Morning Prayer
Psalm 45. Eructavit cor meum.
1 MY heart overfloweth with a good matter; I speak the things which I have made concerning the King. * My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.
2 Thou art fairer than the children of men; * full of grace are thy lips, because God hath blessed thee for ever.
3 Gird thee with thy sword upon thy thigh, O thou Most Mighty, * according to thy worship and renown.
4 Good luck have thou with thine honour: * ride on, because of the word of truth, of meekness, and righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things.
5 Thy arrows are very sharp in the heart of the King’s enemies, * and the people shall be subdued unto thee.
6 Thy seat, O God, endureth for ever; * the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre.
7 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; * wherefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
8 All thy garments smell of myrrh, aloes, and cassia; * out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad.
9 Kings’ daughters are among thy honourable women; * upon thy right hand doth stand the queen in a vesture of gold, wrought about with divers colours.
10 Hearken, O daughter, and consider; incline thine ear; * forget also thine own people, and thy father’s house.
11 So shall the King have pleasure in thy beauty; * for he is thy Lord, and worship thou him.
12 And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift; * like as the rich also among the people shall make their supplication before thee.
13 The King’s daughter is all glorious within; * her clothing is of wrought gold.
14 She shall be brought unto the King in raiment of needlework: * the virgins that be her fellows shall bear her company, and shall be brought unto thee.
15 With joy and gladness shall they be brought, * and shall enter into the King’s palace.
16 Instead of thy fathers, thou shalt have children, * whom thou mayest make princes in all lands.
17 I will make thy Name to be remembered from one generation to another; * therefore shall the people give thanks unto thee, world without end.
First Lesson:
1 Sam. 1:21-28,2:11
21)And the man Elkanah, and all his house, went up to offer unto the LORD the yearly sacrifice, and his vow. 22)But Hannah went not up; for she said unto her husband, I will not go up until the child be weaned, and then I will bring him, that he may appear before the LORD, and there abide for ever. 23)And Elkanah her husband said unto her, Do what seemeth thee good; tarry until thou have weaned him; only the LORD establish his word. So the woman abode, and gave her son suck until she weaned him. 24)And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bullocks, and one ephah of flour, and a bottle of wine, and brought him unto the house of the LORD in Shiloh: and the child was young. 25)And they slew a bullock, and brought the child to Eli. 26)And she said, Oh my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the LORD. 27)For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of him: 28)Therefore also I have lent him to the LORD; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the LORD. And he worshipped the LORD there.11)And Elkanah went to Ramah to his house. And the child did minister unto the LORD before Eli the priest.
Second Lesson:
Luke 12:1-12
1)In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, he began to say unto his disciples first of all, Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2)For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known. 3)Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops. 4)And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. 5)But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him. 6)Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? 7)But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows. 8)Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God: 9)But he that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of God. 10)And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven. 11)And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say: 12)For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say.
Evening Prayer
Psalm 49.
Audite haec, omnes.
1 O HEAR ye this, all ye people; * ponder it with your ears, all ye that dwell in the world;
2 High and low, rich and poor, * one with another.
3 My mouth shall speak of wisdom, * and my heart shall muse of understanding.
4 I will incline mine ear to the parable, * and show my dark speech upon the harp.
5 Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, * when wickedness at my heels compasseth me round about?
6 There be some that put their trust in their goods, * and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches.
7 But no man may deliver his brother, * nor give a ransom unto God for him,
8 (For it cost more to redeem their souls, * so that he must let that alone for ever;)
9 That he shall live alway, * and not see the grave.
10 For he seeth that wise men also die and perish together, * as well as the ignorant and foolish, and leave their riches for other.
11 And yet they think that their houses shall continue for ever, and that their dwelling-places shall endure from one generation to another; * and call the lands after their own names.
12 Nevertheless, man being in honour abideth not, * seeing he may be compared unto the beasts that perish;
13 This their way is very foolishness; * yet their posterity praise their saying.
14 They lie in the grave like sheep; death is their shepherd; and the righteous shall have dominion over them in the morning: * their beauty shall consume in the sepulchre, and have no abiding.
15 But God hath delivered my soul from the power of the grave; * for he shall receive me.
16 Be not thou afraid, though one be made rich, * or if the glory of his house be increased;
17 For he shall carry nothing away with him when he dieth, * neither shall his pomp follow him.
18 For while he lived, he counted himself an happy man; * and so long as thou doest well unto thyself, men will speak good of thee.
19 He shall follow the generation of his fathers, * and shall never see light.
20 Man that is in honour but hath no understanding * is compared unto the beasts that perish.
First Lesson:
Dan. 2:25-35
25)Then Arioch brought in Daniel before the king in haste and said thus unto him, I have found a man of the captives of Judah, that will make known unto the king the interpretation. 26)The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Art thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof? 27)Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king; 28)But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these; 29)As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass. 30)But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart. 31)Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. 32)This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, 33)His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. 34)Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. 35)Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.
Second Lesson:
Acts 21:1-14
1)And it came to pass, that after we were gotten from them, and had launched, we came with a straight course unto Coos, and the day following unto Rhodes, and from thence unto Patara: 2)And finding a ship sailing over unto Phenicia, we went aboard, and set forth. 3)Now when we had discovered Cyprus, we left it on the left hand, and sailed into Syria, and landed at Tyre: for there the ship was to unlade her burden. 4)And finding disciples, we tarried there seven days: who said to Paul through the Spirit, that he should not go up to Jerusalem. 5)And when we had accomplished those days, we departed and went our way; and they all brought us on our way, with wives and children, till we were out of the city: and we kneeled down on the shore, and prayed. 6)And when we had taken our leave one of another, we took ship; and they returned home again. 7)And when we had finished our course from Tyre, we came to Ptolemais, and saluted the brethren, and abode with them one day. 8)And the next day we that were of Paul’s company departed, and came unto Caesarea: and we entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, which was one of the seven; and abode with him. 9)And the same man had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy. 10)And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judaea a certain prophet, named Agabus. 11)And when he was come unto us, he took Paul’s girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles. 12)And when we heard these things, both we, and they of that place, besought him not to go up to Jerusalem. 13)Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. 14)And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, The will of the Lord be done.