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 Lord Commissions Joshua
1 After Moses the Lord’s servant died, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant: 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Get ready![a] Cross the Jordan River.[b] Lead these people into the land that I am ready to hand over to them.[c] 3 I am handing over to you every place you set foot, as I promised Moses.[d] 4 Your territory will extend from the desert[e] in the south to Lebanon in the north. It will extend all the way to the great River Euphrates in the east (including all Syria)[f] and all the way to the Mediterranean Sea[g] in the west.[h] 5 No one will be able to resist you[i] all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not abandon you or leave you alone. 6 Be strong and brave! You must lead these people in the conquest of this land that I solemnly promised their ancestors I would hand over to them.[j] 7 Make sure you are[k] very strong and brave! Carefully obey[l] all the law my servant Moses charged you to keep.[m] Do not swerve from it to the right or to the left, so that you may be successful[n] in all you do.[o] 8 This law scroll must not leave your lips.[p] You must memorize it[q] day and night so you can carefully obey[r] all that is written in it. Then you will prosper[s] and be successful.[t] 9 I repeat,[u] be strong and brave! Don’t be afraid and don’t panic,[v] for I, the Lord your God, am with you in all you do.”[w]
Joshua Prepares for the Invasion
10 Joshua instructed[x] the leaders of the people: 11 “Go through the camp and command the people, ‘Prepare your supplies, for within three days you will cross the Jordan River and begin the conquest of the land the Lord your God is ready to hand over to you.’”[y]
12 Joshua told the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh: 13 “Remember what Moses the Lord’s servant commanded you.[z] The Lord your God is giving you a place to settle and is handing this land over to you.[aa] 14 Your wives, children, and cattle may stay in the land that Moses assigned to you east of the Jordan River. But all of you warriors must cross over armed for battle ahead of your brothers.[ab] You must help them 15 until the Lord gives your brothers a place like yours to settle and they conquer the land the Lord your God is ready to hand over to them. Then you may go back to your allotted land and occupy the land Moses the Lord’s servant assigned you east of the Jordan.”[ac]
16 They told Joshua, “We will do everything you say. We will go wherever you send us. 17 Just as we obeyed[ad] Moses, so we will obey you. But[ae] may the Lord your God be with you as he was with Moses. 18 Any man who rebels against what you say and does not obey all your commands will be executed.[af] But[ag] be strong and brave!”
3 After we sighted Cyprus[a] and left it behind on our port side,[b] we sailed on to Syria and put in[c] at Tyre,[d] because the ship was to unload its cargo there. 4 After we located[e] the disciples, we stayed there[f] seven days. They repeatedly told[g] Paul through the Spirit[h] not to set foot[i] in Jerusalem. 5 When[j] our time was over,[k] we left and went on our way. All of them, with their wives and children, accompanied[l] us outside of the city. After[m] kneeling down on the beach and praying,[n] 6 we said farewell[o] to one another. Then[p] we went aboard the ship, and they returned to their own homes.[q] 7 We continued the voyage from Tyre[r] and arrived at Ptolemais,[s] and when we had greeted the brothers, we stayed with them for one day. 8 On the next day we left[t] and came to Caesarea,[u] and entered[v] the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven,[w] and stayed with him. 9 (He had four unmarried[x] daughters who prophesied.)[y]
10 While we remained there for a number of days,[z] a prophet named Agabus[aa] came down from Judea. 11 He came[ab] to us, took[ac] Paul’s belt,[ad] tied[ae] his own hands and feet with it,[af] and said, “The Holy Spirit says this: ‘This is the way the Jews in Jerusalem will tie up the man whose belt this is, and will hand him over[ag] to the Gentiles.’” 12 When we heard this, both we and the local people[ah] begged him not to go up to Jerusalem. 13 Then Paul replied, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking[ai] my heart? For I am ready not only to be tied up,[aj] but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” 14 Because he could not be persuaded,[ak] we said no more except,[al] “The Lord’s will be done.”[am]
15 After these days we got ready[an] and started up[ao] to Jerusalem.
Jesus’ Authority
21 Then[a] they went to Capernaum.[b] When the Sabbath came,[c] Jesus[d] went into the synagogue[e] and began to teach. 22 The people there[f] were amazed by his teaching, because he taught them like one who had authority,[g] not like the experts in the law.[h] 23 Just then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit,[i] and he cried out,[j] 24 “Leave us alone,[k] Jesus the Nazarene! Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One[l] of God!” 25 But[m] Jesus rebuked him:[n] “Silence! Come out of him!”[o] 26 After throwing him into convulsions, the unclean spirit cried out with a loud voice and came out of him. 27 They were all amazed so that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He even commands the unclean spirits and they obey him.”
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