ascension of Jesus. 19 So then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them, was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God.(G) 20 But they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through accompanying signs.](H)
The Shorter Ending
[And they reported all the instructions briefly to Peter’s companions. Afterwards Jesus himself, through them, sent forth from east to west the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation. Amen.]
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