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 113[a]
113 Praise the Lord.
Praise, you servants of the Lord,
praise the name of the Lord.
2 May the Lord’s name be praised
now and forevermore.
3 From east to west[b]
the Lord’s name is deserving of praise.
4 The Lord is exalted over all the nations;
his splendor reaches beyond the sky.[c]
5 Who can compare to the Lord our God,
who sits on a high throne?[d]
6 He bends down to look[e]
at the sky and the earth.
7 He raises the poor from the dirt,
and lifts up the needy from the garbage pile,[f]
8 that he might seat him with princes,
with the princes of his people.
9 He makes the barren woman of the family[g]
a happy mother of children.[h]
Praise the Lord.
Psalm 114[i]
114 When Israel left Egypt,
when the family of Jacob left a foreign nation behind,[j]
2 Judah became his sanctuary,
Israel his kingdom.
3 The sea looked and fled;[k]
the Jordan River[l] turned back.[m]
4 The mountains skipped like rams,
the hills like lambs.[n]
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.[o]
Psalm 118[a]
118 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
and his loyal love endures.[b]
2 Let Israel say,
“Yes, his loyal love endures.”
3 Let the family[c] of Aaron say,
“Yes, his loyal love endures.”
4 Let the loyal followers of the Lord[d] say,
“Yes, his loyal love endures.”
5 In my distress[e] I cried out to the Lord.
The Lord answered me and put me in a wide open place.[f]
6 The Lord is on my side;[g] I am not afraid.
What can people do to me?[h]
7 The Lord is on my side[i] as my helper.[j]
I look in triumph on those who hate me.
8 It is better to take shelter[k] in the Lord
than to trust in people.
9 It is better to take shelter in the Lord
than to trust in princes.
10 All the nations surrounded me.[l]
Indeed, in the name of the Lord[m] I pushed them away.[n]
11 They surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me.
Indeed, in the name of the Lord I pushed them away.
12 They surrounded me like bees.
But they disappeared as quickly[o] as a fire among thorns.[p]
Indeed, in the name of the Lord I pushed them away.
13 “You aggressively attacked me[q] and tried to knock me down,[r]
but the Lord helped me.
14 The Lord gives me strength and protects me;[s]
he has become my deliverer.”[t]
15 They celebrate deliverance in the tents of the godly.[u]
The Lord’s right hand conquers.[v]
16 The Lord’s right hand gives victory;[w]
the Lord’s right hand conquers.
17 I will not die, but live,
and I will proclaim what the Lord has done.[x]
18 The Lord severely[y] punished me,
but he did not hand me over to death.
19 Open for me the gates of the just king’s temple.[z]
I will enter through them and give thanks to the Lord.
20 This is the Lord’s gate—
the godly enter through it.
21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me,
and have become my deliverer.
22 The stone that the builders discarded[aa]
has become the cornerstone.[ab]
23 This is the Lord’s work.
We consider it amazing![ac]
24 This is the day the Lord has brought about.[ad]
We will be happy and rejoice in it.
25 Please, Lord, deliver!
Please, Lord, grant us success![ae]
26 May the one who comes in the name of the Lord[af] be blessed.
We will pronounce blessings on you[ag] in the Lord’s temple.[ah]
27 The Lord is God, and he has delivered us.[ai]
Tie the offering[aj] with ropes
to the horns of the altar.[ak]
28 You are my[al] God, and I will give you thanks.
You are my God and I will praise you.
29 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good
and his loyal love endures.[am]
The Institution of the Passover
12 [a] The Lord said[b] to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,[c] 2 “This month is to be your beginning of months; it will be your first month of the year.[d] 3 Tell the whole community of Israel, ‘On the tenth day of this month they each[e] must take a lamb[f] for themselves according to their families[g]—a lamb for each household.[h] 4 If any household is too small[i] for a lamb,[j] the man[k] and his next-door neighbor[l] are to take[m] a lamb according to the number of people—you will make your count for the lamb according to how much each one can eat.[n] 5 Your lamb must be[o] perfect,[p] a male, one year old;[q] you may take[r] it from the sheep or from the goats. 6 You must care for it[s] until the fourteenth day of this month, and then the whole community[t] of Israel will kill it around sundown.[u] 7 They will take some of the blood and put it on the two side posts and top of the doorframe of the houses where they will eat it. 8 They will eat the meat the same night;[v] they will eat it roasted over the fire with bread made without yeast[w] and with bitter herbs. 9 Do not eat it raw[x] or boiled in water, but roast it over the fire with its head, its legs, and its entrails. 10 You must leave nothing until morning, but you must burn with fire whatever remains of it until morning. 11 This is how you are to eat it—dressed to travel,[y] your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. You are to eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover.[z]
12 ‘I will pass through[aa] the land of Egypt in the same[ab] night, and I will attack[ac] all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both of humans and of animals,[ad] and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment.[ae] I am the Lord. 13 The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, so that when I see[af] the blood I will pass over you,[ag] and this plague[ah] will not fall on you to destroy you[ai] when I attack[aj] the land of Egypt.[ak]
14 ‘This day will become[al] a memorial[am] for you, and you will celebrate it as a festival[an] to the Lord—you will celebrate it perpetually as a lasting ordinance.[ao]
9 Wake up! Wake up!
Clothe yourself with strength, O arm of the Lord![a]
Wake up as in former times, as in antiquity.
Did you not smash[b] the Proud One?[c]
Did you not[d] wound the sea monster?[e]
10 Did you not dry up the sea,
the waters of the great deep?
Did you not make[f] a path through the depths of the sea,
so those delivered from bondage[g] could cross over?
11 Those whom the Lord has ransomed will return;
they will enter Zion with a happy shout.
Unending joy will crown them,[h]
happiness and joy will overwhelm[i] them;
grief and suffering will disappear.[j]
The Prologue to the Gospel
1 In the beginning[a] was the Word, and the Word was with God,[b] and the Word was fully God.[c] 2 The Word[d] was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were created[e] by him, and apart from him not one thing was created[f] that has been created.[g] 4 In him was life,[h] and the life was the light of mankind.[i] 5 And the light shines on[j] in the darkness,[k] but[l] the darkness has not mastered it.[m]
6 A man came, sent from God, whose name was John.[n] 7 He came as a witness[o] to testify[p] about the light, so that everyone[q] might believe through him. 8 He himself was not the light, but he came to testify[r] about the light. 9 The true light, who gives light to everyone,[s] was coming into the world.[t] 10 He was in the world, and the world was created[u] by him, but[v] the world did not recognize[w] him. 11 He came to what was his own,[x] but[y] his own people[z] did not receive him.[aa] 12 But to all who have received him—those who believe in his name[ab]—he has given the right to become God’s children 13 —children not born[ac] by human parents[ad] or by human desire[ae] or a husband’s[af] decision,[ag] but by God.
14 Now[ah] the Word became flesh[ai] and took up residence[aj] among us. We[ak] saw his glory—the glory of the one and only,[al] full of grace and truth, who came from the Father. 15 John[am] testified[an] about him and shouted out,[ao] “This one was the one about whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is greater than I am,[ap] because he existed before me.’” 16 For we have all received from his fullness one gracious gift after another.[aq] 17 For the law was given through Moses, but[ar] grace and truth came about through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. The only one,[as] himself God, who is in closest fellowship with[at] the Father, has made God[au] known.[av]
Jesus Walks the Road to Emmaus
13 Now[a] that very day two of them[b] were on their way to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles[c] from Jerusalem. 14 They[d] were talking to each other about all the things that had happened. 15 While[e] they were talking and debating[f] these things,[g] Jesus himself approached and began to accompany them 16 (but their eyes were kept[h] from recognizing[i] him).[j] 17 Then[k] he said to them, “What are these matters[l] you are discussing so intently[m] as you walk along?” And they stood still, looking sad. 18 Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him,[n] “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who doesn’t know[o] the things that have happened there[p] in these days?” 19 He[q] said to them, “What things?” “The things concerning Jesus the Nazarene,” they replied, “a man[r] who, with his powerful deeds and words, proved to be a prophet[s] before God and all the people; 20 and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over[t] to be condemned to death, and crucified[u] him. 21 But we had hoped[v] that he was the one who was going to redeem[w] Israel. Not only this, but it is now the third day since these things happened. 22 Furthermore, some women of our group amazed us.[x] They[y] were at the tomb early this morning, 23 and when they did not find his body, they came back and said they had seen a vision of angels,[z] who said he was alive. 24 Then[aa] some of those who were with us went to the tomb, and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see him.”[ab] 25 So[ac] he said to them, “You[ad] foolish people[ae]—how slow of heart[af] to believe[ag] all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Wasn’t[ah] it necessary[ai] for the Christ[aj] to suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 Then[ak] beginning with Moses and all the prophets,[al] he interpreted to them the things written about[am] himself in all the scriptures.
28 So they approached the village where they were going. He acted as though he wanted to go farther,[an] 29 but they urged him,[ao] “Stay with us, because it is getting toward evening and the day is almost done.” So[ap] he went in to stay with them.
30 When[aq] he had taken his place at the table[ar] with them, he took the bread, blessed and broke it,[as] and gave it to them. 31 At this point[at] their eyes were opened and they recognized[au] him.[av] Then[aw] he vanished out of their sight. 32 They[ax] said to each other, “Didn’t[ay] our hearts[az] burn within us[ba] while he was speaking with us on the road, while he was explaining[bb] the scriptures to us?” 33 So[bc] they got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem. They[bd] found the eleven and those with them gathered together 34 and[be] saying, “The Lord has really risen, and has appeared to Simon!”[bf] 35 Then they told what had happened on the road,[bg] and how they recognized him[bh] when he broke the bread.
Jesus’ Appearance to the Disciples
19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the disciples had gathered together[a] and locked the doors[b] of the place[c] because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders.[d] Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.[e] 21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. Just as the Father has sent me, I also send you.” 22 And after he said this, he breathed on them and said,[f] “Receive the Holy Spirit.[g] 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven;[h] if you retain anyone’s sins, they are retained.”[i]
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