Morning Prayer
Psalm 5. Verba mea auribus.
1 PONDER my words, O LORD, * consider my meditation.
2 O hearken thou unto the voice of my calling, my King and my God: * for unto thee will I make my prayer.
3 My voice shalt thou hear betimes, O LORD; * early in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.
4 For thou art the God that hast no pleasure in wickedness; * neither shall any evil dwell with thee.
5 Such as be foolish shall not stand in thy sight; * for thou hatest all them that work iniquity.
6 Thou shalt destroy them that speak lies: * the LORD will abhor both the blood-thirsty and deceitful man.
7 But as for me, in the multitude of thy mercy I will come into thine house; * and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple.
8 Lead me, O LORD, in thy righteousness, because of mine enemies; * make thy way plain before my face.
9 For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; * their inward parts are very wickedness.
10 Their throat is an open sepulchre; * they flatter with their tongue.
11 Destroy thou them, O God; let them perish through their own imaginations; * cast them out in the multitude of their ungodliness; for they have rebelled against thee.
12 And let all them that put their trust in thee rejoice: * they shall ever be giving of thanks, because thou defendest them; they that love thy Name shall be joyful in thee;
13 For thou, LORD, wilt give thy blessing unto the righteous, * and with thy favourable kindness wilt thou defend him as with a shield.
First Lesson:
Num. 16:15-35
15)And Moses was very wroth, and said unto the LORD, Respect not thou their offering: I have not taken one ass from them, neither have I hurt one of them.
16)And Moses said unto Korah, Be thou and all thy company before the LORD, thou, and they, and Aaron, to morrow:
17)And take every man his censer, and put incense in them, and bring ye before the LORD every man his censer, two hundred and fifty censers; thou also, and Aaron, each of you his censer.
18)And they took every man his censer, and put fire in them, and laid incense thereon, and stood in the door of the tabernacle of the congregation with Moses and Aaron.
19)And Korah gathered all the congregation against them unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the congregation.
20)And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
21)Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.
22)And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation?
23)And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
24)Speak unto the congregation, saying, Get you up from about the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.
25)And Moses rose up and went unto Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him.
26)And he spake unto the congregation, saying, Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest ye be consumed in all their sins.
27)So they gat up from the tabernacle of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side: and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood in the door of their tents, and their wives, and their sons, and their little children.
28)And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the LORD hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind.
29)If these men die the common death of all men, or if they be visited after the visitation of all men; then the LORD hath not sent me.
30)But if the LORD make a new thing, and the earth open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down quick into the pit; then ye shall understand that these men have provoked the LORD.
31)And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground clave asunder that was under them:
32)And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. 33)They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation.
34)And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them: for they said, Lest the earth swallow us up also.
35)And there came out a fire from the LORD, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense.
Second Lesson:
Luke 1:26-38
26)And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
27)To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.
28)And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
29)And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.
30)And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.
31)And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
32)He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
33)And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
34)Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
35)And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
36)And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.
37)For with God nothing shall be impossible. 38)And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
Evening Prayer
Psalm 16. Conserva me, Domine.
1 PRESERVE me, O God; * for in thee have I put my trust.
2 O my soul, thou hast said unto the LORD, * Thou art my God; I have no good like unto thee.
3 All my delight is upon the saints that are in the earth, * and upon such as excel in virtue.
4 But they that run after another god * shall have great trouble.
5 Their drink-offerings of blood will I not offer, * neither make mention of their names within my lips.
6 The LORD himself is the portion of mine inheritance, and of my cup; * thou shalt maintain my lot.
7 The lot is fallen unto me in a fair ground; * yea, I have a goodly heritage.
8 I will thank the LORD for giving me warning; * my reins also chasten me in the night season.
9 I have set the LORD alway before me; * for he is on my right hand, therefore I shall not fall.
10 Wherefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: * my flesh also shall rest in hope.
11 For why? thou shalt not leave my soul in hell; * neither shalt thou suffer thy Holy One to see corruption.
12 Thou shalt show me the path of life: in thy presence is the fulness of joy, * and at thy right hand there is pleasure for evermore
Psalm 20. Exaudiat te Dominus.
1 THE LORD hear thee in the day of trouble; * the Name of the God of Jacob defend thee:
2 Send thee help from the sanctuary, * and strengthen thee out of Sion:
3 Remember all thy offerings, * and accept thy burnt-sacrifice:
4 Grant thee thy heart’s desire, * and fulfil all thy mind.
5 We will rejoice in thy salvation, and triumph in the Name of the Lord our God: * the LORD perform all thy petitions.
6 Now know I that the LORD helpeth his anointed, and will hear him from his holy heaven, * even with the wholesome strength of his right hand.
7 Some put their trust in chariots, and some in horses; * but we will remember the Name of the LORD our God.
8 They are brought down and fallen; * but we are risen and stand upright.
9 Save, LORD; and hear us, O King of heaven, * when we call upon thee.
First Lesson:
Ezra 4:7,11-24
7)And in the days of Artaxerxes wrote Bishlam, Mithredath, Tabeel, and the rest of their companions, unto Artaxerxes king of Persia; and the writing of the letter was written in the Syrian tongue, and interpreted in the Syrian tongue.
11) This is the copy of the letter that they sent unto him, even unto Artaxerxes the king; Thy servants the men on this side the river, and at such a time. 12)Be it known unto the king, that the Jews which came up from thee to us are come unto Jerusalem, building the rebellious and the bad city, and have set up the walls thereof, and joined the foundations.
13)Be it known now unto the king, that, if this city be builded, and the walls set up again, then will they not pay toll, tribute, and custom, and so thou shalt endamage the revenue of the kings.
14)Now because we have maintenance from the king’s palace, and it was not meet for us to see the king’s dishonour, therefore have we sent and certified the king;
15)That search may be made in the book of the records of thy fathers: so shalt thou find in the book of the records, and know that this city is a rebellious city, and hurtful unto kings and provinces, and that they have moved sedition within the same of old time: for which cause was this city destroyed.
16)We certify the king that, if this city be builded again, and the walls thereof set up, by this means thou shalt have no portion on this side the river. 17)Then sent the king an answer unto Rehum the chancellor, and to Shimshai the scribe, and to the rest of their companions that dwell in Samaria, and unto the rest beyond the river, Peace, and at such a time.
18)The letter which ye sent unto us hath been plainly read before me.
19)And I commanded, and search hath been made, and it is found that this city of old time hath made insurrection against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made therein.
20)There have been mighty kings also over Jerusalem, which have ruled over all countries beyond the river; and toll, tribute, and custom, was paid unto them.
21)Give ye now commandment to cause these men to cease, and that this city be not builded, until another commandment shall be given from me. 22)Take heed now that ye fail not to do this: why should damage grow to the hurt of the kings?
23)Now when the copy of king Artaxerxes’ letter was read before Rehum, and Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, they went up in haste to Jerusalem unto the Jews, and made them to cease by force and power.
24)Then ceased the work of the house of God which is at Jerusalem. So it ceased unto the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.
Second Lesson:
Acts 7:17-34
17)But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt,
18)Till another king arose, which knew not Joseph.
19)The same dealt subtilly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, so that they cast out their young children, to the end they might not live. 20)In which time Moses was born, and was exceeding fair, and nourished up in his father’s house three months:
21)And when he was cast out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son.
22)And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds.
23)And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel.
24)And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian:
25)For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not.
26)And the next day he shewed himself unto them as they strove, and would have set them at one again, saying, Sirs, ye are brethren; why do ye wrong one to another?
27)But he that did his neighbour wrong thrust him away, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us?
28)Wilt thou kill me, as thou diddest the Egyptian yesterday?
29)Then fled Moses at this saying, and was a stranger in the land of Madian, where he begat two sons.
30)And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush. 31)When Moses saw it, he wondered at the sight: and as he drew near to behold it, the voice of the Lord came unto him,
32)Saying, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abrham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled, and durst not behold. 33)Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for the place where thou standest is holy ground.
34)I have seen, I have seen the affliction of my people which is in Egypt, and I have heard their groaning, and am come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send thee into Egypt.