Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 148
Creation’s Praise of the Lord
1 Hallelujah!
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
praise him in the heights.(A)
2 Praise him, all his angels;
praise him, all his heavenly armies.(B)
3 Praise him, sun and moon;
praise him, all you shining stars.(C)
4 Praise him, highest heavens,
and you waters above the heavens.(D)
5 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for he commanded, and they were created.(E)
6 He set them in position forever and ever;
he gave an order that will never pass away.(F)
7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
all sea monsters and ocean depths,(G)
8 lightning[a] and hail, snow and cloud,
stormy wind that executes his command,(H)
9 mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars,(I)
10 wild animals and all cattle,
creatures that crawl and flying birds,(J)
11 kings of the earth and all peoples,
princes and all judges of the earth,(K)
12 young men as well as young women,
old and young together.(L)
13 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for his name alone is exalted.
His majesty covers heaven and earth.(M)
14 He has raised up a horn for his people,
resulting in praise to all his faithful ones,
to the Israelites, the people close to him.(N)
Hallelujah!
Psalm 149
Praise for God’s Triumph
1 Hallelujah!
Sing to the Lord a new song,(O)
his praise in the assembly of the faithful.(P)
2 Let Israel celebrate its Maker;
let the children of Zion rejoice in their King.(Q)
3 Let them praise his name with dancing
and make music to him with tambourine and lyre.(R)
4 For the Lord takes pleasure in his people;(S)
he adorns the humble with salvation.(T)
5 Let the faithful celebrate in triumphal glory;
let them shout for joy on their beds.(U)
6 Let the exaltation of God be in their mouths[b]
and a double-edged sword in their hands,(V)
7 inflicting vengeance on the nations
and punishment on the peoples,(W)
8 binding their kings with chains
and their dignitaries with iron shackles,(X)
9 carrying out the judgment decreed against them.
This honor is for all his faithful people.(Y)
Hallelujah!
Psalm 150
Praise the Lord
1 Hallelujah!
Praise God in his sanctuary.
Praise him in his mighty expanse.(Z)
2 Praise him for his powerful acts;(AA)
praise him for his abundant greatness.(AB)
3 Praise him with the blast of a ram’s horn;(AC)
praise him with harp and lyre.(AD)
4 Praise him with tambourine and dance;(AE)
praise him with strings and flute.(AF)
5 Praise him with resounding cymbals;
praise him with clashing cymbals.(AG)
6 Let everything that breathes praise the Lord.(AH)
Hallelujah!
Psalm 114
God’s Deliverance of Israel
1 When Israel came out of Egypt—
the house of Jacob from a people
who spoke a foreign language(A)—
2 Judah became his sanctuary,
Israel, his dominion.(B)
3 The sea looked and fled;(C)
the Jordan turned back.(D)
4 The mountains skipped like rams,
the hills, like lambs.(E)
5 Why was it, sea, that you fled?
Jordan, that you turned back?(F)
6 Mountains, that you skipped like rams?
Hills, like lambs?(G)
7 Tremble, earth, at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Jacob,(H)
8 who turned the rock into a pool,
the flint into a spring.(I)
Psalm 115
Glory to God Alone
1 Not to us, Lord, not to us,
but to your name give glory
because of your faithful love, because of your truth.(J)
2 Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?” (K)
3 Our God is in heaven
and does whatever he pleases.(L)
4 Their idols are silver and gold,
made by human hands.(M)
5 They have mouths but cannot speak,
eyes, but cannot see.
6 They have ears but cannot hear,
noses, but cannot smell.(N)
7 They have hands but cannot feel,
feet, but cannot walk.(O)
They cannot make a sound with their throats.(P)
8 Those who make them are[a] just like them,
as are all who trust in them.(Q)
9 Israel,[b] trust in the Lord!(R)
He is their help and shield.(S)
10 House of Aaron, trust in the Lord!(T)
He is their help and shield.(U)
11 You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord!(V)
He is their help and shield.
12 The Lord remembers us and will bless us.
He will bless the house of Israel;
he will bless the house of Aaron;(W)
13 he will bless those who fear the Lord—
small and great alike.(X)
14 May the Lord add to your numbers,
both yours and your children’s.(Y)
15 May you be blessed by the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.(Z)
16 The heavens are the Lord’s,[c]
but the earth he has given to the human race.(AA)
17 It is not the dead who praise the Lord,
nor any of those descending into the silence of death.(AB)
18 But we will bless the Lord,
both now and forever.(AC)
Hallelujah!
God’s Deliverance of Rebellious Israel
14 This is what the Lord, your Redeemer,(A) the Holy One of Israel(B) says:
Because of you, I will send an army[a] to Babylon
and bring all of them as fugitives,[b]
even the Chaldeans(C) in the ships in which they rejoice.[c]
15 I am the Lord, your Holy One,
the Creator of Israel, your King.
16 This is what the Lord says—
who makes a way in the sea,
and a path through raging water,(D)
17 who brings out the chariot and horse,(E)
the army and the mighty one together
(they lie down, they do not rise again;
they are extinguished, put out like a wick(F))—
18 “Do not remember the past events;
pay no attention to things of old.(G)
19 Look, I am about to do something new;(H)
even now it is coming. Do you not see it?
Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness,(I)
rivers[d] in the desert.
20 Wild animals—
jackals and ostriches—will honor me,
because I provide water in the wilderness,
and rivers in the desert,(J)
to give drink to my chosen people.
21 The people I formed for myself
will declare my praise.(K)
22 “But, Jacob, you have not called on me,
because, Israel, you have become weary of me.(L)
23 You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings
or honored me with your sacrifices.(M)
I have not burdened you with offerings
or wearied you with incense.[e]
24 You have not bought me aromatic cane with silver,
or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices.
But you have burdened me with your sins;
you have wearied me(N) with your iniquities.(O)
25 “I am the one,I sweep away your transgressions(P)
for my own sake(Q)
and remember your sins no more.(R)
26 Remind me. Let’s argue the case together.(S)
Recount the facts, so that you may be vindicated.
27 Your first father sinned,(T)
and your mediators have rebelled against me.(U)
28 So I defiled the officers of the sanctuary,
and set Jacob apart for destruction(V)
and Israel for scorn.
Spiritual Blessing
44 “And now listen, Jacob my servant,
Israel whom I have chosen.(W)
2 This is the word of the Lord
your Maker, the one who formed you from the womb:
He will help you.
Do not fear, Jacob my servant,
Jeshurun[f] whom I have chosen.(X)
3 For I will pour water on the thirsty land
and streams on the dry ground;
I will pour out my Spirit(Y) on your descendants
and my blessing on your offspring.
4 They will sprout among[g] the grass
like poplars by flowing streams.
5 This one will say, ‘I am the Lord’s’;
another will use the name of Jacob;
still another will write on his hand, ‘The Lord’s,’
and take on the name of Israel.”
17 Because God wanted to show his unchangeable purpose even more clearly to the heirs of the promise, he guaranteed it with an oath,(A) 18 so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us.(B) 19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain.(C) 20 Jesus has entered there on our behalf as a forerunner,(D) because he has become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.(E)
The Greatness of Melchizedek
7 For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of God Most High, met Abraham and blessed him as he returned from defeating the kings, 2 and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, his name means king of righteousness, then also, king of Salem, meaning king of peace. 3 Without father, mother, or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God,(F) he remains a priest forever.
4 Now consider how great this man was: even Abraham the patriarch(G) gave a tenth of the plunder to him. 5 The sons of Levi who receive the priestly office have a command according to the law to collect a tenth from the people(H)—that is, from their brothers and sisters—though they have also descended from Abraham. 6 But one without this[a] lineage collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed the one who had the promises.(I) 7 Without a doubt, the inferior is blessed by the superior. 8 In the one case, men who will die receive a tenth, but in the other case, Scripture testifies that he lives.(J) 9 And in a sense Levi himself, who receives a tenth, has paid a tenth through Abraham, 10 for he was still within his ancestor[b] when Melchizedek met him.
The Ripened Harvest
27 Just then his disciples arrived, and they were amazed that he was talking with a woman. Yet no one said, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”
28 Then the woman left her water jar, went into town, and told the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” (A) 30 They left the town and made their way to him.(B)
31 In the meantime the disciples kept urging him, “Rabbi,(C) eat something.”
32 But he said, “I have food to eat that you don’t know about.”
33 The disciples said to one another, “Could someone have brought him something to eat?”
34 “My food is to do the will of him(D) who sent me(E) and to finish his work,”(F) Jesus told them. 35 “Don’t you say, ‘There are still four more months, and then comes the harvest’? Listen to what I’m telling you: Open[a] your eyes and look at the fields, because they are ready[b] for harvest. 36 The reaper is already receiving pay and gathering fruit for eternal life,(G) so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together. 37 For in this case the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’(H) 38 I sent you to reap what you didn’t labor for; others have labored, and you have benefited from[c] their labor.”
The Savior of the World
39 Now many Samaritans(I) from that town believed in him because of what the woman said[d] when she testified,(J) “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him,(K) they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41 Many more believed because of what he said.[e] 42 And they told the woman, “We no longer believe because of what you said, since we have heard for ourselves and know that this really is the Savior(L) of the world.”[f]
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