Book of Common Prayer
The World Should Praise the Lord
148 Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the skies.
Praise him high above the earth.
2 Praise him, all you angels.
Praise him, all you armies of heaven.
3 Praise him, sun and moon.
Praise him, all you shining stars.
4 Praise him, highest heavens
and you waters above the sky.
5 Let them praise the Lord,
because they were created by his command.
6 He put them in place forever and ever;
he made a law that will never change.
7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
you large sea animals and all the oceans,
8 lightning and hail, snow and mist,
and stormy winds that obey him,
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,
princes and all rulers of the earth,
12 young men and women,
old people and children.
13 Praise the Lord,
because he alone is great.
He is more wonderful than heaven and earth.
14 God has given his people a king.
He should be praised by all who belong to him;
he should be praised by the Israelites, the people closest to his heart.
Praise the Lord!
Praise the God of Israel
149 Praise the Lord!
Sing a new song to the Lord;
sing his praise in the meeting of his people.
2 Let the Israelites be happy because of God, their Maker.
Let the people of Jerusalem rejoice because of their King.
3 They should praise him with dancing.
They should sing praises to him with tambourines and harps.
4 The Lord is pleased with his people;
he saves the humble.
5 Let those who worship him rejoice in his glory.
Let them sing for joy even in bed!
6 Let them shout his praise
with their two-edged swords in their hands.
7 They will punish the nations
and defeat the people.
8 They will put those kings in chains
and those important men in iron bands.
9 They will punish them as God has written.
God is honored by all who worship him.
Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord with Music
150 Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his Temple;
praise him in his mighty heaven.
2 Praise him for his strength;
praise him for his 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 went out of Egypt,
the people of Jacob left that foreign country.
2 Then Judah became God’s holy place;
Israel became the land he ruled.
3 The Red Sea looked and ran away;
the Jordan River turned back.
4 The mountains danced like sheep
and the hills like little lambs.
5 Sea, why did you run away?
Jordan, why did you turn back?
6 Mountains, why did you dance like sheep?
Hills, why did you dance like little lambs?
7 Earth, shake with fear before the Lord,
before the God of Jacob.
8 He turned a rock into a pool of water,
a hard rock into a spring of water.
The One True God
115 It does not belong to us, Lord.
The glory belongs to you
because of your love and loyalty.
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 will be like them,
and so will those who trust them.
9 Family of Israel, trust the Lord;
he is your helper and your protection.
10 Family of Aaron, trust the Lord;
he is your helper and your protection.
11 You who respect the Lord should trust him;
he is your helper and your protection.
12 The Lord remembers us and will bless us.
He will bless the family of Israel;
he will bless the family of Aaron.
13 The Lord will bless those who respect him,
from the smallest to the greatest.
14 May the Lord give you success,
and may he give you and your children success.
15 May you be blessed by the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
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.
18 But we will praise the Lord
now and forever.
Praise the Lord!
Jethro Visits Moses
18 Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, was the priest of Midian. He heard about everything that God had done for Moses and his people, the Israelites, and how the Lord had led the Israelites out of Egypt. 2 Now Moses had sent his wife Zipporah to Jethro, his father-in-law, 3 along with his two sons. The first son was named Gershom,[a] because when he was born, Moses said, “I am a stranger in a foreign country.” 4 The other son was named Eliezer,[b] because when he was born, Moses said, “The God of my father is my help. He saved me from the king of Egypt.”
5 So Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, took Moses’ wife and his two sons and went to Moses. He was camped in the desert near the mountain of God. 6 Jethro had sent a message ahead to Moses that said, “I, Jethro, your father-in-law, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons.”
7 So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. After the two men asked about each other’s health, they went into Moses’ tent. 8 Moses told his father-in-law everything the Lord had done to the king and the Egyptians to help Israel. He told about all the problems they had faced along the way and how the Lord had saved them.
9 Jethro was very happy to hear all the good things the Lord had done for Israel when he had saved them from the Egyptians. 10 He said, “Praise the Lord. He has saved you from the Egyptians and their king, and he has saved the people from the power of the Egyptians. 11 Now I know the Lord is greater than all gods, because he did this to those who looked down on Israel.” 12 Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, gave a whole burnt offering and other sacrifices to God. Aaron and all the elders of Israel came to Moses’ father-in-law to eat the holy meal together before God.
The Command to Love Others
7 My dear friends, I am not writing a new command to you but an old command you have had from the beginning. It is the teaching you have already heard. 8 But also I am writing a new command to you, and you can see its truth in Jesus and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining.
9 Anyone who says, “I am in the light,”[a] but hates a brother or sister, is still in the darkness. 10 Whoever loves a brother or sister lives in the light and will not cause anyone to stumble in his faith. 11 But whoever hates a brother or sister is in darkness, lives in darkness, and does not know where to go, because the darkness has made that person blind.
12 I write to you, dear children,
because your sins are forgiven through Christ.
13 I write to you, fathers,
because you know the One who existed from the beginning.
I write to you, young people,
because you have defeated the Evil One.
14 I write to you, children,
because you know the Father.
I write to you, fathers,
because you know the One who existed from the beginning.
I write to you, young people,
because you are strong;
the teaching of God lives in you,
and you have defeated the Evil One.
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If you love the world, the love of the Father is not in you. 16 These are the ways of the world: wanting to please our sinful selves, wanting the sinful things we see, and being too proud of what we have. None of these come from the Father, but all of them come from the world. 17 The world and everything that people want in it are passing away, but the person who does what God wants lives forever.
Verses 9–20 are not included in some of the earliest surviving Greek copies of Mark.
Some Followers See Jesus
[9 After Jesus rose from the dead early on the first day of the week, he showed himself first to Mary Magdalene. One time in the past, he had forced seven demons out of her. 10 After Mary saw Jesus, she went and told his followers, who were very sad and were crying. 11 But Mary told them that Jesus was alive. She said that she had seen him, but the followers did not believe her.
12 Later, Jesus showed himself to two of his followers while they were walking in the country, but he did not look the same as before. 13 These followers went back to the others and told them what had happened, but again, the followers did not believe them.
Jesus Talks to the Apostles
14 Later Jesus showed himself to the eleven apostles while they were eating, and he criticized them because they had no faith. They were stubborn and refused to believe those who had seen him after he had risen from the dead.
15 Jesus said to his followers, “Go everywhere in the world, and tell the Good News to everyone. 16 Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved, but anyone who does not believe will be punished. 17 And those who believe will be able to do these things as proof: They will use my name to force out demons. They will speak in new languages.[a] 18 They will pick up snakes and drink poison without being hurt. They will touch the sick, and the sick will be healed.”
19 After the Lord Jesus said these things to his followers, he was carried up into heaven, and he sat at the right side of God. 20 The followers went everywhere in the world and told the Good News to people, and the Lord helped them. The Lord proved that the Good News they told was true by giving them power to work miracles.]
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.