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!
50 [a] David prevailed over the Philistine with just the sling and the stone. He struck down the Philistine and killed him. David did not even have a sword in his hand.[b] 51 David ran and stood over the Philistine. He grabbed Goliath’s[c] sword, drew it from its sheath,[d] and after killing him, he cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they ran away.
52 Then the men of Israel and Judah charged forward, shouting a battle cry.[e] They chased the Philistines to the valley[f] and to the very gates of Ekron. The Philistine corpses lay fallen along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron. 53 When the Israelites returned from their hot pursuit of the Philistines, they looted their camp. 54 David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, and he put Goliath’s[g] weapons in his tent.
55 [h] Now as Saul watched David going out to fight the Philistine, he asked Abner, the general in command of the army, “Whose son is that young man, Abner?” Abner replied, “As surely as you live, O king, I don’t know.” 56 The king said, “Find out whose son this boy is.”
57 So when David returned from striking down the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul. He still had the head of the Philistine in his hand. 58 Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” David replied, “I am the son of your servant Jesse in Bethlehem.”
Saul Comes to Fear David
18 When David[i] had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan and David became bound together in close friendship.[j] Jonathan loved David as much as he did his own life.[k] 2 Saul retained David[l] on that day and did not allow him to return to his father’s house. 3 Jonathan made a covenant with David, for he loved him as much as he did his own life.[m] 4 Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with the rest of his gear including his sword, his bow, and even his belt.
4 For Christ is the end of the law, with the result that there is righteousness for everyone who believes.
5 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is by the law: “The one who does these things will live by them.”[a] 6 But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart,[b] ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’”[c] (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 or “Who will descend into the abyss?”[d] (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”[e] (that is, the word of faith that we preach), 9 because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord[f] and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and thus has righteousness[g] and with the mouth one confesses and thus has salvation.[h] 11 For the scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”[i] 12 For there is no distinction between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all, who richly blesses all who call on him. 13 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.[j]
14 How are they to call on one they have not believed in? And how are they to believe in one they have not heard of? And how are they to hear without someone preaching to them?[k] 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How timely[l] is the arrival[m] of those who proclaim the good news.”[n] 16 But not all have obeyed the good news, for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?”[o] 17 Consequently faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the preached word[p] of Christ.[q]
29 “Woe to you, experts in the law[a] and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You[b] build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves[c] of the righteous. 30 And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors,[d] we would not have participated with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 By saying this you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up then the measure of your ancestors! 33 You snakes, you offspring of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?[e]
34 “For this reason I[f] am sending you prophets and wise men and experts in the law,[g] some of whom you will kill and crucify,[h] and some you will flog[i] in your synagogues[j] and pursue from town to town, 35 so that on you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah,[k] whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36 I tell you the truth,[l] this generation will be held responsible for all these things![m]
Judgment on Israel
37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,[n] you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you![o] How often I have longed[p] to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but[q] you would have none of it![r] 38 Look, your house is left to you desolate! 39 For I tell you, you will not see me from now until you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’”[s]
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