Morning Prayer
Psalm 37:26 Noli aemulari.
26 The righteous is ever merciful, and lendeth; * and his seed is blessed.
27 Flee from evil, and do the thing that is good; * and dwell for evermore.
28 For the LORD loveth the thing that is right; * he forsaketh not his that be godly, but they are preserved for ever.
29 The unrighteous shall be punished; * as for the seed of the ungodly, it shall be rooted out.
30 The righteous shall inherit the land, * and dwell therein for ever.
31 The mouth of the righteous is exercised in wisdom, * and his tongue will be talking of judgment.
32 The law of his God is in his heart, * and his goings shall not slide.
33 The ungodly watcheth the righteous, * and seeketh occasion to slay him.
34 The LORD will not leave him in his hand, * nor condemn him when he is judged.
35 Hope thou in the LORD, and keep his way, and he shall promote thee, that thou shalt possess the land: * when the ungodly shall perish, thou shalt see it.
36 I myself have seen the ungodly in great power, * and flourishing like a green bay-tree.
37 I went by, and lo, he was gone: * I sought him, but his place could no where be found.
38 Keep innocency, and take heed unto the thing that is right; * for that shall bring a man peace at the last.
39 As for the transgressors, they shall perish together; * and the end of the ungodly is, they shall be rooted out at the last.
40 But the salvation of the righteous cometh of the LORD; * who is also their strength in the time of trouble.
41 And the LORD shall stand by them, and save them: * he shall deliver them from the ungodly, and shall save them, because they put their trust in him.
First Lesson:
Num. 23:13-26
13)And Balak said unto him, Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place, from whence thou mayest see them: thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all: and curse me them from thence. 14)And he brought him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered a bullock and a ram on every altar. 15)And he said unto Balak, Stand here by thy burnt offering, while I meet the LORD yonder. 16)And the LORD met Balaam, and put a word in his mouth, and said, Go again unto Balak, and say thus. 17)And when he came to him, behold, he stood by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab with him. And Balak said unto him, What hath the LORD spoken? 18)And he took up his parable, and said, Rise up, Balak, and hear; hearken unto me, thou son of Zippor: 19)God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? 20)Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it. 21)He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the LORD his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them. 22)God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn. 23)Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought! 24)Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain. 25)And Balak said unto Balaam, Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all. 26)But Balaam answered and said unto Balak, Told not I thee, saying, All that the LORD speaketh, that I must do?
Second Lesson:
Luke 4:1-13
1)And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2)Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered. 3)And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. 4)And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. 5)And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6)And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. 7)If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. 8)And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 9)And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: 10)For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: 11)And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 12)And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. 13)And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.
Evening Prayer
Psalm 39. Dixi, Custodiam.
1 I SAID, I will take heed to my ways, * that I offend not in my tongue
2 I will keep my mouth as it were with a bridle, * while the ungodly is in my sight.
3 I held my tongue, and spake nothing: * I kept silence, yea, even from good words; but it was pain and grief to me.
4 My heart was hot within me: and while I was thus musing the fire kindled, * and at the last I spake with my tongue:
5 LORD, let me know mine end, and the number of my days; * that I may be certified how long I have to live.
6 Behold, thou hast made my days as it were a span long, and mine age is even as nothing in respect of thee; * and verily every man living is altogether vanity.
7 For man walketh in a vain shadow, and disquieteth himself in vain; * he heapeth up riches, and cannot tell who shall gather them.
8 And now, Lord, what is my hope? * truly my hope is even in thee.
9 Deliver me from all mine offences; * and make me not a rebuke unto the foolish.
10 I became dumb, and opened not my mouth; * for it was thy doing.
11 Take thy plague away from me: * I am even consumed by the means of thy heavy hand.
12 When thou with rebukes dost chasten man for sin, thou makest his beauty to consume away, like as it were a moth fretting a garment: * every man therefore is but vanity.
13 Hear my prayer, O LORD, and with thine ears consider my calling; * hold not thy peace at my tears;
14 For I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, * as all my fathers were.
15 O spare me a little, that I may recover my strength, * before I go hence, and be no more seen.
First Lesson:
Zech. 7:8
8)And the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah, saying, 9)Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother: 10)And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart. 11)But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear. 12)Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the LORD of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the LORD of hosts. 13)Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the LORD of hosts: 14)But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not. Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate.
Second Lesson:
Acts 10:1-23
1)There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band, 2)A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway. 3)He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius. 4)And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God. 5)And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter: 6)He lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side: he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do. 7)And when the angel which spake unto Cornelius was departed, he called two of his household servants, and a devout soldier of them that waited on him continually; 8)And when he had declared all these things unto them, he sent them to Joppa. 9)On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour: 10)And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance, 11)And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth: 12)Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. 13)And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. 14)But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean. 15)And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. 16)This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven. 17)Now while Peter doubted in himself what this vision which he had seen should mean, behold, the men which were sent from Cornelius had made inquiry for Simon’s house, and stood before the gate, 18)And called, and asked whether Simon, which was surnamed Peter, were lodged there. 19)While Peter thought on the vision, the Spirit said unto him, Behold, three men seek thee. 20)Arise therefore, and get thee down, and go with them, doubting nothing: for I have sent them. 21)Then Peter went down to the men which were sent unto him from Cornelius; and said, Behold, I am he whom ye seek: what is the cause wherefore ye are come? 22)And they said, Cornelius the centurion, a just man, and one that feareth God, and of good report among all the nation of the Jews, was warned from God by an holy angel to send for thee into his house, and to hear words of thee. 23)Then called he them in, and lodged them. And on the morrow Peter went away with them, and certain brethren from Joppa accompanied him.