Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 146[a]
146 Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord, O my soul.
2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live.
I will sing praises to my God as long as I exist.
3 Do not trust in princes,
or in human beings, who cannot deliver.[b]
4 Their life’s breath departs, they return to the ground.
On that day their plans die.[c]
5 How blessed is the one whose helper is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
6 the one who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
who remains forever faithful,[d]
7 vindicates the oppressed,[e]
and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord releases the imprisoned.
8 The Lord gives sight to the blind.
The Lord lifts up all who are bent over.[f]
The Lord loves the godly.
9 The Lord protects the resident foreigner.
He lifts up the fatherless and the widow,[g]
but he opposes the wicked.[h]
10 The Lord rules forever,
your God, O Zion, throughout the generations to come.[i]
Praise the Lord!
Psalm 147[j]
147 Praise the Lord,
for it is good to sing praises to our God.
Yes,[k] praise is pleasant and appropriate.
2 The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem,
and gathers the exiles of Israel.
3 He heals[l] the brokenhearted,
and bandages their wounds.
4 He counts the number of the stars;
he names all of them.
5 Our Lord is great and has awesome power;[m]
there is no limit to his wisdom.[n]
6 The Lord lifts up the oppressed,
but knocks[o] the wicked to the ground.
7 Offer to the Lord a song of thanks.[p]
Sing praises to our God to the accompaniment of a harp.
8 He covers[q] the sky with clouds,
provides the earth with rain,
and causes grass to grow on the hillsides.[r]
9 He gives food to the animals,
and to the young ravens when they chirp.[s]
10 He is not enamored with the strength of a horse,
nor is he impressed by the warrior’s strong legs.[t]
11 The Lord takes delight in his faithful followers,[u]
and in those who wait for his loyal love.
12 Extol the Lord, O Jerusalem.
Praise your God, O Zion.
13 For he makes the bars of your gates strong.
He blesses your children[v] within you.
14 He[w] brings peace to your territory.[x]
He abundantly provides for you[y] the best grain.
15 He[z] sends his command through the earth;[aa]
swiftly his order reaches its destination.[ab]
16 He sends the snow that is white like wool;
he spreads the frost that is white like ashes.[ac]
17 He throws his hailstones[ad] like crumbs.
Who can withstand the cold wind he sends?[ae]
18 He then orders it all to melt;[af]
he breathes on it,[ag] and the water flows.
19 He proclaims his word to Jacob,
his statutes and regulations to Israel.
20 He has not done so with any other nation;
they are not aware of his regulations.
Praise the Lord!
Psalm 148[ah]
148 Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord from the sky.
Praise him in the heavens.
2 Praise him, all his angels.[ai]
Praise him, all his heavenly assembly.[aj]
3 Praise him, O sun and moon.
Praise him, all you shiny stars.[ak]
4 Praise him, O highest heaven,
and you waters above the sky.[al]
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;[am]
he issued a decree that will not be revoked.[an]
7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
you sea creatures and all you ocean depths,
8 O fire and hail, snow and clouds,[ao]
O stormy wind that carries out his orders,[ap]
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[aq] 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,[ar]
and given all his loyal followers reason to praise—
the Israelites, the people who are close to him.[as]
Praise the Lord!
Psalm 149[at]
149 Praise the Lord.
Sing to the Lord a new song.
Praise him in the assembly of the godly.[au]
2 Let Israel rejoice in their Creator.
Let the people[av] of Zion delight in their King.[aw]
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.[ax]
5 Let the godly rejoice because of their vindication.[ay]
Let them shout for joy upon their beds.[az]
6 May the praises of God be in their mouths
and a two-edged sword in their hands,
7 in order to take[ba] revenge on the nations,
and punish foreigners.
8 The godly bind[bb] their enemies’ kings in chains,
and their nobles in iron shackles,
9 and execute the judgment to which their enemies[bc] have been sentenced.[bd]
All his loyal followers will be vindicated.[be]
Praise the Lord.
3 Moses said to the people, “Remember[a] this day on which you came out from Egypt, from the place where you were enslaved,[b] for the Lord brought you out of there[c] with a mighty hand—and no bread made with yeast may be eaten.[d] 4 On this day,[e] in the month of Abib,[f] you are going out.[g]
5 “When[h] the Lord brings you to the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Hivites, and Jebusites, which he swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey,[i] then you will keep[j] this ceremony[k] in this month. 6 For seven days[l] you must eat[m] bread made without yeast, and on the seventh day there is to be[n] a festival to the Lord. 7 Bread made without yeast must be eaten[o] for seven days;[p] no bread made with yeast shall be seen[q] among you, and you must have no yeast among you within any of your borders.
8 “You are to tell your son[r] on that day,[s] ‘It is[t] because of what[u] the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ 9 [v] It[w] will be a sign[x] for you on your hand and a memorial[y] on your forehead,[z] so that the law of the Lord may be[aa] in your mouth,[ab] for[ac] with a mighty hand the Lord brought you out of Egypt. 10 So you must keep[ad] this ordinance at its appointed time from year to year.[ae]
41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon and another glory of the stars, for star differs from star in glory.
42 It is the same with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable.[a] 43 It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living person”;[b] the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 However, the spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and then the spiritual. 47 The first man is from the earth, made of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 Like the one made of dust, so too are those made of dust, and like the one from heaven, so too those who are heavenly. 49 And just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, let us also bear[c] the image of the man of heaven.
50 Now this is what I am saying, brothers and sisters:[d] Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
The Great Commission
16 So[a] the eleven disciples went to Galilee to the mountain Jesus had designated. 17 When[b] they saw him, they worshiped him,[c] but some doubted.[d] 18 Then Jesus came up and said to them,[e] “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go[f] and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,[g] 20 teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember,[h] I am with you[i] always, to the end of the age.”[j]
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