Book of Common Prayer
The Whole Creation Invoked to Praise the Lord.
148 [a]Praise [b]the Lord!
Praise the Lord (A)from the heavens;
Praise Him (B)in the heights!
2 Praise Him, (C)all His angels;
Praise Him, (D)all His heavenly armies!
3 Praise Him, sun and moon;
Praise Him, all stars of light!
4 Praise Him, [c](E)highest heavens,
And the (F)waters that are above the heavens!
5 They are to praise the name of the Lord,
For (G)He commanded and they were created.
6 He has also (H)established them forever and ever;
He has made a (I)decree, and it will not pass away.
7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
(J)Sea monsters, and all the ocean (K)depths;
8 (L)Fire and hail, (M)snow and (N)clouds;
(O)Stormy wind, (P)fulfilling His word;
9 (Q)Mountains and all hills;
Fruit (R)trees and all cedars;
10 (S)Animals and all cattle;
(T)Crawling things and winged fowl;
11 (U)Kings of the earth and all peoples;
Rulers and all judges of the earth;
12 Both young men and virgins;
Old men and children.
13 They are to praise the name of the Lord,
For His (V)name alone is exalted;
His (W)majesty is above earth and heaven.
14 And He has (X)lifted up a horn for His people,
(Y)Praise for all His godly ones,
For the sons of Israel, a people (Z)near to Him.
[d]Praise [e]the Lord!
Israel Invoked to Praise the Lord.
149 [f]Praise [g]the Lord!
Sing a (AA)new song to the Lord,
And His praise (AB)in the congregation of the godly ones.
2 Israel shall be joyful in (AC)his Maker;
The sons of Zion shall rejoice in their (AD)King.
3 They shall praise His name with (AE)dancing;
They shall sing praises to Him with (AF)tambourine and lyre.
4 For the Lord (AG)takes pleasure in His people;
He will (AH)glorify the lowly with salvation.
5 The (AI)godly ones shall be jubilant in glory;
They shall (AJ)sing for joy on their beds.
6 The (AK)high praises of God shall be in their [h]mouths,
And a (AL)two-edged (AM)sword in their hands,
7 To (AN)execute vengeance on the nations,
And punishment on the peoples,
8 To bind their kings (AO)with chains,
And their (AP)dignitaries with shackles of iron,
9 To (AQ)execute against them the judgment written.
This is an (AR)honor for all His godly ones.
[i]Praise [j]the Lord!
A Psalm of Praise.
150 [k]Praise [l]the Lord!
Praise God in His (AS)sanctuary;
Praise Him in His mighty [m](AT)expanse.
2 Praise Him for His (AU)mighty deeds;
Praise Him according to His excellent (AV)greatness.
3 Praise Him with (AW)trumpet sound;
Praise Him with (AX)harp and lyre.
4 Praise Him with (AY)tambourine and dancing;
Praise Him with (AZ)stringed instruments and (BA)flute.
5 Praise Him with loud (BB)cymbals;
Praise Him with resounding cymbals.
6 (BC)Everything that has breath shall praise [n]the Lord.
[o]Praise [p]the Lord!
God’s Rescue of Israel from Egypt.
114 When Israel went forth (A)from Egypt,
The house of Jacob from a people of a (B)foreign language,
2 Judah became (C)His sanctuary;
Israel, (D)His dominion.
3 The (E)sea looked and fled;
The (F)Jordan turned back.
4 The mountains (G)skipped like rams,
The hills, like lambs.
5 What (H)ails you, sea, that you flee?
Jordan, that you turn back?
6 Mountains, that you skip like rams?
Hills, like lambs?
7 (I)Tremble, earth, before the Lord,
Before the God of Jacob,
8 Who (J)turned the rock into a (K)pool of water,
The (L)flint into a fountain of water.
Heathen Idols Contrasted with the Lord.
115 (M)Not to us, Lord, not to us,
But (N)to Your name give glory,
Because of Your mercy, because of Your [a]truth.
2 (O)Why should the nations say,
“(P)Where, then, is their God?”
3 But our (Q)God is in the heavens;
He (R)does whatever He pleases.
4 Their (S)idols are silver and gold,
The (T)work of human hands.
5 They have mouths, but they (U)cannot speak;
They have eyes, but they cannot see;
6 They have ears, but they cannot hear;
They have noses, but they cannot smell;
7 [b]They have hands, but they cannot feel;
[c]They have feet, but they cannot walk;
They cannot make a sound with their throat.
8 (V)Those who make them [d]will become like them,
Everyone who trusts in them.
9 (W)Israel, (X)trust in the Lord;
He is their (Y)help and their shield.
10 House of (Z)Aaron, trust in the Lord;
He is their help and their shield.
11 You who [e](AA)fear the Lord, trust in the Lord;
He is their help and their shield.
12 The Lord (AB)has been mindful of us; He will bless us.
He will bless the house of Israel;
He will bless the house of Aaron.
13 He will (AC)bless those who [f]fear the Lord,
(AD)The small together with the great.
14 May the Lord (AE)increase you,
You and your children.
15 May you be blessed of the Lord,
(AF)Maker of heaven and earth.
Message to the Exiles
29 Now these are the words of the (A)letter which Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the rest of the elders of the exile, the priests, the prophets, and all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.
4 “This is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, says to all the exiles whom I have (A)sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 ‘(B)Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their [a]produce. 6 Take (C)wives and father sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may give birth to sons and daughters; and grow in numbers there and do not decrease. 7 (D)Seek the [b]prosperity of the city where I have sent you into exile, and (E)pray to the Lord in its behalf; for [c]in its [d]prosperity will be your [e]prosperity.’ 8 For this is what the Lord of armies, the God of Israel says: ‘Do not let your (F)prophets who are in your midst or your diviners (G)deceive you, and do not listen to their interpretations of (H)your dreams which you dream. 9 For they (I)prophesy falsely to you in My name; (J)I have not sent them,’ declares the Lord.
10 “For this is what the Lord says: ‘When (K)seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My (L)good word to you, to bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the (M)plans that I [f]have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for [g](N)prosperity and not for disaster, to give you a future and a (O)hope. 12 Then you will (P)call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will (Q)listen to you. 13 And you will (R)seek Me and find Me when you (S)search for Me with all your heart. 14 I will let Myself be (T)found by you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will (U)restore your fortunes and (V)gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will (W)bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.’
6 They passed through the [a](A)Phrygian and (B)Galatian region, after being forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in [b](C)Asia; 7 and after they came to (D)Mysia, they were trying to go into (E)Bithynia, and the (F)Spirit of Jesus did not allow them; 8 and passing by (G)Mysia, they went down to (H)Troas. 9 (I)And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of (J)Macedonia was standing and pleading with him, and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 When he had seen (K)the vision, (L)we immediately sought to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to (M)preach the gospel to them.
11 So after setting sail from (N)Troas, we ran (O)a straight course to Samothrace, and on the following day to Neapolis; 12 and from there to (P)Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of (Q)Macedonia, (R)a Roman colony; and we were spending some days in this city. 13 And on (S)the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to a riverside, where we were thinking that there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had assembled.
First Convert in Europe
14 A woman named Lydia was listening; she was a seller of purple fabrics from the city of (T)Thyatira, and (U)a worshiper of God. [c]The Lord (V)opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul. 15 Now when she and (W)her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.
The Seventy-two Sent Out
10 Now after this (A)the Lord appointed [a]seventy-two (B)others, and sent them (C)in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come. 2 And He was saying to them, “(D)The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore plead with the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. 3 Go; (E)behold, I am sending you out like lambs in the midst of wolves. 4 (F)Carry no money belt, no [b]bag, no sandals, and greet no one along the way. 5 And whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house.’ 6 And if a [c]man of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him; but if not, it will return to you. 7 Stay in [d]that house, eating and drinking [e]what they provide; for (G)the laborer is deserving of his wages. Do not move from house to house. 8 Whatever city you enter and they receive you, (H)eat what is served to you; 9 and heal those in it who are sick, and say to them, ‘(I)The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10 But whatever city you enter and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, 11 ‘(J)Even the dust of your city which clings to our feet we wipe off in protest against you; yet [f]be sure of this, that (K)the kingdom of God has come near.’ 12 I say to you, (L)it will be more tolerable on that day for (M)Sodom than for that city.
The Joyful Results
17 Now the [a]seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even (A)the demons are subject to us [b]in Your name!” 18 And He said to them, “I watched (B)Satan fall from heaven like lightning. 19 Behold, I have given you authority to (C)walk on snakes and scorpions, and authority over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you. 20 Nevertheless, do not [c]rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that (D)your names are recorded in heaven.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.