Book of Common Prayer
Praise to the Lord from Creation
148 Praise[a] the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
Praise Him in the heights!
2 Praise Him, all His angels;
Praise Him, all His hosts!
3 Praise Him, sun and moon;
Praise Him, all you stars of light!
4 Praise Him, (A)you heavens of heavens,
And (B)you waters above the heavens!
5 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
For (C)He commanded and they were created.
6 (D)He also established them forever and ever;
He made a decree which shall not pass away.
7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
(E)You great sea creatures and all the depths;
8 Fire and hail, snow and clouds;
Stormy wind, fulfilling His word;
9 (F)Mountains and all hills;
Fruitful trees and all cedars;
10 Beasts and all cattle;
Creeping things and flying fowl;
11 Kings of the earth and all peoples;
Princes and all judges of the earth;
12 Both young men and maidens;
Old men and children.
13 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
For His (G)name alone is exalted;
His glory is above the earth and heaven.
14 And He (H)has exalted the [b]horn of His people,
The praise of (I)all His saints—
Of the children of Israel,
(J)A people near to Him.
[c]Praise the Lord!
Praise to God for His Salvation and Judgment
149 Praise[d] the Lord!
(K)Sing to the Lord a new song,
And His praise in the assembly of saints.
2 Let Israel rejoice in their Maker;
Let the children of Zion be joyful in their (L)King.
3 (M)Let them praise His name with the dance;
Let them sing praises to Him with the timbrel and harp.
4 For (N)the Lord takes pleasure in His people;
(O)He will beautify the [e]humble with salvation.
5 Let the saints be joyful in glory;
Let them (P)sing aloud on their beds.
6 Let the high praises of God be in their mouth,
And (Q)a two-edged sword in their hand,
7 To execute vengeance on the nations,
And punishments on the peoples;
8 To bind their kings with chains,
And their nobles with fetters of iron;
9 (R)To execute on them the written judgment—
(S)This honor have all His saints.
[f]Praise the Lord!
Let All Things Praise the Lord
Praise God in His sanctuary;
Praise Him in His mighty [h]firmament!
2 Praise Him for His mighty acts;
Praise Him according to His excellent (U)greatness!
3 Praise Him with the sound of the [i]trumpet;
Praise Him with the lute and harp!
4 Praise Him with the timbrel and dance;
Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes!
5 Praise Him with loud cymbals;
Praise Him with clashing cymbals!
6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
[j]Praise the Lord!
The Power of God in His Deliverance of Israel(A)
114 When (B)Israel went out of Egypt,
The house of Jacob (C)from a people [a]of strange language,
2 (D)Judah became His sanctuary,
And Israel His dominion.
3 (E)The sea saw it and fled;
(F)Jordan turned back.
4 (G)The mountains skipped like rams,
The little hills like lambs.
5 (H)What ails you, O sea, that you fled?
O Jordan, that you turned back?
6 O mountains, that you skipped like rams?
O little hills, like lambs?
7 Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
At the presence of the God of Jacob,
8 (I)Who turned the rock into a pool of water,
The flint into a fountain of waters.
The Futility of Idols and the Trustworthiness of God
115 Not (J)unto us, O Lord, not unto us,
But to Your name give glory,
Because of Your mercy,
Because of Your truth.
2 Why should the [b]Gentiles say,
(K)“So where is their God?”
3 (L)But our God is in heaven;
He does whatever He pleases.
4 (M)Their idols are silver and gold,
The work of men’s hands.
5 They have mouths, but they do not speak;
Eyes they have, but they do not see;
6 They have ears, but they do not hear;
Noses they have, but they do not smell;
7 They have hands, but they do not handle;
Feet they have, but they do not walk;
Nor do they mutter through their throat.
8 (N)Those who make them are like them;
So is everyone who trusts in them.
9 (O)O Israel, trust in the Lord;
(P)He is their help and their shield.
10 O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord;
He is their help and their shield.
11 You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord;
He is their help and their shield.
12 The Lord [c]has been mindful of us;
He will bless us;
He will bless the house of Israel;
He will bless the house of Aaron.
13 (Q)He will bless those who fear the Lord,
Both small and great.
14 May the Lord give you increase more and more,
You and your children.
15 May you be (R)blessed by the Lord,
(S)Who made heaven and earth.
16 The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s;
But the earth He has given to the children of men.
17 (T)The dead do not praise the Lord,
Nor any who go down into silence.
18 (U)But we will bless the Lord
From this time forth and forevermore.
Praise the Lord!
Jethro’s Advice(A)
18 And (B)Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses’ father-in-law, heard of all that (C)God had done for Moses and for Israel His people—that the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. 2 Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took (D)Zipporah, Moses’ wife, after he had sent her back, 3 with her (E)two sons, of whom the name of one was [a]Gershom (for he said, (F)“I have been a [b]stranger in a foreign land”) 4 and the name of the other was [c]Eliezer (for he said, “The God of my father was my (G)help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh”); 5 and Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness, where he was encamped at (H)the mountain of God. 6 Now he had said to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her.”
7 So Moses (I)went out to meet his father-in-law, bowed down, and (J)kissed him. And they asked each other about their well-being, and they went into the tent. 8 And Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel’s sake, all the hardship that had come upon them on the way, and how the Lord had (K)delivered them. 9 Then Jethro rejoiced for all the (L)good which the Lord had done for Israel, whom He had delivered out of the hand of the Egyptians. 10 And Jethro said, (M)“Blessed be the Lord, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh, and who has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. 11 Now I know that the Lord is (N)greater than all the gods; (O)for in the very thing in which they [d]behaved (P)proudly, He was above them.” 12 Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, [e]took a burnt (Q)offering and other sacrifices to offer to God. And Aaron came with all the elders of Israel (R)to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.
7 [a]Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had (A)from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard [b]from the beginning. 8 Again, (B)a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, (C)because the darkness is passing away, and (D)the true light is already shining.
9 (E)He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. 10 (F)He who loves his brother abides in the light, and (G)there is no cause for stumbling in him. 11 But he who (H)hates his brother is in darkness and (I)walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
Their Spiritual State
12 I write to you, little children,
Because (J)your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake.
13 I write to you, fathers,
Because you have known Him who is (K)from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
Because you have overcome the wicked one.
I write to you, little children,
Because you have (L)known the Father.
14 I have written to you, fathers,
Because you have known Him who is from the beginning.
I have written to you, young men,
Because (M)you are strong, and the word of God abides in you,
And you have overcome the wicked one.
Do Not Love the World
15 (N)Do not love the world or the things in the world. (O)If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, (P)the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And (Q)the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
Mary Magdalene Sees the Risen Lord(A)
9 [a]Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, (B)out of whom He had cast seven demons. 10 (C)She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept. 11 (D)And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.
Jesus Appears to Two Disciples(E)
12 After that, He appeared in another form (F)to two of them as they walked and went into the country. 13 And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either.
The Great Commission(G)
14 (H)Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. 15 (I)And He said to them, “Go into all the world (J)and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 (K)He who believes and is baptized will be saved; (L)but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these (M)signs will follow those who [b]believe: (N)In My name they will cast out demons; (O)they will speak with new tongues; 18 (P)they[c] will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; (Q)they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
Christ Ascends to God’s Right Hand(R)
19 So then, (S)after the Lord had spoken to them, He was (T)received up into heaven, and (U)sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them (V)and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.