Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 146
1 Praise the Eternal!
Praise the Eternal, O my soul;
2 I will praise the Eternal for as long as I live.
I will sing praises to my God as long as breath fills my lungs and blood flows through my veins.
3 Do not put your trust in the rulers of this world—kings and princes.
Do not expect any rescue from mortal men.
4 As soon as their breath leaves them, they return to the earth;
on that day, all of them perish—their dreams, their plans, and their memories.
5 Blessed are those whose help comes from the God of Jacob,
whose hope is centered in the Eternal their God—
6 Who created the heavens, the earth,
the seas, and all that lives within them;
Who stays true and remains faithful forever;
7 Who works justice for those who are pressed down by the world,
providing food for those who are hungry.
The Eternal frees those who are imprisoned;
8 He makes the blind see.
He lifts up those whose backs are bent in labor;
He cherishes those who do what is right.
9 The Eternal looks after those who journey in a land not their own;
He takes care of the orphan and the widow,
but He frustrates the wicked along their way.
10 The Eternal will reign today, tomorrow, and forever.
People of Zion, your God will rule forever over all generations.
Praise the Eternal!
Psalm 147
1 Praise the Eternal!
It is good to sing praises to our God,
for praise is beautiful and pleasant.
2 The Eternal, Architect of earth, is building Jerusalem,
finding the lost, gathering Israel’s outcasts.
3 He binds their wounds,
heals the sorrows of their hearts.
4 He counts all the stars within His hands,
carefully fixing their number
and giving them names.
5 Our Lord is great. Nothing is impossible with His overwhelming power.
He is loving, compassionate, and wise beyond all measure.
6 The Eternal will lift up the lowly
but throw down the wicked to the earth.
Psalm 147 is a postexilic hymn of praise to God as Creator and Sustainer. It celebrates the rebuilding of the walls and gates that protect Jerusalem. God secures the city, grants peace to the border towns, and controls the elements.
7 Open your mouths with thanks!
Sing praises to the Eternal!
Strum the harp in unending praise to our God
8 Who blankets the heavens with clouds,
sends rain to water the thirsty earth,
and pulls up each blade of grass upon the mountainside.
9 He opens His hands to feed all the animals
and scatters seed to nestlings when they cry.
10 He takes no pleasure in the raw strength of horses;
He finds no joy in the speed of the sprinter.
11 But the Eternal does take pleasure in those who worship Him,
those who invest hope in His unfailing love.
12 O Jerusalem, praise the Eternal!
O Zion, praise your God!
13 For His divine power reinforces your city gates,
blesses your children in the womb.
14 He establishes peace within your borders,
fills your markets with hearty golden wheat.
15 His command ripples across the earth;
His word runs out on swift feet.
16 He blankets the earth in wooly snow,
scattering frost like ashes over the land.
17 He throws down hail like stones falling from a mountain.
Can any withstand His wintry blast?
18 But He dispatches His word, and the thaw begins;
at His command, the spring winds blow, gently stirring the waters back to life.
19 He brings Jacob in on His plan, declaring His word—
His statutes and His teachings to Israel.
20 He has not treated any other nation in such a way;
they live unaware of His commands.
Praise the Eternal!
Psalm 148
1 Praise the Eternal!
All you in the heavens, praise the Eternal;
praise Him from the highest places!
2 All you, His messengers and His armies in heaven:
praise Him!
3 Sun, moon, and all you brilliant stars above:
praise Him!
4 Highest heavens and all you waters above the heavens:
praise Him!
5 Let all things join together in a concert of praise to the name of the Eternal,
for He gave the command and they were created.
6 He put them in their places to stay forever—
He declared it so, and it is final.
7 Everything on earth, join in and praise the Eternal;
sea monsters and creatures of the deep,
8 Lightning and hail, snow and foggy mists,
violent winds all respond to His command.
9 Mountains and hills,
fruit trees and cedar forests,
10 All you animals both wild and tame,
reptiles and birds who take flight:
praise the Lord.
11 All kings and all nations,
princes and all judges of the earth,
12 All people, young men and women,
old men and children alike,
praise the Lord.
13 Let them all praise the name of the Eternal!
For His name stands alone above all others.
His glory shines greater than anything above or below.
14 He has made His people strong;
He is the praise of all who are godly,
the praise of the children of Israel, those whom He holds close.
Praise the Eternal!
Psalm 149
1 Praise the Eternal!
Write new songs; sing them to Him with all your might!
Gather with His faithful followers in joyful praise;
2 Let all of Israel celebrate their Maker, their God, their friend;
let the children of Zion find great joy in their true King.
3 So let the music begin; praise His name—dance and sing
to the rhythm of the tambourine, and to the tune of the harp.
4 For the Eternal is listening, and nothing pleases Him more than His people;
He raises up the poor and endows them with His salvation.
5 Let His faithful followers erupt in praise,
singing triumphantly wherever they are, even as they lie down for sleep in the evening.
6 With the name of God and praise in their mouths,
with a two-edged sword in their hands,
7 Let them take revenge on all nations who deny God.
Let them punish the peoples.
8 Kings and nobles will be locked up,
and their freedom will be bound in iron shackles.
9 This judgment against them, decreed by a holy God, will be carried out.
It’s an honor for all His faithful followers to serve Him.
Praise the Eternal!
37 The Eternal had a hold on me, and I couldn’t escape it. The divine wind of the Eternal One picked me up and set me down in the middle of the valley, but this time it was full of bones. 2 God led me through the bones. There were piles of bones everywhere in the valley—dry bones left unburied.
This oracle may be one of the best known in Ezekiel’s prophecy. God’s promise of a new heart and a new spirit echoes Jeremiah’s new covenant prophecy (Jeremiah 31:31-34). What God’s people need more than anything is for God to do a work of grace within them. Like other prophets of his day, Ezekiel is convinced that heaven must intervene in order to fix what is wrong on earth. It is not enough for people to try harder and do better. This work of grace begins with God cleansing His people with fresh water. Idolatry and various sins have made them impure and unclean, so before they can be restored, they must be made pure by the washing of water. Then, once God gives them a new heart, His people will become willing covenant partners; they will give up on their rebellious, hurtful ways and embrace God’s designs for their lives. With a new spirit—which seems to be nothing other than God’s Spirit living in and among them—they will have the desire and ability to live out God’s reasonable demands on them.
God insists that all He intends to do to save and redeem His people is not for their good; He is working to restore His good name. God’s covenant people have given Him a bad reputation among the nations, so God must act in His own interest to make sure His name is given the honor it is due.
Eternal One (to Ezekiel): 3 Son of man, do you think these bones can live?
Ezekiel: Eternal Lord, certainly You know the answer better than I do.
Eternal One: 4-5 Actually, I do. Prophesy to these bones. Tell them to listen to what the Eternal Lord says to them: “Dry bones, I will breathe breath into you, and you will come alive. 6 I will attach muscles and tendons to you, cause flesh to grow over them, and cover you with skin. I will breathe breath into you, and you will come alive. After this happens, you will know that I am the Eternal.”
God is not only the Creator of life, but He is also the Restorer of life.
7 So I did what God told me to do: I prophesied to the bones. As I was speaking, I heard a loud noise—a rattling sound—and all the bones began to come together and form complete skeletons. 8 I watched and saw muscles and tendons attach to the bones, flesh grow over them, and skin wrap itself around the reforming bodies. But there was still no breath in them.
Eternal One: 9 Prophesy to the breath. Speak, son of man, and tell them what the Eternal Lord has to say: “O sweet breath, come from the four winds and breathe into these who have been killed. Make these corpses come alive.”
10 So I did what God told me to do: I prophesied to the breath. As I was speaking, breath invaded the lifeless. The bodies came alive and stood on their feet. I realized then I was looking at a great army.
Eternal One: 11 Son of man, these bones are the entire community of Israel. They keep saying, “Our bones are dry now, picked clean by scavengers. All hope is gone. Our nation is lost.”
12-13 He told me to prophesy and tell them what He said.
Eternal One: Pay attention, My people! I am going to open your graves and bring you back to life! I will carry you straight back to the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Eternal One. 14 I will breathe My Spirit into you, and you will be alive once again. I will place you back in your own land. After that you will know I, the Eternal, have done what I said I would do.
So said the Eternal One.
9-11 A crowd ran to the commotion, and they gathered around this man in an open area called Solomon’s Porch. There he was, standing on his own two feet, holding on to Peter and John. They knew exactly who he was—the beggar they passed at the beautiful gate every day. Everyone was absolutely amazed at this wonderful miracle; they were speechless, stunned.
Just as Jesus promised, the Spirit comes on believers in power, enabling them to do miracles like this. Now they can participate in the truth of the good news.
Peter (to the crowd): 12 Why are you so amazed, my fellow Israelites? Why are you staring at my friend and me as though we did this miracle through our own power or made this fellow walk by our own holiness? 13 We didn’t do this—God did! The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob—the God of our ancestors has glorified Jesus, God’s servant—the same Jesus whom you betrayed and rejected in front of Pilate, even though Pilate was going to release Him. 14 He is the Holy and Righteous One, but you rejected Him and asked for a murderer to be released to you instead. 15 You not only rejected Him, but you killed Him—the very Author of life! But God raised Jesus from the dead, whom my friend John and I have seen with our own eyes. 16 So that’s how this miracle happened: we have faith in the name of Jesus, and He is the power that made this man strong—this man who is known to all of you. It is faith in Jesus that has given this man his complete health here today, in front of all of you.
17 Listen, friends, I know you didn’t fully realize what you were doing when you rejected and betrayed Jesus. I know that you, and your rulers as well, were acting in ignorance. 18 God was at work in all this, fulfilling what He had predicted through all the prophets—that the Anointed One would suffer. 19 So now you need to rethink everything and turn to God so your sins will be forgiven and a new day can dawn, days of refreshing times flowing from the Lord. 20 Then God may send Jesus the Anointed, whom God has chosen for you. 21 He is in heaven now and must remain there until the day of universal restoration comes—the restoration which in ancient times God announced through the holy prophets. 22 Moses, for example, said, “The Eternal One your God will raise up from among your people a prophet who will be like me. You must listen to Him. 23 And whoever does not listen to His words will be completely uprooted from among the people.”[a]
24 Every prophet, from Samuel through all of his successors, agreed. 25 You are the descendants of these prophets, and you are the people of God’s covenant to your ancestors. God’s word to Abraham includes you: “Because of your descendants, all the families of the earth will be blessed.”[b] 26 So when God raised up His Servant, God sent Him first to you, to begin blessing you by calling you to change your path from evil ways to God’s ways.
12 My commandment to you is this: love others as I have loved you. 13 There is no greater way to love than to give your life for your friends. 14 You celebrate our friendship if you obey this command. 15 I don’t call you servants any longer; servants don’t know what the master is doing, but I have told you everything the Father has said to Me. I call you friends. 16 You did not choose Me. I chose you, and I orchestrated all of this so that you would be sent out and bear great and perpetual fruit. As you do this, anything you ask the Father in My name will be done. 17 This is My command to you: love one another.
18 If you find that the world despises you, remember that before it despised you, it first despised Me. 19 If you were a product of the world order, then it would love you. But you are not a product of the world because I have taken you out of it, and it despises you for that very reason. 20 Don’t forget what I have spoken to you: “a servant is not greater than the master.” If I was mistreated, you should expect nothing less. If they accepted what I have spoken, they will also hear you. 21 Everything they do to you they will do on My account because they do not know the One who has sent Me. 22 If I had not spoken within their hearing, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for ignoring My voice.
23 If someone despises Me, he also despises My Father. 24 If I had not demonstrated things for them that have never been done, they would not be guilty of sin. But the reality is they have stared Me in the face, and they have despised Me and the Father nonetheless. 25 Yet their law, which says, “They despised Me without any cause,”[a] has again been proven true.
26 I will send a great Helper to you from the Father, one known as the Spirit of truth. He comes from the Father and will point to the truth as it concerns Me. 27 But you will also point others to the truth about My identity, because you have journeyed with Me since this all began.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.