Book of Common Prayer
Praise to God the Help of Israel
146 Hallelujah!
Praise the Lord, my soul!
2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live,
singing praises to my God while I exist.
3 Do not look to nobles,
nor to mere human beings who cannot save.
4 When they stop breathing,
they return to the ground;
on that very day their plans evaporate!
5 Happy is the one whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
6 maker of heaven and earth,
the seas and everything in them,
forever the guardian of truth,
7 who brings justice for the oppressed,
and who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord frees the prisoners;
8 the Lord gives sight to the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are weighed down.
The Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord stands guard over the stranger;
he supports both widows and orphans,
but makes the path of the wicked slippery.[a]
10 The Lord will reign forever,
your God, Zion, for all generations!
Hallelujah!
Praise for God’s Provision
147 Hallelujah!
It is good to sing praise to our God,
and it is fitting to sing glorious praise.
2 The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem;
he gathers together the outcasts of Israel.
3 He heals the brokenhearted,
binding up their injuries.
4 He keeps track of the number of stars,
assigning names to all of them.
5 Our Lord is great,
and rich in power;
his understanding has no limitation.
6 The Lord supports the afflicted
while he casts the wicked to the ground.
7 Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving,
and compose music to our God with the lyre.
8 He shields the heavens with clouds,
preparing rain for the earth
and making grass grow on the hills.
9 He gives wild animals their food,
including the young ravens when they cry.
10 He takes no delight in the strength of a horse,
and gains no pleasure in the runner’s swiftness.[b]
11 But the Lord is pleased with those who fear him,
with those who depend on his gracious love.
12 Glorify the Lord, Jerusalem!
Praise your God, Zion!
13 For he has strengthened the bars of your gates,
blessing your children within you.
14 He grants peace within your borders,
satisfying[c] you with the finest of wheat.
15 He sends out his command to the earth,
making[d] his word go forth quickly.
16 He supplies snow like wool,
scattering frost like ashes.
17 He casts down his ice crystals like bread[e] fragments.
Who can endure his freezing cold?
18 He sends out his word
and melts them.
He makes his wind blow
and the water flows.
19 He declares his words to Jacob,
his statutes and decrees to Israel.
20 He has not dealt with any other nation like this;
they never knew[f] his decrees.
Hallelujah!
Praise for God’s Amazing Deeds[a]
111 Hallelujah!
I will give thanks to the Lord with all of my heart
in the assembled congregation of the upright.
2 Great are the acts of the Lord;
they are within reach of[b] all who desire them.
3 Splendid and glorious are his awesome deeds,
and his righteousness endures forever.
4 He is remembered for his awesome deeds;
the Lord is gracious and compassionate.
5 He prepares food[c] for those who fear him;
he is ever mindful of his covenant.
6 He revealed his mighty deeds to his people
by giving them a country of their own.[d]
7 Whatever he does is[e] reliable and just,
and all his precepts are trustworthy,
8 sustained through all eternity,
and fashioned in both truth and righteousness.
9 He sent deliverance to his people;
he ordained his covenant to last forever;
his name is holy and awesome.
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
sound understanding belongs to those who practice it.
Praise of God[f] endures forever.
The Gracious Person[g]
112 Hallelujah!
How happy is the person who fears the Lord,
who truly delights in his commandments.
2 His descendants will be powerful in the land,
a generation of the upright who will be blessed.
3 Wealth and riches are in his house,
and his righteousness endures forever.
4 A light shines in the darkness for the upright,
for the one who is gracious, compassionate, and just.
5 It is good for the person who lends generously,
conducting his affairs with fairness.
6 He will never be shaken;
the one who is just will always be remembered.
7 He need not fear a bad report,
for his heart is unshaken, since he trusts in the Lord.
8 His heart is steadfast, he will not fear.
In the end he will look in triumph over his enemy.
9 He gives generously to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever;
his horn is exalted in honor.
10 The wicked person sees this and flies into a rage;
his teeth gnash and wear away.
The desire of the wicked will amount to nothing.
Praise to the Loving God
113 Hallelujah!
Give praise, you servants of the Lord.
Praise the name of the Lord!
2 May the name of the Lord be blessed
from now to eternity.
3 From rising[h] to setting[i] sun,
may the name of the Lord be praised.
4 The Lord is exalted high above all the nations;
his glory beyond the heavens.
5 Who is like the Lord our God,
enthroned on high,
6 yet stooping low to observe
the sky and the earth?
7 He lifts the poor person from the dust,
raising the needy from the trash pile
8 and giving him a seat among nobles—
with the nobles of his people.
9 He makes the barren woman among her household
a happy mother of joyful children.
Hallelujah!
5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the minds[a] of Pharaoh and his officials[b] changed toward the people, and they said, “What have we done in releasing Israel from serving us?” 6 So Pharaoh[c] had his chariot prepared and took his troops[d] with him.
7 He took 600 of the best chariots, and all the other[e] chariots of Egypt with officers in charge of each one. 8 The Lord made the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, stubborn,[f] and he defiantly[g] pursued the Israelis as they were leaving. 9 The Egyptians pursued them—all the chariot-horses of Pharaoh, along with his horsemen and army—and they overtook them camped by the sea, near Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal Zephon.
10 As Pharaoh approached, the Israelis looked up, and there were the Egyptians bearing down on them! Extremely frightened, the Israelis cried out to the Lord. 11 They also[h] told Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you took us out to die in the desert? What have you done to us, by bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Is this not what we told you in Egypt, when we said, ‘Leave us alone!’[i] and ‘Let us serve the Egyptians!’? Indeed, it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”
13 Moses told the people, “Don’t be afraid! Stand still and watch how the Lord will deliver you today, because you will never again see the Egyptians whom you’re looking at today. 14 The Lord will fight for you while you keep still.”
15 Then the Lord told Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelis to move out! 16 You are to raise your staff, stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it, so the Israelis may go into the middle of the sea on dry land. 17 Even now I’m hardening the heart of the Egyptians so they’ll go after the Israelis.[j] Then I’ll receive honor by means of[k] Pharaoh and all his army, his chariots, and his horsemen. 18 Then the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I receive honor by means of[l] Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”
19 Then the angel of God, who was going in front of the camp of Israel, moved behind them. The pillar of cloud also[m] moved from in front of them and stood behind them, 20 coming between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. The cloud remained there even[n] in the darkness,[o] illuminating the night, so that the one side did not come near the other all night.
21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord caused the water to retreat by a strong east wind all night, turning the sea into dry land. As the waters were divided, 22 the Israelis went into the middle of the sea on dry land, and the waters formed a wall for them on their right and on their left.
Jesus, the Word of Life
1 What existed from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we observed and touched with our own hands—this is the[a] Word of life! 2 This life was revealed to us, and we have seen it and testify about it. We declare to you this eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us. 3 What we have seen and heard we declare to you so that you, too, can have fellowship with us. Now this fellowship of ours is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus, the Messiah.[b] 4 We are writing these things[c] so that our[d] joy may be full.
Living in the Light
5 This is the message that we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light, and in him there is no darkness—none at all! 6 If we claim that we have fellowship with him but keep living in darkness, we are lying and not practicing the truth. 7 But if we keep living in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
Jesus the Way to the Father
14 “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Believe[a] in God, believe also in me. 2 There are many rooms in my Father’s house. If there weren’t, I wouldn’t have told you that I am going away to prepare a place for you, would I? 3 And since[b] I’m going away to prepare a place for you, I’ll come back again and welcome you into my presence, so that you may be where I am. 4 You know where I am going, and you know the way.”
5 Thomas asked him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you have known me, you will also know my Father. From now on you know him and have seen him.”
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