Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 148[a]
148 Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord from the sky.
Praise him in the heavens.
2 Praise him, all his angels.[b]
Praise him, all his heavenly assembly.[c]
3 Praise him, O sun and moon.
Praise him, all you shiny stars.[d]
4 Praise him, O highest heaven,
and you waters above the sky.[e]
5 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for he gave the command and they came into existence.
6 He established them so they would endure;[f]
he issued a decree that will not be revoked.[g]
7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
you sea creatures and all you ocean depths,
8 O fire and hail, snow and clouds,[h]
O stormy wind that carries out his orders,[i]
9 you mountains and all you hills,
you fruit trees and all you cedars,
10 you animals and all you cattle,
you creeping things and birds,
11 you kings of the earth and all you nations,
you princes and all you leaders[j] on the earth,
12 you young men and young women,
you elderly, along with you children.
13 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
for his name alone is exalted;
his majesty extends over the earth and sky.
14 He has made his people victorious,[k]
and given all his loyal followers reason to praise—
the Israelites, the people who are close to him.[l]
Praise the Lord!
Psalm 149[m]
149 Praise the Lord.
Sing to the Lord a new song.
Praise him in the assembly of the godly.[n]
2 Let Israel rejoice in their Creator.
Let the people[o] of Zion delight in their King.[p]
3 Let them praise his name with dancing.
Let them sing praises to him to the accompaniment of the tambourine and harp.
4 For the Lord takes delight in his people;
he exalts the oppressed by delivering them.[q]
5 Let the godly rejoice because of their vindication.[r]
Let them shout for joy upon their beds.[s]
6 May the praises of God be in their mouths
and a two-edged sword in their hands,
7 in order to take[t] revenge on the nations,
and punish foreigners.
8 The godly bind[u] their enemies’ kings in chains,
and their nobles in iron shackles,
9 and execute the judgment to which their enemies[v] have been sentenced.[w]
All his loyal followers will be vindicated.[x]
Praise the Lord.
Psalm 150[y]
150 Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in the sky, which testifies to his strength![z]
2 Praise him for his mighty acts;
praise him for his surpassing greatness!
3 Praise him with the blast of the horn;
praise him with the lyre and the harp!
4 Praise him with the tambourine and with dancing;
praise him with stringed instruments and the flute!
5 Praise him with loud cymbals;
praise him with clanging cymbals!
6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!
Psalm 114[a]
114 When Israel left Egypt,
when the family of Jacob left a foreign nation behind,[b]
2 Judah became his sanctuary,
Israel his kingdom.
3 The sea looked and fled;[c]
the Jordan River[d] turned back.[e]
4 The mountains skipped like rams,
the hills like lambs.[f]
5 Why do you flee, O sea?
Why do you turn back, O Jordan River?
6 Why do you skip like rams, O mountains,
like lambs, O hills?
7 Tremble, O earth, before the Lord—
before the God of Jacob,
8 who turned a rock into a pool of water,
a hard rock into springs of water.[g]
Psalm 115[h]
115 Not to us, O Lord, not to us,
but to your name bring honor,[i]
for the sake of your loyal love and faithfulness.[j]
2 Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
3 Our God is in heaven.
He does whatever he pleases.[k]
4 Their[l] idols are made of silver and gold—
they are man-made.[m]
5 They have mouths, but cannot speak,
eyes, but cannot see,
6 ears, but cannot hear,
noses, but cannot smell,
7 hands, but cannot touch,
feet, but cannot walk.
They cannot even clear their throats.[n]
8 Those who make them will end up[o] like them,
as will everyone who trusts in them.
9 O Israel, trust in the Lord.
He is their deliverer[p] and protector.[q]
10 O family[r] of Aaron, trust in the Lord.
He is their deliverer[s] and protector.[t]
11 You loyal followers of the Lord,[u] trust in the Lord.
He is their deliverer[v] and protector.[w]
12 The Lord takes notice of us;[x] he will bless[y]—
he will bless the family[z] of Israel,
he will bless the family of Aaron.
13 He will bless his loyal followers,[aa]
both young and old.[ab]
14 May he increase your numbers,
yours and your children’s.[ac]
15 May you be blessed by the Lord,
the Creator[ad] of heaven and earth.
16 The heavens belong to the Lord,[ae]
but the earth he has given to mankind.[af]
17 The dead do not praise the Lord,
nor do any of those who descend into the silence of death.[ag]
18 But we will praise the Lord
now and forevermore.
Praise the Lord!
The Party is over for the Rich
6 Woe[a] to those who live in ease in Zion,[b]
to those who feel secure on Mount Samaria.
They think of themselves as[c] the elite class of the best nation.
The family[d] of Israel looks to them for leadership.[e]
2 They say to the people:[f]
“Journey over to Calneh and look at it;
then go from there to Hamath-Rabbah;[g]
then go down to Gath of the Philistines.
Are they superior to our two[h] kingdoms?
Is their territory larger than yours?”[i]
3 You refuse to believe a day of disaster will come,[j]
but you establish a reign of violence.[k]
4 They lie around on beds decorated with ivory,[l]
and sprawl out on their couches.
They eat lambs from the flock,
and calves from the middle of the pen.
5 They sing[m] to the tune of[n] stringed instruments;[o]
like David they invent[p] musical instruments.
6 They drink wine from sacrificial bowls,[q]
and pour the very best oils on themselves.[r]
Yet they are not concerned over[s] the ruin[t] of Joseph.
7 Therefore they will now be the first to go into exile,[u]
and the religious banquets[v] where they sprawl on couches[w] will end.
8 The Sovereign Lord confirms this oath by his very own life.[x]
The Lord God of Heaven’s Armies is speaking:
“I despise Jacob’s arrogance;
I hate their[y] fortresses.
I will hand over to their enemies[z] the city of Samaria[aa] and everything in it.”
9 If ten men are left in one house, they too will die. 10 When their close relatives, the ones who will burn the corpses,[ab] pick up their bodies to remove the bones from the house, they will say to anyone who is in the inner rooms of the house, “Is anyone else with you?” He will respond, “No one.” Then he will say, “Hush! Don’t invoke the Lord’s name!”[ac]
11 Indeed, look! The Lord is giving the command.[ad]
He will smash the large house to bits
and the small house into little pieces.
12 Can horses run on rocky cliffs?
Can one plow the sea with oxen?[ae]
Yet you have turned justice into a poisonous plant,
and the fruit of righteous actions into a bitter plant.[af]
13 You are happy because you conquered Lo Debar.[ag]
You say, “Did we not conquer Karnaim[ah] by our own power?”
14 “Look! I am about to bring[ai] a nation against you, family[aj] of Israel,”
the Lord, the God who commands armies, is speaking.
“They will oppress[ak] you all the way from Lebo Hamath[al] to the stream of the rift valley.”[am]
Encouragement in Persecution
5 This is evidence of God’s righteous judgment, to make you worthy[a] of the kingdom of God, for which in fact you are suffering. 6 For it is right[b] for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to you who are being afflicted to give rest together with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed[c] from heaven with his mighty angels.[d] 8 With flaming fire he will mete out[e] punishment on those who do not know God[f] and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They[g] will undergo the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his strength,[h] 10 when he comes to be glorified among his saints and admired[i] on that day among all who have believed—and you did in fact believe our testimony.[j] 11 And in this regard we pray for you always, that our God will make you worthy of his calling[k] and fulfill by his power your every desire for goodness and every work of faith, 12 that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to[l] the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Birth of John
57 Now the time came[a] for Elizabeth to have her baby,[b] and she gave birth to a son. 58 Her[c] neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown[d] great mercy to her, and they rejoiced[e] with her.
59 On[f] the eighth day[g] they came to circumcise the child, and they wanted to name[h] him Zechariah after his father. 60 But[i] his mother replied,[j] “No! He must be named[k] John.”[l] 61 They[m] said to her, “But[n] none of your relatives bears this name.”[o] 62 So[p] they made signs to the baby’s[q] father,[r] inquiring what he wanted to name his son.[s] 63 He[t] asked for a writing tablet[u] and wrote,[v] “His name is John.” And they were all amazed.[w] 64 Immediately[x] Zechariah’s[y] mouth was opened and his tongue[z] released,[aa] and he spoke, blessing God. 65 All[ab] their neighbors were filled with fear, and throughout the entire hill country of Judea all these things were talked about. 66 All[ac] who heard these things[ad] kept them in their hearts,[ae] saying, “What then will this child be?”[af] For the Lord’s hand[ag] was indeed with him.
Zechariah’s Praise and Prediction
67 Then[ah] his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied,[ai]
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