Book of Common Prayer
The World Should Praise the Lord
148 Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the skies.
Praise him high above the earth.
2 Praise him, all you angels.
Praise him, all you armies of heaven.
3 Praise him, sun and moon.
Praise him, all you shining stars.
4 Praise him, highest heavens
and you waters above the sky.
5 Let them praise the Lord,
because they were created by his command.
6 He put them in place forever and ever;
he made a law that will never change.
7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
you large sea animals and all the oceans,
8 lightning and hail, snow and mist,
and stormy winds that obey him,
9 mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars,
10 wild animals and all cattle,
crawling animals and birds,
11 kings of the earth and all nations,
princes and all rulers of the earth,
12 young men and women,
old people and children.
13 Praise the Lord,
because he alone is great.
He is more wonderful than heaven and earth.
14 God has given his people a king.
He should be praised by all who belong to him;
he should be praised by the Israelites, the people closest to his heart.
Praise the Lord!
Praise the God of Israel
149 Praise the Lord!
Sing a new song to the Lord;
sing his praise in the meeting of his people.
2 Let the Israelites be happy because of God, their Maker.
Let the people of Jerusalem rejoice because of their King.
3 They should praise him with dancing.
They should sing praises to him with tambourines and harps.
4 The Lord is pleased with his people;
he saves the humble.
5 Let those who worship him rejoice in his glory.
Let them sing for joy even in bed!
6 Let them shout his praise
with their two-edged swords in their hands.
7 They will punish the nations
and defeat the people.
8 They will put those kings in chains
and those important men in iron bands.
9 They will punish them as God has written.
God is honored by all who worship him.
Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord with Music
150 Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his Temple;
praise him in his mighty heaven.
2 Praise him for his strength;
praise him for his greatness.
3 Praise him with trumpet blasts;
praise him with harps and lyres.
4 Praise him with tambourines and dancing;
praise him with stringed instruments and flutes.
5 Praise him with loud cymbals;
praise him with crashing cymbals.
6 Let everything that breathes praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord!
God Brought Israel from Egypt
114 When the Israelites went out of Egypt,
the people of Jacob left that foreign country.
2 Then Judah became God’s holy place;
Israel became the land he ruled.
3 The Red Sea looked and ran away;
the Jordan River turned back.
4 The mountains danced like sheep
and the hills like little lambs.
5 Sea, why did you run away?
Jordan, why did you turn back?
6 Mountains, why did you dance like sheep?
Hills, why did you dance like little lambs?
7 Earth, shake with fear before the Lord,
before the God of Jacob.
8 He turned a rock into a pool of water,
a hard rock into a spring of water.
The One True God
115 It does not belong to us, Lord.
The glory belongs to you
because of your love and loyalty.
2 Why do the nations ask,
“Where is their God?”
3 Our God is in heaven.
He does what he pleases.
4 Their idols are made of silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
5 They have mouths, but they cannot speak.
They have eyes, but they cannot see.
6 They have ears, but they cannot hear.
They have noses, but they cannot smell.
7 They have hands, but they cannot feel.
They have feet, but they cannot walk.
No sounds come from their throats.
8 People who make idols will be like them,
and so will those who trust them.
9 Family of Israel, trust the Lord;
he is your helper and your protection.
10 Family of Aaron, trust the Lord;
he is your helper and your protection.
11 You who respect the Lord should trust him;
he is your helper and your protection.
12 The Lord remembers us and will bless us.
He will bless the family of Israel;
he will bless the family of Aaron.
13 The Lord will bless those who respect him,
from the smallest to the greatest.
14 May the Lord give you success,
and may he give you and your children success.
15 May you be blessed by the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
16 Heaven belongs to the Lord,
but he gave the earth to people.
17 Dead people do not praise the Lord;
those in the grave are silent.
18 But we will praise the Lord
now and forever.
Praise the Lord!
50 So David defeated the Philistine with only a sling and a stone. He hit him and killed him. He did not even have a sword in his hand. 51 Then David ran and stood beside him. He took Goliath’s sword out of its holder and killed him by cutting off his head.
When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they turned and ran. 52 The men of Israel and Judah shouted and chased the Philistines all the way to the entrance of the city of Gath and to the gates of Ekron.
The Philistines’ bodies lay on the Shaaraim road as far as Gath and Ekron. 53 The Israelites returned after chasing the Philistines and robbed their camp. 54 David took Goliath’s head to Jerusalem and put Goliath’s weapons in his own tent.
55 When Saul saw David go out to meet Goliath, Saul asked Abner, commander of the army, “Abner, who is that young man’s father?”
Abner answered, “As surely as you live, my king, I don’t know.”
56 The king said, “Find out whose son he is.”
57 When David came back from killing Goliath, Abner brought him to Saul. David was still holding Goliath’s head.
58 Saul asked him, “Young man, who is your father?”
David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem.”
Saul Fears David
18 When David finished talking with Saul, Jonathan felt very close to David. He loved David as much as he loved himself. 2 Saul kept David with him from that day on and did not let him go home to his father’s house. 3 Jonathan made an agreement with David, because he loved David as much as himself. 4 He took off his coat and gave it to David, along with his armor, including his sword, bow, and belt.
4 Christ ended the law so that everyone who believes in him may be right with God.
5 Moses writes about being made right by following the law. He says, “A person who obeys these things will live because of them.”[a] 6 But this is what the Scripture says about being made right through faith: “Don’t say to yourself, ‘Who will go up into heaven?’” (That means, “Who will go up to heaven and bring Christ down to earth?”) 7 “And do not say, ‘Who will go down into the world below?’” (That means, “Who will go down and bring Christ up from the dead?”) 8 This is what the Scripture says: “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart.”[b] That is the teaching of faith that we are telling. 9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and if you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, you will be saved. 10 We believe with our hearts, and so we are made right with God. And we declare with our mouths that we believe, and so we are saved. 11 As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disappointed.”[c] 12 That Scripture says “anyone” because there is no difference between those who are Jews and those who are not. The same Lord is the Lord of all and gives many blessings to all who trust in him, 13 as the Scripture says, “Anyone who calls on the Lord will be saved.”[d]
14 But before people can ask the Lord for help, they must believe in him; and before they can believe in him, they must hear about him; and for them to hear about the Lord, someone must tell them; 15 and before someone can go and tell them, that person must be sent. It is written, “How beautiful is the person who comes to bring good news.”[e] 16 But not all the Jews accepted the good news. Isaiah said, “Lord, who believed what we told them?”[f] 17 So faith comes from hearing the Good News, and people hear the Good News when someone tells them about Christ.
29 “How terrible for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees! You are hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets, and you show honor to the graves of those who lived good lives. 30 You say, ‘If we had lived during the time of our ancestors, we would not have helped them kill the prophets.’ 31 But you give proof that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32 And you will complete the sin that your ancestors started.
33 “You are snakes! A family of poisonous snakes! How are you going to escape God’s judgment? 34 So I tell you this: I am sending to you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify. Some of them you will beat in your synagogues and chase from town to town. 35 So you will be guilty for the death of all the good people who have been killed on earth—from the murder of that good man Abel to the murder of Zechariah[a] son of Berakiah, whom you murdered between the Temple and the altar. 36 I tell you the truth, all of these things will happen to you people who are living now.
Jesus Feels Sorry for Jerusalem
37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You kill the prophets and stone to death those who are sent to you. Many times I wanted to gather your people as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you did not let me. 38 Now your house will be left completely empty. 39 I tell you, you will not see me again until that time when you will say, ‘God bless the One who comes in the name of the Lord.’”[b]
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.