Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 148[a]
148 Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord from the sky.
Praise him in the heavens.
2 Praise him, all his angels.[b]
Praise him, all his heavenly assembly.[c]
3 Praise him, O sun and moon.
Praise him, all you shiny stars.[d]
4 Praise him, O highest heaven,
and you waters above the sky.[e]
5 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for he gave the command and they came into existence.
6 He established them so they would endure;[f]
he issued a decree that will not be revoked.[g]
7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
you sea creatures and all you ocean depths,
8 O fire and hail, snow and clouds,[h]
O stormy wind that carries out his orders,[i]
9 you mountains and all you hills,
you fruit trees and all you cedars,
10 you animals and all you cattle,
you creeping things and birds,
11 you kings of the earth and all you nations,
you princes and all you leaders[j] on the earth,
12 you young men and young women,
you elderly, along with you children.
13 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for his name alone is exalted;
his majesty extends over the earth and sky.
14 He has made his people victorious,[k]
and given all his loyal followers reason to praise—
the Israelites, the people who are close to him.[l]
Praise the Lord!
Psalm 149[m]
149 Praise the Lord.
Sing to the Lord a new song.
Praise him in the assembly of the godly.[n]
2 Let Israel rejoice in their Creator.
Let the people[o] of Zion delight in their King.[p]
3 Let them praise his name with dancing.
Let them sing praises to him to the accompaniment of the tambourine and harp.
4 For the Lord takes delight in his people;
he exalts the oppressed by delivering them.[q]
5 Let the godly rejoice because of their vindication.[r]
Let them shout for joy upon their beds.[s]
6 May the praises of God be in their mouths
and a two-edged sword in their hands,
7 in order to take[t] revenge on the nations,
and punish foreigners.
8 The godly bind[u] their enemies’ kings in chains,
and their nobles in iron shackles,
9 and execute the judgment to which their enemies[v] have been sentenced.[w]
All his loyal followers will be vindicated.[x]
Praise the Lord.
Psalm 150[y]
150 Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in the sky, which testifies to his strength![z]
2 Praise him for his mighty acts;
praise him for his surpassing greatness!
3 Praise him with the blast of the horn;
praise him with the lyre and the harp!
4 Praise him with the tambourine and with dancing;
praise him with stringed instruments and the flute!
5 Praise him with loud cymbals;
praise him with clanging cymbals!
6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!
Psalm 114[a]
114 When Israel left Egypt,
when the family of Jacob left a foreign nation behind,[b]
2 Judah became his sanctuary,
Israel his kingdom.
3 The sea looked and fled;[c]
the Jordan River[d] turned back.[e]
4 The mountains skipped like rams,
the hills like lambs.[f]
5 Why do you flee, O sea?
Why do you turn back, O Jordan River?
6 Why do you skip like rams, O mountains,
like lambs, O hills?
7 Tremble, O earth, before the Lord—
before the God of Jacob,
8 who turned a rock into a pool of water,
a hard rock into springs of water.[g]
Psalm 115[h]
115 Not to us, O Lord, not to us,
but to your name bring honor,[i]
for the sake of your loyal love and faithfulness.[j]
2 Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
3 Our God is in heaven.
He does whatever he pleases.[k]
4 Their[l] idols are made of silver and gold—
they are man-made.[m]
5 They have mouths, but cannot speak,
eyes, but cannot see,
6 ears, but cannot hear,
noses, but cannot smell,
7 hands, but cannot touch,
feet, but cannot walk.
They cannot even clear their throats.[n]
8 Those who make them will end up[o] like them,
as will everyone who trusts in them.
9 O Israel, trust in the Lord.
He is their deliverer[p] and protector.[q]
10 O family[r] of Aaron, trust in the Lord.
He is their deliverer[s] and protector.[t]
11 You loyal followers of the Lord,[u] trust in the Lord.
He is their deliverer[v] and protector.[w]
12 The Lord takes notice of us;[x] he will bless[y]—
he will bless the family[z] of Israel,
he will bless the family of Aaron.
13 He will bless his loyal followers,[aa]
both young and old.[ab]
14 May he increase your numbers,
yours and your children’s.[ac]
15 May you be blessed by the Lord,
the Creator[ad] of heaven and earth.
16 The heavens belong to the Lord,[ae]
but the earth he has given to mankind.[af]
17 The dead do not praise the Lord,
nor do any of those who descend into the silence of death.[ag]
18 But we will praise the Lord
now and forevermore.
Praise the Lord!
Learning from Israel’s Failures
10 For I do not want you to be unaware,[a] brothers and sisters,[b] that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea, 2 and all were baptized[c] into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 and all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they were all drinking from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. 5 But God was not pleased with most of them, for they were cut down in the wilderness. 6 These things happened as examples for us, so that we will not crave evil things as they did. 7 So do not be idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.”[d] 8 And let us not be immoral, as some of them were, and 23,000 died in a single day.[e] 9 And let us not put Christ[f] to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by snakes.[g] 10 And do not complain, as some of them did, and were killed by the destroying angel.[h] 11 These things happened to them as examples and were written for our instruction, on whom the ends of the ages have come. 12 So let the one who thinks he is standing be careful that he does not fall. 13 No trial has overtaken you that is not faced by others.[i] And God is faithful: He[j] will not let you be tried beyond what you are able to bear,[k] but with the trial will also provide a way out so that you may be able to endure it.
Peter’s Confession
13 When[a] Jesus came to the area of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples,[b] “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 They answered, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah,[c] and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered,[d] “You are the Christ,[e] the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him,[f] “You are blessed, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood[g] did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven! 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades[h] will not overpower it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven.” 20 Then he instructed his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.[i]
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