Book of Common Prayer
Let All Peoples Praise the Lord
117 Praise (A)the Lord, all you Gentiles!
[a]Laud Him, all you peoples!
2 For His merciful kindness is great toward us,
And (B)the truth of the Lord endures forever.
Praise the Lord!
Praise to God for His Everlasting Mercy
2 (E)Let Israel now say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
3 Let the house of Aaron now say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
4 Let those who fear the Lord now say,
“His mercy endures forever.”
5 (F)I called on the Lord in distress;
The Lord answered me and (G)set me in a broad place.
6 (H)The Lord is on my side;
I will not fear.
What can man do to me?
7 (I)The Lord is for me among those who help me;
Therefore (J)I shall see my desire on those who hate me.
8 (K)It is better to trust in the Lord
Than to put confidence in man.
9 (L)It is better to trust in the Lord
Than to put confidence in princes.
10 All nations surrounded me,
But in the name of the Lord I will destroy them.
11 They (M)surrounded me,
Yes, they surrounded me;
But in the name of the Lord I will destroy them.
12 They surrounded me (N)like bees;
They were quenched (O)like a fire of thorns;
For in the name of the Lord I will [b]destroy them.
13 You pushed me violently, that I might fall,
But the Lord helped me.
14 (P)The Lord is my strength and song,
And He has become my salvation.
15 The voice of rejoicing and salvation
Is in the tents of the righteous;
The right hand of the Lord does valiantly.
16 (Q)The right hand of the Lord is exalted;
The right hand of the Lord does valiantly.
17 (R)I shall not die, but live,
And (S)declare the works of the Lord.
18 The Lord has (T)chastened[c] me severely,
But He has not given me over to death.
19 (U)Open to me the gates of righteousness;
I will go through them,
And I will praise the Lord.
20 (V)This is the gate of the Lord,
(W)Through which the righteous shall enter.
21 I will praise You,
For You have (X)answered me,
And have become my salvation.
22 (Y)The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone.
23 [d]This was the Lord’s doing;
It is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day the Lord has made;
We will rejoice and be glad in it.
25 Save now, I pray, O Lord;
O Lord, I pray, send now prosperity.
26 (Z)Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
We have blessed you from the house of the Lord.
27 God is the Lord,
And He has given us (AA)light;
Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.
28 You are my God, and I will praise You;
(AB)You are my God, I will exalt You.
29 Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.
The Blessed State of the Righteous
112 Praise[a] the Lord!
Blessed is the man who fears the Lord,
Who (A)delights greatly in His commandments.
2 (B)His descendants will be mighty on earth;
The generation of the upright will be blessed.
3 (C)Wealth and riches will be in his house,
And his righteousness [b]endures forever.
4 (D)Unto the upright there arises light in the darkness;
He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous.
5 (E)A good man deals graciously and lends;
He will guide his affairs (F)with discretion.
6 Surely he will never be shaken;
(G)The righteous will be in everlasting remembrance.
7 (H)He will not be afraid of evil tidings;
His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.
8 His (I)heart is established;
(J)He will not be afraid,
Until he (K)sees his desire upon his enemies.
9 He has dispersed abroad,
He has given to the poor;
His righteousness endures forever;
His [c]horn will be exalted with honor.
10 The wicked will see it and be grieved;
He will gnash his teeth and melt away;
The desire of the wicked shall perish.
The Majesty and Condescension of God
113 Praise[d] the Lord!
(L)Praise, O servants of the Lord,
Praise the name of the Lord!
2 (M)Blessed be the name of the Lord
From this time forth and forevermore!
3 (N)From the rising of the sun to its going down
The Lord’s name is to be praised.
4 The Lord is (O)high above all nations,
(P)His glory above the heavens.
5 (Q)Who is like the Lord our God,
Who dwells on high,
6 (R)Who humbles Himself to behold
The things that are in the heavens and in the earth?
7 (S)He raises the poor out of the dust,
And lifts the (T)needy out of the ash heap,
8 That He may (U)seat him with princes—
With the princes of His people.
9 (V)He grants the [e]barren woman a home,
Like a joyful mother of children.
Praise the Lord!
Water from the Rock(A)
17 Then (B)all the congregation of the children of Israel set out on their journey from the Wilderness of (C)Sin, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped in Rephidim; but there was no water for the people to (D)drink. 2 (E)Therefore the people contended with Moses, and said, “Give us water, that we may drink.”
So Moses said to them, “Why do you contend with me? Why do you (F)tempt the Lord?”
3 And the people thirsted there for water, and the people (G)complained against Moses, and said, “Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our (H)livestock with thirst?”
4 So Moses (I)cried out to the Lord, saying, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to (J)stone[a] me!”
5 And the Lord said to Moses, (K)“Go on before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel. Also take in your hand your rod with which (L)you struck the river, and go. 6 (M)Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.”
And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 So he called the name of the place (N)Massah[b] and [c]Meribah, because of the contention of the children of Israel, and because they [d]tempted the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
15 He is (A)the image of the invisible God, (B)the firstborn over all creation. 16 For (C)by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or (D)dominions or [a]principalities or [b]powers. All things were created (E)through Him and for Him. 17 (F)And He is before all things, and in Him (G)all things consist. 18 And (H)He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, (I)the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
Reconciled in Christ
19 For it pleased the Father that (J)in Him all the fullness should dwell, 20 and (K)by Him to reconcile (L)all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, (M)having made peace through the blood of His cross.
21 And you, (N)who once were alienated and enemies in your mind (O)by wicked works, yet now He has (P)reconciled 22 (Q)in the body of His flesh through death, (R)to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight— 23 if indeed you continue (S)in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are (T)not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, (U)which was preached to every creature under heaven, (V)of which I, Paul, became a minister.
The Promise of the Holy Spirit
37 (A)On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, (B)“If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38 (C)He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, (D)out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” 39 (E)But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those [a]believing in Him would receive; for the [b]Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet (F)glorified.
Who Is He?
40 Therefore [c]many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, “Truly this is (G)the Prophet.” 41 Others said, “This is (H)the Christ.”
But some said, “Will the Christ come out of Galilee? 42 (I)Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, (J)where David was?” 43 So (K)there was a division among the people because of Him. 44 Now (L)some of them wanted to take Him, but no one laid hands on Him.
Rejected by the Authorities
45 Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why have you not brought Him?”
46 The officers answered, (M)“No man ever spoke like this Man!”
47 Then the Pharisees answered them, “Are you also deceived? 48 Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him? 49 But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.”
50 Nicodemus (N)(he who came to [d]Jesus [e]by night, being one of them) said to them, 51 (O)“Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?”
52 They answered and said to him, “Are you also from Galilee? Search and look, for (P)no prophet [f]has arisen out of Galilee.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.