Book of Common Prayer
The World Should Praise the Lord
148 Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the ·skies [heavens].
Praise him ·high above the earth [in the heights].
2 Praise him, all you ·angels [messengers].
Praise him, all ·you armies of heaven [his hosts; C the angelic army].
3 Praise him, sun and moon.
Praise him, all you ·shining stars [L stars of light].
4 Praise him, ·highest heavens [L heaven of heavens]
and you waters above the ·sky [heavens].
5 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
because ·they were created by his command [L he commands and they were created; Gen. 1].
6 He ·put them in place [L made them stand] forever and ever;
he made a ·law [statute; requirement; ordinance] that will never ·change [pass].
7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
you large sea ·animals [monsters; C like Leviathan; 74:12–17; 104:26; Gen. 1:21; Job 3:8; 41; Is. 27:1] and all the ·oceans [deeps],
8 ·lightning [L fire] and hail, snow and ·mist [cloud; or smoke],
and stormy winds that ·obey him [L do his word],
9 mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars,
10 wild animals and all cattle,
crawling animals and birds,
11 kings of the earth and all ·nations [peoples],
princes and all ·rulers [judges] of the earth,
12 young men and women,
old people and ·children [youth].
13 Praise the name of the Lord,
because ·he [L his name] alone is ·great [exalted].
·He is more wonderful than [L His splendor is over] heaven and earth.
14 God has ·given his people a king [exalted/raised a horn over his people; C an animal’s horn symbolizes power].
He should be praised by all ·who belong to him [his saints/loyal ones];
he should be praised by the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel], the people ·closest to his heart [L nearest to him].
Praise the Lord!
Praise the God of Israel
149 Praise the Lord!
Sing a new song [C celebrating victory; 33:3; 40:3; 96:1; 98:1; 144:9; Is. 42:10; Rev. 5:9; 14:3] to the Lord;
sing his praise in the ·meeting [assembly; congregation] of his ·people [saints; loyal ones].
2 Let the Israelites ·be happy [rejoice] because of God, [L in] their Maker.
Let the ·people of Jerusalem [L sons of Zion; C location of the Temple] rejoice ·because [L in] of their King.
3 They should praise him with dancing.
They should ·sing praises [make a psalm] to him with tambourines and harps.
4 The Lord is pleased with his people;
he ·saves [L endows with salvation/victory] the ·humble [needy].
5 Let ·those who worship him [the saints/loyal ones] rejoice in his glory [C God’s manifest presence].
Let them sing for joy even in bed!
6 Let them ·shout his praise [L exalt God with their throats]
with their two-edged swords in their hands.
7 They will ·punish [execute vengeance against] the nations
and ·defeat [punish] the people.
8 They will put those kings in chains
and ·those important men [honored men] in iron bands.
9 They will ·punish them as God has written [L accomplish a written judgment].
God is honored by ·all who worship him [his saints/loyal ones].
Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord with Music
150 Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his ·Temple [L holy place; or holiness];
praise him in his ·mighty heaven [L strong firmament; Gen. 1:7].
2 Praise him for his strength;
praise him for his [L abundant] greatness.
3 Praise him with trumpet blasts;
praise him with harps and lyres.
4 Praise him with tambourines and dancing;
praise him with stringed instruments and flutes.
5 Praise him with loud cymbals;
praise him with crashing cymbals.
6 Let everything that breathes praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord!
God Brought Israel from Egypt
114 When ·the Israelites [Israel] went out of Egypt,
the ·people [L house] of Jacob left ·that foreign country [L a people of incomprehensible language].
2 Then Judah became God’s holy place [Ex. 19:6];
Israel became ·the land he ruled [his dominion].
3 The Sea [C Red (or Reed) Sea; Ex. 14–15] looked and ·ran away [fled];
the Jordan River turned back [Josh. 3].
4 The mountains ·danced [skipped] like ·sheep [rams]
and the hills like little lambs.
5 Sea, why did you ·run away [flee]?
Jordan, why did you turn back?
6 Mountains, why did you ·dance [skip] like ·sheep [rams]?
Hills, why did you ·dance [skip] like little lambs?
7 Earth, ·shake with fear [writhe; tremble] before the Lord,
before the God of Jacob.
8 He turned a rock into a pool of water,
a hard ·rock [flint] into a spring of water [Ex. 17:1–7; Num. 20:1–13].
The One True God
115 ·It does not belong [L Not to us, not] to us, Lord.
The glory belongs to ·you [L your name]
because of your ·love [loyalty] and ·loyalty [faithfulness].
2 Why do the nations ask,
“Where is their God?”
3 Our God is in heaven.
He does what he pleases.
4 Their idols are made of silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
5 They have mouths, but they 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 They have hands, but they cannot feel.
They have feet, but they cannot walk.
No sounds come from their throats.
8 People who make ·idols [L them] ·will be [or are] like them,
and so will those who ·trust [have confidence in] them [135:15–18; Is. 44:9–20; 46:6–7; Jer. 10:1–9; Hab. 2:18–19].
9 ·Family of [L O] Israel, ·trust [have confidence in] the Lord;
he is your helper and your ·protection [L shield].
10 ·Family [L House] of Aaron [C the priests], ·trust [have confidence in] the Lord;
he is your helper and your ·protection [L shield].
11 You who ·respect [fear] the Lord [Prov. 1:7] should ·trust [have confidence in] him;
he is your helper and your ·protection [L shield].
12 The Lord remembers us and will bless us.
He will bless the ·family [L house] of Israel;
he will bless the ·family [L house] of Aaron [C the priests].
13 The Lord will bless those who ·respect [fear] him [Prov. 1:7],
from the ·smallest [or least] to the greatest.
14 May the Lord ·give you success [make you increase],
and may he give you and your children ·success [increase].
15 May you be blessed by the Lord,
who made heaven and earth [Gen. 1].
16 Heaven belongs to the Lord,
but he gave the earth to people.
17 Dead people do not praise the Lord;
those ·in the grave are silent [L who go down in silence].
18 But we will praise the Lord
now and forever.
Praise the Lord!
14 This is what the Lord, ·who saves you [your protector/redeemer; 41:14],
the Holy One of Israel [1:4], says:
“I will ·send armies [L send] to Babylon for you,
and I will ·knock down all its locked gates [or bring them down as fugitives].
The ·Babylonians [L Chaldeans] will ·shout their cries of sorrow [or flee in the ships they take such pride in].
15 I am the Lord, your Holy One [1:4],
the Creator of Israel, your King.”
God Will Save His People Again
16 This is what the Lord says.
He is the one who made a road through the sea [v. 2]
and a path through ·rough [strong; mighty] waters.
17 He is the one who ·defeated [L led out] the chariots and horses
and the mighty armies [Ex. 14:4–9].
They ·fell together [lay down] and will never rise again.
They were ·destroyed [extinguished] as a ·flame [L wick] is put out.
18 The Lord says, “Forget what happened before,
and do not ·think about [consider; dwell on] the past.
19 Look at the new thing I am going to do.
It is already ·happening [L sprouting/springing up]. Don’t you see it?
I will make a ·road [path; way] in the ·desert [wilderness; C the return from Babylon is portrayed as a new Exodus]
and ·rivers[a] [streams] in the ·dry land [desert; wasteland].
20 Even the wild animals will ·be thankful to [honor] me—
the ·wild dogs [jackals] and ·owls [or ostriches].
They will honor me when I put water in the ·desert [wilderness]
and ·rivers [streams] in the ·dry land [desert; wasteland]
to give ·water [drink] to my people, ·the ones I chose [my chosen; 42:1].
21 The people I ·made [L formed for myself]
will ·sing songs to praise me [L declare/proclaim my praise].
22 “People of Jacob, you have not ·called to me [called upon me; asked for my help];
people of Israel, you have ·become tired of [or not wearied yourself for] me.
23 You have not brought me your ·sacrifices [burnt offerings; Lev. 1:1–17] of sheep
nor honored me with your sacrifices.
I did not ·weigh you down [burden you] with ·sacrifices to offer [grain/or gift; tribute offering; Lev. 2:1]
or make you tired with incense to burn.
24 So you did not buy ·incense [fragrant calamus; aromatic cane] for me;
you did not ·freely bring me [saturate/lavish me with] fat from your sacrifices.
Instead you have ·weighed me down [burdened me] with your many sins;
you have made me tired of your ·many wrongs [iniquities].
25 “I, I am the One who ·erases [blots out] all your ·sins [transgressions], for my sake;
I will not remember your sins.
26 But you should ·remind [or review with] me.
Let’s ·meet and decide what is right [argue/contend together].
Tell what you have done and show ·you are right [your innocence].
27 Your first father sinned [C probably Jacob (58:14; 63:16), though possibly Abraham (51:2)],
and your ·leaders [mediators; spokesmen] have ·turned [transgressed] against me.
28 So I will make your ·holy rulers [or princes of the sanctuary; C either rulers or priests] ·unholy [defiled; disgraced].
I will ·bring destruction on [devote to destruction; Josh. 2:10] ·the people of Jacob [L Jacob],
and I will let Israel be ·insulted [reviled; scorned].”
The Lord Is the Only God
44 The Lord says, “·People of Jacob, you are my servants [L Jacob, my servant]. Listen to me!
·People of Israel, I chose you [L Israel, my chosen; 41:8].”
2 This is what the Lord says, who made you,
who formed you in ·your mother’s body [L the womb],
who will help you:
“·People of Jacob, my servants [L Jacob, my servant], don’t be afraid.
·Israel [L Jeshurun; C the location of the Temple; Deut. 32:15; 33:5, 26], I chose you.
3 I will pour out water for the thirsty land
and make streams flow on dry land.
I will pour out my Spirit ·into your children [on your descendants/offspring/seed]
and my blessing on your ·descendants [offspring].
4 ·Your children [L They] will ·grow [sprout up] like a tree in the grass,
like ·poplar trees [or willows] growing beside streams of water.
5 One person will say, ‘I belong to the Lord,’
and another will use the name Jacob.
Another will ·sign his name [or write on his hand] ‘I am the Lord’s,’
and another will ·use [call himself by] the name Israel.”
17 God wanted to ·make very clear [demonstrate convincingly] to ·those who would get what he promised [L the heirs of the promise] that his ·purposes [or plans] never change, so he ·made [L confirmed/guaranteed it with] an oath. 18 These two things cannot change: God cannot lie when he makes a promise, and he cannot lie when he makes an oath. These things greatly encourage us, who ·came [L have fled] to God for safety, to hold on to the hope ·we have been given [L set before us]. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for ·the soul [our lives], ·sure [stable; secure] and ·strong [reliable; unshifting]. It enters behind the curtain in the ·Most Holy Place in heaven [L inner place/sanctuary], 20 where Jesus has gone ·ahead of us [L as a forerunner] ·and for us [on our behalf]. He has become the high priest forever, a priest like Melchizedek [Ps. 110:4; Heb. 5:6, 10; 7:1–17].
The Priest Melchizedek
7 Melchizedek [C a priest and king in the time of Abraham; Gen. 14:17–24; Heb. 5:6, 10; 6:20] was the king of Salem [C another name for Jerusalem, meaning “peace”; v. 2] and a priest for God Most High. He met Abraham when Abraham was coming back after ·defeating [L the slaughter of] the kings [Gen. 14:17–19]. When they met, Melchizedek blessed Abraham, 2 and Abraham ·gave [L apportioned/divided to] him a ·tenth [tithe] ·of everything he had brought back from the battle [L of everything]. First, Melchizedek’s name means “king of ·goodness [righteousness; justice],” and he is king of Salem [C another name for Jerusalem], which means “king of peace.” 3 ·No one knows who Melchizedek’s father or mother was [L …without father, without mother], ·where he came from [L without genealogy], ·when he was born, or when he died [L having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; C something unstated was assumed not to exist]. Melchizedek is like the Son of God; he continues being a priest forever [C Melchizedek’s unmentioned genealogy in Genesis is, by analogy, like Jesus’ eternal Sonship and priesthood].
4 You can see how great Melchizedek was. Abraham, the ·great father [patriarch], gave him a tenth of ·everything that he won in battle [the spoils/booty/plunder]. 5 Now the law ·says [authorizes; commands] that those ·in the tribe [L of the sons/descendants] of Levi who become priests must collect a ·tenth [tithe] from the people—their ·own people [L brothers (and sisters)]—even though ·the priests and the people [L they] ·are from the family [are also descendants; L have come from the loins/body] of Abraham. 6 [L But] Melchizedek was not ·from the tribe of Levi [L descended from them; v. 3; C he was not from the Levitical line of priests], but he collected a ·tenth [tithe] from Abraham. And he blessed Abraham, the man who had God’s promises [Gen. 12:1–3]. 7 Now ·everyone knows [it is indisputable] that the ·more important person blesses the less important person [L lesser/inferior is blessed by the greater/superior]. 8 ·Priests receive a tenth, even though they are only men who live and then die [L In the one case, mortal men receive a tithe,…]. ·But Melchizedek, who received a tenth from Abraham, continues living, as the Scripture says [L …but in the other case, the one (receives the tithe) who is declared (by Scripture) to be alive]. 9 We might even say that Levi, who receives a ·tenth [tithe], also paid it when Abraham paid Melchizedek a tenth. 10 Levi was not yet born, but he was in the ·body [loins] of his ancestor when Melchizedek met Abraham [C the Levitical priesthood is considered inferior to Melchizedek’s (and Christ’s) priesthood, since Levi paid tithes to Melchizedek through his ancestor Abraham].
27 Just then his ·followers [disciples] came back from town and were surprised to see him talking with a woman [C some Jews thought it a waste of time for rabbis to teach women]. But none of them asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”
28 Then the woman left her water jar and went back to town. She said to the people, 29 “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did. Do you think he might be the ·Christ [Messiah]?” 30 So the people left the town and ·went to see Jesus [L were coming toward him].
31 Meanwhile, his ·followers [disciples] were ·begging [urging] him, “·Teacher [L Rabbi], eat something.”
32 But Jesus answered, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about [Deut. 8:3].”
33 So the ·followers [disciples] asked ·themselves [each other], “·Did somebody already bring him food [L No one brought him anything to eat, did they]?”
34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do ·what the One who sent me wants me to do [L the will of the One who sent me] and to ·finish [complete] his work. 35 ·You have a saying [L Do you not say…?], ‘Four more months till harvest.’ ·But [Look; T Behold] I tell you, ·open your eyes and look at [L lift up your eyes and see] the fields ·ready [ripe; L white] for harvest now. 36 Already, the one who ·harvests [reaps] is ·being paid [L receiving wages] and is gathering ·crops [fruit] for eternal life. So the one who ·plants [sows] and the one who ·harvests [reaps] ·celebrate [rejoice] ·at the same time [together]. 37 [L For] ·Here [in this case] the saying is true, ‘One person ·plants [sows], and another ·harvests [reaps].’ 38 I sent you to ·harvest a crop that [reap what] you did not ·work [labor; toil] on. Others did the ·work [labor; toil], and you ·get to finish up [reap the benefits of; L have entered into] their work.”
39 Many of the Samaritans in that town believed in Jesus because of ·what the woman said [L the word of the woman who testified]: “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 When the Samaritans came to Jesus, they ·begged [urged; asked] him to stay with them, so he stayed there two more days. 41 And many more believed because of ·the things he said [L his word].
42 They said to the woman, “·First we believed in Jesus [L It is no longer] because of what you said, but now we believe because we heard him ourselves. We know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”
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