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!
The Lord Will Do Something New
14 This is what the Lord says,
your Protector,[a] the Holy One of Israel:[b]
“For your sake I send to Babylon
and make them all fugitives,[c]
turning the Babylonians’ joyful shouts into mourning songs.[d]
15 I am the Lord, your Holy One,[e]
the one who created Israel, your king.”
16 This is what the Lord says,
the one who made a road through the sea,
a pathway through the surging waters,
17 the one who led chariots and horses to destruction,[f]
together with a mighty army.
They fell down,[g] never to rise again;
they were extinguished, put out like a burning wick:
18 “Don’t remember these earlier events;[h]
don’t recall these former events.
19 Look, I am about to do something new.
Now it begins to happen![i] Do you not recognize[j] it?
Yes, I will make a road in the wilderness
and paths[k] in the wastelands.
20 The wild animals[l] honor me,
the jackals and ostriches,
because I put water in the wilderness
and streams in the wastelands,
to quench the thirst of my chosen people,
21 the people whom I formed for myself,
so they might praise me.[m]
The Lord Rebukes His People
22 “But you did not call for me, O Jacob;
you did not long[n] for me, O Israel.
23 You did not bring me lambs for your burnt offerings;
you did not honor me with your sacrifices.
I did not burden you with offerings;
I did not make you weary by demanding[o] incense.
24 You did not buy me aromatic reeds;[p]
you did not present to me[q] the fat of your sacrifices.
Yet you burdened me with your sins;
you made me weary with your evil deeds.[r]
25 I, I am the one who blots out your rebellious deeds for my sake;
your sins I do not remember.
26 Remind me of what happened. Let’s debate!
You, prove to me that you are right![s]
27 The father of your nation[t] sinned;
your spokesmen[u] rebelled against me.
28 So I defiled your holy princes,
and handed Jacob over to destruction,
and subjected[v] Israel to humiliating abuse.
The Lord Will Renew Israel
44 “Now, listen, Jacob my servant,
Israel whom I have chosen!”
2 This is what the Lord, the one who made you, says—
the one who formed you in the womb and helps you:
“Don’t be afraid, my servant Jacob,
Jeshurun,[w] whom I have chosen.
3 For I will pour water on the parched ground[x]
and cause streams to flow[y] on the dry land.
I will pour my Spirit on your offspring
and my blessing on your children.
4 They will sprout up like a tree in the grass,[z]
like poplars beside channels of water.
5 One will say, ‘I belong to the Lord,’
and another will use[aa] the name ‘Jacob.’
One will write on his hand, ‘The Lord’s,’
and use the name ‘Israel.’”[ab]
17 In the same way[a] God wanted to demonstrate more clearly to the heirs of the promise that his purpose was unchangeable,[b] and so he intervened with an oath, 18 so that we who have found refuge in him[c] may find strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us through two unchangeable things, since it is impossible for God to lie. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, sure and steadfast, which reaches inside behind the curtain,[d] 20 where Jesus our forerunner entered on our behalf, since he became a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.[e]
The Nature of Melchizedek’s Priesthood
7 Now this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, met Abraham as he was returning from defeating the kings and blessed him.[f] 2 To him[g] also Abraham apportioned a tithe[h] of everything.[i] His name first means[j] king of righteousness, then king of Salem,[k] that is, king of peace. 3 Without father, without mother, without genealogy, he has neither beginning of days nor end of life but is like the son of God, and he remains a priest for all time. 4 But see how great he must be, if[l] Abraham the patriarch gave him a tithe[m] of his plunder. 5 And those of the sons of Levi who receive the priestly office[n] have authorization according to the law to collect a tithe from the people, that is, from their fellow countrymen,[o] although they too are descendants of Abraham.[p] 6 But Melchizedek[q] who does not share their ancestry[r] collected a tithe[s] from Abraham and blessed[t] the one who possessed the promise. 7 Now without dispute the inferior is blessed by the superior, 8 and in one case tithes are received by mortal men, while in the other by him who is affirmed to be alive. 9 And it could be said that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid a tithe through Abraham. 10 For he was still in his ancestor Abraham’s loins[u] when Melchizedek met him.
The Disciples Return
27 Now at that very moment his disciples came back.[a] They were shocked[b] because he was speaking[c] with a woman. However, no one said, “What do you want?”[d] or “Why are you speaking with her?” 28 Then the woman left her water jar, went off into the town and said to the people,[e] 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Surely he can’t be the Messiah,[f] can he?”[g] 30 So[h] they left the town and began coming[i] to him.
Workers for the Harvest
31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him,[j] “Rabbi, eat something.”[k] 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” 33 So the disciples began to say[l] to one another, “No one brought him anything[m] to eat, did they?”[n] 34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me[o] and to complete[p] his work.[q] 35 Don’t you say,[r] ‘There are four more months and then comes the harvest?’ I tell you, look up[s] and see that the fields are already white[t] for harvest! 36 The one who reaps receives pay[u] and gathers fruit for eternal life, so that the one who sows and the one who reaps can rejoice together. 37 For in this instance the saying is true,[v] ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap what you did not work for; others have labored and you have entered into their labor.”
The Samaritans Respond
39 Now many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the report of the woman who testified,[w] “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they began asking[x] him to stay with them.[y] He stayed there two days, 41 and because of his word many more[z] believed. 42 They said to the woman, “No longer do we believe because of your words, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this one[aa] really is the Savior of the world.”[ab]
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