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Third Sunday before Advent
MORNING PRAYER (Abbreviated Version)
MORNING PRAYER (Full Version)
Ps 15 . Domine, quis habitabit?
Ps 85. Benedixisti, Domine.
First Lesson
Ruth 1:1-17
1 Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that
there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem-judah
went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and
his two sons.
2 And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his
wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion,
Ephrathites of Bethlehem-judah. And they came into the country
of Moab, and continued there.
3 And Elimelech Naomi's husband died; and she was left, and her
two sons.
4 And they took them wives of the women of Moab; the name of
the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelled
there about ten years.
5 And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman
was left of her two sons and her husband.
6 Then she arose with her daughters-in-law, that she might return
from the country of Moab: for she had heard in the country of
Moab how that the LORD had visited his people in giving them
bread.
7 Wherefore she went forth out of the place where she was, and
her two daughters-in-law with her; and they went on the way to
return unto the land of Judah.
8 And Naomi said unto her two daughters-in-law, Go, return each
to her mother's house: the LORD deal kindly with you, as ye have
dealt with the dead, and with me.
9 The LORD grant you that ye may find rest, each of you in the
house of her husband. Then she kissed them; and they lifted up
their voice, and wept.
10 And they said unto her, Surely we will return with thee unto
thy people.
11 And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters: why will ye go with
me? are there yet any more sons in my womb, that they may be
your husbands?
12 Turn again, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to
have an husband. If I should say, I have hope, if I should have
an husband also tonight, and should also bear sons;
13 Would ye tarry for them till they were grown? would ye stay
for them from having husbands? nay, my daughters; for it grieveth
me much for your sakes that the hand of the LORD is gone out
against me.
14 And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah
kissed her mother-in-law; but Ruth clave unto her.
15 And she said, Behold, thy sister-in-law is gone back unto
her people, and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister-in-law.
16 And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return
from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go;
and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my
people, and thy God my God:
17 Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried:
the LORD do so to me, and more also, if aught but death part
thee and me.
Second Lesson
Colossians 3:5-11
5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication,
uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness,
which is idolatry:
6 For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children
of disobedience:
7 In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.
8 But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy,
filthy communication out of your mouth.
9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old
man with his deeds;
10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge
after the image of him that created him:
11 Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision,
Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in
all.
EVENING PRAYER (Abbreviated + Full) (Sunday)
Ps 21. Domine, in virtute
tua.
Ps 21, 22:23-32
First Lesson
Joel 3:9-17
9 Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the
mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up:
10 Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into
spears: let the weak say, I am strong.
11 Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather
yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones
to come down, O LORD.
12 Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat:
for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.
13 Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you
down; for the press is full, the vats overflow; for their wickedness
is great.
14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the
day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.
15 The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall
withdraw their shining.
16 The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice
from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but
the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of
the children of Israel.
17 So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion,
my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall
no strangers pass through her any more.
Second Lesson
Matthew 13:36-52
36 Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house:
and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the
parable of the tares of the field.
37 He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed
is the Son of man;
38 The field is the world; the good seed are the children of
the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;
39 The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the
end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.
40 As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire;
so shall it be in the end of this world.
41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall
gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which
do iniquity;
42 And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be
wailing and gnashing of teeth.
43 Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom
of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
44 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in
a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for
joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that
field.
45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man,
seeking goodly pearls:
46 Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and
sold all that he had, and bought it.
47 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was
cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind:
48 Which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down,
and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away.
49 So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come
forth, and sever the wicked from among the just,
50 And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall
be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
51 Jesus saith unto them, Have ye understood all these things?
They say unto him, Yea, Lord.
52 Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed
unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder,
which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.
Monday
MORNING PRAYER (Abbreviated Version)
MORNING PRAYER (Full Version)
Ps 81. Exultate Deo.
First Lesson
Obadiah 1-9
1 The vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord GOD concerning Edom;
We have heard a rumour from the LORD, and an ambassador is sent
among the heathen, Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in
battle.
2 Behold, I have made thee small among the heathen: thou art
greatly despised.
3 The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee, thou that dwellest
in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; that saith
in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground?
4 Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set
thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith
the LORD.
5 If thieves came to thee, if robbers by night, (how art thou
cut off!) would they not have stolen till they had enough? if
the grapegatherers came to thee, would they not leave some grapes?
6 How are the things of Esau searched out! how are his hidden
things sought up!
7 All the men of thy confederacy have brought thee even to the
border: the men that were at peace with thee have deceived thee,
and prevailed against thee; they that eat thy bread have laid
a wound under thee: there is none understanding in him.
8 Shall I not in that day, saith the LORD, even destroy the wise
men out of Edom, and understanding out of the mount of Esau?
9 And thy mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed, to the end
that every one of the mount of Esau may be cut off by slaughter.
Second Lesson
1 Peter 1:1-12
1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered
throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through
sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of
the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which
according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a
lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth
not away, reserved in heaven for you,
5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation
ready to be revealed in the last time.
6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need
be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than
of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be
found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus
Christ:
8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him
not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full
of glory:
9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your
souls.
10 Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched
diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto
you:
11 Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ
which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the
sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto
us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto
you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy
Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to
look into.
EVENING PRAYER (Abbreviated + Full) (Monday)
Ps 90. Domine, refugium.
First Lesson
Deuteronomy 24:10-18
10 When thou dost lend thy brother any thing, thou shalt not
go into his house to fetch his pledge.
11 Thou shalt stand abroad, and the man to whom thou dost lend
shall bring out the pledge abroad unto thee.
12 And if the man be poor, thou shalt not sleep with his pledge:
13 In any case thou shalt deliver him the pledge again when the
sun goeth down, that he may sleep in his own raiment, and bless
thee: and it shall be righteousness unto thee before the LORD
thy God.
14 Thou shalt not oppress an hired servant that is poor and needy,
whether he be of thy brethren, or of thy strangers that are in
thy land within thy gates:
15 At his day thou shalt give him his hire, neither shall the
sun go down upon it; for he is poor, and setteth his heart upon
it: lest he cry against thee unto the LORD, and it be sin unto
thee.
16 The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither
shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man
shall be put to death for his own sin.
17 Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger, nor of
the fatherless; nor take a widow's raiment to pledge:
18 But thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt,
and the LORD thy God redeemed thee thence: therefore I command
thee to do this thing.
Second Lesson
1 Thessalonians 1
1 Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians
which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace
be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus
Christ.
2 We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of
you in our prayers;
3 Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour
of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the
sight of God and our Father;
4 Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.
5 For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in
power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know
what manner of men we were among you for your sake.
6 And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received
the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost:
7 So that ye were examples to all that believe in Macedonia and
Achaia.
8 For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia
and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is
spread abroad; so that we need not to speak any thing.
9 For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we
had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the
living and true God;
10 And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the
dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.
Tuesday
MORNING PRAYER (Abbreviated Version)
MORNING PRAYER (Full Version)
Ps 82. Deus stetit.
Ps 101. Misericordiam et judicium.
First Lesson
Obadiah 10-21
10 For thy violence against thy brother Jacob shame shall cover
thee, and thou shalt be cut off for ever.
11 In the day that thou stoodest on the other side, in the day
that the strangers carried away captive his forces, and foreigners
entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem, even thou
wast as one of them.
12 But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother
in the day that he became a stranger; neither shouldest thou
have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their
destruction; neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the
day of distress.
13 Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people
in the day of their calamity; yea, thou shouldest not have looked
on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid
hands on their substance in the day of their calamity;
14 Neither shouldest thou have stood in the crossway, to cut
off those of his that did escape; neither shouldest thou have
delivered up those of his that did remain in the day of distress.
15 For the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen: as thou
hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return
upon thine own head.
16 For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the
heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall
swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been.
17 But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall
be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.
18 And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph
a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle
in them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining
of the house of Esau; for the LORD hath spoken it.
19 And they of the south shall possess the mount of Esau; and
they of the plain the Philistines: and they shall possess the
fields of Ephraim, and the fields of Samaria: and Benjamin shall
possess Gilead.
20 And the captivity of this host of the children of Israel shall
possess that of the Canaanites, even unto Zarephath; and the
captivity of Jerusalem, which is in Sepharad, shall possess the
cities of the south.
21 And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount
of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD'S.
Second Lesson
1 Peter 1:13-25
13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope
to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the
revelation of Jesus Christ;
14 As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according
to the former lusts in your ignorance:
15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in
all manner of conversation;
16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
17 And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons
judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your
sojourning here in fear:
18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible
things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received
by tradition from your fathers;
19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without
blemish and without spot:
20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world,
but was manifest in these last times for you,
21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the
dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in
God.
22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through
the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love
one another with a pure heart fervently:
23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible,
by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the
flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof
falleth away:
25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the
word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
EVENING PRAYER (Abbreviated + Full) (Tuesday)
Ps 91. Qui habitat.
First Lesson
Deuteronomy 25:1-3, 13-16
1 If there be a controversy between men, and they come unto judgment,
that the judges may judge them; then they shall justify the righteous,
and condemn the wicked.
2 And it shall be, if the wicked man be worthy to be beaten,
that the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten
before his face, according to his fault, by a certain number.
3 Forty stripes he may give him, and not exceed: lest, if he
should exceed, and beat him above these with many stripes, then
thy brother should seem vile unto thee.
13 Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and
a small.
14 Thou shalt not have in thine house divers measures, a great
and a small.
15 But thou shalt have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and
just measure shalt thou have: that thy days may be lengthened
in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
16 For all that do such things, and all that do unrighteously,
are an abomination unto the LORD thy God.
Second Lesson
1 Thessalonians 2:1-16
1 For yourselves, brethren, know our entrance in unto you, that
it was not in vain:
2 But even after that we had suffered before, and were shamefully
entreated, as ye know, at Philippi, we were bold in our God to
speak unto you the gospel of God with much contention.
3 For our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness,
nor in guile:
4 But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel,
even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth
our hearts.
5 For neither at any time used we flattering words, as ye know,
nor a cloak of covetousness; God is witness:
6 Nor of men sought we glory, neither of you, nor yet of others,
when we might have been burdensome, as the apostles of Christ.
7 But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her
children:
8 So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to
have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also
our own souls, because ye were dear unto us.
9 For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail: for labouring
night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of
you, we preached unto you the gospel of God.
10 Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and
unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe:
11 As ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every
one of you, as a father doth his children,
12 That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto
his kingdom and glory.
13 For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because,
when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received
it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of
God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.
14 For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God
which in Judaea are in Christ Jesus: for ye also have suffered
like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the
Jews:
15 Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and
have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary
to all men:
16 Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be
saved, to fill up their sins always: for the wrath is come upon
them to the uttermost.
Wednesday
MORNING PRAYER (Abbreviated Version)
MORNING PRAYER (Full Version)
Ps 86. Inclina, Domine.
First Lesson
Malachi 1:6-11
6 A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then
I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where
is my fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that
despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?
7 Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein
have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the LORD
is contemptible.
8 And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and
if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto
thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person?
saith the LORD of hosts.
9 And now, I pray you, beseech God that he will be gracious unto
us: this hath been by your means: will he regard your persons?
saith the LORD of hosts.
10 Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for
nought? neither do ye kindle fire on mine altar for nought. I
have no pleasure in you, saith the LORD of hosts, neither will
I accept an offering at your hand.
11 For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of
the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every
place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering:
for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the LORD
of hosts.
Second Lesson
1 Peter 2:1-10
1 Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies,
and envies, and all evil speakings,
2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that
ye may grow thereby:
3 If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
4 To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of
men, but chosen of God, and precious,
5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house,
an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable
to God by Jesus Christ.
6 Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I
lay in Zion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that
believeth on him shall not be confounded.
7 Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them
which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed,
the same is made the head of the corner,
8 And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them
which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also
they were appointed.
9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy
nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises
of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous
light:
10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people
of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
EVENING PRAYER (Abbreviated + Full) (Wednesday)
Ps 92. Bonum est confiteri.
Deuteronomy 26:1-11
1 And it shall be, when thou art come in unto the land which
the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and possessest
it, and dwellest therein;
2 That thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the earth,
which thou shalt bring of thy land that the LORD thy God giveth
thee, and shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go unto the place
which the LORD thy God shall choose to place his name there.
3 And thou shalt go unto the priest that shall be in those days,
and say unto him, I profess this day unto the LORD thy God, that
I am come unto the country which the LORD sware unto our fathers
for to give us.
4 And the priest shall take the basket out of thine hand, and
set it down before the altar of the LORD thy God.
5 And thou shalt speak and say before the LORD thy God, A Syrian
ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and
sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great,
mighty, and populous:
6 And the Egyptians evil entreated us, and afflicted us, and
laid upon us hard bondage:
7 And when we cried unto the LORD God of our fathers, the LORD
heard our voice, and looked on our affliction, and our labour,
and our oppression:
8 And the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand,
and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and
with signs, and with wonders:
9 And he hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this
land, even a land that floweth with milk and honey.
10 And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land,
which thou, O LORD, hast given me. And thou shalt set it before
the LORD thy God, and worship before the LORD thy God:
11 And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the LORD
thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house, thou, and
the Levite, and the stranger that is among you.
Second Lesson
1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:13
17 But we, brethren, being taken from you for a short time in
presence, not in heart, endeavoured the more abundantly to see
your face with great desire.
18 Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I Paul, once and
again; but Satan hindered us.
19 For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not
even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?
20 For ye are our glory and joy.
1 Wherefore when we could no longer forbear, we thought it good
to be left at Athens alone;
2 And sent Timotheus, our brother, and minister of God, and our
fellowlabourer in the gospel of Christ, to establish you, and
to comfort you concerning your faith:
3 That no man should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves
know that we are appointed thereunto.
4 For verily, when we were with you, we told you before that
we should suffer tribulation; even as it came to pass, and ye
know.
5 For this cause, when I could no longer forbear, I sent to know
your faith, lest by some means the tempter have tempted you,
and our labour be in vain.
6 But now when Timotheus came from you unto us, and brought us
good tidings of your faith and charity, and that ye have good
remembrance of us always, desiring greatly to see us, as we also
to see you:
7 Therefore, brethren, we were comforted over you in all our
affliction and distress by your faith:
8 For now we live, if ye stand fast in the Lord.
9 For what thanks can we render to God again for you, for all
the joy wherewith we joy for your sakes before our God;
10 Night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face,
and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith?
11 Now God himself and our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ,
direct our way unto you.
12 And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward
another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you:
13 To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness
before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ with all his saints.
Thursday
MORNING PRAYER (Abbreviated Version)
MORNING PRAYER (Full Version)
Ps 94. Deus ultionum.
Malachi 2:1-10
1 And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you.
2 If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to
give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even
send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea,
I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.
3 Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your
faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take
you away with it.
4 And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you,
that my covenant might be with Levi, saith the LORD of hosts.
5 My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them
to him for the fear wherewith he feared me, and was afraid before
my name.
6 The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found
in his lips: he walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn
many away from iniquity.
7 For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should
seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the LORD
of hosts.
8 But ye are departed out of the way; ye have caused many to
stumble at the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith
the LORD of hosts.
9 Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before
all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways, but have
been partial in the law.
10 Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why
do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning
the covenant of our fathers?
Second Lesson
1 Peter 2:11-17
11 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain
from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;
12 Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that,
whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your
good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of
visitation.
13 Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's
sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme;
14 Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the
punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.
15 For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put
to silence the ignorance of foolish men:
16 As free, and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness,
but as the servants of God.
17 Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the
king.
EVENING PRAYER (Abbreviated + Full) (Thursday)
Ps 103. Benedic, anima
mea.
Deuteronomy 28:1-14
1 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently
unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all
his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD
thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:
2 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee,
if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.
3 Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be
in the field.
4 Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy
ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine,
and the flocks of thy sheep.
5 Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.
6 Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt
thou be when thou goest out.
7 The LORD shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee
to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee
one way, and flee before thee seven ways.
8 The LORD shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses,
and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless
thee in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
9 The LORD shall establish thee an holy people unto himself,
as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments
of the LORD thy God, and walk in his ways.
10 And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called
by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee.
11 And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit
of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit
of thy ground, in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers
to give thee.
12 The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven
to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all
the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations,
and thou shalt not borrow.
13 And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and
thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that
thou hearken unto the commandments of the LORD thy God, which
I command thee this day, to observe and to do them:
14 And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I
command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to
go after other gods to serve them.
Second Lesson
1 Thessalonians 4:1-12
1 Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by
the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to
walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.
2 For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus.
3 For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that
ye should abstain from fornication:
4 That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel
in sanctification and honour;
5 Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which
know not God:
6 That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter:
because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also
have forewarned you and testified.
7 For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.
8 He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who
hath also given unto us his holy Spirit.
9 But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto
you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another.
10 And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all
Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more
and more;
11 And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business,
and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you;
12 That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and
that ye may have lack of nothing.
Friday
MORNING PRAYER (Abbreviated Version)
MORNING PRAYER (Full Version)
Ps 88. Domine, Deus.
First Lesson
Malachi 3:1-15
1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the
way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come
to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight
in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.
2 But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand
when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like
fullers' soap:
3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he
shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver,
that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.
4 Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant
unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years.
5 And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift
witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and
against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling
in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside
the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD
of hosts.
6 For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob
are not consumed.
7 Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine
ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will
return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein
shall we return?
8 Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein
have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.
9 Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this
whole nation.
10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may
be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD
of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour
you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive
it.
11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall
not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine
cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of
hosts.
12 And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a
delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.
13 Your words have been stout against me, saith the LORD. Yet
ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee?
14 Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is
it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully
before the LORD of hosts?
15 And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness
are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.
Second Lesson
1 Peter 2:18-25
18 Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only
to the good and gentle, but also to the froward.
19 For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God
endure grief, suffering wrongfully.
20 For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults,
ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer
for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.
21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered
for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:
22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:
23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered,
he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth
righteously:
24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree,
that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness:
by whose stripes ye were healed.
25 For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto
the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.
EVENING PRAYER (Abbreviated + Full) (Friday)
Ps 102. Domine, exaudi.
First Lesson
Deuteronomy 29:2, 9-21
2 And Moses called unto all Israel, and said unto them, Ye have
seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt
unto Pharaoh, and unto all his servants, and unto all his land;
9 Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that
ye may prosper in all that ye do.
10 Ye stand this day all of you before the LORD your God; your
captains of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, with
all the men of Israel,
11 Your little ones, your wives, and thy stranger that is in
thy camp, from the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water:
12 That thou shouldest enter into covenant with the LORD thy
God, and into his oath, which the LORD thy God maketh with thee
this day:
13 That he may establish thee today for a people unto himself,
and that he may be unto thee a God, as he hath said unto thee,
and as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac,
and to Jacob.
14 Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath;
15 But with him that standeth here with us this day before the
LORD our God, and also with him that is not here with us this
day:
16 (For ye know how we have dwelt in the land of Egypt; and how
we came through the nations which ye passed by;
17 And ye have seen their abominations, and their idols, wood
and stone, silver and gold, which were among them:)
18 Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or
tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the LORD our God,
to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should
be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood;
19 And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse,
that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace,
though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness
to thirst:
20 The LORD will not spare him, but then the anger of the LORD
and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses
that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the LORD
shall blot out his name from under heaven.
21 And the LORD shall separate him unto evil out of all the tribes
of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that are
written in this book of the law.
Second Lesson
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning
them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which
have no hope.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so
them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we
which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall
not prevent them which are asleep.
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout,
with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and
the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together
with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so
shall we ever be with the Lord.
18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
Saturday
MORNING PRAYER (Abbreviated Version)
MORNING PRAYER (Full Version)
Ps 104. Benedic, anima mea.
First Lesson
Malachi 3:16-4:6
16 Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another:
and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance
was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that
thought upon his name.
17 And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day
when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth
his own son that serveth him.
18 Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and
the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth
him not.
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and
all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble:
and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of
hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness
arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow
up as calves of the stall.
3 And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes
under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this,
saith the LORD of hosts.
4 Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded
unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.
5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming
of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:
6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children,
and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and
smite the earth with a curse.
Second Lesson
1 Peter 3:1-12
1 Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands;
that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word
be won by the conversation of the wives;
2 While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear.
3 Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting
the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;
4 But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is
not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit,
which is in the sight of God of great price.
5 For after this manner in the old time the holy women also,
who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto
their own husbands:
6 Even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters
ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.
7 Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge,
giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as
being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers
be not hindered.
8 Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another,
love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:
9 Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise
blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should
inherit a blessing.
10 For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain
his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile:
11 Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and
ensue it.
12 For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears
are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against
them that do evil.
EVENING PRAYER (Abbreviated + Full) (Saturday)
Ps 145.
First Lesson
Deuteronomy 30:11-20
11 For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is
not hidden from thee, neither is it far off.
12 It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go
up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it,
and do it?
13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who
shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may
hear it, and do it?
14 But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in
thy heart, that thou mayest do it.
15 See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death
and evil;
16 In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God,
to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes
and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the
LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest
to possess it.
17 But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear,
but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;
18 I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish,
and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither
thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it.
19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that
I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore
choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
20 That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest
obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he
is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell
in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham,
to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.
Second Lesson
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
1 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need
that I write unto you.
2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh
as a thief in the night.
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction
cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they
shall not escape.
4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should
overtake you as a thief.
5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day:
we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch
and be sober.
7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken
are drunken in the night.
8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate
of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation
by our Lord Jesus Christ,
10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should
live together with him.
11 Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another,
even as also ye do.
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