Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 148
1 Hallelujah!
Praise Yahweh from the heavens.
Praise him in the heights above.
2 Praise him, all his angels.
Praise him, his entire heavenly army.
3 Praise him, sun and moon.
Praise him, all shining stars.
4 Praise him, you highest heaven
and the water above the sky.
5 Let them praise the name of Yahweh
because they were created by his command.
6 He set them in their places forever and ever.
He made it a law that no one can break.
7 Praise Yahweh from the earth.
Praise him, large sea creatures and all the ocean depths,
8 lightning and hail,
snow and fog,
strong winds that obey his commands,
9 mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedar trees,
10 wild animals and all domestic animals,
crawling animals and birds,
11 kings of the earth and all its people,
officials and all judges on the earth,
12 young men and women,
old and young together.
13 Let them praise the name of Yahweh
because his name is high above all others.
His glory is above heaven and earth.
14 He has given his people a strong leader,[a]
someone praiseworthy for his faithful ones,
for the people of Israel, the people who are close to him.
Hallelujah!
Psalm 149
1 Hallelujah!
Sing a new song to Yahweh.
Sing his praise in the assembly of godly people.
2 Let Israel find joy in their creator.
Let the people of Zion rejoice over their Melek.
3 Let them praise his name with dancing.
Let them make music to him with tambourines and lyres,
4 because Yahweh takes pleasure in his people.
He crowns those who are oppressed with victory.
5 Let godly people triumph in glory.
Let them sing for joy on their beds.
6 Let the high praises of El be in their throats
and two-edged swords in their hands
7 to take vengeance on the nations,
to punish the people of the world,
8 to put their kings in chains
and their leaders in iron shackles,
9 to carry out the judgment that is written against them.
This is an honor that belongs to all his godly ones.
Hallelujah!
Psalm 150
1 Hallelujah!
Praise El in his holy place.
Praise him in his mighty heavens.
2 Praise him for his mighty acts.
Praise him for his immense greatness.
3 Praise him with sounds from horns.
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 Yah!
Hallelujah!
Psalm 114
1 When Israel left Egypt,
when Jacob’s family left people who spoke a foreign language,
2 Judah became his holy place and Israel became his kingdom.
3 The Red Sea looked at this and ran away.
The Jordan River turned back.
4 The mountains jumped like rams.
The hills jumped like lambs.
5 Red Sea, why did you run away?
Jordan River, what made you turn back?
6 Mountains, what made you jump like rams?
Hills, what made you jump like lambs?
7 Earth, tremble in the presence of the Lord,
in the presence of the Elohim of Jacob.
8 He turns a rock into a pool filled with water
and turns flint into a spring flowing with water.
Psalm 115
1 Don’t give glory to us, O Yahweh.
Don’t give glory to us.
Instead, give glory to your name
because of your mercy and faithfulness.
2 Why should other nations say, “Where is their Elohim?”
3 Our Elohim is in heaven.
He does whatever he wants.
4 Their idols are made of silver and gold.
They were made by human hands.[a]
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.
They cannot even make a sound with their throats.
8 Those who make idols end up like them.
So does everyone who trusts them.
9 Israel, trust Yahweh.
He is your helper and your Magen.
10 Descendants of Aaron, trust Yahweh.
He is your helper and your Magen.
11 If you fear Yahweh, trust Yahweh.
He is your helper and your Magen.
12 Yahweh, who is always thinking about us, will bless us.
He will bless the descendants of Israel.
He will bless the descendants of Aaron.
13 He will bless those who fear Yahweh,
from the least important to the most important.
14 May Yahweh continue to bless you and your children.
15 You will be blessed by Yahweh, the maker of heaven and earth.
16 The highest heaven belongs to Yahweh,
but he has given the earth to the descendants of Adam.
17 Those who are dead do not praise Yah,
nor do those who go into the silence of the grave.
18 But we will thank Yah now and forever.
Hallelujah!
The Fall of Samaria
6 How horrible it will be for those who are at ease in Zion,
for those who feel secure on the mountain of Samaria,
and for the heads of the leading nations,
to whom the nation of Israel comes.
2 Go to Calneh and look.
Go from there to the great city of Hamath.
Then go to Gath, the city of the Philistines.
Are you better than these kingdoms?
Is their territory larger than yours?
3 How horrible it will be for those who think that a day of disaster is far away.
They bring the reign of violence closer.
4 How horrible it will be for those who sleep on ivory beds.
They sprawl out on their couches
and eat lambs from their flocks and calves from their stalls.
5 How horrible it will be for those who make up songs as they strum a harp.
Like David, they write all kinds of songs for themselves.
6 How horrible it will be for those who drink wine by the jugful.
They rub the finest oils all over themselves
and are not sorry for the ruin of the descendants of Joseph.
7 That is why they will now be the first to go into exile.
The celebrating of those sprawled around the banquet table will stop.
8 Adonay Yahweh has sworn an oath on himself.
Yahweh Elohe Tsebaoth declares:
I am disgusted with Jacob’s pride,
and I hate his palaces.
So I will hand over the city and everything in it.
9 If ten people are left in one house, they will die.
10 If a relative or a mortician
comes to take the dead bodies out of the house
and asks someone who is inside the house,
“Is there anyone else with you?”
that person will answer, “No.”
“Hush,” he will add.
“We shouldn’t mention the name of Yahweh!”
11 Yahweh is going to give the command
to level big houses and flatten little houses.
12 Do horses run on rocks?
Does a farmer plow the sea with oxen?
Yet, you have turned justice into something deadly
and what is righteous into poison.
13 How horrible it will be for those who rejoice over Lo Debar
and who say, “We were strong enough to capture Karnaim by ourselves.”
14 I am going to lead a nation to attack you, nation of Israel,
declares the Lord God of the Armies of the Nations.
They will oppress you from the border of Hamath to the valley of Arabah.
5 Your suffering proves that God’s judgment is right and that you are considered worthy of his kingdom.
6 Certainly, it is right for God to give suffering to those who cause you to suffer. 7 It is also right for God to give all of us relief from our suffering. He will do this when the Lord Yeshua is revealed, coming from heaven with his mighty angels in a blazing fire. 8 He will take revenge on those who refuse to acknowledge God and on those who refuse to respond to the Good News about our Lord Yeshua. 9 They will pay the penalty by being destroyed forever, by being separated from the Lord’s presence and from his glorious power. 10 This will happen on that day when he comes to be honored among all his holy people and admired by all who have believed in him. This includes you because you believed the testimony we gave you.
11 With this in mind, we always pray that our God will make you worthy of his call. We also pray that through his power he will help you accomplish every good desire and help you do everything your faith produces. 12 That way the name of our Lord Yeshua will be honored among you. Then, because of the good will of Yeshua Christ, our God and Lord, you will be honored by him.
John Is Born
57 When the time came for Elizabeth to have her child, she gave birth to a son. 58 Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had been very kind to her, and they shared her joy.
59 When the child was eight days old, they went to the temple to circumcise him. They were going to name him Zechariah after his father. 60 But his mother spoke up, “Absolutely not! His name will be John.”
61 Their friends said to her, “But you don’t have any relatives with that name.”
62 So they motioned to the baby’s father to see what he wanted to name the child. 63 Zechariah asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” Everyone was amazed.
64 Suddenly, Zechariah was able to speak, and he began to praise God.
65 All their neighbors were filled with awe. Throughout the mountain region of Judea, people talked about everything that had happened. 66 Everyone who heard about it seriously thought it over and asked, “What does the future hold for this child?” It was clear that the Lord was with him.
67 His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied,
68 “Praise the Lord God of Israel!
He has come to take care of his people
and to set them free.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.