Book of Common Prayer
Praise to Jehovah the abundant Helper.
[a]146 Praise ye Jehovah.
Praise Jehovah, O my soul.
2 While I live will I praise Jehovah:
I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.
3 Put not your trust in princes,
Nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.
4 His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth;
In that very day his [b]thoughts perish.
5 Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help,
Whose hope is in Jehovah his God:
6 Who made heaven and earth,
The sea, and all that in them is;
Who keepeth truth for ever;
7 Who executeth justice for the oppressed;
Who giveth food to the hungry.
Jehovah looseth the prisoners;
8 Jehovah openeth the eyes of the blind;
Jehovah raiseth up them that are bowed down;
Jehovah loveth the righteous;
9 Jehovah preserveth the sojourners;
He upholdeth the fatherless and widow;
But the way of the wicked he [c]turneth upside down.
10 Jehovah will reign for ever,
Thy God, O Zion, unto all generations.
[d]Praise ye Jehovah.
Praise for Jerusalem’s restoration and prosperity.
[e]147 Praise ye Jehovah;
[f]For it is good to sing praises unto our God;
For it is pleasant, and praise is comely.
2 Jehovah doth build up Jerusalem;
He gathereth together the outcasts of Israel.
3 He healeth the broken in heart,
And bindeth up their [g]wounds.
4 He counteth the number of the stars;
He calleth them all by their names.
5 Great is our Lord, and mighty in power;
His understanding is infinite.
6 Jehovah upholdeth the meek:
He bringeth the wicked down to the ground.
7 Sing unto Jehovah with thanksgiving;
Sing praises upon the harp unto our God,
8 Who covereth the heavens with clouds,
Who prepareth rain for the earth,
Who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains.
9 He giveth to the beast his food,
And to the young ravens which cry.
10 He delighteth not in the strength of the horse:
He taketh no pleasure in the legs of a man.
11 Jehovah taketh pleasure in them that fear him,
In those that hope in his lovingkindness.
12 Praise Jehovah, O Jerusalem;
Praise thy God, O Zion.
13 For he hath strengthened the bars of thy gates;
He hath blessed thy children within thee.
14 He maketh [h]peace in thy borders;
He filleth thee with the [i]finest of the wheat.
15 He sendeth out his commandment upon earth;
His word runneth very swiftly.
16 He giveth snow like wool;
He scattereth the hoar-frost like ashes.
17 He casteth forth his ice like morsels:
Who can stand before his cold?
18 He sendeth out his word, and melteth them:
He causeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow.
19 He showeth his word unto Jacob,
His statutes and his ordinances unto Israel.
20 He hath not dealt so with any nation;
And as for his ordinances, they have not known them.
[j]Praise ye Jehovah.
Jehovah praised for his goodness.
[a]111 Praise ye Jehovah.
I will give thanks unto Jehovah with my whole heart,
In the council of the upright, and in the congregation.
2 The works of Jehovah are great,
Sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.
3 His work is honor and majesty;
And his righteousness endureth for ever.
4 He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered:
Jehovah is gracious and merciful.
5 He hath given [b]food unto them that fear him:
He will ever be mindful of his covenant.
6 He hath showed his people the power of his works,
In giving them the heritage of the nations.
7 The works of his hands are truth and justice;
All his precepts are sure.
8 They are established for ever and ever;
They are [c]done in truth and uprightness.
9 He hath sent redemption unto his people;
He hath commanded his covenant for ever:
Holy and reverend is his name.
10 The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of wisdom;
[d]A good understanding have all they that do [e]his commandments:
His praise endureth for ever.
Prosperity of him that fears Jehovah.
[f]112 Praise ye Jehovah.
Blessed is the man that feareth Jehovah,
That delighteth greatly in his commandments.
2 His seed shall be mighty upon earth:
The generation of the upright shall be blessed.
3 Wealth and riches are in his house;
And his righteousness endureth for ever.
4 Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness:
He is gracious, and merciful, and righteous.
5 Well is it with the man that dealeth graciously and lendeth;
He shall maintain his cause in judgment.
6 For he shall never be moved;
The righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance.
7 He shall not be afraid of evil tidings:
His heart is fixed, trusting in Jehovah.
8 His heart is established, he shall not be afraid,
Until he see his desire upon his adversaries.
9 He hath dispersed, he hath given to the needy;
His righteousness endureth for ever:
His horn shall be exalted with honor.
10 The wicked shall see it, and be grieved;
He shall gnash with his teeth, and melt away:
The desire of the wicked shall perish.
Jehovah praised for exalting the humble.
[g]113 Praise ye Jehovah.
Praise, O ye servants of Jehovah,
Praise the name of Jehovah.
2 Blessed be the name of Jehovah
From this time forth and for evermore.
3 From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same
Jehovah’s name is to be praised.
4 Jehovah is high above all nations,
And his glory above the heavens.
5 Who is like unto Jehovah our God,
That hath his seat on high,
6 That humbleth himself [h]to behold
The things that are in heaven and in the earth?
7 He raiseth up the poor out of the dust,
And lifteth up the needy from the dunghill;
8 That he may set him with princes,
Even with the princes of his people.
9 He maketh the barren woman to keep house,
And to be a joyful mother of children.
[i]Praise ye Jehovah.
1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for Jehovah hath spoken: I have [a]nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. 3 The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib; but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. 4 Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil-doers, children that deal corruptly! they have forsaken Jehovah, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are estranged and gone backward. 5 [b]Why will ye be still stricken, that ye revolt more and more? [c]the whole head is sick, and [d]the whole heart faint. 6 From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and fresh stripes: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with oil. 7 Your country is desolate; your cities are burned with fire; your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, [e]as overthrown by strangers. 8 And the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. 9 Except Jehovah of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, we should have been like unto Gomorrah.
3 This is now, beloved, the second epistle that I write unto you; and in both of them I stir up your sincere mind by putting you in remembrance; 2 that ye should remember the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and the commandment of the Lord and Saviour through your apostles: 3 knowing this first, that [a]in the last days mockers shall come with mockery, walking after their own lusts, 4 and saying, Where is the promise of his [b]coming? for, from the day that the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. 5 For this they wilfully forget, that there were heavens from of old, and an earth compacted out of water and [c]amidst water, by the word of God; 6 by which means the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: 7 but the heavens that now are, and the earth, by the same word have been [d]stored up for fire, being reserved against the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
8 But forget not this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness; but is longsuffering to you-ward, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the [e]elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be [f]burned up.
25 Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, who took their [a]lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. 2 And five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 For the foolish, when they took their [b]lamps, took no oil with them: 4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their [c]lamps. 5 Now while the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. 6 But at midnight there is a cry, Behold, the bridegroom! Come ye forth to meet him. 7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their [d]lamps. 8 And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our [e]lamps are going out. 9 But the wise answered, saying, Peradventure there will not be enough for us and you: go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. 10 And while they went away to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage feast: and the door was shut. 11 Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. 12 But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. 13 Watch therefore, for ye know not the day nor the hour.
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