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.
The Valley of Dry Bones
37 The hand[a] of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and placed[b] me in the midst of the valley, and it was full of bones. 2 He made me walk all around among them.[c] I realized[d] there were a great many bones in the valley, and they were very dry. 3 He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said to him, “Sovereign Lord, you know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and tell them: ‘Dry bones, listen to the Lord’s message. 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: Look, I am about to infuse breath[e] into you and you will live. 6 I will put tendons[f] on you and muscles over you and will cover you with skin; I will put breath[g] in you, and you will live. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. There was a sound when I prophesied— I heard[h] a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 As I watched, I saw[i] tendons on them, then muscles appeared,[j] and skin covered over them from above, but there was no breath[k] in them.
9 He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath,[l]—prophesy, son of man—and say to the breath: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these corpses so that they may live.’” 10 So I prophesied as I was commanded, and the breath came into them; they lived and stood on their feet, an extremely great army.
11 Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are all the house of Israel. Look, they are saying, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope has perished; we are cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy, and tell them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to open your graves and will raise you from your graves, my people. I will bring you to the land of Israel. 13 Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and raise you from your graves, my people. 14 I will place my breath[m] in you and you will live; I will give you rest in your own land. Then you will know that I am the Lord—I have spoken and I will act, declares the Lord.’”
Peter Addresses the Crowd
11 While the man[a] was hanging on to Peter and John, all the people, completely astounded, ran together to them in the covered walkway[b] called Solomon’s Portico.[c] 12 When Peter saw this, he declared to the people, “Men of Israel,[d] why are you amazed at this? Why[e] do you stare at us as if we had made this man[f] walk by our own power or piety? 13 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,[g] the God of our forefathers,[h] has glorified[i] his servant[j] Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected[k] in the presence of Pilate after he had decided[l] to release him. 14 But you rejected[m] the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a man who was a murderer be released to you. 15 You killed[n] the Originator[o] of life, whom God raised[p] from the dead. To this fact we are witnesses![q] 16 And on the basis of faith in Jesus’[r] name,[s] his very name has made this man—whom you see and know—strong. The[t] faith that is through Jesus[u] has given him this complete health in the presence[v] of you all. 17 And now, brothers, I know you acted in ignorance,[w] as your rulers did too. 18 But the things God foretold[x] long ago through[y] all the prophets—that his Christ[z] would suffer—he has fulfilled in this way. 19 Therefore repent and turn back so that your sins may be wiped out, 20 so that times of refreshing[aa] may come from the presence of the Lord,[ab] and so that he may send the Messiah[ac] appointed[ad] for you—that is, Jesus. 21 This one[ae] heaven must[af] receive until the time all things are restored,[ag] which God declared[ah] from times long ago[ai] through his holy prophets. 22 Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers. You must obey[aj] him in everything he tells you.[ak] 23 Every person[al] who does not obey that prophet will be destroyed and thus removed[am] from the people.’[an] 24 And all the prophets, from Samuel and those who followed him, have spoken about and announced[ao] these days. 25 You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your ancestors,[ap] saying to Abraham, ‘And in your descendants[aq] all the nations[ar] of the earth will be blessed.’[as] 26 God raised up[at] his servant and sent him first to you, to bless you by turning[au] each one of you from your iniquities.”[av]
12 My commandment is this—to love one another just as I have loved you.[a] 13 No one has greater love than this—that one lays down his life[b] for his friends. 14 You are my friends[c] if you do what I command you. 15 I no longer call you slaves,[d] because the slave does not understand[e] what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because I have revealed to you everything[f] I heard[g] from my Father. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you[h] and appointed you to go and bear[i] fruit, fruit that remains,[j] so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you. 17 This[k] I command you—to love one another.
The World’s Hatred
18 “If the world hates you, be aware[l] that it hated me first.[m] 19 If you belonged to the world,[n] the world would love you as its own.[o] However, because you do not belong to the world,[p] but I chose you out of the world, for this reason[q] the world hates you.[r] 20 Remember what[s] I told you, ‘A slave[t] is not greater than his master.’[u] If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they obeyed[v] my word, they will obey[w] yours too. 21 But they will do all these things to you on account of[x] my name, because they do not know the one who sent me.[y] 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin.[z] But they no longer have any excuse for their sin. 23 The one who hates me hates my Father too. 24 If I had not performed[aa] among them the miraculous deeds[ab] that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin.[ac] But now they have seen the deeds[ad] and have hated both me and my Father.[ae] 25 Now this happened[af] to fulfill the word that is written in their law, ‘They hated me without reason.’[ag] 26 When the Advocate[ah] comes, whom I will send you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he[ai] will testify about me, 27 and you also will testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.
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