Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 148
Praise for God’s Universal Glory
1 Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
praise him in the heights!
2 Praise him, all his angels;
praise him, all his host!(A)
3 Praise him, sun and moon;
praise him, all you shining stars!
4 Praise him, you highest heavens
and you waters above the heavens!(B)
5 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for he commanded and they were created.(C)
6 He established them forever and ever;
he fixed their bounds, which cannot be passed.[a](D)
7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
you sea monsters and all deeps,(E)
8 fire and hail, snow and frost,
stormy wind fulfilling his command!(F)
9 Mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars!(G)
10 Wild animals and all cattle,
creeping things and flying birds!
11 Kings of the earth and all peoples,
princes and all rulers of the earth!
12 Young men and women alike,
old and young together!
13 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for his name alone is exalted;
his glory is above earth and heaven.(H)
14 He has raised up a horn for his people,
praise for all his faithful,
for the people of Israel who are close to him.
Praise the Lord!(I)
Psalm 149
Praise for God’s Goodness to Israel
1 Praise the Lord!
Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise in the assembly of the faithful.(J)
2 Let Israel be glad in its Maker;
let the children of Zion rejoice in their King.(K)
3 Let them praise his name with dancing,
making melody to him with tambourine and lyre.(L)
4 For the Lord takes pleasure in his people;
he adorns the humble with victory.(M)
5 Let the faithful exult in glory;
let them sing for joy on their couches.(N)
6 Let the high praises of God be in their throats
and two-edged swords in their hands,(O)
7 to execute vengeance on the nations
and punishment on the peoples,
8 to bind their kings with fetters
and their nobles with chains of iron,
9 to execute on them the judgment decreed.
This is glory for all his faithful ones.
Praise the Lord!(P)
Psalm 150
Praise for God’s Surpassing Greatness
Psalm 114
God’s Wonders at the Exodus
1 [a]When Israel went out from Egypt,
the house of Jacob from a people of strange language,(A)
2 Judah became God’s[b] sanctuary,
Israel his dominion.(B)
3 The sea looked and fled;
Jordan turned back.(C)
4 The mountains skipped like rams,
the hills like lambs.(D)
5 Why is it, O sea, that you flee?
O Jordan, that you turn back?
6 O mountains, that you skip like rams?
O hills, like lambs?
7 Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Jacob,(E)
8 who turns the rock into a pool of water,
the flint into a spring of water.(F)
Psalm 115
The Impotence of Idols and the Greatness of God
1 [c]Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory,
for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness.(G)
2 Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”(H)
3 Our God is in the heavens;
he does whatever he pleases.(I)
4 Their idols are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.(J)
5 They have mouths, but they do not speak;
they have eyes, but they do not see.
6 They have ears, but they do not hear;
they have noses, but they do not smell.
7 They have hands, but they do not feel;
they have feet, but they do not walk;
they make no sound in their throats.
8 Those who make them are like them;
so are all who trust in them.(K)
9 O Israel, trust in the Lord!
He is their help and their shield.(L)
10 O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord!
He is their help and their shield.
11 You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord!
He is their help and their shield.(M)
12 The Lord 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 bless those who fear the Lord,
both small and great.
Nebuchadnezzar’s Second Dream
4 [a]King Nebuchadnezzar to all peoples, nations, and languages that live throughout the earth: May you have abundant prosperity!(A) 2 The signs and wonders that the Most High God has worked for me I am pleased to recount.(B)
3 How great are his signs,
how mighty his wonders!
His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and his sovereignty is from generation to generation.(C)
4 [b]I, Nebuchadnezzar, was living at ease in my home and prospering in my palace.(D) 5 I saw a dream that frightened me; my fantasies in bed and the visions of my head terrified me.(E) 6 So I made a decree that all the wise men of Babylon should be brought before me, in order that they might tell me the interpretation of the dream.(F) 7 Then the magicians, the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the diviners came in, and I told them the dream, but they could not tell me its interpretation.(G) 8 At last Daniel came in before me—he who was named Belteshazzar after the name of my god and who is endowed with a spirit of the holy gods[c]—and I told him the dream:(H) 9 “O Belteshazzar, chief of the magicians, I know that you are endowed with a spirit of the holy gods[d] and that no mystery is too difficult for you. Hear[e] the dream that I saw, and tell me its interpretation.(I)
10 [f]Upon my bed this is what I saw:
there was a tree at the center of the earth,
and its height was great.(J)
11 The tree grew great and strong,
its top reached to heaven,
and it was visible to the ends of the whole earth.
12 Its foliage was beautiful,
its fruit abundant,
and it provided food for all.
The animals of the field found shade under it,
the birds of the air nested in its branches,
and from it all living beings were fed.(K)
13 “I continued looking, in the visions of my head as I lay in bed, and there was a holy watcher coming down from heaven.(L) 14 He cried aloud and said:
‘Cut down the tree and chop off its branches;
strip off its foliage and scatter its fruit.
Let the animals flee from beneath it
and the birds from its branches.(M)
15 But leave its stump and roots in the ground,
with a band of iron and bronze,
in the tender grass of the field.
Let him be bathed with the dew of heaven,
and let his lot be with the animals
in the grass of the earth.
16 Let his mind be changed from that of a human,
and let the mind of an animal be given to him.
And let seven times pass over him.(N)
17 The sentence is rendered by decree of the watchers,
the decision is given by order of the holy ones,
in order that all who live may know
that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdom of mortals;
he gives it to whom he will
and sets over it the lowliest of human beings.’(O)
18 “This is the dream that I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw. Now you, Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation, since all the wise men of my kingdom are unable to tell me the interpretation. You are able, however, for you are endowed with a spirit of the holy gods.”[g](P)
7 The end of all things is near;[a] therefore be serious and discipline yourselves for the sake of your prayers.(A) 8 Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins.(B) 9 Be hospitable to one another without complaining. 10 Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received.(C) 11 Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.(D)
Jesus and Peter
15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.”(A) 16 A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.”(B) 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.(C) 18 Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” 19 (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.”(D)
Jesus and the Beloved Disciple
20 Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; he was the one who had reclined next to Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?”(E) 21 When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about him?” 22 Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!”(F) 23 So the rumor spread among the brothers and sisters that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?”[a](G)
24 This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true.(H) 25 But there are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.(I)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.