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 Greater Glory of the Spirit’s Ministry
7 But if the ministry that produced death—carved in letters on stone tablets[a]—came with glory, so that the Israelites[b] could not keep their eyes fixed on the face of Moses because of the glory of his face[c] (a glory[d] which was made ineffective),[e] 8 how much more glorious will the ministry of the Spirit be?[f] 9 For if there was glory in the ministry that produced condemnation,[g] how much more does the ministry that produces righteousness[h] excel[i] in glory! 10 For indeed, what had been glorious now[j] has no glory because of the tremendously greater glory of what replaced it.[k] 11 For if what was made ineffective[l] came with[m] glory, how much more has what remains[n] come in glory! 12 Therefore, since we have such a hope, we behave with great boldness,[o] 13 and not like Moses who used to put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites[p] from staring[q] at the result[r] of the glory that was made ineffective.[s] 14 But their minds were closed.[t] For to this very day, the same veil remains when they hear the old covenant read.[u] It has not been removed because only in Christ is it taken away.[v] 15 But until this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds,[w] 16 but when one[x] turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.[y] 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is present,[z] there is freedom. 18 And we all, with unveiled faces reflecting the glory of the Lord,[aa] are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another,[ab] which is from[ac] the Lord, who is the Spirit.[ad]
Peter’s Confession
18 Once[a] when Jesus[b] was praying[c] by himself, and his disciples were nearby, he asked them,[d] “Who do the crowds say that I am?”[e] 19 They[f] answered,[g] “John the Baptist; others say Elijah;[h] and still others that one of the prophets of long ago has risen.”[i] 20 Then[j] he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter[k] answered,[l] “The Christ[m] of God.” 21 But he forcefully commanded[n] them not to tell this to anyone,[o] 22 saying, “The Son of Man must suffer[p] many things and be rejected by the elders,[q] chief priests, and experts in the law,[r] and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”[s]
A Call to Discipleship
23 Then[t] he said to them all,[u] “If anyone wants to become my follower,[v] he must deny[w] himself, take up his cross daily,[x] and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save his life[y] will lose it,[z] but whoever loses his life because of me[aa] will save it. 25 For what does it benefit a person[ab] if he gains the whole world but loses or forfeits himself? 26 For whoever is ashamed[ac] of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person[ad] when he comes in his glory and in the glory[ae] of the Father and of the holy angels. 27 But I tell you most certainly,[af] there are some standing here who will not[ag] experience[ah] death before they see the kingdom of God.”[ai]
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