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 Advice of Jethro
18 [a] Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard about all that God had done for Moses and for his people Israel, that[b] the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt.[c]
2 Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took Moses’ wife Zipporah after he had sent her back, 3 and her two sons, one of whom was named Gershom[d] (for Moses[e] had said, “I have been a foreigner[f] in a foreign land”) 4 and the other Eliezer (for Moses had said,[g] “The God of my father has been my help[h] and delivered[i] me from the sword of Pharaoh”).
5 Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, together with Moses’[j] sons and his wife, came to Moses in the wilderness where he was camping by[k] the mountain of God.[l] 6 He said[m] to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you, along with your wife and her two sons with her.” 7 Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him;[n] they each asked about the other’s welfare, and then they went into the tent. 8 Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to Egypt for Israel’s sake, and all the hardship[o] that had come on them[p] along the way, and how[q] the Lord had delivered them.
9 Jethro rejoiced[r] because of all the good that the Lord had done for Israel, whom he had delivered from the hand of Egypt. 10 Jethro said, “Blessed[s] be the Lord who has delivered you from the hand of Egypt, and from the hand of Pharaoh, who has delivered the people from the Egyptians’ control![t] 11 Now I know that the Lord is greater than all the gods, for in the thing in which they dealt proudly against them he has destroyed them.”[u] 12 Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought[v] a burnt offering and sacrifices for God,[w] and Aaron and all the elders of Israel came to eat food[x] with the father-in-law of Moses before God.
7 Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning.[a] The old commandment is the word that you have already[b] heard. 8 On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you which is true in him[c] and in you, because[d] the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.[e] 9 The one who says he is in the light but still hates[f] his fellow Christian[g] is still in the darkness. 10 The one who loves his fellow Christian[h] resides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.[i] 11 But the one who hates his fellow Christian[j] is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.[k]
Words of Reassurance
12 I am writing to you,[l] little children, that[m] your sins have been forgiven because of his[n] name. 13 I am writing to you, fathers, that[o] you have known him who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young people, that[p] you have conquered the evil one.[q] 14 I have written to you, children, that[r] you have known the Father.[s] I have written to you, fathers, that[t] you have known him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young people, that[u] you are strong, and the word of God resides in you, and you have conquered the evil one.
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him, 16 because all that is in the world (the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the arrogance produced by material possessions)[v] is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away with all its desires, but the person who does the will of God remains[w] forever.
The Longer Ending of Mark[a]
9 [[Early on the first day of the week, after he arose, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had driven out seven demons. 10 She went out and told those who were with him, while they were mourning and weeping. 11 And when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.
12 After this he appeared in a different form to two of them while they were on their way to the country. 13 They went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them. 14 Then he appeared to the eleven themselves, while they were eating, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen him resurrected. 15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 The one who believes and is baptized will be saved, but the one who does not believe will be condemned. 17 These signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new languages;[b] 18 they will pick up snakes with their hands, and whatever poison they drink will not harm them;[c] they will place their hands on the sick and they will be well.” 19 After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 They went out and proclaimed everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through the accompanying signs.]]
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