Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 148
Praise the Lord from the heavens;(B)
praise him in the heights above.
2 Praise him, all his angels;(C)
praise him, all his heavenly hosts.(D)
3 Praise him, sun(E) and moon;
praise him, all you shining stars.
4 Praise him, you highest heavens(F)
and you waters above the skies.(G)
5 Let them praise the name(H) of the Lord,
for at his command(I) they were created,
6 and he established them for ever and ever—
he issued a decree(J) that will never pass away.
7 Praise the Lord(K) from the earth,
you great sea creatures(L) and all ocean depths,(M)
8 lightning and hail,(N) snow and clouds,
stormy winds that do his bidding,(O)
9 you mountains and all hills,(P)
fruit trees and all cedars,
10 wild animals(Q) and all cattle,
small creatures and flying birds,
11 kings(R) of the earth and all nations,
you princes and all rulers on earth,
12 young men and women,
old men and children.
13 Let them praise the name of the Lord,(S)
for his name alone is exalted;
his splendor(T) is above the earth and the heavens.(U)
14 And he has raised up for his people a horn,[b](V)
the praise(W) of all his faithful servants,(X)
of Israel, the people close to his heart.(Y)
Praise the Lord.
Psalm 149
2 Let Israel rejoice(AC) in their Maker;(AD)
let the people of Zion be glad in their King.(AE)
3 Let them praise his name with dancing(AF)
and make music to him with timbrel and harp.(AG)
4 For the Lord takes delight(AH) in his people;
he crowns the humble with victory.(AI)
5 Let his faithful people rejoice(AJ) in this honor
and sing for joy on their beds.(AK)
6 May the praise of God be in their mouths(AL)
and a double-edged(AM) sword in their hands,(AN)
7 to inflict vengeance(AO) on the nations
and punishment(AP) on the peoples,
8 to bind their kings with fetters,(AQ)
their nobles with shackles of iron,(AR)
9 to carry out the sentence written against them—(AS)
this is the glory of all his faithful people.(AT)
Praise the Lord.
Psalm 150
Praise God in his sanctuary;(AV)
praise him in his mighty heavens.(AW)
2 Praise him for his acts of power;(AX)
praise him for his surpassing greatness.(AY)
3 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,(AZ)
praise him with the harp and lyre,(BA)
4 praise him with timbrel and dancing,(BB)
praise him with the strings(BC) and pipe,(BD)
5 praise him with the clash of cymbals,(BE)
praise him with resounding cymbals.
6 Let everything(BF) that has breath praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord.
Psalm 114
1 When Israel came out of Egypt,(A)
Jacob from a people of foreign tongue,
2 Judah(B) became God’s sanctuary,(C)
Israel his dominion.
3 The sea looked and fled,(D)
the Jordan turned back;(E)
4 the mountains leaped(F) like rams,
the hills like lambs.
5 Why was it, sea, that you fled?(G)
Why, Jordan, did you turn back?
6 Why, mountains, did you leap like rams,
you hills, like lambs?
7 Tremble, earth,(H) at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Jacob,
8 who turned the rock into a pool,
the hard rock into springs of water.(I)
Psalm 115(J)
1 Not to us, Lord, not to us
but to your name be the glory,(K)
because of your love and faithfulness.(L)
2 Why do the nations say,
“Where is their God?”(M)
3 Our God is in heaven;(N)
he does whatever pleases him.(O)
4 But their idols are silver and gold,(P)
made by human hands.(Q)
5 They have mouths, but cannot speak,(R)
eyes, but cannot see.
6 They have ears, but cannot hear,
noses, but cannot smell.
7 They have hands, but cannot feel,
feet, but cannot walk,
nor can they utter a sound with their throats.
8 Those who make them will be like them,
and so will all who trust in them.
9 All you Israelites, trust(S) in the Lord—
he is their help and shield.
10 House of Aaron,(T) trust in the Lord—
he is their help and shield.
11 You who fear him,(U) trust in the Lord—
he is their help and shield.
12 The Lord remembers(V) us and will bless us:(W)
He will bless his people Israel,
he will bless the house of Aaron,
13 he will bless those who fear(X) the Lord—
small and great alike.
14 May the Lord cause you to flourish,(Y)
both you and your children.
15 May you be blessed by the Lord,
the Maker of heaven(Z) and earth.
The Song of the Vineyard
5 I will sing for the one I love
a song about his vineyard:(A)
My loved one had a vineyard
on a fertile hillside.
2 He dug it up and cleared it of stones
and planted it with the choicest vines.(B)
He built a watchtower(C) in it
and cut out a winepress(D) as well.
Then he looked for a crop of good grapes,
but it yielded only bad fruit.(E)
3 “Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and people of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard.(F)
4 What more could have been done for my vineyard
than I have done for it?(G)
When I looked for good grapes,
why did it yield only bad?(H)
5 Now I will tell you
what I am going to do to my vineyard:
I will take away its hedge,
and it will be destroyed;(I)
I will break down its wall,(J)
and it will be trampled.(K)
6 I will make it a wasteland,(L)
neither pruned nor cultivated,
and briers and thorns(M) will grow there.
I will command the clouds
not to rain(N) on it.”
11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward(A) to the day of God and speed its coming.[a](B) That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.(C) 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth,(D) where righteousness dwells.
14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless(E) and at peace with him. 15 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience(F) means salvation,(G) just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him.(H) 16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable(I) people distort,(J) as they do the other Scriptures,(K) to their own destruction.
17 Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard(L) so that you may not be carried away by the error(M) of the lawless(N) and fall from your secure position.(O) 18 But grow in the grace(P) and knowledge(Q) of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.(R) To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.(S)
28 I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God(A) is greater than he.”
29 (All the people, even the tax collectors, when they heard Jesus’ words, acknowledged that God’s way was right, because they had been baptized by John.(B) 30 But the Pharisees and the experts in the law(C) rejected God’s purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John.)
31 Jesus went on to say, “To what, then, can I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? 32 They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to each other:
“‘We played the pipe for you,
and you did not dance;
we sang a dirge,
and you did not cry.’
33 For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine,(D) and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ 34 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’(E) 35 But wisdom is proved right by all her children.”
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.