Book of Common Prayer
148 Halleluyah!
Praise Adonai from the heavens!
Praise him in the heights!
2 Praise him, all his angels!
Praise him, all his armies!
3 Praise him, sun and moon!
Praise him, all shining stars!
4 Praise him, highest heaven,
and waters above the heavens!
5 Let them praise the name of Adonai;
for he commanded, and they were created.
6 He established them forever and ever;
he has given a law to which they must conform.
7 Praise Adonai from the earth,
sea monsters and watery depths,
8 fire and hail, snow and mist,
storm-winds that obey his word,
9 mountains and every hill,
fruit trees and all cedars,
10 wild animals and all livestock,
creeping reptiles, flying birds,
11 kings of the earth and all peoples,
princes and all rulers on earth,
12 young men and women alike,
old men and children.
13 Let them praise the name of Adonai,
for his name alone is exalted;
his glory is above both earth and heaven.
14 He has increased the power of his people,
granted praise to all his faithful,
to the descendants of Isra’el,
a people close to him.
Halleluyah!
149 Halleluyah!
Sing to Adonai a new song,
his praise in the assembly of the faithful.
2 Let Isra’el rejoice in their maker,
let Tziyon’s children take joy in their king.
3 Let them praise his name with dancing,
make melody to him with tambourine and lyre;
4 for Adonai takes delight in his people,
he crowns the humble with salvation.
5 Let the faithful exult gloriously,
let them sing for joy on their beds.
6 Let the high praises of God be in their throats,
but a two-edged sword in their hands
7 to carry out vengeance on the nations
and punishment on the peoples,
8 to bind their kings with chains
and put their nobles in irons,
9 to execute the judgments decreed for them;
for this will glorify all his faithful.
Halleluyah!
150 Halleluyah!
Praise God in his holy place!
Praise him in the heavenly dome of his power!
2 Praise him for his mighty deeds!
Praise him for his surpassing greatness!
3 Praise him with a blast on the shofar!
Praise him with lute and lyre!
4 Praise him with tambourines and dancing!
Praise him with flutes and strings!
5 Praise him with clanging cymbals!
Praise him with loud crashing cymbals!
6 Let everything that has breath praise Adonai!
Halleluyah!
114 When Isra’el came out of Egypt,
the house of Ya‘akov from a people of foreign speech,
2 Y’hudah became [God’s] sanctuary,
Isra’el his domain.
3 The sea saw this and fled;
the Yarden turned back;
4 the mountains skipped like rams,
the hills like young sheep.
5 Why is it, sea, that you flee?
Why, Yarden, do you turn back?
6 Why, mountains, do you skip like rams;
and you hills like young sheep?
7 Tremble, earth, at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Ya‘akov,
8 who turned the rock into a pool of water,
flint into flowing spring.
115 Not to us, Adonai, not to us,
but to your name give glory,
because of your grace and truth.
2 Why should the nations ask,
“Where is their God?”
3 Our God is in heaven;
he does whatever pleases him.
4 Their idols are mere silver and gold,
made by human hands.
5 They have mouths, but they can’t speak;
they have eyes, but they can’t see;
6 they have ears, but they can’t hear;
they have noses, but they can’t smell;
7 they have hands, but they can’t feel;
they have feet, but they can’t walk;
with their throats they can’t make a sound.
8 The people who make them will become like them,
along with everyone who trusts in them.
9 Isra’el, trust in Adonai!
He is their help and shield.
10 House of Aharon, trust in Adonai!
He is their help and shield.
11 You who fear Adonai, trust in Adonai!
He is their help and shield.
12 Adonai has kept us in mind,
and he will bless.
He will bless the house of Isra’el;
he will bless the house of Aharon;
13 he will bless those who fear Adonai,
great and small alike.
14 May Adonai increase your numbers,
both yours and those of your children.
15 May you be blessed by Adonai,
the maker of heaven and earth.
16 Heaven belongs to Adonai,
but the earth he has given to humankind.
17 The dead can’t praise Adonai,
not those who sink down into silence.
18 But we will bless Adonai
from now on and forever.
Halleluyah!
10 For, brothers, I don’t want you to miss the significance of what happened to our fathers. All of them were guided by the pillar of cloud, and they all passed through the sea, 2 and in connection with the cloud and with the sea they all immersed themselves into Moshe, 3 also they all ate the same food from the Spirit, 4 and they all drank the same drink from the Spirit — for they drank from a Spirit-sent Rock which followed them, and that Rock was the Messiah. 5 Yet with the majority of them God was not pleased, so their bodies were strewn across the desert.
6 Now these things took place as prefigurative historical events, warning us not to set our hearts on evil things as they did. 7 Don’t be idolaters, as some of them were — as the Tanakh puts it, “The people sat down to eat and drink, then got up to indulge in revelry.”[a] 8 And let us not engage in sexual immorality, as some of them did, with the consequence that 23,000 died in a single day. 9 And let us not put the Messiah to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by snakes. 10 And don’t grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the Destroying Angel.
11 These things happened to them as prefigurative historical events, and they were written down as a warning to us who are living in the acharit-hayamim. 12 Therefore, let anyone who thinks he is standing up be careful not to fall! 13 No temptation has seized you beyond what people normally experience, and God can be trusted not to allow you to be tempted beyond what you can bear. On the contrary, along with the temptation he will also provide the way out, so that you will be able to endure.
13 When Yeshua came into the territory around Caesarea Philippi, he asked his talmidim, “Who are people saying the Son of Man is?” 14 They said, “Well, some say Yochanan the Immerser, others Eliyahu, still others Yirmeyahu or one of the prophets.” 15 “But you,” he said to them, “who do you say I am?” 16 Shim‘on Kefa answered, “You are the Mashiach, the Son of the living God.” 17 “Shim‘on Bar-Yochanan,” Yeshua said to him, “how blessed you are! For no human being revealed this to you, no, it was my Father in heaven. 18 I also tell you this: you are Kefa,” [which means ‘Rock,’] “and on this rock I will build my Community, and the gates of Sh’ol will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you prohibit on earth will be prohibited in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.” 20 Then he warned the talmidim not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.