THE PSALTER
AS IT IS APPOINTED
TO BE SAID OR SUNG IN CHURCHES
THE FIRST DAY
Morning Prayer
PSALM 1. Beatus vir, qui non abiit.
BLESSED is the man that hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, / and hath not sat in the seat of the scornful.
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; / and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the water-side, / that bringeth forth his fruit in due season,
4 Whose leaf also doth not wither; / and look, whatsoever he doeth, it shall prosper.
5 As for the ungodly, it is not so with them; / but they are like the chaff, which the wind scattereth away from the face of the earth.
6 Therefore the ungodly shall not be able to stand in the judgement, / neither the sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
7 For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous; / but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
PSALM 2. Quare fremuerunt gentes?
WHY do the nations so furiously rage together, / and why do the peoples imagine a vain thing?
2 The kings of the earth stand up, and the rulers take counsel together, / against the LORD, and against his anointed:
3 ‘Let us break their bonds asunder, / and cast away their cords from us.’
4 HE that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh them to scorn; / the Lord shall have them in derision.
5 Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, / and vex them in his sore displeasure:
6 ‘Yet have I set my king / upon my holy hill of Sion.’
7 I WILL tell of the decree of the LORD, wherein he hath said unto me, / ‘Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee.
8 Desire of me, and I shall give thee the nations for thine inheritance, / and the utmost parts of the earth for thy possession.
9 Thou shalt bruise them with a rod of iron, / and break them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.’
10 BE wise now therefore, O ye kings; / be warned, ye that are judges of the earth.
11 Serve the LORD with fear, / and bow down unto him with reverence;
12 Lest he be angry, and ye perish in the way; for his wrath is quickly kindled. / Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
PSALM 3. Domine, quid multiplicati?
LORD, how are they increased that trouble me! / many are they that rise against me.
2 Many there be that say of my soul, / ‘There is no help for him in his God.’
3 BUT thou, O LORD, art my defender; / thou art my glory, and the lifter up of my head.
4 I did call upon the LORD with my voice, / and he heard me out of his holy hill.
5 I LAID me down and slept; / I rose up again, for the LORD sustained me.
6 I will not be afraid for ten thousands of the people, / that have set themselves against me round about.
7 UP, LORD, and help me, O my God, / for thou smitest all mine enemies upon the cheek; thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly.
8 Salvation belongeth unto the LORD; / let thy blessing be upon thy people.
PSALM 4. Cum invocarem.
HEAR me when I call, O God of my righteousness: / thou hast set me at liberty when I was in trouble; have mercy upon me, and hearken unto my prayer.
O YE sons of men, how long will ye blaspheme mine honour, / and have such pleasure in vanity, and seek after falsehood?
3 Know this also, that the LORD hath chosen to himself the man that is godly; / when I call upon the LORD, he will hear me.
4 Stand in awe, and sin not; / commune with your own heart, and in your chamber, and be still.
5 Offer the sacrifice of righteousness, / and put your trust In the LORD.
6 THERE be many that say, ‘Who will show us any good?’ / LORD, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.
7 Thou hast put gladness in my heart, / more than men have when their grain and wine increase.
8 I will lay me down in peace, and take my rest; / for it is thou, LORD, only, that makest me dwell in safety.
PSALM 5. Verba mea auribus.
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 hath no pleasure in wickedness; / neither shall any evil dwell with thee.
5 Such as are boastful shall not stand in thy sight; / for thou hatest all them that work iniquity.
6 Thou shalt destroy them that speak lies; / the LORD abhorreth both the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
7 BUT as for me, I will come into thy house through the multitude of thy mercies; / 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 Give sentence upon them, O God; / let them perish through their own imaginations:
12 Cast them out in the multitude of their ungodliness; / for they have rebelled against thee.
13 BUT let all them that put their trust in thee rejoice; / let them ever be giving of thanks, because thou defendest them; they that love thy Name shall be joyful in thee;
14 For thou, LORD, wilt give thy blessing unto the righteous, / and with thy favourable kindness wilt thou defend him as with a shield.
THE FIRST DAY
Evening Prayer
PSALM 6. Domine, ne in furore.
O LORD, rebuke me not in thine indignation, / neither chasten me in thy displeasure.
2 Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am weak; / O LORD, heal me, for my bones are vexed.
3 My soul also is sore troubled: / but thou, O LORD, how long?
4 TURN thee, O LORD, and deliver my soul; / O save me for thy mercy’s sake.
5 For in death no man remembereth thee; / and who will give thee thanks in the pit?
6 I AM weary of my groaning; / every night wash I my bed, and water my couch with my tears.
7 My beauty is gone for very trouble, / and worn away because of all mine enemies.
8 AWAY from me, all ye that work iniquity; / for the LORD hath heard the voice of my weeping.
9 The LORD hath heard my petition; / the LORD will receive my prayer.
10 All mine enemies shall be confounded, and sore vexed; / they shall be turned back, and put to shame suddenly.
PSALM 7. Domine, Deus meus.
O LORD my God, in thee have I put my trust: / save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me;
2 Lest mine enemy devour my soul like a lion, / and tear it in pieces, while there is none to help.
3 O LORD my God, if I have done any such thing; / or if there be any wickedness in my hands;
4 If I have rewarded evil unto him that dealt friendly with me; / (yea rather, I have delivered him that without any cause is mine enemy;)
5 Then let mine enemy persecute my soul, and take me; / yea, let him tread my life down upon the earth, and lay mine honour in the dust.
6 STAND up, O LORD, in thy wrath, and lift up thyself against the fury of mine enemies; / arise up for me in the judgement that thou hast commanded.
7 And let the congregation of the peoples come about thee; / and over it take thy seat on high.
8 The LORD shall judge the peoples: give sentence for me, O LORD, / according to my righteousness, and according to the innocency that is in me.
9 O let the wickedness of the ungodly come to an end; / but guide thou the just.
10 For the righteous God / trieth the very minds and hearts.
11 MY help cometh of God, / who preserveth them that are true of heart.
12 God is a righteous judge, strong and patient; / and God is provoked every day.
13 If a man will not turn, he will whet his sword; / he hath bent his bow and made it ready.
14 He hath prepared for him the instruments of death; / he maketh his arrows fiery darts.
15 BEHOLD, the ungodly travaileth with iniquity; / he hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood.
16 He hath graven and digged up a pit, / and is fallen himself into the snare that he hath made.
17 For his mischief shall come upon his own head, / and his wickedness shall fall on his own pate.
18 I will give thanks unto the LORD according to his righteousness; / and I will praise the Name of the LORD Most High.
PSALM 8. Domine, Dominus noster.
O LORD our Governor, how excellent is thy Name in all the world, / thou that hast set thy glory above the heavens!
2 Out of the mouth of very babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength, because of thine enemies, / that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.
3 WHEN I consider thy heavens, even the work of thy fingers; / the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;
4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him, / and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
5 Thou hast made him but little lower than the angels, / and dost crown him with glory and worship.
6 Thou makest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; / and thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet;
7 All sheep and oxen; / yea, and the beasts of the field;
8 The birds of the air, and the fishes of the sea; / and whatsoever moveth through the paths of the seas.
9 O LORD our Governor, / how excellent is thy Name in all the world!
THE SECOND DAY
Morning Prayer
PSALM 9. Confitebor tibi.
I WILL give thanks unto thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; / I will speak of all thy marvellous works.
2 I will be glad and rejoice in thee; / yea, my songs will I make of thy Name, O thou Most High.
3 WHILE mine enemies are driven back, / they shall fall and perish at thy presence.
4 For thou hast maintained my right and my cause; / thou art set on the throne, thou that judgest right.
5 THOU hast rebuked the nations, and destroyed the ungodly; / thou hast put out their name for ever and ever.
6 The enemy are come to a perpetual end, and left desolate for ever: / even as the cities which thou hast destroyed, the remembrance of them is perished.
7 BUT the LORD shall endure for ever; / he hath also prepared his throne for judgement.
8 For he will judge the world in righteousness, / and minister true judgement unto the peoples.
9 THE LORD also will be a defence for the oppressed, / even a refuge in the time of trouble.
10 And they that know thy Name will put their trust in thee; / for thou, LORD, hast never failed them that seek thee.
11 O PRAISE the LORD who dwelleth in Sion; / show the people of his doings.
12 For he that avengeth blood remembereth them, / and forgetteth not the complaint of the poor.
13 HAVE mercy upon me, O LORD; consider the trouble which I suffer of them that hate me, / thou that liftest me up from the gates of death;
14 That I may show all thy praises within the gates of the daughter of Sion: / I will rejoice in thy salvation.
15 THE nations are sunk down in the pit that they made; / in the same net that they hid is their foot taken.
16 The LORD hath made himself known; he hath executed judgement; / the ungodly is trapped in the work of his own hands.
17 THE wicked shall be turned into hell, / and all the nations that forget God.
18 For the poor shall not alway be forgotten; / the patient abiding of the meek shall not perish for ever.
19 UP, LORD, and let not man have the upper hand; / let the nations be judged in thy sight.
20 Put them in fear, O LORD, / that the nations may know themselves to be but men.
PSALM 10. Ut quid, Domine?
WHY standest thou so far off, O LORD, / and hidest thy face in the needful time of trouble?
2 The ungodly in his pride doth persecute the poor: / let them be taken in the crafty wiliness that they have imagined.
3 FOR the ungodly maketh boast of his own heart’s desire, / and the covetous man renounceth, yea scorneth the LORD.
4 The ungodly in his pride thinketh that God will not punish, / neither is God in all his thoughts.
5 His ways are always prosperous;/ thy judgements are far above out of his sight, and therefore defieth he all his enemies.
6 For he hath said in his heart, ‘Tush, I shall not be cast down; / no harm shall ever happen unto me.’
7 His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and fraud; / under his tongue is ungodliness and iniquity.
8 He sitteth lurking in the thievish corners of the streets, / and privily in his lurking dens doth he murder the innocent; his eyes are set against the poor.
9 HE lieth waiting secretly, as it were a lion in his den; / he lurketh that he may ravish the poor.
10 He doth ravish the poor, / when he getteth him into his net.
11 HE stoopeth down and croucheth, / that the poor may fall into the hands of his captains.
12 He hath said in his heart, ‘Tush, God hath forgotten; / he hideth away his face, and he will never see it.’
13 ARISE, O LORD God, and lift up thine hand; / forget not the poor.
14 Wherefore should the wicked blaspheme God, / while he doth say in his heart, ‘Tush, thou God wilt not seek it out’?
15 SURELY thou hast seen it; for thou beholdest trouble and sorrow, / that thou mayest take the matter into thy hand.
16 The poor committeth himself unto thee; / for thou art the helper of the friendless.
17 BREAK thou the power of the ungodly and malicious; / seek out his wickedness until thou find none.
18 The LORD is King for ever and ever, / and the nations are perished out of his land.
19 LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the poor; / thou dost establish their heart, and thine ear hearkeneth thereto;
20 To help the fatherless and the oppressed unto their right, / that the men of the earth be no more exalted against them.
PSALM 11. In Domino confido.
IN the LORD put I my trust; / how say ye then unto my soul, that she should flee as a bird unto the hill?
2 For lo, the ungodly bend their bow, and make ready their arrows upon the string, / that they may privily shoot at them that are true of heart.
3 If the foundations are destroyed, / what can the righteous do?
4 THE LORD is in his holy temple; the LORD’S throne is in heaven: / his eyes behold, his eyelids try the children of men.
5 The LORD approveth the righteous: / but the ungodly, and him that delighteth in wickedness, doth his soul abhor.
6 Upon the ungodly he shall rain brimstone and coals of fire; / storm and tempest shall be their portion to drink.
7 For the LORD is righteous; he loveth righteous deeds; / the upright shall behold his face.
THE SECOND DAY
Evening Prayer
PSALM 12. Salvum me fac.
HELP me, LORD, for there is not one godly man left; / for the faithful are vanished from among the children of men.
2 They talk of vanity every one with his neighbour; / they do but flatter with their lips, and dissemble in their double heart.
3 THE LORD shall cut off all flattering lips, / and the tongue that speaketh proud things;
4 Who have said, ‘With our tongue will we prevail; / we are they that ought to speak; who is lord over us?’
5 ‘Now for the comfortless troubles’ sake of the needy, / and because of the deep sighing of the poor,
6 I will up,’ saith the LORD, / ‘and will set him in the safety for which he longeth.’
7 THE words of the LORD are pure words; / even as the silver, which from the earth is tried, and purified seven times in the fire.
8 Thou shalt keep us, O LORD; / thou shalt preserve us from this generation for ever.
9 The ungodly walk on every side, / when wickedness is exalted among the children of men.
PSALM 13. Usque quo, Domine?
HOW long wilt thou forget me, O LORD, for ever? / how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?
2 How long shall I seek counsel in my soul, and be so vexed in my heart? / how long shall mine enemy triumph over me?
3 CONSIDER and hear me, O LORD my God; / lighten mine eyes, that I sleep not in death;
4 Lest mine enemy say, ‘I have prevailed against him’; / for if I be cast down, they that trouble me will rejoice.
5 BUT my trust is in thy mercy, / and my heart is joyful in thy salvation.
6 I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt so lovingly with me; / yea, I will praise the Name of the LORD Most High.
PSALM 14. Dixit insipiens.
THE fool hath said in his heart, / ‘There is no God.’
2 They are corrupt, and become abominable in their doings; / there is none that doeth good, no not one.
3 The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, / to see if there were any that would understand, and seek after God.
4 But they are all gone out of the way, they are altogether become abominable; / there is none that doeth good, no not one.
5 HAVE they no knowledge, that they are all such workers of mischief, / eating up my people as it were bread, and call not upon the LORD?
6 There were they brought in great fear, even where no fear was; / for God is in the generation of the righteous.
7 As for you, ye have made a mock at the counsel of the poor; / because he putteth his trust in the LORD.
8 O THAT salvation for Israel were come out of Sion! / When the LORD restoreth the fortunes of his people,
9 Then shall Jacob rejoice, / and Israel shall be right glad.
THE THIRD DAY
Morning Prayer
PSALM 15. Domine, quis habitabit?
LORD, who shall dwell in thy tabernacle? / or who shall rest upon thy holy hill?
2 EVEN he that leadeth an uncorrupt life, and doeth the thing which is right, / and speaketh the truth from his heart.
3 He that hath used no deceit in his tongue, nor done evil to his neighbour, / and hath not slandered his neighbour.
4 He in whose eyes an ungodly man is despised / but he maketh much of them that fear the LORD.
5 He that sweareth unto his neighbour, and disappointeth him not, / though it were to his own hindrance.
6 He that hath not given his money upon usury, / nor taken a bribe against the innocent.
7 WHOSO doeth these things / shall never fall.
PSALM 16. Conserva me, Domine.
PRESERVE me, O God, / for in thee have I put my trust.
2 I have said unto the LORD, ‘Thou art my God: / I have no good apart from 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 lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places: / yea, I have a goodly heritage.
8 I WILL thank the LORD for giving me counsel; / my heart also instructeth me in the night-season.
9 I have set the LORD always 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 dwell in safety.
11 For why? thou wilt not leave my soul to hell; / neither wilt 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 are pleasures for evermore.
PSALM 17. Exaudi, Domine.
HEAR the right, O LORD, consider my complaint, / and hearken unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips.
2 Let my sentence come forth from thy presence; / and let thine eyes look upon the thing that is right.
3 Thou hast proved and visited mine heart in the night-season; thou hast tried me, and shalt find no wickedness in me; / for I am utterly purposed that my mouth shall not offend.
4 As for the works of men, by the word of thy lips / I have kept me from the ways of the destroyer.
5 My steps have held fast to thy paths, / and my feet have not slipped.
6 I HAVE called upon thee, O God, for thou shalt hear me: / incline thine ear to me, and hearken unto my words.
7 Show thy marvellous loving-kindness, thou that art the Saviour of them that put their trust in thee, / from such as resist thy right hand.
8 Keep me as the apple of an eye; / hide me under the shadow of thy wings,
9 From the ungodly that trouble me, / even mine enemies that compass me round about to take away my soul.
10 They close their heart to pity, / and their mouth speaketh proud things.
11 They lie waiting in our way on every side, / watching to cast us down to the ground;
12 Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, / and as it were a lion’s whelp lurking in secret places.
13 UP, LORD, confront him, and cast him down; / deliver my soul from the ungodly by thy sword;
14 By thy hand from men, O LORD, from men of the world; / who have their portion in this life, and whose bellies thou fillest with thy treasure.
15 They have children at their desire, / and leave the rest of their substance for their babes.
16 But as for me, I shall behold thy presence in righteousness; / and when I awake, I shall be satisfied with thy likeness.
THE THIRD DAY
Evening Prayer
PSALM 18. Diligam te, Domine.
PART 1
I LOVE thee, O LORD, my strength. / The LORD is my stony rock, my defence, and my Saviour;
2 My God, and my might, in whom I will trust; / my shield, the horn also of my salvation, and my refuge.
3 I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; / so shall I be saved from mine enemies.
4 THE waves of death compassed me, / and the floods of ungodliness made me afraid.
5 The cords of hell came about me; / the snares of death overtook me.
6 In my trouble I called upon the LORD, / and complained unto my God.
7 So he heard my voice out of his holy temple, / and my complaint before him entered into his ears.
8 THE earth trembled and quaked; / the very foundations also of the hills shook, and were moved, because he was wroth.
9 There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and a consuming fire out of his mouth, / so that coals were kindled at it.
10 He bowed the heavens also, and came down, / and it was dark under his feet.
11 He rode upon the cherubim and did fly; / he came flying upon the wings of the wind.
12 He made darkness his secret place, and his pavilion round about him, / with dark water and thick clouds to cover him.
13 At the brightness of his presence his clouds removed; / hail-stones and coals of fire.
14 The LORD also thundered out of heaven, and the Highest uttered his voice; / hail-stones and coals of fire.
15 He sent out his arrows, and scattered them; / he cast forth his lightnings, and destroyed them.
16 The springs of waters were seen, / and the foundations of the round world were uncovered,
17 At thy chiding, O LORD, / at the blasting of the breath of thy displeasure.
18 HE sent from on high, and took me, / and he drew me out of many waters.
19 He delivered me from my strongest enemy, / and from them that hate me, for they were too mighty for me.
20 They came upon me in the day of my trouble; / but the LORD was my upholder.
21 He brought me forth also into a place of liberty; / he delivered me, even because he had a favour unto me.
22 THE LORD rewarded me after my righteous dealing; / according to the cleanness of my hands did he recompense me.
23 Because I have kept the ways of the LORD, / and have not forsaken my God, as the wicked doth.
24 For I had an eye unto all his laws, / and did not cast out his commandments from me.
25 I was also uncorrupt before him, / and kept myself from mine own wickedness.
26 Therefore the LORD rewarded me after my righteous dealing, / and according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight.
27 WITH the merciful thou shalt show thyself merciful; / and with a perfect man thou shalt be perfect.
28 With the pure thou shalt show thyself pure; / and with the perverse thou shalt deal accordingly.
29 For thou shalt save the people that are lowly, / and shalt bring down the high looks of the proud.
30 Thou also shalt light my candle; / the LORD my God shall make my darkness to be light.
31 For in thee I can discomfit an host of men, / and with the help of my God I can leap over the wall.
32 The way of God is an undefiled way: / the word of the LORD also is tried in the fire; he is the defender of all them that put their trust in him.
PART 2
FOR who is God but the LORD? / or who hath any strength except our God?
34 It is God that girdeth me with strength, / and maketh my way perfect.
35 He maketh my feet like hinds’ feet, / and setteth me up on high.
36 He teacheth my hands to fight, / so that mine arms can bend even a bow of steel.
37 Thou hast given me the defence of thy salvation; / thy right hand also hath held me up, and thy loving correction hath made me great.
38 Thou hast made room enough under me for to go, / that my footsteps did not slide.
39 I followed upon mine enemies and overtook them; / neither did I turn again till I had destroyed them.
40 I smote them, that they were not able to stand, / but fell under my feet.
41 Thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle; / thou hast thrown down mine enemies under me.
42 Thou didst make mine enemies also to turn their backs upon me, / and I destroyed them that hated me.
43 They cried, but there was none to help them; / yea, even unto the LORD did they cry, but he did not hear them.
44 I beat them as small as the dust before the wind: / I cast them out as the clay in the streets.
45 Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people, and hast made me the head of the nations; / a people whom I had not known did serve me.
46 As soon as they heard of me, they obeyed me; / and strangers humbled themselves before me.
47 The strangers lost heart, / and came trembling out of their strongholds.
48 THE LORD liveth, and blessed be my strong helper, / and praised be the God of my salvation;
49 Even the God that seeth that I be avenged, / and subdueth the peoples under me.
50 It is thou that deliverest me from my cruel enemies, and settest me up above mine adversaries: / thou dost rid me from the wicked man.
51 For this cause will I give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the nations, / and sing praises unto thy Name.
52 Great deliverance giveth he unto his king, / and showeth loving-kindness unto his anointed, unto David and unto his seed for evermore.
THE FOURTH DAY
Morning Prayer
PSALM 19. Caeli enarrant.
THE heavens declare the glory of God; / and the firmament showeth his handy-work.
2 One day telleth another; / and one night certifieth another.
3 There is neither speech nor language; / their voice cannot be heard;
4 Yet their sound is gone out into all lands; / and their words into the ends of the world.
5 IN them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun; / which cometh forth as a bridegroom out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a giant to run his course.
6 It goeth forth from the uttermost part of the heaven, and runneth about unto the end of it again; / and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.
7 THE law of the LORD is an undefiled law, restoring the soul; / the testimony of the LORD is sure, and giveth wisdom unto the simple.
8 The precepts of the LORD are right, and rejoice the heart; / the commandment of the LORD is pure, and giveth light unto the eyes.
9 The fear of the LORD is clean, and endureth for ever; / the judgements of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; / sweeter also than honey, and the honey-comb.
11 Moreover, by them is thy servant taught; / and in keeping of them there is great reward.
12 Who can tell how oft he offendeth? / O cleanse thou me from my secret faults.
13 Keep thy servant also from presumptuous sins, lest they get the dominion over me; / so shall I be undefiled and innocent from the great offence.
14 LET the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be alway acceptable in thy sight, / O LORD, my strength and my redeemer.
PSALM 20. Exaudiat te Dominus.
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 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 O LORD, save the king, / and mercifully hear us when we call upon thee.
PSALM 21. Domine, in virtute tua.
THE king shall rejoice in thy strength, O LORD; / exceeding glad shall he be of thy salvation.
2 Thou hast given him his heart’s desire, / and hast not denied him the request of his lips.
3 For thou dost meet him with the blessings of goodness, / and settest a crown of pure gold upon his head.
4 He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it to him, / even length of days for evermore.
5 His honour is great in thy salvation; / glory and great worship dost thou lay upon him.
6 For thou dost give him everlasting felicity, / and makest him glad with the joy of thy countenance.
7 And why? because the king putteth his trust in the LORD; / and in the mercy of the Most High he shall not miscarry.
8 ALL thine enemies shall feel thy hand; / thy right hand shall find out them that hate thee.
9 Thou shalt make them like a fiery oven in time of thy wrath: / the LORD shall destroy them in his displeasure, and the fire shall consume them.
10 Their offspring shalt thou root out of the earth, / and their seed from among the children of men.
11 For they intended mischief against thee, / and imagined such a device as they were not able to perform.
12 Therefore shalt thou put them to flight, / and the strings of thy bow shalt thou make ready against the face of them.
13 BE thou exalted, LORD, in thine own strength; / so will we sing, and praise thy power.
THE FOURTH DAY
Evening Prayer
PSALM 22. Deus, Deus meus.
MY God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me, / and art so far from my help, and from the words of my complaint?
2 O my God, I cry in the day-time, but thou hearest not; / and in the night-season also I take no rest.
3 And thou continuest holy, / O thou worship of Israel.
4 Our fathers trusted in thee; / they trusted in thee, and thou didst deliver them.
5 They called upon thee, and were saved; / they put their trust in thee, and were not confounded.
6 But as for me, I am a worm and no man; / a very scorn of men, and the outcast of the people.
7 All they that see me laugh me to scorn; / they shoot out their lips, and shake their heads,
8 Saying, ‘He trusted in God, that he would deliver him; / let him deliver him, if he delighteth in him.’
9 But thou art he that took me from the womb; / thou wast my hope, when I hanged yet upon my mother’s breasts.
10 I have been left unto thee ever since I was born; / thou art my God even from my mother’s womb.
11 O go not from me, for trouble is hard at hand, / and there is none to help me.
12 MANY oxen are come about me; / strong bulls of Bashan close me in on every side.
13 They gape upon me with their mouths, / as it were a ramping and a roaring lion.
14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; / my heart also in the midst of my body is even like melting wax.
15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaveth to my gums, / and thou bringest me into the dust of death.
16 For many dogs are come about me, / and the council of the wicked layeth siege against me.
17 They pierced my hands and my feet; I may count all my bones: / they stand staring and looking upon me.
18 They part my garments among them, / and cast lots upon my vesture.
19 But be not thou far from me, O LORD; / thou art my succour, haste thee to help me.
20 Deliver my soul from the sword, / and my life from the power of the dog.
21 Save me from the Lion’s mouth; / thou hast heard me also from among the horns of the wild oxen.
22 I WILL declare thy Name unto my brethren; / in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.
23 O praise the LORD, ye that fear him: / magnify him, all ye of the seed of Jacob, and stand in awe of him, all ye seed of Israel.
24 For he hath not despised nor abhorred the low estate of the poor; / he hath not hid his face from him; but when he called unto him he heard him.
25 Of thee cometh my praise in the great congregation; / my vows will I perform in the sight of them that fear him.
26 The poor shall eat and be satisfied; they that seek after the LORD shall praise him; / may your heart live for ever.
27 ALL the ends of the world shall remember, and be turned unto the LORD; / and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before him.
28 For the kingdom is the LORD’S / and he is the Governor among the nations.
29 Surely to him shall all the proud of the earth bow down; / and before him shall kneel all that go down into the dust, and he that cannot keep his soul alive.
30 Their posterity shall serve him; / it shall be told of the Lord unto a generation yet to come.
31 And men shall declare his righteousness/ unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done it.
PSALM 23. Dominus regit me.
THE LORD is my shepherd; / therefore can I lack nothing.
2 He shall feed me in a green pasture, / and lead me forth beside the waters of comfort.
3 He shall restore my soul, / and bring me forth in the paths of righteousness, for his Name’s sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; / for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff comfort me.
5 THOU shalt prepare a table before me in the presence of them that trouble me; / thou hast anointed my head with oil, and my cup shall be full.
6 Surely thy loving-kindness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; / and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
THE FIFTH DAY
Morning Prayer
PSALM 24. Domini est terra.
THE earth is the LORD’S, and all that therein is; / the compass of the world, and they that dwell therein.
2 For he hath founded it upon the seas, / and established it upon the floods.
3 WHO shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? / or who shall stand in his holy place?
4 Even he that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; / and that hath not lift up his mind unto vanity, nor sworn to deceive his neighbour.
5 He shall receive a blessing from the LORD, / and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6 This is the generation of them that seek him; / even of them that seek thy face, O God of Jacob.
7 LIFT up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; / and the King of glory shall come in.
8 Who is the King of glory? / it is the LORD strong and mighty, even the LORD mighty in battle.
9 Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; / and the King of glory shall come in.
10 Who is the King of glory? / even the LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory.
PSALM 25. Ad te, Domine, levavi.
UNTO thee, O LORD, do I lift up my soul; / my God, I have put my trust in thee.
2 O let me not be confounded, / neither let mine enemies triumph over me.
3 For all they that hope in thee shall not be ashamed; / but such as transgress without a cause shall be put to confusion.
4 Show me thy ways, O LORD, / and teach me thy paths.
5 Lead me forth in thy truth and teach me: / for thou art the God of my salvation; in thee is my hope all the day long.
6 Call to remembrance, O LORD, thy tender mercies, / and thy loving-kindnesses, which have been ever of old.
7 O remember not the sins and offences of my youth; / but according to thy mercy think thou upon me, O LORD, for thy goodness.
8 GRACIOUS and righteous is the LORD; / therefore will he teach sinners in the way.
9 Them that are meek shall he guide in judgement; / and such as are gentle, them shall he teach his way.
10 All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth, / unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.
11 For thy Name’s sake, O LORD, / be merciful unto my sin, for it is great.
12 What man is he that feareth the LORD? / him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose.
13 His soul shall dwell at ease, / and his seed shall inherit the land.
14 The secret of the LORD is for them that fear him; / and he will show them his covenant.
15 Mine eyes are ever looking unto the LORD; / for he shall pluck my feet out of the net.
16 TURN thee unto me, and have mercy upon me; / for I am desolate and in misery.
17 Relieve thou the sorrows of my heart: / O bring thou me out of my troubles.
18 Look upon my adversity and misery, / and forgive me all my sins.
19 Consider mine enemies, how many they are; / and they bear a tyrannous hate against me.
20 O keep my soul, and deliver me; / let me not be confounded, for I have put my trust in thee.
21 Let perfectness and righteous dealing preserve me; / for my hope is in thee.
22 DELIVER Israel, O God, / out of all his troubles.
PSALM 26. Judica me, Domine.
BE thou my judge, O LORD, for I have walked innocently: / my trust hath been also in the LORD, therefore shall I not fall.
2 Examine me, O LORD, and prove me: / try me in heart and mind.
3 For thy loving-kindness is ever before mine eyes; / and I have walked in thy truth.
4 I HAVE not sat with vain persons; / neither will I have fellowship with the deceitful.
5 I hate the congregation of the wicked, / and I will not sit among the ungodly.
6 I WILL wash my hands in innocency, O LORD, / and so will I go to thine altar;
7 That I may show the voice of thanksgiving, / and tell of all thy wondrous works.
8 LORD, I love the habitation of thy house, / and the place where thine honour dwelleth.
9 O TAKE not away my soul with the sinners, / nor my life with the bloodthirsty;
10 In whose hands is wickedness, / and their right hand is full of bribes.
11 But as for me, I will walk innocently; / O deliver me, and be merciful unto me.
12 My foot standeth right: / I will praise the LORD in the congregations.
THE FIFTH DAY
Evening Prayer
PSALM 27. Dominus illuminatio.
THE LORD is my light and my salvation; whom then shall I fear? / the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom then shall I be afraid?
2 When the wicked came upon me to eat up my flesh, / even mine enemies and my foes, they stumbled and fell.
3 Though an host of men were laid against me, yet shall not my heart be afraid; / and though there rose up war against me, yet will I put my trust in him.
4 ONE thing have I desired of the LORD, which I will require: / even that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the fair beauty of the LORD, and to visit his temple.
5 For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his tabernacle; / yea, in the secret place of his dwelling shall he hide me, and set me up upon a rock of stone.
6 And now shall my head be lifted up / above mine enemies round about me.
7 Therefore will I offer in his dwelling an oblation with great gladness: / I will sing, and speak praises unto the LORD.
8 HEARKEN unto my voice, O LORD, when I cry unto thee; / have mercy upon me and hear me.
9 My heart hath talked with thee: ‘Seek ye my face’; / ‘Thy face, LORD, will I seek.’
10 O hide not thy face from me, / nor cast thy servant away in displeasure.
11 Thou hast been my succour; / leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation.
12 When my father and my mother forsake me, / the LORD taketh me up.
13 TEACH me thy way, O LORD, / and lead me in the right way, because of mine enemies.
14 Deliver me not over into the will of mine adversaries; / for there are false witnesses risen up against me, and such as speak wrong.
15 I believe that I shall see the goodness of the LORD / in the land of the living.
16 O tarry thou the LORD’S leisure; / be strong, and let thy heart take courage, and wait upon the LORD.
PSALM 28. Ad te, Domine.
UNTO thee will I cry, O LORD my strength; be not deaf to my prayer; / lest, if thou make as though thou hearest not, I become like them that go down into the pit.
2 Hear the voice of my humble petitions, when I cry unto thee; / when I hold up my hands towards thy holy temple.
3 O pluck me not away with the ungodly and wicked doers, / who speak friendly to their neighbours, but imagine mischief in their hearts.
4 Reward them according to their deeds, / and according to the wickedness of their own inventions.
5 Recompense them after the work of their hands; / pay them that they have deserved.
6 Because they regard not in their mind the works of the LORD, nor the operation of his hands, / therefore shall he break them down, and not build them up.
7 PRAISED be the LORD; / for he hath heard the voice of my humble petitions.
8 The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart hath trusted in him, and I am helped; / therefore my heart danceth for joy, and in my song will I praise him.
9 THE LORD is the strength of his people; / and he is the wholesome defence of his anointed.
10 O LORD, save thy people, and bless thine heritage: / govern them, and lift them up for ever.
PSALM 29. Afferte Domino.
ASCRIBE unto the LORD, O ye mighty, / ascribe unto the LORD worship and strength.
2 Give unto the LORD the honour due unto his Name; / worship the LORD with holy worship.
3 THE voice of the LORD is upon the waters; / it is the glorious God that maketh the thunder, even the LORD upon many waters.
4 The voice of the LORD is mighty in operation; / the voice of the LORD is a glorious voice.
5 The voice of the LORD breaketh the cedar-trees; / yea, the LORD breaketh the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He maketh Lebanon to skip like a calf, / and Sirion like a young ox.
7 The voice of the LORD divideth the flames of fire; the voice of the LORD shaketh the wilderness; / yea, the LORD shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh.
8 The voice of the LORD maketh the hinds to bring forth young, and strippeth bare the forests: / in his temple doth every thing speak of his honour.
9 THE LORD sitteth above the water-flood, / and the LORD remaineth a King for ever.
10 The LORD shall give strength unto his people; / the LORD shall give his people the blessing of peace.
THE SIXTH DAY
Morning Prayer
PSALM 30. Exaltabo te, Domine.
I WILL magnify thee, O LORD, for thou hast set me up, / and not made my foes to triumph over me.
2 O LORD my God, I cried unto thee, / and thou hast healed me.
3 Thou, LORD, hast brought up my soul from hell: / thou hast kept my life from them that go down to the pit.
4 SING praises unto the LORD, O ye saints of his; / and give thanks unto his holy Name.
5 For his wrath endureth but the twinkling of an eye, and in his favour is life; / heaviness may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
6 As for me, in my prosperity I said, ‘I shall never be moved’; / thou, LORD, of thy goodness hadst made my hill so strong.
7 But thou didst turn thy face from me, / and I was troubled.
8 Then cried I unto thee, O LORD, / and gat me to my Lord right humbly:
9 ‘What profit is there in my blood, / when I go down to the pit?
10 Shall the dust give thanks unto thee? / or shall it declare thy truth?
11 Hear, O LORD, and have mercy upon me; / LORD, be thou my helper.’
12 THOU hast turned my heaviness into joy; / thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness;
13 That my soul may sing of thy praise without ceasing. / O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.
PSALM 31. In te, Domine, speravi.
IN thee, O LORD, have I put my trust; / let me never be put to confusion; deliver me in thy righteousness.
2 Bow down thine ear to me; / make haste to deliver me,
3 And be thou my strong rock and house of defence, / that thou mayest save me.
4 For thou art my strong rock and my castle: / be thou also my guide, and lead me for thy Name’s sake.
5 Draw me out of the net that they have hidden for me; / for thou art my strength.
6 Into thy hands I commend my spirit; / for thou hast redeemed me, O LORD, thou God of truth.
7 I hate them that hold of superstitious vanities; / but as for me, my trust is in the LORD.
8 I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy; / for thou hast considered my trouble, and hast known my soul in adversities.
9 Thou hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy; / but hast set my feet in a broad place.
10 HAVE mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am in trouble, / and mine eye is consumed for very heaviness; yea, my soul and my body.
11 For my life is waxen old with sorrow, / and my years with mourning.
12 My strength faileth me because of my adversity, / and my bones are consumed.
13 I am become a reproach because of all mine enemies, / and especially unto my neighbours;
14 And they of mine acquaintance are afraid of me; / and they that see me in the street flee from me.
15 I am clean forgotten, as a dead man out of mind; / I am become like a broken vessel.
16 For I have heard the whispering of the multitude, and fear is on every side; / while they conspire together against me, and plot to take away my life.
17 But my hope hath been in thee, O LORD; / I have said, ‘Thou art my God.’
18 My times are in thy hand; / deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.
19 Show thy servant the light of thy countenance, / and save me for thy mercy’s sake.
20 Let me not be confounded, O LORD, for I have called upon thee; / let the ungodly be put to confusion, and be put to silence in the grave.
21 Let the lying lips be put to silence, / which cruelly, disdainfully, and despitefully, speak against the righteous.
22 O HOW plentiful is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee, / and that thou hast wrought for them that put their trust in thee, even before the sons of men!
23 Thou hidest them in the secret place of thine own presence from the plottings of men: / thou keepest them secretly in thy tabernacle from the strife of tongues.
24 Thanks be to the LORD; / for he hath showed me his marvellous loving-kindness in a strong city.
25 But as for me, I said in my haste, / ‘I am cast out of the sight of thine eyes.’
26 Nevertheless, thou heardest the voice of my prayer, / when I cried unto thee.
27 O LOVE the LORD, all ye his saints; / for the LORD preserveth them that are faithful, and plenteously rewardeth the proud doer.
28 Be strong, and let your heart take courage, / all ye that put your trust in the LORD.
THE SIXTH DAY
Evening Prayer
PSALM 32. Beati, quorum.
BLESSED is he whose unrighteousness is forgiven, / and whose sin is covered.
2 Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth no sin, / and in whose spirit there is no guile.
3 For while I held my tongue, / my bones consumed away through my daily complaining.
4 For thy hand was heavy upon me day and night, / and my moisture was changed as with the drought of summer.
5 I acknowledged my sin unto thee; / and mine unrighteousness have I not hid.
6 I said, ‘I will confess my sins unto the LORD’; / and so thou forgavest the wickedness of my sin.
7 For this shall every one that is godly make his prayer unto thee, in a time when thou mayest be found; / when the great waters overflow, they shall not come nigh him.
8 Thou art a place to hide me in; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; / thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance.
9 I WILL inform thee, and teach thee in the way wherein thou shalt go; / and I will guide thee with mine eye upon thee.
10 Be ye not like to horse and mule, which have no understanding; / whose mouths must be held with bit and bridle, else they will not come nigh thee.
11 Great plagues remain for the ungodly; / but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD, mercy embraceth him on every side.
12 Be glad, O ye righteous, and rejoice in the LORD; / and be joyful, all ye that are true of heart.
PSALM 33. Exultate, justi.
REJOICE in the LORD, O ye righteous; / for it becometh well the just to be thankful.
2 Praise the LORD with harp: / sing praises unto him with the lute, and instrument of ten strings.
3 Sing unto the LORD a new song: / sing praises lustily with a good courage.
4 FOR the word of the LORD is true, / and all his works are faithful.
5 He loveth righteousness and judgement: / the earth is full of the goodness of the LORD.
6 By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, / and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.
7 He gathereth the waters of the sea together, as it were in a bottle, / and layeth up the deep, as in a treasure-house.
8 Let all the earth fear the LORD; / stand in awe of him, all ye that dwell in the world.
9 For he spake, and it was done: / he commanded, and it stood fast.
10 THE LORD bringeth the counsel of the nations to nought, / and maketh the devices of the peoples to be of none effect.
11 The counsel of the LORD shall endure for ever, / and the thoughts of his heart from generation to generation.
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, / and blessed are the folk that he hath chosen for his own inheritance.
13 THE LORD looketh down from heaven, / and beholdeth all the children of men;
14 From the habitation of his dwelling / he considereth all them that dwell on the earth.
15 He fashioneth all the hearts of them, / and understandeth all their works.
16 There is no king that can be saved by the multitude of an host, / neither is any mighty man delivered by much strength.
17 A horse is counted but a vain thing to save a man, / neither shall he deliver any man by his great strength.
18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, / and upon them that put their trust in his mercy;
19 To deliver their soul from death, / and to feed them in the time of dearth.
20 OUR soul hath patiently tarried for the LORD; / for he is our help and our shield.
21 For our heart shall rejoice in him; / because we have hoped in his holy Name.
22 O LORD, let thy mercy lighten upon us, / like as we do put our trust in thee.
PSALM 34. Benedicam Domino.
I WILL alway give thanks unto the LORD; / his praise shall ever be in my mouth.
2 My soul shall make her boast in the LORD; / the humble shall hear thereof and be glad.
3 O praise the LORD with me, / and let us magnify his Name together.
4 I sought the LORD, and he heard me; / yea, he delivered me out of all my fears.
5 O look unto him and be lightened; / and your faces shall not be ashamed.
6 This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him; / yea, and saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the LORD tarrieth round about them that fear him, / and delivereth them.
8 O taste and see how gracious the LORD is: / blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
9 O fear the LORD, ye that are his saints; / for they that fear him lack nothing.
10 The lions do lack, and suffer hunger; / but they who seek the LORD shall want no manner of thing that is good.
11 COME, ye children, and hearken unto me; / I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
12 What man is he that desireth to live, / and would fain see good days?
13 Keep thy tongue from evil, / and thy lips, that they speak no guile.
14 Depart from evil, and do good; / seek peace, and pursue it.
15 The eyes of the LORD are over the righteous, / and his ears are open unto their prayers.
16 The countenance of the LORD is against them that do evil, / to root out the remembrance of them from the earth.
17 The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth them, / and delivereth them out of all their troubles.
18 The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a contrite heart, / and will save such as be of an humble spirit.
19 Great are the troubles of the righteous; / but the LORD delivereth him out of all.
20 He keepeth all his bones, / so that not one of them is broken.
21 But misfortune shall slay the ungodly; / and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate.
22 The LORD delivereth the souls of his servants; / and all they that put their trust in him shall not be destitute.
THE SEVENTH DAY
Morning Prayer
PSALM 35. Judica, Domine.
PLEAD thou my cause, O LORD, with them that strive with me, / and fight thou against them that fight against me.
2 Lay hand upon the shield and buckler, / and stand up to help me.
3 Bring forth the spear and stop the way against them that pursue me: / say unto my soul, ‘I am thy salvation.’
4 Let them be confounded and put to shame, that seek after my soul; / let them be turned back and brought to confusion, that imagine mischief for me.
5 Let them be as the chaff before the wind, / with the angel of the LORD scattering them.
6 Let their way be dark and slippery, / with the angel of the LORD pursuing them.
7 For they have hidden their net for me without a cause; / yea, without a cause have they dug a pit for my soul.
8 Let a sudden destruction come upon him unawares, and his net that he hath hid catch himself, / that he may fall into his own mischief.
9 And my soul shall be joyful in the LORD; / it shall rejoice in his salvation.
10 All my bones shall say, ‘LORD, who is like unto thee, who deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him; / yea, the poor, and him that is in misery from him that spoileth him?’
11 FALSE witnesses did rise up; / they laid to my charge things that I knew not.
12 They rewarded me evil for good, / to the great discomfort of my soul.
13 Nevertheless, when they were sick, I put on sackcloth, and humbled my soul with fasting; / and my prayer shall return into mine own bosom.
14 I behaved myself as though it had been my friend or my brother; / I went heavily, as one that mourneth for his mother.
15 But when I stumbled they rejoiced and gathered themselves together; / yea, the very abjects and those whom I knew not came together against me, and slandered me without ceasing.
16 Like ungodly men they mocked continually, / and gnashed upon me with their teeth.
17 Lord, how long wilt thou look upon this? / O deliver my soul from the calamities which they bring upon me, and my life from the lions.
18 So will I give thee thanks in the great congregation; / I will praise thee among much people.
19 O LET not them that are mine enemies wrongfully rejoice over me; / neither let them wink with eyes that hate me without a cause.
20 And why? their communing is not for peace; / but they imagine deceitful words against them that are quiet in the land.
21 They gape upon me with their mouths, / and say, ‘Fie on thee, fie on thee, we saw it with our eyes.’
22 This thou hast seen, O LORD; / hold not thy tongue then; go not far from me, O Lord.
23 Awake, and stand up to judge my quarrel: / avenge thou my cause, my God and my Lord.
24 Give sentence for me, O LORD my God, according to thy righteousness; / and let them not rejoice over me.
25 Let them not say in their hearts, ‘There, there, so would we have it’; / neither let them say, ‘We have devoured him.’
26 Let them be put to confusion and shame together, that rejoice at my trouble: / let them be clothed with rebuke and dishonour, that boast themselves against me.
27 Let them be glad and rejoice, that favour my righteous dealing; / yea, let them say alway, ‘Blessed be the LORD, who hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.’
28 And as for my tongue, it shall be talking of thy righteousness, / and of thy praise all the day long.
PSALM 36. Dixit injustus.
SIN speaketh to the wicked deep in his heart; / there is no fear of God before his eyes.
2 For he flattereth himself in his own sight / that his iniquity shall not be found out and be hated.
3 The words of his mouth are unrighteous and full of deceit: / he hath left off to behave himself wisely and to do good.
4 He imagineth mischief upon his bed, and setteth himself in no good way; / neither doth he abhor any thing that is evil.
5 THY mercy, O LORD, reacheth unto the heavens, / and thy faithfulness unto the clouds.
6 Thy righteousness standeth like the strong mountains: / thy judgements are like the great deep.
7 Thou, LORD, shalt save both man and beast; how excellent is thy mercy, O God! / and the children of men shall put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.
8 They shall be satisfied with the plenteousness of thy house; / and thou shalt give them drink of thy pleasures, as out of the river.
9 For with thee is the well of life; / and in thy light shall we see light.
10 O CONTINUE forth thy loving-kindness unto them that know thee, / and thy righteousness unto them that are true of heart.
11 O let not the foot of pride come against me; / and let not the hand of the ungodly drive me away.
12 There are they fallen, that work wickedness; / they are cast down, and shall not be able to stand.
THE SEVENTH DAY
Evening Prayer
PSALM 37. Noli aemulari.
PART 1
FRET not thyself because of the ungodly; / neither be thou envious against the evil doers.
2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, / and be withered even as the green herb.
3 PUT thou thy trust in the LORD, and be doing good; / dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.
4 Delight thou in the LORD, / and he shall give thee thy heart’s desire.
5 COMMIT thy way unto the LORD, and put thy trust in him, / and he shall bring it to pass.
6 He shall make thy righteousness as clear as the light, / and thy just dealing as the noon-day.
7 REST in the LORD, and abide patiently upon him: / but grieve not thyself at him whose way doth prosper, against the man that doeth after evil counsels.
8 LEAVE off from wrath, and let go displeasure: / fret not thyself, else shalt thou be moved to do evil.
9 For wicked doers shall be rooted out; / but they that patiently abide the LORD, those shall inherit the land.
10 YET a little while, and the ungodly shall be clean gone: / thou shalt look upon his place, and he shall be away.
11 But the meek-spirited shall possess the land, / and shall be refreshed in the multitude of peace.
12 THE ungodly seeketh counsel against the just, / and gnasheth upon him with his teeth.
13 The Lord shall laugh him to scorn; / for he hath seen that his day is coming.
14 THE ungodly have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, / to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as walk uprightly.
15 Their sword shall go through their own heart, / and their bow shall be broken.
16 A SMALL thing that the righteous hath / is better than great riches of the ungodly.
17 For the arms of the ungodly shall be broken, / but the LORD upholdeth the righteous.
18 THE LORD knoweth the days of the godly; / and their inheritance shall endure for ever.
19 They shall not be confounded in the perilous time; / and in the days of dearth they shall have enough.
20 As for the ungodly, they shall perish, and the enemies of the LORD shall consume as the flowers of the field; / yea, even as the smoke shall they consume away.
21 THE ungodly borroweth, and payeth not again; / but the righteous is merciful and liberal.
22 Such as are blessed of God shall possess the land; / and they that are cursed of him shall be rooted out.
PART 2
THE LORD ordereth a good man’s going, / and hath pleasure in his way.
24 Though he fall, he shall not be cast away, / for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.
25 I HAVE been young, and now am old; / and yet saw I never the righteous forsaken, nor his children begging their bread.
26 The righteous is ever merciful and lendeth; / and his children are 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.
29 THE unrighteous shall be destroyed for ever; / 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 judgement.
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.
40 BUT the salvation of the righteous cometh of the LORD; / who is also their refuge 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.
THE EIGHTH DAY
Morning Prayer
PSALM 38. Domine, ne in furore.
PUT me not to rebuke, O LORD, in thine anger; / neither chasten me in thy heavy displeasure.
2 For thine arrows stick fast in me, / and thy hand presseth me sore.
3 There is no health in my flesh, because of thy displeasure; / neither is there any rest in my bones, by reason of my sin.
4 For my wickednesses are gone over my head, / and are like a sore burden, too heavy for me to bear.
5 MY wounds stink and are corrupt, / through my foolishness.
6 I am brought into so great trouble and misery, / that I go mourning all the day long.
7 For my loins are filled with burning, / and there is no sound part in my body.
8 I am feeble, and sore smitten; / I have roared for the very disquietness of my heart.
9 Lord, thou knowest all my desire; / and my groaning is not hid from thee.
10 My heart panteth, my strength hath failed me, / and the light of mine eyes is gone from me.
11 My friends and my neighbours did stand looking upon my trouble, / and my kinsmen stood afar off.
12 They also that sought after my life laid snares for me; / and they that went about to do me evil talked of wickedness, and imagined deceit all the day long.
13 As for me, I was like a deaf man, and heard not; / and as one that is dumb, who doth not open his mouth.
14 I became even as a man that heareth not, / and in whose mouth is no defence.
15 But for thee, O LORD, do I wait; / thou shalt answer for me, O Lord my God.
16 I have required that they, even mine enemies, should not triumph over me; / for when my foot slippeth they rejoice greatly against me.
17 AND I, truly, am ready to fall, / and my heaviness is ever in my sight.
18 For I will confess my wickedness, / and be sorry for my sin.
19 But mine enemies live, and are mighty; / and they that hate me wrongfully are many in number.
20 They also that reward evil for good are against me; / because I follow the thing that is good.
21 Forsake me not, O LORD; / O my God, be not thou far from me.
22 Haste thee to help me, / O Lord God of my salvation.
PSALM 39. Dixi, Custodiam.
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: / let me know how frail I am.
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 as 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; / make me not the reproach of 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.
PSALM 40. Expectans expectavi.
I WAITED patiently for the LORD, / and he inclined unto me, and heard my calling.
2 He brought me also out of the horrible pit, out of the mire and clay, / and set my feet upon the rock, and ordered my goings.
3 And he hath put a new song in my mouth, / even a thanksgiving unto our God.
4 Many shall see it and fear, / and shall put their trust in the LORD.
5 BLESSED is the man that hath set his hope in the LORD, / and turned not unto the proud, and to such as go about with lies.
6 O LORD my God, many are the wondrous works which thou hast done, like as be also thy thoughts which are to us-ward; / and there is none to be compared unto thee.
7 If I should declare them and speak of them, / they should be more than I am able to express.
8 SACRIFICE and offering thou wouldest not, / but mine ears hast thou opened.
9 Burnt offering and sacrifice for sin hast thou not required; / then said I, ‘Lo, I come;
10 In the volume of the book it is written of me; I delight to fulfil thy will, O my God; / yea, thy law is within my heart.’
11 I have declared thy righteousness in the great congregation; / lo, I will not refrain my lips, O LORD, and that thou knowest.
12 I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; / my talk hath been of thy truth and of thy salvation.
13 I have not kept back thy loving mercy and truth / from the great congregation.
14 WITHDRAW not thou thy mercies from me, O LORD; / let thy loving-kindness and thy truth alway preserve me.
15 For innumerable troubles are come about me; / my sins have taken such hold upon me that I am not able to look up;
16 Yea, they are more in number than the hairs of my head, / and my heart hath failed me.
17 O LORD, let it be thy pleasure to deliver me; / make haste, O LORD, to help me.
18 Let them be ashamed and confounded together, that seek after my soul to destroy it: / let them be driven backward and put to rebuke, that wish me evil.
19 Let them be desolate, and rewarded with shame, / that say unto me, ‘Fie upon thee, fie upon thee.’
20 Let all those that seek thee be joyful and glad in thee; / and let such as love thy salvation say alway, ‘The LORD be praised.’
21 As for me, I am poor and needy; / but the LORD careth for me.
22 Thou art my helper and redeemer; / make no long tarrying, O my God.
THE EIGHTH DAY
Evening Prayer
PSALM 41. Beatus qui intelligit.
BLESSED is he that considereth the poor and needy; / the LORD shall deliver him in the time of trouble.
2 The LORD preserve him, and keep him alive, that he may be blessed in the land; / and deliver not thou him into the will of his enemies.
3 The LORD comfort him when he lieth sick upon his bed; / thou makest all his bed in his sickness.
4 I SAID, ‘LORD, be merciful unto me; / heal my soul, for I have sinned against thee.’
5 Mine enemies speak evil of me, / saying, ‘When shall he die, and his name perish?’
6 And if he come to see me, he speaketh vanity, / and his heart conceiveth falsehood within himself, and when he goeth forth he telleth it.
7 All mine enemies whisper together against me; / even against me do they imagine this evil.
8 ‘Some deadly thing’, say they, ‘hath laid hold upon him; / and now that he lieth, he shall rise up no more.’
9 Yea, even mine own familiar friend, whom I trusted, / who did also eat of my bread, hath lift up his heel against me.
10 BUT be thou merciful unto me, O LORD; / raise thou me up, and I shall reward them.
11 By this I know thou favourest me, / that mine enemy doth not triumph against me.
12 And as for me, because of mine innocency thou hast upheld me, / and hast set me before thy face for ever.
13 BLESSED be the LORD, the God of Israel, / world without end. Amen and Amen.
PSALM 42. Quemadmodum.
LIKE as the hart desireth the water-brooks, / so longeth my soul after thee, O God.
2 My soul is athirst for God, yea, even for the living God: / when shall I come to appear before the presence of God?
3 My tears have been my food day and night, / while all day long they say unto me, ‘Where is now thy God?’
4 These things will I remember as I pour out my soul within me: / how I went with the multitude, and brought them forth into the house of God,
5 With the voice of praise and thanksgiving, / a multitude keeping holy-day.
6 Why art thou so full of heaviness, O my soul? / and why art thou so disquieted within me?
7 O put thy trust in God, for I will yet give him thanks, / who is the help of my countenance, and my God.
8 MY soul is vexed within me; therefore will I remember thee / from the land of Jordan, from Hermon, and the Little Hill.
9 One deep calleth another, because of the noise of thy torrents; / all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.
10 The LORD will grant his loving-kindness in the day-time; / and in the night-season will I sing of him, and make my prayer unto the God of my life.
11 I will say unto God my rock, ‘Why hast thou forgotten me? / why go I thus heavily, while the enemy oppresseth me?’
12 My bones are smitten asunder, while mine enemies reproach me, / while they say daily unto me, ‘Where is now thy God?’
13 Why art thou so vexed, O my soul? / and why art thou so disquieted within me?
14 O put thy trust in God, for I will yet give him thanks, / who is the help of my countenance, and my God.
PSALM 43. Judica me, Deus.
GIVE sentence for me, O God, and defend my cause against an ungodly people; / O deliver me from the deceitful and wicked man.
2 For thou art the God of my strength; why hast thou put me from thee? / and why go I so heavily, while the enemy oppresseth me?
3 O send out thy light and thy truth, that they may lead me, / and bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy dwelling;
4 And that I may go unto the altar of God, even unto the God of my joy and gladness; / and upon the harp will I give thanks unto thee, O God, my God.
5 Why art thou so heavy, O my soul? / and why art thou so disquieted within me?
6 O put thy trust in God, for I will yet give him thanks, / who is the help of my countenance, and my God.
THE NINTH DAY
Morning Prayer
PSALM 44. Deus, auribus.
WE have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, / what thou hast done in their time of old;
2 How thou didst drive out the nations with thy hand, and plant our fathers in: / how thou didst afflict the peoples, but madest Israel to flourish.
3 For they gat not the land in possession through their own sword, / neither was it their own arm that helped them;
4 But thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance; / because thou hadst a favour unto them.
5 THOU art my King and my God, / who ordainest victory for Jacob.
6 Through thee will we overthrow our enemies, / and in thy Name will we tread them under, that rise up against us.
7 For I will not trust in my bow: / it is not my sword that shall help me.
8 But it is thou that hast saved us from our enemies, / and hast put them to confusion that hate us.
9 We make our boast of God all day long, / and will praise thy Name for ever.
10 BUT now thou art far off, and puttest us to confusion, / and goest not forth with our armies.
11 Thou makest us to turn our backs upon our enemies, / so that they that hate us spoil our goods.
12 Thou lettest us be eaten up like sheep, / and hast scattered us among the nations.
13 Thou sellest thy people for nought, / and takest no money for them.
14 Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbours, / to be laughed to scorn and had in derision of them that are round about us.
15 Thou makest us to be a by-word among the nations, / and that the peoples shake their heads at us.
16 All day long my disgrace is before me, / and the shame of my face hath covered me,
17 At the voice of him that reproacheth and blasphemeth, / at the sight of the enemy and avenger.
18 AND though all this be come upon us, yet do we not forget thee, / nor behave ourselves falsely in thy covenant.
19 Our heart is not turned back, / neither our steps gone out of thy way;
20 No, not when thou hast smitten us into the place of dragons, / and covered us with the shadow of death.
21 If we have forgotten the Name of our God, / and holden up our hands to any strange god,
22 Shall not God search it out? / for he knoweth the very secrets of the heart.
23 For thy sake also are we killed all the day long,/ and are counted as sheep appointed to be slain.
24 UP, Lord, why sleepest thou? / awake, and be not absent from us for ever.
25 Wherefore hidest thou thy face, / and forgettest our misery and trouble?
26 For our soul is brought low, even unto the dust: / our body cleaveth unto the ground.
27 Arise, and help us, / and deliver us for thy mercy’s sake.
PSALM 45. Eructavit cor meum.
MY heart overfloweth with a good matter: I recite my verses for 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; therefore God hath blessed thee for ever.
3 Gird thee with thy sword upon thy thigh, O mighty one, / according to thy glory and thy majesty.
4 And in thy majesty ride on to victory in the cause of truth, and of meekness and righteousness; / and let thy right hand teach thee terrible deeds.
5 Thy arrows are very sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies, / and the peoples shall be subdued unto thee.
6 THY throne, 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 ivory palaces stringed instruments make thee glad.
9 Kings’ daughters are among thy honourable women: / upon thy right hand doth stand the queen in a vesture of gold.
10 HEARKEN, O daughter, consider, and incline thine ear; / forget also thine own people and thy father’s house;
11 So shall the king have pleasure in thy beauty; / since he is thy lord, bow thou down to him.
12 And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift: / even the rich among the people shall entreat thy favour.
13 The king’s daughter within the palace is all glorious; / her clothing is of wrought gold.
14 She is brought to the king in raiment of needlework: / the virgins that be her fellows bear her company, and are brought unto thee.
15 With joy and gladness are they led along, / as they enter into the king’s palace.
16 INSTEAD of thy fathers thou shalt have sons, / whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth.
17 I will make thy name to be remembered from one generation to another; / therefore shall the peoples praise thee, world without end.
PSALM 46. Deus noster refugium.
GOD is our hope and strength, / a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore will we not fear, though the earth be changed, / and though the hills be carried into the midst of the sea;
3 Though the waters thereof rage and swell, / and though the mountains shake at the tempest of the same.
4 The LORD of hosts is with us; / the God of Jacob is our refuge.
5 THERE is a river, the streams whereof make glad the city of God, / the holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High.
6 God is in the midst of her, therefore shall she not be moved; / God shall help her, and that right early.
7 The nations make much ado, and the kingdoms are moved; / but God uttereth his voice, and the earth doth melt away.
8 The LORD of hosts is with us; / the God of Jacob is our refuge.
9 O come hither, and behold the works of the LORD, / what wonders he hath wrought upon the earth.
10 He maketh wars to cease in all the world; / he breaketh the bow, and snappeth the spear in sunder, and burneth the chariots in the fire.
11 Be still then, and know that I am God; / I will be exalted among the nations, and I will be exalted in the earth.
12 The LORD of hosts is with us; / the God of Jacob is our refuge.
THE NINTH DAY
Evening Prayer
PSALM 47. Omnes gentes, plaudite.
O CLAP your hands together, all ye peoples; / O sing unto God with the voice of melody.
2 For the LORD Most High is to be feared; / he is a great King over all the earth.
3 He subdued the peoples under us, / and the nations under our feet.
4 He chose our heritage for us, / even the glorious land of Jacob, whom he loved.
5 GOD is gone up with a merry noise, / the LORD with the sound of the trumpet.
6 O sing praises, sing praises unto our God; / O sing praises, sing praises unto our King.
7 For God is the King of all the earth: / sing ye praises with understanding.
8 God reigneth over the nations: / God sitteth upon his holy throne.
9 The princes of the peoples are gathered together, / with the people of the God of Abraham;
10 For the rulers of the earth belong unto God; / he is very highly exalted.
PSALM 48. Magnus Dominus.
GREAT is the LORD, and highly to be praised / in the city of our God.
2 His holy hill is a fair place, / and the joy of the whole earth:
3 Mount Sion of the uttermost parts of the north, / the city of the great King.
4 He hath made himself known in her citadels / as a sure refuge.
5 FOR lo, the kings of the earth were gathered, / and gone by together.
6 They marvelled to see such things; / they were astonished, and suddenly cast down.
7 Fear came there upon them, / and anguish, as upon a woman in her travail;
8 As when with the east wind / thou breakest the ships of the sea.
9 LIKE as we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the LORD of hosts, in the city of our God: / God upholdeth the same for ever.
10 We have thought on thy loving-kindness, O God, / in the midst of thy temple.
11 O God, according to thy Name, so is thy praise unto the world’s end; / thy right hand is full of righteousness.
12 Let the mount Sion rejoice, and the daughters of Judah be glad, / because of thy judgements.
13 WALK about Sion, and go round about her; / and count the towers thereof.
14 Mark well her bulwarks, consider her citadels, / that ye may tell them that come after.
15 For this God is our God for ever and ever: / he shall be our guide for evermore.
PSALM 49. Audite haec, omnes.
O HEAR ye this, all ye peoples; / 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 a parable, / and expound my dark speech upon the harp.
5 WHEREFORE should I fear in the days of wickedness, / when the wickedness of my foes compasseth me round about?
6 There be some that put their trust in their wealth, / and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches.
7 But no man can by any means redeem his brother, / nor give a ransom unto God for him,
8 That he should live on for ever, / and see not the grave.
9 For too costly is the redemption of their souls, / so that he must let that alone for ever.
10 For he seeth that wise men also die, and perish together, / as well as the ignorant and foolish, and leave their riches for others.
11 Their graves are their homes for ever, and their dwelling-places to all generations; / even though they called lands after their own names.
12 So man being in honour abideth not; / he is like the beasts that perish.
13 THIS is the fate of them that are foolishly confident, / and the latter end of them that are pleased with their portion.
14 Like sheep they are appointed for the grave; death is their shepherd; / and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning.
15 Their beauty shall waste away in the sepulchre; / there shall be no habitation for it.
16 But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave; / for he shall receive me.
17 BE not thou afraid, though one be made rich, / or if the glory of his house be increased;
18 For he shall carry nothing away with him when he dieth, / neither shall his pomp follow him.
19 For though while he lived, he counted himself a happy man; / and men praise thee because thou doest well unto thyself;
20 Yet he shall follow the generation of his fathers, / and shall never see light.
21 Man that is in honour, but hath no understanding, / is like the beasts that perish.
THE TENTH DAY
Morning Prayer
PSALM 50. Deus deorum.
THE LORD, even the Most Mighty God, hath spoken, / and called the world, from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof.
2 Out of Sion, the perfection of beauty, / God hath shined forth.
3 Our God cometh, and keepeth not silence; / there goeth before him a consuming fire, and a mighty tempest is stirred up round about him.
4 He calleth to the heavens from above, / and to the earth, that he may judge his people:
5 ‘Gather my saints together unto me: / those that have made a covenant with me with sacrifice.’
6 And the heavens declare his righteousness; / for God is judge himself.
7 ‘HEAR, O my people, and I will speak; / I myself will testify against thee, O Israel; for I am God, even thy God.
8 I will not reprove thee because of thy sacrifices; / as for thy burnt offerings, they are alway before me.
9 I will take no bullock out of thine house, / nor he-goats out of thy folds.
10 For all the beasts of the forest are mine, / and so are the cattle upon a thousand hills.
11 I know all the birds upon the mountains, / and the wild beasts of the field are in my sight.
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell thee; / for the whole world is mine, and all that is therein.
13 Thinkest thou that I will eat bulls’ flesh, / and drink the blood of goats?
14 Offer unto God the sacrifice of thanksgiving, / and pay thy vows unto the Most High;
15 And call upon me in the time of trouble; / so will I deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.’
16 BUT unto the ungodly saith God, / ‘Why dost thou preach my laws, and takest my covenant in thy mouth;
17 Whereas thou hatest to be reformed, / and hast cast my words behind thee?
18 When thou sawest a thief, thou consentedst unto him, / and hast been partaker with the adulterers.
19 Thou dost let thy mouth speak wickedness, / and with thy tongue thou dost set forth deceit.
20 Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother, / and dost slander thine own mother’s son.
21 These things hast thou done, and I held my tongue, and thou thoughtest that I am even such a one as thyself; / but I will reprove thee, and set before thee the things that thou hast done.
22 O CONSIDER this, ye that forget God, / lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver.
23 Whoso offereth me the sacrifice of thanksgiving, he honoureth me; / and to him that ordereth his way aright will I show the salvation of God.’
PSALM 51. Miserere mei, Deus.
HAVE mercy upon me, O God, after thy great goodness; / according to the multitude of thy mercies do away mine offences.
2 Wash me throughly from my wickedness, / and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I acknowledge my faults, / and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against thee only have I sinned, and done that which is evil in thy sight; / that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and clear when thou dost judge.
5 Behold, I was brought forth in wickedness, / and in sin hath my mother conceived me.
6 But lo, thou requirest truth in the inward parts, / and shalt make me to understand wisdom secretly.
7 Thou shalt purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; / thou shalt wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Thou shalt make me hear of joy and gladness, / that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
9 Turn thy face from my sins, / and put out all my misdeeds.
10 Make me a clean heart, O God, / and renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from thy presence, / and take not thy holy spirit from me.
12 O give me the comfort of thy help again, / and stablish me with a free spirit.
13 Then shall I teach thy ways unto the wicked, / and sinners shall be converted unto thee.
14 Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God, thou that art the God of my salvation; / and my tongue shall sing of thy righteousness.
15 O Lord, open thou my lips, / and my mouth shall show forth thy praise.
16 For thou desirest no sacrifice, else would I give it; / but thou delightest not in burnt offerings.
17 The sacrifice of God is a troubled spirit: / a broken and contrite heart, O God, shalt thou not despise.
18 O BE favourable and gracious unto Sion; / build thou the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with the burnt offerings and oblations; / then shall they offer young bullocks upon thine altar.
PSALM 52. Quid gloriaris?
WHY boastest thou thyself, thou tyrant, that thou canst do mischief, / whereas the goodness of God endureth yet daily?
2 Thy tongue deviseth wickedness; / it is like a sharp razor, O thou worker of deceit.
3 Thou hast loved evil more than goodness, / and to speak lies rather than righteousness.
4 Thou hast loved to speak all words that may do hurt, / O thou false tongue.
5 Therefore shall God destroy thee for ever; / he shall take thee and pluck thee out of thy dwelling, and root thee out of the land of the living.
6 THE righteous also shall see this, and fear, / and shall laugh him to scorn,
7 Saying, ‘Lo, this is the man that took not God for his strength, / but trusted unto the multitude of his riches, and strengthened himself in his own wealth.’
8 As for me, I am like a green olive-tree in the house of God; / my trust is in the tender mercy of God for ever and ever.
9 I will always give thanks unto thee, because thou hast done it; / and I will hope in thy Name, for thy saints like it well.
THE TENTH DAY
Evening Prayer
PSALM 53. Dixit insipiens.
THE foolish body hath said in his heart, / ‘There is no God.’
2 Corrupt are they, and become abominable in their wickedness; / there is none that doeth good.
3 God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, / to see if there were any that would understand, and seek after God.
4 But they are all gone out of the way; together they are become abominable; / there is also none that doeth good, no not one.
5 ARE they not without understanding that work wickedness, / eating up my people as if they would eat bread? they have not called upon God.
6 There were they afraid, where no fear was; / for God hath scattered the bones of him that besieged thee: thou hast put them to confusion, because God hath despised them.
7 O THAT salvation for Israel were come out of Sion! / When God restoreth the fortunes of his people,
8 Then shall Jacob rejoice, / and Israel shall be right glad.
PSALM 54. Deus, in nomine.
SAVE me, O God, for thy Name’s sake, / and avenge me in thy strength.
2 Hear my prayer, O God, / and hearken unto the words of my mouth.
3 For strangers are risen up against me; / and tyrants, who have not God before their eyes, seek after my soul.
4 BEHOLD, God is my helper: / the Lord is he that upholdeth my soul.
5 He shall reward evil unto mine enemies: / destroy thou them in thy truth.
6 A FREE-WILL offering will I give to thee, / and praise thy Name, O LORD, because it is so comfortable.
7 For he hath delivered me out of all my trouble; / and mine eye hath seen its desire upon mine enemies.
PSALM 55. Exaudi, Deus.
HEAR my prayer, O God, / and hide not thyself from my petition.
2 Take heed unto me, and hear me, / how I mourn in my prayer, and am vexed.
3 The enemy crieth so, and the ungodly cometh on so fast; / for they are minded to do me some mischief; so maliciously are they set against me.
4 My heart is disquieted within me, / and the terrors of death are fallen upon me.
5 Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, / and an horrible dread hath overwhelmed me.
6 And I said, ‘O that I had wings like a dove! / for then would I fly away, and be at rest.
7 Lo, then would I get me away far off, / and abide in the wilderness.
8 I would make haste to find me a shelter / from the stormy wind and tempest.’
9 DESTROY their tongues, O Lord, and divide them; / for I have spied violence and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they go about it, upon the walls thereof: / iniquity also and mischief are in the midst of it.
11 Wickedness is therein: / oppression and guile go not out of her streets.
12 For it is not an open enemy, that hath done me this dishonour; / for then I could have borne it;
13 Neither was it mine adversary, that did magnify himself against me; / for then I would have hid myself from him.
14 But it was even thou, my companion, / my guide, and mine own familiar friend.
15 We took sweet counsel together, / and walked in the house of God as friends.
16 As for me, I will call upon God, / and the LORD shall save me.
17 In the evening, and morning, and at noon-day will I pray, and that instantly; / and he shall hear my voice.
18 He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me; / for there were many that strove with me.
19 Yea, even God, that endureth for ever, shall hear me, and bring them down; / for they will not turn, nor fear God.
20 He laid his hands upon such as were at peace with him, / and he brake his covenant.
21 His speech was smoother than butter, yet war was in his heart; / his words were softer than oil, yet be they very swords.
22 O cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall uphold thee, / and shall not suffer the righteous to be moved for ever.
23 But as for them, thou, O God, shalt bring them down / into the pit of destruction.
24 The bloodthirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; / but my trust shall be in thee.
THE ELEVENTH DAY
Morning Prayer
PSALM 56. Miserere mei, Deus.
BE merciful unto me, O God, for man goeth about to devour me: / he is all the day long fighting and troubling me.
2 Mine enemies go about all the day long to swallow me up; / for they be many that fight proudly against me.
3 Nevertheless, though I am sometime afraid, / yet put I my trust in thee.
4 I will praise God because of his word: I have put my trust in God, and will not be afraid; / what can flesh do unto me?
5 ALL the day long they mistake my words: / all that they imagine is to do me evil.
6 They hold all together, and keep themselves close, / and mark my steps, as they lay wait for my soul.
7 Shall they escape by their wickedness? / O God, in thy displeasure cast down the peoples.
8 Thou keepest count of my wanderings; put my tears into thy bottle: / are not these things noted in thy book?
9 Whensoever I call upon thee, then shall mine enemies be put to flight: / this I know; for God is on my side.
10 In God’s word will I rejoice: / in the LORD’S word will I comfort me.
11 Yea, in God have I put my trust, and will not be afraid; / what can man do unto me?
12 UNTO thee, O God, will I pay my vows: / unto thee will I give thanks.
13 For thou hast delivered my soul from death, and my feet from falling, / that I may walk before God in the light of the living.
PSALM 57. Miserere mei, Deus.
BE merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me; / for my soul trusteth in thee;
2 And under the shadow of thy wings shall be my refuge, / until this tyranny be overpast.
3 I will call unto God Most High, / even unto the God that shall perform the cause that I have in hand.
4 He shall send from heaven and save me, / even from the reproach of him that would eat me up.
5 God shall send forth his mercy and truth; / my soul is among lions;
6 And I lie even among the children of men, that are set on fire, / whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword.
7 Set up thyself, O God, above the heavens, / and thy glory above all the earth.
8 THEY have laid a net for my feet, and pressed down my soul; / they have digged a pit before me, and are fallen into the midst of it themselves.
9 My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready; / I will sing and give praise.
10 Awake up, my soul; awake, lute and harp: / I myself will awake the dawn.
11 I will give thanks unto thee, O Lord, among the peoples; / and I will sing unto thee among the nations.
12 For the greatness of thy mercy reacheth unto the heavens, / and thy truth unto the clouds.
13 Set up thyself, O God, above the heavens, / and thy glory above all the earth.
THE ELEVENTH DAY
Evening Prayer
PSALM 59. Eripe me de inimicis.
DELIVER me from mine enemies, O God; / defend me from them that rise up against me.
2 O deliver me from the wicked doers, / and save me from the bloodthirsty men.
3 For lo, they lie waiting for my soul; / the mighty men are gathered against me, without any offence or fault of me, O LORD.
4 For no iniquity of mine they run and prepare themselves; / arise thou therefore to help me, and behold.
5 For thou, O LORD of hosts, art the God of Israel; stand up to visit all the nations; / and be not merciful unto them that offend of malicious wickedness.
6 THEY return in the evening; they snarl like a dog, / and go round about the city.
7 Behold, they boast with their mouths, and swords are in their lips; / ‘For who’, say they, ‘doth hear?’
8 But thou, O LORD, shalt have them in derision: / and thou shalt laugh all the nations to scorn.
9 O my Strength, I will wait upon thee; / for thou, O God, art my refuge.
10 My God of his goodness shall come to meet me; / and God shall let me see my desire upon mine enemies.
11 Slay them not, lest my people forget it; / but scatter them abroad by thy power, and put them down, O Lord, our defence.
12 For the sin of their mouth, and for the words of their lips, let them be taken in their pride; / and why? their talking is of cursing and lies.
13 Consume them in thy wrath, consume them, that they be no more, / and that men may know that it is God that ruleth in Jacob, and unto the ends of the world.
14 THEY return in the evening; they snarl like a dog, / and go round about the city.
15 They run here and there for food, / and growl if they be not satisfied.
16 As for me, I will sing of thy power, and will praise thy mercy betimes in the morning; / for thou hast been my defence, and a refuge in the day of my trouble.
17 O my Strength, I will sing unto thee; / for thou, O God, art my refuge, and my merciful God.
PSALM 60. Deus, repulisti nos.
O GOD, thou hast cast us out, and broken us down: / thou hast also been displeased; O turn thee unto us again.
2 Thou hast made the land to tremble, and hast rent it: / heal the breaches thereof, for it shaketh.
3 Thou hast showed thy people heavy things: / thou hast given us a drink of deadly wine.
4 Thou hast given a banner for such as fear thee, / that they may flee from the bow.
5 THAT thy beloved may be delivered, / help me with thy right hand, and hear me.
6 God hath spoken in his holiness: ‘I will rejoice, and divide Shechem, / and mete out the valley of Succoth.
7 Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine; / Ephraim also is the defence of my head; Judah is my sceptre;
8 Moab is my wash-pot; upon Edom will I cast out my shoe; / over Philistia will I shout in triumph.’
9 WHO will lead me into the strong city? / who will bring me into Edom?
10 Hast thou not cast us out, O God? / and wilt not thou, O God, go forth with our hosts?
11 O be thou our help in trouble; / for vain is the help of man.
12 Through God we shall do great acts; / for it is he that will tread down our enemies.
PSALM 61. Exaudi, Deus.
HEAR my crying, O God, / give ear unto my prayer.
2 From the end of the earth will I call upon thee, when my heart is in heaviness: / O lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
3 For thou hast been my refuge, / and a strong tower for me against the enemy.
4 I will dwell in thy tabernacle for ever, / and my trust shall be under the covering of thy wings.
5 FOR thou, O God, hast heard my desires, / and hast given an heritage unto those that fear thy Name.
6 Thou shalt grant the king a long life: / his years shall be as many generations.
7 He shall dwell before God for ever; / O prepare thy loving mercy and faithfulness, that they may preserve him.
8 So will I alway sing praise unto thy Name, / that I may daily perform my vows.
THE TWELFTH DAY
Morning Prayer
PSALM 62. Nonne Deo?
MY soul truly waiteth in silence upon God; / for of him cometh my salvation.
2 He verily is my strength and my salvation; / he is my defence, so that I shall not greatly fall.
3 How long will ye set upon a man, battering him, all of you, / like a tottering wall, and like a broken fence?
4 Their device is only how to put him out whom God will exalt; / their delight is in lies; they give good words with their mouth, but curse with their heart.
5 NEVERTHELESS my soul, wait thou in silence upon God; / for my hope is in him.
6 He truly is my strength and my salvation; / he is my defence, so that I shall not fall.
7 In God is my health and my glory: / the rock of my might, and in God is my trust.
8 O put your trust in him alway, ye people: / pour out your hearts before him, for God is our hope.
9 As for the sons of men, they are but vanity; yea, the sons of men are a deceit; / upon the scales they are altogether lighter than vanity itself.
10 O trust not in wrong and robbery, give not yourselves unto vanity; / if riches increase, set not your heart upon them.
11 God spake once, and twice I have also heard the same, / that power belongeth unto God;
12 And that thou, Lord, art merciful; / for thou renderest unto every man according to his work.
PSALM 63. Deus, Deus meus.
O GOD, thou art my God; / early will I seek thee.
2 My soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh also longeth after thee, / in a barren and dry land, where no water is.
3 Thus have I looked upon thee in the sanctuary, / that I might behold thy power and glory.
4 For thy loving-kindness is better than the life itself: / my lips shall praise thee.
5 As long as I live will I magnify thee in this manner, / and lift up my hands in thy Name.
6 My soul shall be satisfied, even as it were with marrow and fatness; / and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips.
7 When I remember thee upon my bed, / I meditate upon thee in the night-watches;
8 Because thou hast been my helper; / and under the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.
9 My soul cleaveth unto thee; / thy right hand upholdeth me.
10 THESE also that seek the hurt of my soul, / they shall go into the depths of the earth.
11 They shall be given over to the power of the sword, / that they may be a portion for foxes.
12 But the king shall rejoice in God; all they that swear by him shall be glad; / for the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped.
PSALM 64. Exaudi, Deus.
HEAR my voice, O God, in my prayer: / preserve my life from fear of the enemy.
2 Hide me from the secret council of the wicked,/ and from the throng of evil doers;
3 Who have whet their tongue like a sword, / and aimed their arrows, even bitter words;
4 That they may privily shoot at him that is perfect: / suddenly do they shoot at him and fear not.
5 They encourage themselves in mischief, / and commune among themselves how they may lay snares, and say that no man shall see them.
6 They imagine wickedness, and practise it; / and the inward thought and heart of every one of them is deep.
7 BUT God shall shoot at them with a swift arrow, / and suddenly shall they be smitten.
8 Yea, their own tongue shall make them fall; / insomuch that whoso seeth them shall laugh them to scorn.
9 And all men shall fear, and they shall tell what God hath done; / for they shall perceive that it is his work.
10 The righteous shall rejoice in the LORD, and put his trust in him; / and all they that are true of heart shall be glad.
THE TWELFTH DAY
Evening Prayer
PSALM 65. Te decet hymnus.
PRAISE is due to thee, O God, in Sion; / and unto thee shall the vow be performed in Jerusalem.
2 Thou that hearest the prayer, / unto thee shall all flesh come.
3 My misdeeds prevail against me: / O be thou merciful unto our sins.
4 Blessed is the man whom thou choosest and receivest, / that he may dwell in thy courts.
5 We shall be satisfied with the pleasures of thy house, / even of thy holy temple.
6 THOU shalt show us wonderful things in thy righteousness, O God of our salvation, / thou that art the hope of all the ends of the earth, and of them that remain in the broad sea;
7 Who in his strength setteth fast the mountains, / and is girded about with power;
8 Who stilleth the raging of the seas, / the roaring of their waves, and the tumult of the peoples.
9 They also that dwell in the uttermost parts of the earth are afraid at thy tokens, / thou that makest the outgoings of the morning and evening to praise thee.
10 THOU visitest the earth and waterest it: / thou makest it very plenteous.
11 The river of God is full of water: / thou preparest their grain, for so thou providest for the earth.
12 Thou waterest her furrows, smoothing the ridges thereof: / thou makest it soft with the drops of rain, and blessest the increase of it.
13 Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; / and thy paths drip with fatness.
14 The pastures of the wilderness drip; / and the little hills rejoice on every side.
15 The pastures are clothed with flocks: / the valleys also stand so thick with grain that they laugh and sing.
PSALM 66. Jubilate Deo.
O BE joyful in God, all ye lands; / sing praises unto the honour of his Name; make his praise to be glorious.
2 Say unto God, ‘O how wonderful are thy works! / because of the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies feign obedience unto thee.
3 All the world shall worship thee, / sing of thee, and praise thy Name.’
4 O COME hither, and behold the works of God: / how wonderful he is in his doing toward the children of men.
5 He turned the sea into dry land, / so that they went through the water on foot; there did we rejoice in him.
6 He ruleth with his power for ever; his eyes keep watch upon the nations: / let not such as be rebellious exalt themselves.
7 O PRAISE our God, ye peoples, / and make the voice of his praise to be heard;
8 Who holdeth our soul in life, / and suffereth not our feet to slip.
9 For thou, O God, hast proved us: / thou also hast tried us, like as silver is tried.
10 Thou didst bring us into the snare, / and didst lay trouble upon our loins.
11 Thou didst suffer men to ride over our heads: / we went through fire and water, but thou didst bring us out into a place of freedom.
12 I WILL go into thine house with burnt offerings: / I will pay thee my vows,
13 Which I promised with my lips, / and spake with my mouth when I was in trouble.
14 I will offer unto thee fat burnt sacrifices, with the incense of rams: / I will offer bullocks and goats.
15 O come hither, and hearken, all ye that fear God, / and I will tell you what he hath done for my soul.
16 I called unto him with my mouth, / and gave him praises with my tongue.
17 If I had regarded wickedness in my heart, / the Lord would not have heard me.
18 But verily God hath heard me, / and considered the voice of my prayer.
19 Praised be God, who hath not cast out my prayer, / nor turned his mercy from me.
PSALM 67. Deus misereatur.
GOD be merciful unto us, and bless us, / and show us the light of his countenance, and be merciful unto us;
2 That thy way may be known upon earth, / thy saving health among all nations.
3 Let the people praise thee, O God; / yea, let all the people praise thee.
4 O LET the nations rejoice and be glad; / for thou shalt judge the folk righteously, and govern the nations upon earth.
5 Let the people praise thee, O God; / yea, let all the people praise thee.
6 THE earth hath brought forth her increase; / and God, even our own God, shall give us his blessing.
7 God shall bless us; / and all the ends of the world shall fear him.
THE THIRTEENTH DAY
Morning Prayer
PSALM 68. Exurgat Deus.
PART 1
LET God arise, and let his enemies be scattered: / let them also that hate him flee before him.
2 Like as the smoke vanisheth, so shalt thou drive them away; / and like as wax melteth at the fire, so let the ungodly perish at the presence of God.
3 But let the righteous be glad and rejoice before God: / let them also be merry and joyful.
4 O SING unto God, and sing praises unto his Name: / magnify him that rideth upon the heavens; praise him in his Name JAH, and rejoice before him.
5 He is a father of the fatherless, and defendeth the cause of the widows: / even God in his holy habitation.
6 He is the God that giveth the desolate a home to dwell in, and bringeth the prisoners out of captivity; / but the rebellious dwell in scarceness.
7 O GOD, when thou wentest forth before thy people, / when thou wentest through the wilderness,
8 The earth shook, and the heavens poured down rain at the presence of God: / Sinai also quaked at the presence of God, who is the God of Israel.
9 Thou, O God, sentest a gracious rain upon thine inheritance, / and refreshedst it when it was weary.
10 Thy congregation dwelt therein; / for thou, O God, of thy goodness didst provide for the poor.
11 THE Lord gave the word; / and great was the host of the women that published the tidings:
12 Kings with their armies do flee, lo, they flee, / and she that tarrieth at home divideth the spoil.
13 Though ye may lie among the sheep-folds, the wings of a dove are covered with silver, / and her pinions with yellow gold.
14 When the Almighty scattered kings therein, / then snow fell on Salmon.’
15 THE hill of Bashan is a mighty hill; / even an high hill is the hill of Bashan.
16 Why look ye askance, ye high hills, at the hill which God hath desired for his abode? / yea, the LORD will abide in it for ever.
17 The chariots of God are ten thousands, yea, even thousands upon thousands; / and the Lord is among them, as in the holy place of Sinai.
18 Thou art gone up on high, thou hast led captivity captive, and received gifts among men, / yea, even among the rebellious, that the LORD God might dwell with them.
PART 2
BLESSED be the Lord, who daily beareth our burden, / even the God who is our salvation.
20 He is our God, even the God of whom cometh deliverance; / and GOD is the Lord by whom we escape death.
21 IT is well seen, O God, how thou goest, / how thou, my God and King, goest into the sanctuary.
22 The singers go before, the minstrels follow after, / in the midst are the damsels playing with the timbrels:
23 ‘Bless ye God in the congregations, / even the LORD, ye that are of the fountain of Israel.’
24 There is little Benjamin their ruler, the princes of Judah and their company, / the princes of Zebulun, and the princes of Naphtali.
25 O GOD, Put forth thy strength: / stablish the thing, O God, that thou hast wrought for us.
26 For thy temple’s sake at Jerusalem / kings shall bring presents unto thee.
27 Rebuke the wild beast of the reeds, the herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples, trampling under foot the pieces of silver; / scatter thou the peoples that delight in war.
28 Then shall the princes come out of Egypt; / Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God.
29 SING unto God, O ye kingdoms of the earth: / O sing praises unto the Lord;
30 Who rideth in the high heavens, which are of old: / lo, he doth send out his voice, yea, and that a mighty voice.
31 Ascribe ye the power to God; his majesty is over Israel, / and his strength is in the clouds.
32 O God, terrible art thou in thy holy places: / even the God of Israel; he giveth strength and power unto his people. Blessed be God.
THE THIRTEENTH DAY
Evening Prayer
PSALM 69. Salvum me fac.
SAVE me, O God; / for the waters are come in, even unto my soul.
2 I stick fast in the deep mire, where no ground is: / I am come into deep waters, so that the floods run over me.
3 I am weary of crying; my throat is dry: / my sight faileth me for waiting so long upon my God.
4 They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head: / they that are mine enemies, and would destroy me guiltless, are mighty.
5 I paid them the things that I never took: / God, thou knowest my foolishness, and my faults are not hid from thee.
6 Let not them that trust in thee be ashamed for my cause, O Lord GOD of hosts: / let not those that seek thee be confounded through me, O God of Israel.
7 And why? for thy sake I have suffered reproach: / shame hath covered my face.
8 I am become a stranger unto my brethren, / even an alien unto my mother’s children.
9 For the zeal of thine house hath even eaten me; / and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.
10 I wept, and chastened myself with fasting, / and that was turned to my reproach.
11 I put on sackcloth also, / and they jested upon me.
12 They that sit in the gate talk about me, / and the drunkards make songs upon me.
13 BUT, LORD, I make my prayer unto thee / in an acceptable time.
14 Hear me, O God, in the multitude of thy mercy, / even in the truth of thy salvation.
15 Take me out of the mire, that I sink not; / O let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters.
16 Let not the water-flood drown me, neither let the deep swallow me up, / and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.
17 Hear me, O LORD, for thy loving-kindness is comfortable: / turn thee unto me according to the multitude of thy mercies.
18 And hide not thy face from thy servant; / for I am in trouble: O haste thee, and hear me.
19 Draw nigh unto my soul, and save it: / O deliver me, because of mine enemies.
20 Thou knowest my reproach, my shame, and my dishonour: / mine adversaries are all in thy sight.
21 Reproach hath broken my heart, and I am full of heaviness: / I looked for some to have pity on me, but there was no man, neither found I any to comfort me.
22 They gave me gall to eat; / and when I was thirsty they gave me vinegar to drink.
23 BUT as for me, when I am poor and in heaviness, / thy help, O God, shall lift me up.
24 I will praise the Name of God with a song, / and magnify him with thanksgiving.
25 This also shall please the LORD better than an ox, / or a bullock that hath horns and hoofs.
26 The humble shall consider this, and be glad: / seek ye after God, and your soul shall live.
27 For the LORD heareth the poor, / and despiseth not his prisoners.
28 Let heaven and earth praise him, / the sea, and all that moveth therein.
29 For God will save Sion, and build the cities of Judah, / that men may dwell there, and have it in possession.
30 The posterity also of his servants shall inherit it; / and they that love his Name shall dwell therein.
PSALM 70. Deus, in adjutorium.
O GOD, make speed to save me; / O LORD, make haste to help me.
2 Let them be ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul; / let them be turned backward and put to confusion that wish me evil.
3 Let them for their reward be soon brought to shame / that cry over me, ‘There, there.’
4 But let those that seek thee be joyful and glad in thee; / and let all such as love thy salvation say alway, ‘The LORD be praised.’
5 As for me, I am poor and in misery; / haste thee unto me, O God.
6 Thou art my helper and my redeemer; / O LORD, make no long tarrying.
THE FOURTEENTH DAY
Morning Prayer
PSALM 71. In te, Domine, speravi.
IN thee, O LORD, have I put my trust; / let me never be put to confusion.
2 Deliver me and rescue me in thy righteousness: / incline thine ear unto me and save me.
3 Be thou my stronghold, whereunto I may alway resort; / thou hast promised to help me, for thou art my rock and my castle.
4 Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the ungodly, / out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.
5 For thou, O Lord, art the thing that I long for: / thou, LORD, art my trust, even from my youth.
6 Through thee have I been holden up ever since I was born: / thou art he that took me out of my mother’s womb; my praise shall be always of thee.
7 I am become as it were a wonder unto many, / but my sure trust is in thee.
8 O let my mouth be filled with thy praise, / and with thy glory all the day long.
9 CAST me not away in the time of age: / forsake me not when my strength faileth me.
10 For mine enemies speak concerning me; / and they that watch for my soul take their counsel together,
11 Saying, ‘God hath forsaken him; / pursue him and take him, for there is none to deliver him.’
12 Go not far from me, O God: / O my God, haste thee to help me.
13 Let them be confounded and perish that are against my soul: / let them be covered with shame and dishonour that seek to do me evil.
14 As for me, I will patiently abide alway, / and will praise thee more and more.
15 My mouth shall tell of thy righteousness, and of thy salvation all the day long; / for I know no end thereof.
16 I will go forth in the strength of the Lord GOD, / and will make mention of thy righteousness only.
17 THOU, O God, hast taught me from my youth, / and even until now do I tell of thy wondrous works.
18 Forsake me not, O God, in mine old age, when I am gray-headed, / until I have showed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to all them that are yet for to come.
19 Thy righteousness, O God, is very high, / and great things are they that thou hast done; O God, who is like unto thee?
20 O how many and sore troubles hast thou showed me! yet wilt thou turn and refresh me: / yea, thou wilt bring me up from the depths of the earth again.
21 Thou wilt bring me to great honour, / and turn again and comfort me.
22 I also will praise thee and thy faithfulness, O God, playing upon an instrument of music: / unto thee will I sing upon the harp, O thou Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips will rejoice when I sing unto thee: / and so will my soul whom thou hast delivered.
24 My tongue also shall talk of thy righteousness all the day long; / for they are confounded and brought to shame that seek to do me evil.
PSALM 72. Deus, judicium.
GIVE the king thy judgements, O God, / and thy righteousness unto the king’s son.
2 Then shall he judge thy people according unto right, / and thy poor with justice.
3 The mountains also shall bring peace, / and the little hills righteousness unto the people.
4 He shall keep the simple folk by their right, / save the children of the poor, and punish the wrong doer.
5 HE shall live as long as the sun, / and while the moon endureth, from one generation to another.
6 He shall come down like the rain upon the mown grass, / even as the showers that water the earth.
7 In his time shall righteousness flourish; / yea, and abundance of peace, so long as the moon endureth.
8 LET his dominion also be from sea to sea, / and from the River unto the world’s end.
9 Let them that dwell in the wilderness kneel before him; / and let his enemies lick the dust.
10 Let the kings of Tarshish and of the isles give presents, / and the kings of Arabia and Seba bring gifts.
11 Let all kings fall down before him, / and all nations do him service.
12 FOR he shall deliver the poor when he crieth; / the needy also, and him that hath no helper.
13 He shall have pity on the weak and the needy, / and shall preserve the souls of the poor.
14 He shall deliver their souls from falsehood and wrong; / and dear shall their blood be in his sight.
15 So let him live, and unto him let there be given of the gold of Arabia; / let prayer be made for him continually, and all day long let him be praised.
16 Let there be an abundance of grain in the land, / even upon the top of the mountains.
17 Let its fruit wave like Lebanon, / and let men flourish out of the city like grass upon the earth.
18 Let his name endure for ever; / let his name continue as long as the sun.
19 Let all the tribes of the earth be blessed through him, / and let all nations call him happy.
20 BLESSED be the LORD, the God of Israel, / who only doeth wondrous things;
21 And blessed be the Name of his majesty for ever: / and let all the earth be filled with his majesty. Amen and Amen.
THE FOURTEENTH DAY
Evening Prayer
PSALM 73. Quam bonus Israel!
TRULY God is loving unto Israel: / even unto such as are of a clean heart.
2 Nevertheless, my feet were almost gone; / my treadings had well-nigh slipt.
3 And why? I was grieved at the wicked: / I do also see the ungodly in such prosperity.
4 For they have no torments, / but are lusty and strong.
5 They come in no misfortune like other folk; / neither are they plagued like other men.
6 Therefore pride is as a chain about their neck, / and violence covereth them as a garment.
7 Their iniquity cometh forth from the heart, / and the imaginations of their mind overflow.
8 They scoff and speak of evil, / and talk proudly of oppression.
9 They stretch forth their mouth unto the heavens, / and their tongue goeth through the world.
10 Therefore turn the people unto them, / and find no fault in them.
11 ‘Tush,’ say they, ‘how should God perceive it? / is there knowledge in the Most High?’
12 Lo, these are the ungodly; / they are alway at ease, and get riches in possession.
13 Then surely in vain have I cleansed my heart, / and washed my hands in innocency.
14 For all the day long have I been punished, / and chastened every morning.
15 If I had said, ‘I will speak thus’, / lo, then I should have condemned the generation of thy children.
16 THEN thought I to understand this, / but it was too hard for me,
17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God, / and considered the end of these men;
18 For surely thou dost set them in slippery places, / and castest them down, and destroyest them.
19 Oh, how suddenly do they consume, / perish, and come to a fearful end!
20 Yea, even like as a dream when one awaketh, / so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image.
21 Thus my soul was grieved, / and my heart within me was stricken.
22 So foolish was I, and ignorant, / even as it were a beast before thee.
23 NEVERTHELESS, I am alway by thee; / for thou hast holden me by my right hand.
24 Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, / and after that receive me with glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but thee? / and there is none upon earth that I desire in comparison of thee.
26 My flesh and my heart faileth; / but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.
27 For lo, they that forsake thee shall perish: / thou destroyest all them that are unfaithful unto thee.
28 But it is good for me to hold me fast by God, to put my trust in the Lord GOD, / and to speak of all thy works in the gates of the daughter of Sion.
PSALM 74. Ut quid, Deus?
O GOD, wherefore hast thou cast us off for ever? / why is thy wrath so hot against the sheep of thy pasture?
2 O think upon thy congregation, / which thou hast purchased of old;
3 Which thou hast redeemed to be the tribe of thine inheritance: / think upon mount Sion, wherein thou hast dwelt.
4 Direct thy steps unto the perpetual ruins: / all the evil that the enemy hath done in the sanctuary.
5 Thine adversaries roar in the midst of thy congregation, / and set up their banners for tokens.
6 They seem like men that lift up axes upon a grove of trees; / for now they break down all the carved work thereof with axes and hammers.
7 They have set thy sanctuary on fire, / and have defiled the dwelling-place of thy Name, even unto the ground.
8 Yea, they said in their hearts, ‘Let us make havoc of them altogether’: / thus have they burnt up all the houses of God in the land.
9 We see not our tokens; there is no more any prophet: / no, not one is there among us that knoweth how long.
10 O God, how long shall the adversary do this dishonour? / shall the enemy blaspheme thy Name for ever?
11 Why dost thou draw back thy hand, / and keep thy right hand in thy bosom?
12 YET God is my King of old: / the help that is done upon earth, he doeth it himself.
13 Thou didst divide the sea through thy power: / thou didst break the heads of the dragons in the waters.
14 Thou didst crush the heads of Leviathan, / and gavest him to be food for the creatures of the wilderness.
15 Thou didst cleave open fountain and flood: / thou driedst up ever-flowing streams.
16 The day is thine, and the night is thine: / thou hast prepared the light and the sun.
17 Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: / thou hast made summer and winter.
18 REMEMBER this, O LORD, how the enemy hath reproached, / and how a foolish people hath blasphemed thy Name.
19 O deliver not the soul of thy turtle-dove unto the wild beast: / and forget not the life of thy poor for ever.
20 Look upon the covenant; / for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty.
21 O let not the oppressed go away ashamed; / but let the poor and needy give praise unto thy Name.
22 Arise, O God, maintain thine own cause: / remember how the foolish man blasphemeth thee all the day long.
23 Forget not the voice of thine enemies: / the tumult of them that hate thee increaseth ever more and more.
THE FIFTEENTH DAY
Morning Prayer
PSALM 75. Confitebimur tibi.
UNTO thee, O God, do we give thanks; / yea, unto thee do we give thanks.
2 Thy Name also is so nigh; / and that do thy wondrous works declare.
3 WHEN I reach the appointed time, / I shall judge according unto right.
4 Though the earth be dissolved, and all the inhabiters thereof, / I bear up the pillars of it.
5 I said unto the fools, ‘Deal not so madly’, / and to the ungodly, ‘Set not up your horn’.
6 Set not up your horn on high, / and speak not with a stiff neck.
7 For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, / nor yet from the south.
8 And why? God is the judge; / he putteth down one, and setteth up another.
9 For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup, and the wine is red; / it is full mixed, and he poureth out of the same.
10 As for the dregs thereof, / all the ungodly of the earth shall drink them, and suck them out.
11 But I will talk of the God of Jacob, / and praise him for ever.
12 All the horns of the ungodly also will I break, / but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.
PSALM 76. Notus in Judaea.
IN Judah is God known: / his Name is great in Israel.
2 At Salem is his tabernacle, / and his dwelling in Sion.
3 There brake he the arrows of the bow, / the shield, the sword, and the battle.
4 GLORIOUS art thou, and more majestic / than the everlasting hills.
5 The stout of heart are spoiled, they have slept their sleep; / and the hands of all the men of might have failed.
6 At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob, / both the chariot and horse are fallen.
7 THOU, even thou art to be feared; / and who may stand in thy sight when thou art angry?
8 Thou didst cause thy judgement to be heard from heaven; / the earth trembled and was still,
9 When God arose to judgement, / and to help all the meek upon earth.
10 THE wrath of man shall turn to thy praise; / and the remainder of wrath shall honour thee.
11 Promise unto the LORD your God, and keep it; / let all that are round about him bring gifts, even unto him that ought to be feared.
12 He shall cut off the spirit of princes, / and is terrible unto the kings of the earth.
PSALM 77. Voce mea ad Dominum.
I WILL cry unto God with my voice: / even unto God will I cry with my voice, and he shall hearken unto me.
2 In the time of my trouble I sought the Lord: / in the night my hand was stretched out without ceasing; my soul refused comfort.
3 When I think upon God, I am in heaviness: / when I meditate, my spirit fainteth.
4 Thou holdest mine eyelids from closing: / I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
5 I HAVE considered the days of old, / and called to mind the years that are long past.
6 I commune with my heart in the night: / I meditate and search my spirit.
7 Will the Lord cast us off for ever? / and will he be no more entreated?
8 Is his mercy clean gone for ever? / and is his promise come utterly to an end for evermore?
9 Hath God forgotten to be gracious? / and hath he shut up his loving-kindness in displeasure?
10 AND I said, ‘It is mine own infirmity: / but I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High.’
11 I will remember the works of the LORD, / and call to mind thy wonders of old time.
12 I will think also of all thy works, / and meditate upon thy doings.
13 THY way, O God, is holy: / who is so great a God as our God?
14 Thou art the God that doest wonders, / and didst declare thy power among the peoples.
15 Thou didst mightily deliver thy people, / even the sons of Jacob and Joseph.
16 THE waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee, and were afraid: / the depths also were troubled.
17 The clouds poured out water, the skies thundered, / and thine arrows went abroad.
18 The voice of thy thunder was in the whirlwind; / thy lightnings lit up the world; the earth was moved, and shook withal.
19 Thy way was in the sea, and thy paths in the great waters, / and yet thy footsteps were not known.
20 Thou leddest thy people like sheep, / by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
THE FIFTEENTH DAY
Evening Prayer
PSALM 78. Attendite, popule.
PART 1
HEAR my teaching, O my people: / incline your ears unto the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in a parable; / I will utter dark sayings from of old;
3 Which we have heard and known, / and such as our fathers have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their children, but tell them to the generation to come, / even the praises of the LORD, and his might, and his wonderful works that he hath done.
5 HE made a covenant with Jacob, and gave Israel a law, / which he commanded our forefathers to teach their children;
6 That the next generation might know it, / and the children which were yet unborn;
7 To the intent that when they rose up, / they might show their children the same;
8 That they might put their trust in God, / and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments;
9 And not be as their forefathers, a faithless and stubborn generation, / a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not faithful to God;
10 Like as the children of Ephraim, who being armed, and carrying bows, / turned themselves back in the day of battle.
11 They kept not the covenant of God, / and would not walk in his law;
12 But forgat what he had done, / and the wonderful works that he had showed for them.
13 Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers, / in the land of Egypt, even in the field of Zoan.
14 He divided the sea, and let them go through; / and he made the waters to stand as a heap.
15 In the day-time also he led them with a cloud, / and all the night through with a light of fire.
16 He rent the hard rocks in the wilderness, / and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep.
17 He brought water out of the stony rock, / so that it gushed out like the rivers.
18 YET for all this they sinned more against him, / and provoked the Most High in the wilderness.
19 They tempted God in their hearts, / demanding the food which they craved.
20 They spake against God also, saying, / ‘Can God prepare a table in the wilderness?
21 He smote the stony rock indeed, that the waters gushed out, and the streams flowed withal; / but can he give bread also, or provide flesh for his people?’
22 When the LORD heard this, he was wroth; / so the fire was kindled in Jacob, and there came up heavy displeasure against Israel;
23 Because they believed not in God, / and put not their trust in his help.
24 Yet he commanded the clouds above, / and opened the doors of heaven.
25 He rained down manna also upon them for to eat, / and gave them food from heaven.
26 So man did eat angels’ bread; / for he sent them food enough.
27 He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens; / and through his power he brought in the south-west wind.
28 He rained flesh upon them as thick as dust, / and feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea.
29 He let it fall among their tents, / even round about their habitations.
30 So they did eat and were well filled; / for he gave them their own desire.
31 But before they had satisfied their craving, and while the food was yet in their mouths, / the heavy wrath of God came upon them,
32 And he slew the strongest of them, / and smote down the chosen men that were in Israel.
33 BUT for all this they sinned yet more, / and believed not his wondrous works.
34 Therefore their days did he consume in vanity, / and their years in terror.
35 When he slew them, they sought him, / and turned them back, and inquired earnestly after God.
36 And they remembered that God was their strength, / and that God Most High was their redeemer.
37 Nevertheless, they did but flatter him with their mouth, / and dissembled with him in their tongue.
38 For their heart was not stedfast with him, / neither continued they faithful in his covenant.
39 But he was so merciful, that he forgave their misdeeds, / and destroyed them not.
40 Yea, many a time turned he his wrath away, / and would not suffer his whole displeasure to arise.
41 For he considered that they were but flesh, / and that they were even a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again.
PART 2
MANY a time did God’s people rebel against him in the wilderness, / and grieve him in the desert.
43 They turned back and tempted God, / and provoked the Holy One of Israel.
44 They thought not of his hand, / and of the day when he delivered them from the hand of the enemy;
45 How he had wrought his miracles in Egypt, / and his wonders in the field of Zoan.
46 He turned their rivers into blood, / so that they could not drink of their streams.
47 He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them, / and frogs, which destroyed them.
48 He gave their fruit unto the caterpillar, / and their labour unto the locust.
49 He destroyed their vines with hail-stones, / and their sycamore-trees with the frost.
50 He smote their cattle also with hail-stones, / and their flocks with hot thunderbolts.
51 He cast upon them the fury of his wrath, anger, displeasure, and trouble: / a band of destroying angels.
52 He made a way for his indignation, and spared not their soul from death, / but gave their life over to the pestilence;
53 And smote all the first-born in Egypt, / the firstlings of their strength in the dwellings of Ham.
54 BUT as for his own people, he led them forth like sheep, / and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
55 He brought them out safely, that they did not fear, / and overwhelmed their enemies in the sea.
56 He brought them unto his holy border, / even to the mountain which he had purchased with his right hand.
57 He cast out the nations also before them, / caused their land to be divided among them for an heritage, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents.
58 YET they tempted and rebelled against the Most High God, / and kept not his testimonies;
59 But turned back, and fell away like their forefathers, / starting aside like a broken bow.
60 For they grieved him with their hill-altars, / and provoked him to displeasure with their images.
61 When God heard this, he was wroth, / and took sore displeasure at Israel;
62 So that he forsook the tabernacle in Shiloh, / even the tent that he had pitched among men.
63 He delivered his strength into captivity, / and his glory into the enemy’s hand.
64 He gave his people over also unto the sword, / and was wroth with his inheritance.
65 The fire consumed their young men, / and their maidens were not given to marriage.
66 Their priests were slain with the sword; / and their widows made no lamentation.
67 So the Lord awaked as one out of sleep, / and like a giant refreshed with wine.
68 He smote his enemies backward, / and put them to a perpetual shame.
69 He refused the tabernacle of Joseph, / and chose not the tribe of Ephraim;
70 But chose the tribe of Judah, / even the hill of Sion which he loved.
71 And he built his sanctuary like the heights of heaven, / and like the earth which he hath founded for ever.
72 He chose David also his servant, / and took him away from the sheep-folds.
73 As he was following the ewes with their young he brought him, / that he might feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.
74 So he fed them with a faithful and true heart, / and ruled them prudently with all his power.
THE SIXTEENTH DAY
Morning Prayer
PSALM 79. Deus, venerunt.
O GOD, the heathen are come into thine inheritance; / thy holy temple have they defiled, and made Jerusalem a heap of stones.
2 The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of the air, / and the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth.
3 Their blood have they shed like water on every side of Jerusalem; / and there was no man to bury them.
4 We are become an open shame to our neighbours, / a very scorn and derision unto them that are round about us.
5 LORD, how long wilt thou be angry? / shall thy jealousy burn like fire for ever?
6 Pour out thine indignation upon the nations that have not known thee, / and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy Name.
7 For they have devoured Jacob, / and laid waste his dwelling-place.
8 O remember not against us the offences of our forefathers, but have mercy upon us, and that soon; / for we are come to great misery.
9 HELP us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy Name; / O deliver us, and be merciful unto our sins, for thy Name’s sake.
10 Wherefore should the nations say, / ‘Where is now their God?’
11 O let the vengeance of thy servants’ blood that is shed / be openly showed upon the nations in our sight.
12 O let the sorrowful sighing of the prisoners come before thee; / according to the greatness of thy power, preserve thou those that are appointed to die.
13 And for the blasphemy wherewith our neighbours have blasphemed thee, / reward thou them, O Lord, seven-fold into their bosom.
14 So we, that are thy people and the sheep of thy pasture, shall give thee thanks for ever, / and will be showing forth thy praise from generation to generation.
PSALM 80. Qui regis Israel.
HEAR, O thou Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; / show thyself also, thou that sittest upon the cherubim.
2 Before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh, / stir up thy strength, and come and help us.
3 Turn us again, O God; / show the light of thy countenance, and we shall be whole.
4 O LORD God of hosts, / how long wilt thou be angry with thy people that prayeth?
5 Thou hast fed them with the bread of tears, / and hast given them plenteousness of tears to drink.
6 Thou makest us a very strife unto our neighbours, / and our enemies laugh us to scorn.
7 Turn us again, O God of hosts; / show the light of thy countenance, and we shall be whole.
8 THOU broughtest a vine out of Egypt; / thou didst drive out the nations, and plant it in.
9 Thou madest room for it; / and when it had taken root it filled the land.
10 The hills were covered with the shadow of it, / and the mighty cedars with the boughs thereof.
11 She stretched out her branches unto the sea, / and her boughs unto the River.
12 Why hast thou then broken down her fences,/ so that all they that go by pluck her grapes?
13 The wild boar out of the wood doth root it up, / and the wild beasts of the field devour it.
14 Turn us again, O God of hosts; / show the light of thy countenance, and we shall be whole.
15 LOOK down from heaven, behold, and visit this vine, and the stock that thy right hand hath planted, / and the branch that thou madest so strong for thyself.
16 It is burnt with fire and cut down; / they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance.
17 Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, / and upon the son of man, whom thou madest so strong for thine own self.
18 And so shall we not go back from thee: / O let us live, and we will call upon thy Name.
19 Turn us again, O LORD God of hosts; / show the light of thy countenance, and we shall be whole.
PSALM 81. Exultate Deo.
O SING merrily unto God our strength; make a cheerful noise unto the God of Jacob.
2 Raise the psalm and sound the timbrel, / the merry harp with the lute.
3 Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, / at the full moon, for our solemn feast day.
4 For this was made a statute for Israel, / and a law of the God of Jacob.
5 This he ordained in Joseph for a testimony, / when he went forth against the land of Egypt.
6 I HEARD the voice of one that I knew not: / ‘I eased his shoulder from the burden, and his hands were freed from the load.
7 Thou didst call in trouble, and I delivered thee; / I heard thee in the thunder-cloud; I proved thee also at the Waters of Strife.
8 Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee: / O Israel, if thou wouldest hearken unto me!
9 There shall no strange god be in thee, / neither shalt thou worship any other god.
10 I am the LORD thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt: / open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.
11 BUT my people would not hear my voice; / and Israel would not obey me.
12 So I gave them up unto their stubborn hearts, / and let them follow their own imaginations.
13 O that my people would hearken unto me, / that Israel would walk in my ways!
14 I should soon put down their enemies, / and turn my hand against their adversaries.
15 The haters of the LORD should feign obedience unto him; / but their time should endure for ever.
16 I would feed them also with the finest wheatflour; / and with honey out of the stony rock would I satisfy thee.’
THE SIXTEENTH DAY
Evening Prayer
PSALM 82. Deus stetit.
GOD standeth in the divine assembly; / in the midst of the gods he judgeth:
2 ‘How long will ye give wrong judgement, / and accept the persons of the ungodly?
3 Do justice for the poor and the fatherless; / see that such as are in need and necessity have right.
4 Deliver the outcast and poor; / save them from the hand of the ungodly.’
5 THEY have neither knowledge nor understanding; they walk on still in darkness; / all the foundations of the earth are out of course.
6 I have said, ‘Ye are gods, / and ye are all the children of the Most High.
7 But ye shall die like men, / and fall like one of the princes.’
8 ARISE, O God, and judge thou the earth; / for thou shalt take all nations to thine inheritance.
PSALM 83. Deus, quis similis?
O GOD, keep not still silence: / hold not thy peace, and be not quiet, O God.
2 For lo, thine enemies make a murmuring; / and they that hate thee have lift up their head.
3 They have imagined craftily against thy people, / and taken counsel against thy secret ones.
4 They have said, ‘Come, and let us root them out, that they be no more a people, / and that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.’
5 For they have cast their heads together with one consent, / and are confederate against thee:
6 The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, / of Moab and the Hagarenes,
7 Gebal and Ammon and Amalek, / the Philistines with them that dwell at Tyre.
8 Assyria also is joined with them; / and they have helped the children of Lot.
9 BUT do thou to them as unto the Midianites; / as unto Sisera and unto Jabin at the river Kishon;
10 Who perished at En-dor, / and became as the dung of the earth.
11 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb; / yea, make all their princes like as Zebah and Zalmunna;
12 Who have said, ‘Let us take to ourselves / the pastures of God in possession.’
13 O my God, make them like unto the whirling dust, / and as the chaff before the wind;
14 Like as the fire that burneth up the forest, / and as the flame that setteth the mountains ablaze;
15 Pursue them even so with thy tempest, / and make them afraid with thy storm.
16 Make their faces ashamed, / that they may seek thy Name, O LORD.
17 Let them be confounded and dismayed for ever; / let them be put to shame and perish.
18 And let them know that thou, even thou only, whose Name is the LORD, / art the Most High over all the earth.
PSALM 84. Quam dilecta!
O HOW lovely are thy dwellings, / thou LORD of hosts!
2 My soul hath a desire and longing to enter into the courts of the LORD: / my heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God.
3 Yea, the sparrow hath found her an house, and the swallow a nest where she may lay her young: / even thine altars, O LORD of hosts, my King and my God.
4 Blessed are they that dwell in thy house; / they will be alway praising thee.
5 Blessed are the men whose strength is in thee, / in whose heart are the pilgrim ways;
6 Who going through the Vale of Misery use it for a well; / yea, the early rain covereth it with blessings.
7 They go from strength to strength, / and unto the God of gods appeareth every one of them in Sion.
8 O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer: / hearken, O God of Jacob.
9 Behold, O God, our shield, / and look upon the face of thine anointed.
10 For one day in thy courts / is better than a thousand.
11 I had rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God, / than to dwell in the tents of ungodliness.
12 For the LORD God is a light and defence; the LORD will give grace and glory; / and no good thing shall he withhold from them that lead a godly life.
13 O LORD God of hosts, / blessed is the man that putteth his trust in thee.
PSALM 85. Benedixisti, Domine.
LORD, thou art become gracious unto thy land: / thou hast restored the fortunes of Jacob.
2 Thou hast forgiven the offence of thy people, / and covered all their sin.
3 Thou hast taken away all thy displeasure, / and turned thyself from thy wrathful indignation.
4 TURN us, O God our Saviour, / and let thine anger cease from us.
5 Wilt thou be displeased at us for ever? / and wilt thou stretch out thy wrath from one generation to another?
6 Wilt thou not turn again and quicken us, / that thy people may rejoice in thee?
7 O LORD, show thy mercy upon us, / and grant us thy salvation.
8 I WILL hearken what the LORD God will say: / for he shall speak peace unto his people and to his saints, and unto them that turn their heart to him.
9 Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him, / that glory may dwell in our land.
10 Mercy and truth are met together: / righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
11 Truth springeth out of the earth; / and righteousness hath looked down from heaven.
12 Yea, the LORD shall give what is good; / and our land shall yield her increase.
13 Righteousness shall go before him, / and shall direct his going in the way.
THE SEVENTEENTH DAY
Morning Prayer
PSALM 86. Inclina, Domine.
BOW down thine ear, O LORD, and hear me; / for I am poor and needy.
2 Preserve thou my soul, for I am godly: / save thy servant that putteth his trust in thee.
3 Thou art my God; be merciful unto me, O Lord; / for all the day long do I call upon thee.
4 Comfort the soul of thy servant; / for unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul.
5 For thou, Lord, art good and gracious, / and of great mercy unto all them that call upon thee.
6 Give ear, LORD, unto my prayer, / and ponder the voice of my humble desires.
7 In the time of my trouble I will call upon thee; / for thou hearest me.
8 AMONG the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord; / there is not one that can do as thou doest.
9 All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship thee, O Lord, / and shall glorify thy Name.
10 For thou art great and doest wondrous things: / thou art God alone.
11 TEACH me thy way, O LORD, and I will walk in thy truth: / O knit my heart unto thee, that I may fear thy Name.
12 I will thank thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart, / and will praise thy Name for evermore.
13 For great is thy mercy toward me; / and thou hast delivered my soul from the nethermost hell.
14 O GOD, the proud are risen against me, / and a band of violent men have sought after my soul, and have not set thee before their eyes.
15 But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, / long-suffering, plenteous in mercy and truth.
16 O turn thee then unto me, and have mercy upon me; / give thy strength unto thy servant, and help the son of thy handmaid.
17 Show some token upon me for good, that they who hate me may see it and be ashamed, / because thou, LORD, hast helped me, and comforted me.
PSALM 87. Fundamenta ejus.
HIS foundation is upon the holy hills: / the LORD loveth the gates of Sion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.
2 Very excellent things are spoken of thee, / thou city of God.
3 I WILL make mention of Rahab and Babylon, / as among them that know me.
4 Behold Philistia and Tyre, with Ethiopia; / lo, this one was born there.
5 Yea, of Sion it shall be said, ‘This one and that one were born in her’; / and the Most High himself shall establish her.
6 The LORD shall reckon when he writeth up the peoples, / that this one was born there.
7 THE singers also and dancers shall say, / ‘All my fresh springs are in thee.’
PSALM 88. Domine Deus.
O LORD God of my salvation, / I have cried day and night before thee.
2 O let my prayer enter into thy presence: / incline thine ear unto my calling.
3 For my soul is full of troubles, / and my life draweth nigh unto the grave.
4 I am counted as one of them that go down into the pit; / I am even as a man that hath no strength;
5 Like one cast forth among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, / whom thou rememberest no more, and they are cut off from thy hand.
6 Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, / in places of darkness, and in the deeps.
7 Thine indignation lieth hard upon me, / and thou hast vexed me with all thy storms.
8 Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me, / and hast made me to be abhorred of them.
9 I am so fast in prison that I cannot get forth; / my sight faileth for very trouble.
10 LORD, I have called daily upon thee: / I have stretched forth my hands unto thee.
11 Dost thou show wonders for the dead? / or shall the dead rise up and praise thee?
12 Shall thy loving-kindness be declared in the grave, / or thy faithfulness in Destruction?
13 Shall thy wondrous works be known in the dark, / and thy righteousness in the land where all things are forgotten?
14 UNTO thee have I cried, O LORD; / and early shall my prayer come before thee.
15 LORD, why abhorrest thou my soul, / and hidest thou thy face from me?
16 From my youth up I am in misery and ready to die; / thy terrors have I suffered with a troubled mind.
17 Thy wrathful displeasure goeth over me, / and the fear of thee hath undone me.
18 They came round about me like water all the day long, / and compassed me together on every side.
19 MY lovers and friends hast thou put away from me, / and hid mine acquaintance out of my sight.
THE SEVENTEENTH DAY
Evening Prayer
PSALM 89. Misericordias Domini.
PART 1
MY song shall be alway of the loving-kindness of the LORD; / with my mouth will I ever be showing thy faithfulness from one generation to another.
2 For I have said, ‘Loving-kindness shall be built up for ever; / thy faithfulness shalt thou stablish in the heavens.’
3 ‘I HAVE made a covenant with my chosen: / I have sworn unto David my servant;
4 Thy seed will I stablish for ever, / and set up thy throne from one generation to another.’
5 O LORD, the very heavens shall praise thy wondrous works, / and thy faithfulness in the congregation of the holy ones.
6 For who is he in the skies that shall be compared unto the LORD? / and what is he among the gods that shall be like unto the LORD?
7 God is very greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones, / and to be had in reverence above all them that are round about him.
8 O LORD God of hosts, who is like unto thee? / thy faithfulness, most mighty LORD, is on every side.
9 Thou rulest the raging of the sea; / thou stillest the waves thereof when they arise.
10 Thou didst crush Rahab as one that is pierced; / thou didst scatter thine enemies abroad with thy mighty arm.
11 The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: / thou hast laid the foundation of the round world, and all that is therein.
12 Thou hast made the north and the south: / Tabor and Hermon rejoice in thy Name.
13 Thou hast a mighty arm: / strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand.
14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of thy throne: / mercy and truth go before thy face.
15 Blessed is the people that can rejoice in thee: / they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance.
16 Their delight shall be in thy Name all the day long; / and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted.
17 For thou art the glory of their strength, / and by thy favour our horn is exalted.
18 For to the LORD belongeth our shield, / and our king to the Holy One of Israel.
PART 2
THOU spakest sometime in a vision unto thy saints, and saidst, / ‘I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the people.
20 I have found David my servant: / with my holy oil have I anointed him.
21 My hand shall hold him fast, / and my arm shall strengthen him.
22 The enemy shall not be able to do him violence: / the son of wickedness shall not hurt him.
23 I will beat down his foes before his face, / and smite them that hate him.
24 My faithfulness also and my mercy shall be with him: / and in my Name shall his horn be exalted.
25 I will set his hand also on the sea, / and his right hand on the rivers.
26 He shall call me, “Thou art my Father, / my God, and the rock of my salvation.”
27 And I will make him my first-born, / the highest of the kings of the earth.
28 My mercy will I keep for him for evermore; / and my covenant shall stand fast with him.
29 His seed also will I make to endure for ever, / and his throne as the days of heaven.
30 But if his children forsake my law, / and walk not in my judgements;
31 If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments, / I will visit their offences with the rod, and their sin with scourges.
32 Nevertheless, my loving-kindness will I not utterly take from him, / nor suffer my faithfulness to fail.
33 My covenant will I not break, / nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.
34 Once for all I have sworn by my holiness; / I will not lie unto David;
35 His seed shall endure for ever, / and his throne is like as the sun before me.
36 It shall stand fast for evermore as the moon, / and as the faithful witness in the sky.’
37 BUT thou hast abhorred and forsaken thine anointed, / and art displeased at him.
38 Thou hast broken the covenant with thy servant, / and cast his crown to the ground.
39 Thou hast overthrown all his fences, / and broken down his strongholds.
40 All they that go by spoil him, / and he is become a reproach to his neighbours.
41 Thou hast set up the right hand of his adversaries, / and made all his enemies to rejoice.
42 Thou hast turned back the edge of his sword, / and givest him not victory in the battle.
43 Thou hast put out his glory, / and cast his throne down to the ground.
44 The days of his youth hast thou shortened, / and covered him with dishonour.
45 How long, O LORD? wilt thou hide thyself for ever? / how long shall thy wrath burn like fire?
46 O remember how short my time is; / wherefore hast thou made all men for nought?
47 What man is he that shall live on, and not see death? / and shall he deliver his soul from the power of the grave?
48 Where are thy former loving-kindnesses, O Lord, / which thou swarest unto David in thy faithfulness?
49 Remember, Lord, the reproach that thy servants have, / and how I do bear in my bosom the insults of the peoples;
50 Wherewith thine enemies have reproached, O LORD, / wherewith they have reproached the footsteps of thine anointed.
51 PRAISED be the LORD for evermore. / Amen and Amen.
THE EIGHTEENTH DAY
Morning Prayer
PSALM 90. Domine, refugium.
LORD, thou hast been our refuge, / from one generation to another.
2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever the earth and the world were made, / thou art God from everlasting, and world without end.
3 Thou turnest man back to the dust, / and thou sayest, ‘Return, ye children of men.’
4 For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, / and as a watch in the night.
5 Thou carriest them away as with a flood, and they are even as a sleep; / in the morning they are like grass that groweth up.
6 In the morning it is green and groweth up, / but in the evening it is cut down and withered.
7 For we consume away in thy displeasure, / and are afraid at thy wrathful indignation.
8 Thou hast set our misdeeds before thee, / and our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.
9 For when thou art angry all our days are gone: / we bring our years to an end, as it were a tale that is told.
10 The days of our age are threescore years and ten, / or, if men be so strong, they may come to fourscore years;
11 Yet is their pride but labour and sorrow: / so soon passeth it away, and we are gone.
12 But who regardeth the power of thy wrath, / or feareth aright thine indignation?
13 So teach us to number our days, / that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
14 TURN thee again, O LORD, at the last, / and be gracious unto thy servants.
15 O satisfy us with thy mercy, and that soon: / so shall we rejoice and be glad all the days of our life.
16 Comfort us again according to the time that thou hast afflicted us, / and for the years wherein we have suffered adversity.
17 Show thy servants thy work, / and their children thy glory.
18 And let the glorious majesty of the Lord our God be upon us: / prosper thou the work of our hands upon us, O prosper thou our handy-work.
PSALM 91. Qui habitat.
WHOSO dwelleth under the defence of the Most High / shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say unto the LORD, ‘Thou art my refuge and my stronghold; / my God in whom I will trust.’
3 FOR he shall deliver thee from the snare of the hunter, / and from the noisome pestilence.
4 He shall defend thee under his wings, and thou shalt be safe under his feathers; / his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
5 Thou shalt not be afraid for any terror by night, / nor for the arrow that flieth by day;
6 For the pestilence that walketh in darkness, / nor for the sickness that destroyeth in the noonday.
7 A thousand shall fall beside thee, and ten thousand at thy right hand; / but it shall not come nigh thee.
8 Yea, with thine eyes shalt thou behold, / and see the reward of the ungodly.
9 BECAUSE thou hast said, ‘The LORD is my refuge’, / and hast made the Most High thy habitation,
10 There shall no evil happen unto thee, / neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, / to keep thee in all thy ways.
12 They shall bear thee in their hands, / that thou hurt not thy foot against a stone.
13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: / the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under thy feet.
14 BECAUSE he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him; / I will set him up, because he hath known my Name.
15 He shall call upon me, and I will hear him: / yea, I am with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and bring him to honour.
16 With long life will I satisfy him, / and show him my salvation.
PSALM 92. Bonum est confiteri.
IT is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, / and to sing praises unto thy Name, O thou Most High;
2 To tell of thy loving-kindness in the morning, / and of thy faithfulness in the night-season;
3 Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the lute, / with a melody upon the harp.
4 For thou, LORD, hast made me glad through thy works; / and I will rejoice in giving praise for the operations of thy hands.
5 O LORD, how glorious are thy works! / thy thoughts are very deep.
6 An unwise man doth not well consider this, / and a fool doth not understand it:
7 When the ungodly are green as the grass, / and when all the workers of wickedness do flourish,
8 Then shall they be destroyed for ever; / but thou, LORD, art on high for evermore.
9 FOR lo, thine enemies, O LORD, lo, thine enemies shall perish; / and all the workers of wickedness shall be destroyed.
10 But mine horn hast thou exalted like the horn of a wild ox; / for I am anointed with fresh oil.
11 Mine eye hath seen its desire upon mine enemies, / and mine ears have heard of the doom of the wicked that rise up against me.
12 THE righteous shall flourish like a palm-tree, / and shall spread abroad like a cedar in Lebanon.
13 Such as are planted in the house of the LORD / shall flourish in the courts of our God.
14 They shall still bring forth fruit in old age, / and shall be full of sap and flourishing;
15 That they may show how true the LORD is; / he is my strength, and there is no unrighteousness in him.
THE EIGHTEENTH DAY
Evening Prayer
PSALM 93. Dominus regnavit.
THE LORD is King, and hath put on glorious apparel: / the LORD hath put on his apparel, and girded himself with strength.
2 He hath made the round world so sure, / that it cannot be moved.
3 Ever since the world began hath thy throne been established: / thou art from everlasting.
4 THE floods have lift up, O LORD, the floods have lift up their voice: / the floods lift up their waves.
5 Mightier than the roar of many waters, mightier than the breakers of the sea, / the LORD, who dwelleth on high, is mighty.
6 Thy testimonies, O LORD, are very sure: / holiness becometh thine house for ever.
PSALM 94. Deus ultionum.
O LORD God, to whom vengeance belongeth, / thou God, to whom vengeance belongeth, show thyself.
2 Arise, thou judge of the world, / and reward the proud after their deserving.
3 LORD, how long shall the ungodly, / how long shall the ungodly triumph?
4 How long shall all evil doers speak so disdainfully, / and make such proud boasting?
5 They smite down thy people, O LORD, / and trouble thine heritage.
6 They murder the widow and the stranger, / and put the fatherless to death.
7 And yet they say, ‘Tush, the LORD shall not see, / neither shall the God of Jacob regard it.’
8 TAKE heed, ye unwise among the people: / O ye fools, when will ye understand?
9 He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? / or he that made the eye, shall he not see?
10 Or he that chasteneth the nations, shall he not punish? / even he that teacheth man knowledge.
11 The LORD knoweth the thoughts of man, / that they are but vain.
12 BLESSED is the man whom thou chastenest, O LORD, / and teachest him out of thy law;
13 That thou mayest give him rest from days of adversity, / until a pit be digged up for the ungodly.
14 For the LORD will not cast off his people, / neither will he forsake his inheritance.
15 For judgement shall turn again unto righteousness; / and all such as are true in heart shall follow it.
16 Who will rise up with me against the wicked? / or who will take my part against the evil doers?
17 If the LORD had not helped me, / my soul would soon have dwelt in Silence.
18 If I say, ‘My foot slippeth’, / thy mercy, O LORD, holdeth me up.
19 In the multitude of the sorrows that I had in my heart, / thy comforts have refreshed my soul.
20 Wilt thou have any thing to do with the wicked rulers, / who make mischief by law?
21 They gather them together against the soul of the righteous, / and condemn the innocent blood.
22 But the LORD hath become my stronghold, / and my God the rock of my refuge.
23 He shall recompense them their wickedness, and destroy them in their own malice; / yea, the LORD our God shall destroy them.
THE NINETEENTH DAY
Morning Prayer
PSALM 95. Venite, exultemus.
O COME, let us sing unto the LORD: / let us heartily rejoice in the strength of our salvation.
2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, / and show ourselves glad in him with psalms.
3 For the LORD is a great God, / and a great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are all the corners of the earth: / and the strength of the hills is his also.
5 The sea is his, and he made it: / and his hands prepared the dry land.
6 O COME, let us worship, and fall down, / and kneel before the LORD our Maker.
7 For he is the Lord our God; / and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.
8 TO-DAY, O that ye would hear his voice: / ‘Harden not your hearts as in the Provocation, and as in the day of Temptation in the wilderness;
9 When your fathers tempted me, / proved me, and saw my works.
10 Forty years long was I grieved with that generation, and said, / “It is a people that do err in their hearts, for they have not known my ways”;
11 Unto whom I sware in my wrath, / that they should not enter into my rest.’
PSALM 96. Cantate Domino.
O SING unto the LORD a new song; / sing unto the LORD, all the whole earth.
2 Sing unto the LORD, and praise his Name; / be telling of his salvation from day to day.
3 Declare his honour among the nations, / and his wonders among all peoples.
4 FOR the LORD is great, and cannot worthily be praised; / he is more to be feared than all gods.
5 As for all the gods of the peoples, they are but idols; / but it is the LORD that made the heavens.
6 Honour and majesty are before him: / strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
7 ASCRIBE unto the LORD, O ye kindreds of the peoples, / ascribe unto the LORD glory and power.
8 Give unto the LORD the honour due unto his Name; / bring presents and come into his courts.
9 O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness; / let the whole earth stand in awe of him.
10 TELL it out among the nations that the LORD is King; / he hath made the round world so fast that it cannot be moved; he shall judge the peoples righteously.
11 Let the heavens rejoice and let the earth be glad; / let the sea make a noise, and all that is therein.
12 Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it; / then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice before the LORD;
13 For he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth, / and with righteousness to judge the world, and the peoples with his truth.
PSALM 97. Dominus regnavit.
THE LORD is King, the earth may be glad thereof: / yea, the multitude of the isles may be glad thereof.
2 Clouds and darkness are round about him: / righteousness and judgement are the foundation of his throne.
3 There goeth a fire before him, / and burneth up his enemies on every side.
4 HIS lightnings gave shine unto the world: / the earth saw it, and was afraid.
5 The hills melted like wax at the presence of the LORD, / at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.
6 The heavens have declared his righteousness, / and all the peoples have seen his glory.
7 CONFOUNDED be all they that worship carved images, and that delight in vain gods: / worship him, all ye gods.
8 Sion heard of it and rejoiced, and the daughters of Judah were glad, / because of thy judgements, O LORD.
9 For thou, LORD, art the Most High over all the earth: / thou art exalted far above all gods.
10 O YE that love the LORD, see that ye hate the thing which is evil; / the LORD preserveth the souls of his saints; he shall deliver them from the hand of the ungodly.
11 There is sprung up a light for the righteous, / and joyful gladness for such as are true-hearted.
12 Rejoice in the LORD, ye righteous; / and give thanks unto his holy Name.
THE NINETEENTH DAY
Evening Prayer
PSALM 98. Cantate Domino.
O SING unto the LORD a new song; / for he hath done marvellous things.
2 With his own right hand, and with his holy arm, / hath he gotten himself the victory.
3 The LORD hath declared his salvation: / his righteousness hath he openly shown in the sight of the nations.
4 He hath remembered his mercy and his faithfulness toward the house of Israel; / and all the ends of the world have seen the salvation of our God.
5 SHOW yourselves joyful unto the LORD, all ye lands: / sing, rejoice, and give thanks.
6 Praise the LORD upon the harp: / sing to the harp with a psalm of thanksgiving.
7 With trumpets also and the sound of the horn, / O show yourselves joyful before the LORD, the King.
8 LET the sea make a noise, and all that is therein; / the round world, and they that dwell therein.
9 Let the floods clap their hands, and let the hills be joyful together before the LORD; / for he is come to judge the earth.
10 With righteousness shall he judge the world, / and the peoples with equity.
PSALM 99. Dominus regnavit.
THE LORD is King; let the peoples tremble; / he sitteth upon the cherubim; let the earth be moved.
2 The LORD is great in Sion, / and high above all the peoples.
3 Let them give thanks unto thy Name, / which is great and wonderful; for he is holy.
4 THE King’s power loveth judgement; thou dost establish equity: / thou dost execute judgement and righteousness in Jacob.
5 O magnify the LORD our God, / and fall down before his footstool; for he is holy.
6 MOSES and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among such as call upon his Name: / these called upon the LORD, and he heard them.
7 He spake unto them out of the cloudy pillar; / for they kept his testimonies, and the law that he gave them.
8 Thou heardest them, O LORD our God; / thou forgavest them, O God, though thou didst punish their doings.
9 O magnify the LORD our God, and worship at his holy hill; / for the LORD our God is holy.
PSALM 100. Jubilate Deo.
O BE joyful in the LORD, all ye lands: / serve the LORD with gladness, and come before his presence with a song.
2 Be ye sure that the LORD he is God; / it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
3 O go your way into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise; / be thankful unto him, and speak good of his Name.
4 For the LORD is gracious, his mercy is everlasting; / and his truth endureth from generation to generation
PSALM 101. Misericordiam et judicium.
MY song shall be of mercy and judgement: / unto thee, O LORD, will I sing.
2 I will give heed to the way that is perfect: / when wilt thou come unto me?
3 I will walk in the innocence of my heart / within my house.
4 I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes; I hate the sins of unfaithfulness; / there shall no such cleave unto me.
5 A froward heart shall depart from me; / I will not know that which is evil.
6 Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, / him will I destroy.
7 Whoso hath also an high look and a proud heart, / I will not suffer him.
8 Mine eyes shall look upon such as are faithful in the land, / that they may dwell with me.
9 Whoso leadeth a godly life, / he shall be my servant.
10 There shall no deceitful person dwell in my house: / he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight.
11 Day by day I will destroy all the ungodly that are in the land, / that I may root out all wicked doers from the city of the LORD.
THE TWENTIETH DAY
Morning Prayer
PSALM 102. Domine, exaudi.
HEAR my prayer, O LORD, / and let my crying come unto thee.
2 Hide not thy face from me in the time of my trouble: / incline thine ear unto me; O hear me when I call, and that right soon.
3 For my days consume away like smoke, / and my bones are burnt up as it were a fire-brand.
4 My heart is smitten down, and withered like grass; / for I forget to eat my bread.
5 For the voice of my groaning, / my bones cleave to my flesh.
6 I am become like a pelican in the wilderness, / and like an owl that is in the desert.
7 I watch, and am even as it were a sparrow, / that sitteth alone upon the house-top.
8 Mine enemies revile me all the day long; / and they that are mad against me use my name as a curse.
9 For I have eaten ashes as it were bread, / and mingled my drink with weeping;
10 And that because of thine indignation and wrath; / for thou hast taken me up and cast me down.
11 My days are gone like a shadow; / and I am withered like grass.
12 BUT thou, O LORD, shalt endure for ever, / and thy remembrance throughout all generations.
13 Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Sion; / for it is time that thou have mercy upon her, yea, the time is come.
14 And why? thy servants think upon her stones, / and it pitieth them to see her in the dust.
15 The nations shall fear thy Name, O LORD, / and all the kings of the earth thy majesty;
16 When the LORD hath built up Sion, / and when he hath appeared in his glory;
17 When he hath turned him unto the prayer of the poor destitute, / and hath not despised their desire.
18 This shall be written for those that come after; / and a people which shall be born shall praise the LORD.
19 For he hath looked down from his sanctuary; / out of the heaven did the LORD behold the earth;
20 That he might hear the mournings of such as are in captivity, / and deliver them that are appointed unto death;
21 That they may declare the Name of the LORD in Sion, / and his worship in Jerusalem;
22 When the peoples are gathered together, / and the kingdoms also, to serve the LORD.
23 HE hath brought down my strength in my journey, / and shortened my days.
24 I will say, ‘O my God, take me not away in the midst of mine age; / as for thy years, they endure throughout all generations.’
25 Thou, LORD, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; / and the heavens are the work of thy hands.
26 They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: / they all shall wax old as doth a garment;
27 And as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed; / but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.
28 The children of thy servants shall continue, / and their seed shall stand fast in thy sight.
PSALM 103. Benedic, anima mea.
PRAISE the LORD, O MY soul: / and all that is within me praise his holy Name.
2 Praise the LORD, O MY soul: / and forget not all his benefits;
3 Who forgiveth all thy sin, / and healeth all thine infirmities;
4 Who saveth thy life from destruction, / and crowneth thee with mercy and loving-kindness;
5 Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things, / making thee young and lusty as an eagle.
6 THE LORD executeth righteousness and judgement / for all them that are oppressed with wrong.
7 He showed his ways unto Moses, / his works unto the children of Israel.
8 The LORD is full of compassion and gracious, / long-suffering, and of great goodness.
9 He will not alway be chiding: / neither keepeth he his anger for ever.
10 He hath not dealt with us after our sins, / nor rewarded us according to our wickednesses.
11 For look how high the heaven is in comparison of the earth, / so great is his mercy also toward them that fear him.
12 Look how wide also the east is from the west, / so far hath he set our sins from us.
13 Yea, like as a father pitieth his own children, / even so is the LORD merciful unto them that fear him.
14 For he knoweth whereof we are made: / he remembereth that we are but dust.
15 THE days of man are but as grass; / for he flourisheth as a flower of the field.
16 For as soon as the wind goeth over it, it is gone; / and the place thereof shall know it no more.
17 But the merciful goodness of the LORD endureth for ever and ever upon them that fear him, / and his righteousness unto children’s children;
18 Even unto such as keep his covenant, / and think upon his commandments to do them.
19 THE LORD hath established his throne in heaven, / and his kingdom ruleth over all.
20 O praise the LORD, ye angels of his, ye that excel in strength, / ye that fulfil his commandment, and hearken unto the voice of his word.
21 O praise the LORD, all ye his hosts, / ye servants of his that do his pleasure.
22 O speak good of the LORD, all ye works of his, in all places of his dominion: / praise thou the LORD, O my soul.
THE TWENTIETH DAY
Evening Prayer
PSALM 104. Benedic, anima mea.
PART 1
PRAISE the LORD, O MY soul. O LORD my God, thou art become exceeding glorious: / thou art clothed with majesty and honour.
2 Thou deckest thyself with light as it were with a garment, / and spreadest out the heavens like a curtain;
3 Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters, / and maketh the clouds his chariot, and walketh upon the wings of the wind;
4 Who maketh the winds his messengers, / and his ministers a flaming fire.
5 HE laid the foundations of the earth, / that it never should move at any time.
6 Thou coveredst it with the deep like as with a garment: / the waters stood above the hills.
7 At thy rebuke they fled: / at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away;
8 They went up as high as the hills, and down to the valleys beneath, / even unto the place which thou hadst appointed for them.
9 Thou didst set them their bounds which they should not pass, / neither turn again to cover the earth.
10 HE sendeth the springs into the valleys; / they run among the hills.
11 All beasts of the field drink thereof, / and the wild asses quench their thirst.
12 Beside them the birds of the air have their habitation, / and sing among the branches.
13 He watereth the hills from above; / the earth is filled with the fruit of thy works.
14 He maketh grass to grow for the cattle, / and green herb for the service of men;
15 That he may bring forth food out of the earth, / and wine that maketh glad the heart of man;
16 And oil to make him a cheerful countenance, / and bread to strengthen man’s heart.
17 The trees of the LORD also are full of sap: / even the cedars of Lebanon which he hath planted;
18 Wherein the birds make their nests: / and the fir-trees are a dwelling for the stork.
19 The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats, / and so are the stony rocks for the conies.
20 HE appointed the moon to mark the seasons: / and the sun knoweth his going down.
21 Thou makest darkness that it may be night, / wherein all the beasts of the forest do move.
22 The lions roar after their prey, / and seek their meat from God.
23 The sun ariseth, and they get them away together, / and lay them down in their dens.
24 Man goeth forth to his work, / and to his labour until the evening.
PART 2
O LORD, how manifold are thy works! / in wisdom hast thou made them all; the earth is full of thy creatures.
26 So is the great and wide sea also, / wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts.
27 There go the ships; and there is Leviathan, / whom thou hast formed to take his pastime therein.
28 THESE wait all upon thee, / that thou mayest give them meat in due season.
29 When thou givest it to them they gather it; / and when thou openest thy hand they are filled with good.
30 When thou hidest thy face they are troubled: / when thou takest away their breath they die, and are turned again to their dust.
31 When thou lettest thy breath go forth they are made; / and thou renewest the face of the earth.
32 LET the glorious majesty of the LORD endure for ever; / let the LORD rejoice in his works.
33 The earth shall tremble at the look of him; / if he do but touch the hills they shall smoke.
34 I will sing unto the LORD as long as I live: / I will praise my God while I have my being.
35 And so shall my words please him: / my joy shall be in the LORD.
36 PRAISE thou the LORD, O MY soul. / Praise the LORD.
THE TWENTY-FIRST DAY
Morning Prayer
PSALM 105. Confitemini Domino.
PART 1
O GIVE thanks unto the LORD, and call upon his Name; / tell the peoples what things he hath done.
2 O let your songs be of him and praise him; / and let your talking be of all his wondrous works.
3 Rejoice in his holy Name: / let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD.
4 Seek the LORD and his strength: / seek his face evermore.
5 Remember the marvellous works that he hath done, / his wonders, and the judgements of his mouth;
6 O ye seed of Abraham his servant, / ye children of Jacob, his chosen.
7 HE is the LORD our God: / his judgements are in all the world.
8 He hath been alway mindful of his covenant, / and the promise that he made to a thousand generations;
9 Even the covenant that he made with Abraham, / and the oath that he sware unto Isaac;
10 And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a statute, / and to Israel for an everlasting testament;
11 Saying, ‘Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, / the lot of your inheritance.’
12 WHEN there were yet but a few of them, / and they strangers in the land;
13 What time as they went from one nation to another, / from one kingdom to another people;
14 He suffered no man to do them wrong, / but reproved even kings for their sakes;
15 Saying, ‘Touch not mine anointed, / and do my prophets no harm.’
16 MOREOVER, he called for a dearth upon the land, / and destroyed all the provision of bread.
17 But he had sent a man before them, / even Joseph, who was sold to be a bond-servant;
18 Whose feet they hurt with fetters: / the iron entered into his soul;
19 Until the time that his word came to pass: / when the promise of the LORD tried him.
20 The king sent and delivered him: / the prince of the people let him go free.
21 He made him lord also of his house, / and ruler of all his substance;
22 That he might instruct his princes after his will, / and teach his senators wisdom.
PART 2
ISRAEL also came Into Egypt, / and Jacob was a stranger in the land of Ham.
24 And the LORD increased his people exceedingly, / and made them stronger than their enemies;
25 Whose heart turned to hate his people, / and to deal deceitfully with his servants.
26 Then sent he Moses his servant, / and Aaron whom he had chosen.
27 And he showed his signs among them, / and wonders in the land of Ham.
28 He sent darkness and it was dark; / and they were not obedient unto his word.
29 He turned their waters into blood, / and slew their fish.
30 Their land brought forth frogs, / yea, even in their kings’ chambers.
31 He spake the word and there came all manner of flies, / and lice in all their quarters.
32 He gave them hail-stones for rain, / and flames of fire in their land.
33 He smote their vines also and fig-trees, / and destroyed the trees that were in their borders.
34 He spake the word and the locusts came, / and caterpillars innumerable;
35 And did eat up all the grass in their land, / and devoured the fruit of their ground.
36 He smote all the first-born in their land, / even the chief of all their strength.
37 But he brought forth his own people with silver and gold; / and there was not one feeble person among their tribes.
38 Egypt was glad at their departing, / for they were afraid of them.
39 HE spread out a cloud to be a covering, / and fire to give light in the night-season.
40 At their desire he brought quails, / and filled them with the bread of heaven.
41 He opened the rock of stone, and the waters flowed out, / so that rivers ran in the dry places.
42 For why? he remembered his holy promise, / and Abraham his servant.
43 And he brought forth his people with joy, / and his chosen with gladness;
44 And gave them the lands of the nations, / and they took the labours of the peoples in possession;
45 That they might keep his statutes, / and observe his laws.
THE TWENTY-FIRST DAY
Evening Prayer
PSALM 106. Confitemini Domino.
PART 1
O GIVE thanks unto the LORD, for he is gracious, / and his mercy endureth for ever.
2 Who can express the noble acts of the LORD, / or show forth all his praise?
3 Blessed are they that keep judgement, / and alway do righteousness.
4 Remember me, O LORD, according to the favour that thou bearest unto thy people: / O visit me with thy salvation;
5 That I may see the felicity of thy chosen, / and rejoice in the gladness of thy people, and give thanks with thine inheritance.
6 WE have sinned with our fathers; / we have done amiss and dealt wickedly.
7 When our fathers were in Egypt, / they regarded not thy wonders;
8 They kept not thy great goodness in remembrance, / but were disobedient at the sea, even at the Red Sea.
9 Nevertheless, he helped them for his Name’s sake, / that he might make his power to be known.
10 He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it was dried up; / so he led them through the deep as through a wilderness.
11 And he saved them from the adversary’s hand, / and delivered them from the hand of the enemy.
12 As for those that troubled them, the waters overwhelmed them; / there was not one of them left.
13 Then believed they his words, / and sang praise unto him.
14 BUT within a while they forgat his works, / and would not abide his counsel.
15 But lust came upon them in the wilderness, / and they tempted God in the desert.
16 And he gave them their desire, / but sent leanness withal into their soul.
17 They envied Moses also in the tents, / and Aaron the saint of the LORD.
18 So the earth opened, and swallowed up Dathan, / and covered the congregation of Abiram.
19 And the fire was kindled in their company: / the flame burnt up the ungodly.
PART 2
ISRAEL made a calf in Horeb, / and worshipped the molten image.
21 Thus they changed their Glory / for the likeness of a calf that eateth hay.
22 And they forgat God their Saviour, / who had done so great things in Egypt,
23 Wondrous works in the land of Ham, / and fearful things by the Red Sea.
24 So he said he would have destroyed them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the gap, / to turn away his wrathful indignation, lest he should destroy them.
25 Yea, they thought scorn of that pleasant land, / and gave no credence unto his word;
26 But murmured in their tents, / and hearkened not unto the voice of the LORD.
27 Then lift he up his hand and sware to them, / that he would overthrow them in the wilderness,
28 And that he would scatter their seed among the nations, / and disperse them in the lands.
29 THEY joined themselves also unto Baal-peor, / and ate the offerings of the dead.
30 Thus they provoked him to anger with their own inventions; /and the plague broke out among them.
31 Then stood up Phinehas and executed judgement, / and so the plague ceased.
32 And that was counted unto him for righteousness, / unto all generations for evermore.
33 They angered him also at the Waters of Strife, / so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes;
34 Because they provoked his spirit, / so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips.
35 THEY did not destroy the peoples, / as the LORD commanded them;
36 But were mingled among the nations, / and learned their works.
37 Insomuch that they worshipped their idols, which turned to their own decay: / yea, they offered their sons and their daughters unto demons;
38 And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, / whom they offered unto the idols of Canaan; and the land was defiled with blood.
39 Thus were they stained with their own works, / and went a whoring with their own inventions.
40 THEREFORE was the wrath of the LORD kindled against his people, / insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance.
41 And he gave them over into the hand of the nations; / and they that hated them were lords over them.
42 Their enemies oppressed them, / and had them in subjection.
43 Many a time did he deliver them; / but they rebelled against him with their own inventions, and were brought down in their wickedness.
44 Nevertheless, he regarded their adversity, / when he heard their complaint.
45 For their sake he thought upon his covenant, / and relented according to the multitude of his mercies.
46 Yea, he made them also to be pitied / by all those that led them away captive.
47 DELIVER us, O LORD our God, and gather us from among the nations, / that we may give thanks unto thy holy Name, and make our boast of thy praise.
48 BLESSED be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting and world without end: / and let all the people say, ‘Amen.’
THE TWENTY-SECOND DAY
Morning Prayer
PSALM 107. Confitemini Domino.
PART 1
O GIVE thanks unto the LORD, for he is gracious, / and his mercy endureth for ever.
2 Let them give thanks whom the LORD hath redeemed, / and delivered from adversity;
3 And gathered them out of the lands, from the east and from the west, / from the north and from the south.
4 THEY that wandered in the wilderness, even in a desert place, / found no way to a city where men dwelt.
5 Hungry and thirsty, / their soul fainted in them.
6 So they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, / and he delivered them from their distress.
7 He led them forth by the right way, / that they might go to a city where men dwelt.
8 O that men would therefore praise the LORD for his goodness, / and declare the wonders that he doeth for the children of men!
9 For he satisfieth the empty soul, / and filleth the hungry soul with goodness.
10 THEY that sat in darkness and the shadow of death / were fast bound in misery and iron;
11 Because they rebelled against the words of God, / and lightly regarded the counsel of the Most High.
12 He also brought down their heart with hard labour: / they fell down, and there was none to help them.
13 So they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, / and he delivered them from their distress.
14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, / and brake their bonds in sunder.
15 O that men would therefore praise the LORD for his goodness, / and declare the wonders that he doeth for the children of men!
16 For he hath broken the gates of brass, / and smitten the bars of iron in sunder.
17 THEY that are foolish are afflicted for their offence, / and because of their wickedness.
18 Their soul abhorred all manner of meat, / and they were even hard at death’s door.
19 So they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, / and he delivered them from their distress.
20 He sent his word and healed them, / and saved them from their destruction.
21 O that men would therefore praise the LORD for his goodness, / and declare the wonders that he doeth for the children of men!
22 That they would offer unto him the sacrifices of thanksgiving, / and tell out his works with gladness!
23 THEY that go down to the sea in ships, / and occupy their business on the great waters;
24 These men see the works of the LORD, / and his wonders in the deep.
25 For at his word the stormy wind ariseth, / which lifteth up the waves thereof.
26 They are carried up to the heaven, and down again to the deep: / their soul melteth away because of the trouble.
27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, / and are at their wits’ end.
28 So they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, / and he delivereth them from their distress.
29 For he maketh the storm to cease, / so that the waves thereof are still.
30 Then are they glad, because they are at rest; / and so he bringeth them unto the haven where they would be.
31 O that men would therefore praise the LORD for his goodness, / and declare the wonders that he doeth for the children of men!
32 That they would exalt him also in the congregation of the people, / and praise him in the assembly of the elders!
PART 2
THE LORD turneth the floods into a wilderness, / and water-springs into a thirsty ground.
34 A fruitful land maketh he barren, / for the wickedness of them that dwell therein.
35 Again, he maketh the wilderness a pool of water, / and water-springs of a dry ground.
36 And there he setteth the hungry, / that they may build them a city to dwell in;
37 That they may sow their land and plant vineyards, / to yield them fruits of increase.
38 He blesseth them, so that they multiply exceedingly, / and suffereth not their cattle to decrease.
39 And again, when they are minished and brought low, / through oppression, through any plague or trouble;
40 Though he poureth contempt upon princes, / and maketh them to wander out of the way in the wilderness;
41 Yet helpeth he the poor out of misery, / and maketh him households like a flock of sheep.
42 The righteous shall see this and rejoice; / and the mouth of all wickedness shall be stopped.
43 Whoso is wise will ponder these things; / and they shall understand the loving-kindness of the LORD.
THE TWENTY-SECOND DAY
Evening Prayer
PSALM 108. Paratum cor meum.
O GOD, my heart is ready, my heart is ready; / I will sing and give praise with the best member that I have.
2 Awake, thou lute and harp: / I myself will awake the dawn.
3 I will give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the peoples; / I will sing praises unto thee among the nations.
4 For thy mercy is great above the heavens, / and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds.
5 Set up thyself, O God, above the heavens, / and thy glory above all the earth.
6 THAT thy beloved may be delivered, / save with thy right hand, and hear thou me.
7 God hath spoken in his holiness: / ‘I will rejoice, and divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth.
8 Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine; / Ephraim also is the defence of my head; Judah is my sceptre;
9 Moab is my wash-pot; upon Edom will I cast out my shoe; / over Philistia will I shout in triumph.’
10 WHO will lead me into the strong city? / who will bring me into Edom?
11 Hast not thou forsaken us, O God? / and wilt not thou, O God, go forth with our hosts?
12 O help us against the enemy; / for vain is the help of man.
13 Through God we shall do great acts; / and it is he that shall tread down our enemies.
PSALM 109. Deus laudem.
HOLD not thy peace, O God of my praise; / for the mouth of the ungodly, yea, the mouth of the deceitful is opened upon me.
2 They have spoken against me with false tongues: / they compassed me about also with words of hatred, and fought against me without a cause.
3 For the love that I had unto them, lo, they take now my contrary part; / but I give myself unto prayer.
4 Thus have they rewarded me evil for good, / and hatred for my good will.
5 BUT deal thou with me, O Lord GOD, according to thy Name; / for sweet is thy mercy.
6 O deliver me, for I am helpless and poor, / and my heart is wounded within me.
7 I go hence like the shadow that declineth, / and am driven away as the locust.
8 My knees are weak through fasting; / my flesh is dried up for want of fatness.
9 I am become also a reproach unto them: / they that look upon me shake their heads.
10 Help me, O LORD my God; / O save me according to thy mercy;
11 And they shall know, how that this is thy hand, / and that thou, LORD, hast done it.
12 Though they curse, yet bless thou; / and let them be confounded that rise up against me; / but thy servant shall rejoice.
13 Let mine adversaries be clothed with shame; / and let them cover themselves with their own confusion as with a cloak.
14 As for me, I will give great thanks unto the LORD with my mouth, / and praise him among the multitude.
15 For he shall stand at the right hand of the poor, / to save his soul from unrighteous judges.
THE TWENTY-THIRD DAY
Morning Prayer
PSALM 110. Dixit Dominus.
THE LORD said unto my lord, / ‘Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.’
2 The LORD shall send the rod of thy power out of Sion: / be thou ruler, even in the midst among thine enemies.
3 Thy people offer themselves willingly in the day of thy power; / in the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning, thou hast the dew of thy youth.
4 The LORD sware and will not repent, / ‘Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.’
5 The Lord upon thy right hand / shall smite even kings in the day of his wrath.
6 He shall judge among the nations, and he shall fill them with the bodies of the slain; / yea, he shall smite the heads over many countries.
7 He shall drink of the brook in the way; / therefore shall he lift up his head.
PSALM 111. Confitebor tibi.
I WILL give thanks unto the LORD with my whole heart, / in the council of the faithful and in the congregation.
2 The works of the LORD are great, / sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.
3 His work is worthy to be praised and had in honour; / and his righteousness endureth for ever.
4 The merciful and gracious LORD hath so done his marvellous works, / that they ought to be had in remembrance.
5 He hath given meat unto them that fear him; / he shall ever be mindful of his covenant.
6 He hath showed his people the power of his works, / in giving them the heritage of the nations.
7 The works of his hands are verity and judgement; / all his precepts are sure;
8 They stand fast for ever and ever, / and are done in truth and equity.
9 He sent redemption unto his people; / he hath commanded his covenant for ever; holy and reverend is his Name.
10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; / a good understanding have all they that do thereafter; his praise endureth for ever.
PSALM 112. Beatus vir.
BLESSED is the man that feareth the LORD, / that hath great delight in his commandments.
2 His seed shall be mighty upon earth; / the generation of the faithful shall be blessed.
3 Riches and plenteousness shall be in his house; / and his righteousness endureth for ever.
4 Unto the upright there ariseth up light in the darkness; / he is merciful, loving, and righteous.
5 It is well with the man that is merciful and lendeth, / and ordereth his affairs with justice.
6 For he shall never be moved:/ and the righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance,
7 He will not be afraid of any evil tidings; / for his heart standeth fast and believeth in the LORD.
8 His heart is established and will not shrink, / until he see his desire upon his enemies.
9 He hath dispersed abroad and given to the poor, / and his righteousness remaineth for ever; his horn shall be exalted with honour.
10 The ungodly shall see it, and it shall grieve him: / he shall gnash with his teeth and consume away; the desire of the ungodly shall perish.
PSALM 113. Laudate, pueri.
PRAISE the LORD, ye servants; / O praise the Name of the LORD.
2 Blessed be the Name of the LORD / from this time forth for evermore.
3 The LORD’s Name is to be praised / from the rising up of the sun unto the going down of the same.
4 THE LORD is high above all nations, / and his glory above the heavens.
5 Who is like unto the LORD our God, / that hath his dwelling so high,
6 And yet humbleth himself to behold / the things that are in heaven and earth?
7 HE taketh up the poor out of the dust, / and lifteth the needy out of the mire;
8 That he may set him with the princes, / even with the princes of his people.
9 He maketh the barren woman to keep house, / and to be a joyful mother of children.
THE TWENTY-THIRD DAY
Evening Prayer
PSALM 114. In exitu Israel.
WHEN Israel came out of Egypt, / and the house of Jacob from among the strange people,
2 Judah was his sanctuary, / and Israel his dominion.
3 THE sea saw that, and fled; / Jordan was driven back.
4 The mountains skipped like rams, / and the little hills like young sheep.
5 WHAT aileth thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest, / and thou Jordan, that thou wast driven back?
6 Ye mountains, that ye skipped like rams, / and ye little hills, like young sheep?
7 TREMBLE, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord: / at the presence of the God of Jacob;
8 Who turned the hard rock into a standing water, / and the flint-stone into a springing well.
PSALM 115. Non nobis, Domine.
NOT unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy Name give the praise, / for thy loving mercy and for thy truth’s sake.
2 Wherefore should the nations say, / ‘Where is now their God?’
3 As for our God, he is in heaven: / he hath done whatsoever pleased him.
4 THEIR idols are silver and gold, / even the work of men’s hands.
5 They have mouths, and speak not: / eyes have they, and see not.
6 They have ears, and hear not: / noses have they, and smell not.
7 They have hands, and handle not; feet have they, and walk not: / neither speak they through their throat.
8 They that make them are like unto them; / and so are all such as put their trust in them.
9 BUT thou, house of Israel, trust thou in the LORD: / he is their succour and defence.
10 Ye house of Aaron, put your trust in the LORD: / he is their helper and defender.
11 Ye that fear the LORD, put your trust in the LORD: / he is their helper and defender.
12 The LORD hath been mindful of us, and he shall bless us: / even he shall bless the house of Israel; he shall bless the house of Aaron.
13 He shall bless them that fear the LORD, / both small and great.
14 MAY the LORD increase you more and more, / you and your children.
15 Blessed be ye of the LORD, / who hath made heaven and earth.
16 All the whole heavens are the LORD’S, / but the earth hath he given to the children of men.
17 The dead praise not thee, O LORD, / neither all they that go down into Silence.
18 But we will praise the LORD, / from this time forth for evermore. Praise the LORD.
THE TWENTY-FOURTH DAY
Morning Prayer
PSALM 116. Dilexi, quoniam.
MY delight is in the LORD, / because he hath heard the voice of my prayer;
2 Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, / therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.
3 The cords of death compassed me round about, / and the pains of hell gat hold upon me.
4 I found trouble and heaviness, and I called upon the Name of the LORD: / ‘O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul.’
5 GRACIOUS is the LORD, and righteous; / yea, our God is merciful.
6 The LORD preserveth the simple: / I was in misery and he helped me.
7 Turn again then unto thy rest, O my soul; / for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee.
8 For thou hast delivered my soul from death, / mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.
9 I will walk before the LORD / in the land of the living.
10 I TRUSTED even when I spake; but I was sore troubled: / I said in my haste, ‘All men are liars.’
11 What reward shall I give unto the LORD / for all the benefits that he hath done unto me?
12 I will take the cup of salvation, / and call upon the Name of the LORD.
13 I will pay my vows unto the LORD / in the presence of all his people.
14 Right dear in the sight of the LORD / is the death of his saints.
15 Behold, O LORD, how that I am thy servant: / I am thy servant and the son of thy handmaid; thou hast broken my bonds in sunder.
16 I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, / and will call upon the Name of the LORD.
17 I will pay my vows unto the LORD / in the presence of all his people;
18 Even in the courts of the LORD’s house, / and in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise the LORD.
PSALM 117. Laudate Dominum.
O PRAISE the LORD, all ye nations: / laud him, all ye peoples.
2 For his merciful kindness is ever more and more towards us: / and the truth of the LORD endureth for ever. Praise the LORD.
PSALM 118. Confitemini Domino.
O GIVE thanks unto the LORD, for he is gracious: / because his mercy endureth for ever.
2 Let Israel now confess that he is gracious, / and that his mercy endureth for ever.
3 Let the house of Aaron now confess / that his mercy endureth for ever.
4 Yea, let them now that fear the LORD confess / that his mercy endureth for ever.
5 I CALLED upon the LORD in trouble; / and the LORD heard me and set me free.
6 The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: / what can man do unto me?
7 The LORD taketh my part with them that help me: / therefore shall I see my desire upon mine enemies.
8 It is better to trust in the LORD / than to put any confidence in man.
9 It is better to trust in the LORD / than to put any confidence in princes.
10 ALL nations compassed me round about; / but in the Name of the LORD did I destroy them.
11 They kept me in on every side, they kept me in, I say, on every side, / but in the Name of the LORD did I destroy them.
12 They came about me like bees, and blazed up even as the fire among the thorns; / but in the Name of the LORD did I destroy them.
13 Thou hast thrust sore at me, that I might fall; / but the LORD was my help.
14 The LORD is my strength and my song, / and is become my salvation.
15 THE voice of joy and health is in the dwellings of the righteous: / the right hand of the LORD bringeth mighty things to pass.
16 The right hand of the LORD is exalted: / the right hand of the LORD bringeth mighty things to pass.
17 I shall not die, but live, / and declare the works of the LORD.
18 The LORD hath chastened and corrected me; / but he hath not given me over unto death.
19 OPEN to me the gates of righteousness, / that I may go into them and give thanks unto the LORD.
20 This is the gate of the LORD: / the righteous shall enter into it.
21 I will thank thee, for thou hast heard me, / and art become my salvation.
22 THE same stone which the builders refused / is become the head-stone in the corner.
23 This is the LORD’s doing, / and it is marvellous in our eyes.
24 This is the day which the LORD hath made; / we will rejoice and be glad in it.
25 Help us now, O LORD: / O LORD, send us now prosperity.
26 BLESSED is he that cometh in the Name of the LORD: / we bless you from the house of the LORD.
27 The LORD is God, and he hath given us light: / set in order the procession with branches, yea, even up to the horns of the altar.
28 Thou art my God, and I will thank thee: / thou art my God, and I will praise thee.
29 O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is gracious: / for his mercy endureth for ever.
THE TWENTY-FOURTH DAY
Evening Prayer
PART 1. Beati immaculati.
BLESSED are those that are undefiled in the way, / and walk in the law of the LORD.
2 Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, / and seek him with their whole heart;
3 Even they that do no wickedness, / but walk in his ways.
4 Thou hast ordained thy precepts / that we should diligently keep them.
5 O that my ways were made so direct / that I might keep thy statutes!
6 So shall I not be confounded, / while I have respect unto all thy commandments.
7 I will thank thee with an unfeigned heart, / when I shall have learned the judgements of thy righteousness.
8 I will keep thy statutes: / O forsake me not utterly.
PART 2. In quo corriget?
WHEREWITHAL shall a young man cleanse his way? / even by ruling himself after thy word.
10 With my whole heart have I sought thee; / O let me not go astray from thy commandments.
11 Thy word have I hid within my heart, / that I should not sin against thee.
12 Blessed art thou, O LORD; / O teach me thy statutes.
13 With my lips have I been telling / of all the judgements of thy mouth.
14 I have had as great delight in the way of thy testimonies, / as in all manner of riches.
15 I will meditate upon thy precepts, / and have respect unto thy ways.
16 My delight shall be in thy statutes, / and I will not forget thy word.
PART 3. Retribue servo tuo.
O DO well unto thy servant, / that I may live, and keep thy word.
18 Open thou mine eyes, / that I may see the wondrous things of thy law.
19 I am a sojourner upon earth: / O hide not thy commandments from me.
20 My soul breaketh out for the very fervent desire / that it hath alway unto thy judgements.
21 Thou hast rebuked the proud, / and cursed are they that do err from thy commandments.
22 O turn from me shame and rebuke; / for I have kept thy testimonies.
23 Princes also did sit and speak against me; / but thy servant is occupied in thy statutes.
24 For thy testimonies are my delight, / and my counsellors.
PART 4. Adhaesit pavimento.
MY soul cleaveth to the dust; / O quicken thou me, according to thy word.
26 I have acknowledged my ways, and thou heardest me: / O teach me thy statutes.
27 Make me to understand the way of thy precepts; / and so shall I meditate upon thy wondrous works.
28 My soul melteth away for very heaviness: / comfort thou me according unto thy word.
29 Take from me the way of lying, / and graciously grant me thy law.
30 I have chosen the way of truth, / and thy judgements have I laid before me.
31 I cleave unto thy testimonies: / O LORD, confound me not.
32 I will run the way of thy commandments, / when thou hast set my heart at liberty.
THE TWENTY-FIFTH DAY
Morning Prayer
PART 5. Legem pone.
TEACH me, O LORD, the way of thy statutes, / and I shall keep it unto the end.
34 Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law: / yea, I shall keep it with my whole heart.
35 Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; / for therein is my desire.
36 Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, / and not to covetousness.
37 O turn away mine eyes, lest they behold vanity, / and quicken thou me in thy ways.
38 O stablish thy word to thy servant, / that I may fear thee.
39 Take away the reproach that I am afraid of; / for thy judgements are good.
40 Behold, I have longed for thy precepts: / O quicken me in thy righteousness.
PART 6. Et veniat super me.
LET thy loving mercy come also unto me, O LORD, / even thy salvation according unto thy word.
42 So shall I make answer unto my blasphemers; / for my trust is in thy word.
43 O take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth; / for my hope is in thy judgements.
44 So shall I alway keep thy law, / yea, for ever and ever.
45 And I will walk at liberty; / for I seek thy precepts.
46 I will speak of thy testimonies also, even before kings, / and will not be ashamed.
47 And my delight shall be in thy commandments, / which I have loved.
48 My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved; / and my study shall be in thy statutes.
PART 7. Memor esto verbi tui.
O THINK upon thy word as concerning thy servant, / wherein thou hast caused me to put my trust.
50 The same is my comfort in my trouble; / for thy word hath quickened me.
51 The proud have had me exceedingly in derision; / yet have I not shrinked from thy law.
52 For I remembered thine everlasting judgements, O LORD, / and received comfort.
53 Horror hath taken hold of me, / because of the ungodly that forsake thy law.
54 Thy statutes have been my songs / in the house of my pilgrimage.
55 I have thought upon thy Name, O LORD, in the night-season, / and have kept thy law.
56 This I have had, / because I kept thy precepts.
PART 8. Portio mea, Domine.
THOU art my portion, O LORD: / I have promised to keep thy words.
58 I made my humble petition in thy presence with my whole heart: / O be merciful unto me, according to thy word.
59 I called mine own ways to remembrance, / and turned my feet unto thy testimonies.
60 I made haste and prolonged not the time, / to keep thy commandments.
61 The cords of the ungodly have encompassed me; / but I have not forgotten thy law.
62 At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto thee, / because of thy righteous judgements.
63 I am a companion of all them that fear thee / and keep thy precepts.
64 The earth, O LORD, is full of thy mercy: / O teach me thy statutes.
PART 9. Bonitatem fecisti.
O LORD, thou hast dealt graciously with thy servant, / according unto thy word.
66 O teach me true understanding and knowledge; / for I have believed thy commandments.
67 Before I was troubled, I went wrong; / but now have I kept thy word.
68 Thou art good and gracious: / O teach me thy statutes.
69 The proud have imagined a lie against me; / but I will keep thy precepts with my whole heart.
70 Their heart is as fat as brawn; / but my delight hath been in thy law.
71 It is good for me that I have been in trouble, / that I may learn thy statutes.
72 The law of thy mouth is dearer unto me / than thousands of gold and silver.
THE TWENTY-FIFTH DAY
Evening Prayer
PART 10. Manus tuae fecerunt me.
THY hands have made me and fashioned me: / O give me understanding, that I may learn thy commandments.
74 They that fear thee will be glad when they see me; / because I have put my trust in thy word.
75 I know, O LORD, that thy judgements are right, / and that thou of very faithfulness hast caused me to be troubled.
76 O let thy merciful kindness be my comfort, / according to thy word unto thy servant.
77 O let thy loving mercies come unto me, that I may live; / for thy law is my delight.
78 Let the proud be confounded, for they go wickedly about to destroy me; / but I will be occupied in thy precepts.
79 Let such as fear thee turn unto me, / even they that know thy testimonies.
80 O let my heart be sound in thy statutes, / that I be not ashamed.
PART 11. Defecit anima mea.
MY soul longeth for thy salvation, / and I have a good hope because of thy word.
82 Mine eyes long sore for thy word, / saying, ‘O when wilt thou comfort me?’
83 For I am become like a bottle in the smoke; / yet do I not forget thy statutes.
84 How many are the days of thy servant? / when wilt thou do judgement on them that persecute me?
85 The proud have digged pits for me, / who are not after thy law.
86 All thy commandments are true: / they persecute me falsely; O be thou my help.
87 They had almost made an end of me upon earth; / but I forsook not thy precepts.
88 O quicken me after thy loving-kindness; / and so shall I keep the testimonies of thy mouth.
PART 12. In aeternum, Domine.
O LORD, thy word / standeth fast for ever in the heavens.
90 Thy truth also remaineth from one generation to another: / thou hast laid the foundation of the earth, and it abideth.
91 They continue this day according to thine ordinances; / for all things serve thee.
92 If my delight had not been in thy law, / I should have perished in my trouble.
93 I will never forget thy precepts; / for with them thou hast quickened me.
94 I am thine, O save me; / for I have sought thy precepts.
95 The ungodly laid wait for me to destroy me; / but I will consider thy testimonies.
96 I see that all things come to an end; / but thy commandment is exceeding broad.
PART 13. Quomodo dilexi!
LORD, what love have I unto thy law! / all the day long is my study in it.
98 Thy commandment maketh me wiser than mine enemies; / for it is ever with me.
99 I have more understanding than all my teachers; / for thy testimonies are my study.
100 I have more discernment than the aged; / because I keep thy precepts.
101 I have refrained my feet from every evil way, / that I may keep thy word.
102 I have not shrunk from thy judgements; / for thou teachest me.
103 O how sweet are thy words unto my throat, / yea, sweeter than honey unto my mouth!
104 Through thy precepts I get understanding: / therefore I hate all evil ways.
THE TWENTY-SIXTH DAY
Morning Prayer
PART 14. Lucerna pedibus meis.
THY word is a lantern unto my feet, / and a light unto my path.
106 I have sworn, and am stedfastly purposed, / to keep thy righteous judgements.
107 I am troubled above measure: / quicken me, O LORD, according to thy word.
108 Let the free-will offerings of my mouth please thee, O LORD, / and teach me thy judgements.
109 My life is alway in my hand; / yet do I not forget thy law.
110 The ungodly have laid a snare for me; / but yet I swerve not from thy precepts.
111 Thy testimonies have I claimed as mine heritage for ever; / and why? they are the very joy of my heart.
112 I have applied my heart to fulfil thy statutes, / alway, even unto the end.
PART 15. Iniquos odio habui.
I HATE double-minded men; / but thy law do I love.
114 Thou art my defence and shield: / and my trust is in thy word.
115 Away from me, ye wicked, / that I may keep the commandments of my God.
116 O stablish me according to thy word, that I may live; / and let me not be disappointed of my hope.
117 Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe; / yea, my delight shall be ever in thy statutes.
118 Thou hast trodden down all them that depart from thy statutes; / for they imagine but deceit.
119 Thou puttest away all the ungodly of the earth like dross; / therefore I love thy testimonies.
120 My flesh trembleth for fear of thee; / and I am afraid of thy judgements.
PART 16. Feci judicium.
I HAVE done the thing that is lawful and right: / O give me not over unto mine oppressors.
122 Be thou surety for thy servant to do him good, / that the proud do me no wrong.
123 Mine eyes are wasted away with looking for thy salvation, / and for the word of thy righteousness.
124 O deal with thy servant according unto thy loving mercy, / and teach me thy statutes.
125 I am thy servant; O grant me understanding, / that I may know thy testimonies.
126 It is time for thee, LORD, to lay to thine hand; / for they have destroyed thy law.
127 For I love thy commandments / above gold, yea above fine gold.
128 Therefore I hold all thy precepts to be right; / and all false ways I utterly abhor.
PART 17. Mirabilia.
THY testimonies are wonderful; / therefore doth my soul keep them.
130 When thy word goeth forth, / it giveth light and understanding unto the simple.
131 I opened my mouth and drew in my breath; / for my delight was in thy commandments.
132 O look thou upon me, and be merciful unto me, / as thou art wont to do unto those that love thy Name.
133 Order my steps in thy word; / and so shall no wickedness have dominion over me.
134 O deliver me from the wrongful dealings of men; / and so shall I keep thy precepts.
135 Show the light of thy countenance upon thy servant, / and teach me thy statutes.
136 Mine eyes gush out with water, / because men keep not thy law.
PART 18. Justus es, Domine.
RIGHTEOUS art thou, O LORD, / and true are thy judgements.
138 The testimonies that thou hast commanded / are exceeding righteous and true.
139 My zeal hath even consumed me; / because mine enemies have forgotten thy words.
140 Thy word is tried to the uttermost, / and thy servant loveth it.
141 I am small and of no reputation; / yet do I not forget thy precepts.
142 Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, / and thy law is the truth.
143 Trouble and heaviness have taken hold upon me; / yet is my delight in thy commandments.
144 The righteousness of thy testimonies is everlasting: / O grant me understanding, and I shall live.
THE TWENTY-SIXTH DAY
Evening Prayer
PART 19. Clamavi in toto corde meo.
I CALL with my whole heart: / hear me, O LORD; I will keep thy statutes.
146 Yea, even unto thee do I call; O help me, / and I shall keep thy testimonies.
147 Early in the morning do I cry unto thee; / for in thy word is my trust.
148 Mine eyes forestall the night-watches, / that I might be occupied in thy words.
149 Hear my voice, O LORD, according unto thy loving-kindness: / quicken me, according as thou art wont.
150 They draw nigh that of malice persecute me, / and are far from thy law.
151 Thou art nigh at hand, O LORD; / and all thy commandments are true.
152 As concerning thy testimonies, I have known long since, / that thou hast grounded them for ever.
PART 20. Vide humilitatem.
O CONSIDER mine adversity, and deliver me, / for I do not forget thy law.
154 Plead thou my cause, and redeem me: / quicken me, according to thy word.
155 Salvation is far from the ungodly; / for they regard not thy statutes.
156 Great is thy mercy, O LORD: / quicken me, according to thy judgements.
157 Many there are that trouble me and persecute me; / yet do I not swerve from thy testimonies.
158 It grieveth me when I see the transgressors; / because they keep not thy word.
159 Consider, O LORD, how I love thy precepts: / O quicken me, according to thy lovingkindness.
160 Thy word is altogether true: / all the judgements of thy righteousness endure for evermore.
PART 21. Principes persecuti sunt.
PRINCES have persecuted me without a cause; / but my heart standeth in awe of thy word.
162 I am as glad of thy word, / as one that findeth great spoil.
163 As for lies, I hate and abhor them; / but thy law do I love.
164 Seven times a day do I praise thee, / because of thy righteous judgements.
165 Great is the peace that they have who love thy law; / and nothing shall lead them astray.
166 LORD, I have looked for thy saving health, / and done after thy commandments.
167 My soul hath kept thy testimonies, / and loved them exceedingly.
168 I have kept thy precepts and testimonies; / for all my ways are before thee.
PART 22. Appropinquet deprecatio.
LET my cry come before thee, O LORD: / give me understanding, according to thy word.
170 Let my supplication come before thee: / deliver me, according to thy word.
171 My lips shall speak of thy praise, / because thou teachest me thy statutes.
172 Yea, my tongue shall sing of thy word; / for all thy commandments are righteous.
173 Let thy hand help me; / for I have chosen thy precepts.
174 I have longed for thy saving health, O LORD; / and in thy law is my delight.
175 O let my soul live, and it shall praise thee; / and let thy judgements help me.
176 I have gone astray like a sheep that is lost; / O seek thy servant, for I do not forget thy commandments.
THE TWENTY-SEVENTH DAY
Morning Prayer
PSALM 120. Ad Dominum.
WHEN I was in trouble I called upon the LORD, / and he hearkened unto me.
2 Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, / and from a deceitful tongue.
3 What reward shall be given or done unto thee, thou false tongue? / even sharp arrows of the mighty, with hot burning coals.
4 WOE is me that I am constrained to dwell with Meshech, / and to have my habitation among the tents of Kedar!
5 My soul hath long dwelt among them / that are enemies unto peace.
6 I labour for peace, but when I speak unto them thereof, / they make them ready to battle.
PSALM 121. Levavi oculos.
I WILL lift up mine eyes unto the hills: / O whence cometh my help?
2 My help cometh even from the LORD, / who hath made heaven and earth.
3 HE will not suffer thy foot to be moved: / and he that keepeth thee will not sleep.
4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel / shall neither slumber nor sleep.
5 THE LORD himself is thy keeper: / the LORD is thy defence upon thy right hand;
6 So that the sun shall not burn thee by day, / neither the moon by night.
7 THE LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: / yea, it is even he that shall keep thy soul.
8 The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in, / from this time forth for evermore.
PSALM 122. Laetatus sum.
I WAS glad when they said unto me, / ‘We will go unto the house of the LORD.’
2 Behold, our feet now stand / within thy gates, O Jerusalem.
3 JERUSALEM is built as a city / that is at unity in itself;
4 Whither the tribes go up, even the tribes of the LORD, / as was decreed for Israel, to give thanks unto the Name of the LORD.
5 For there were set the thrones for judgement, / even the thrones of the house of David.
6 O PRAY for the peace of Jerusalem: / may they prosper that love thee.
7 Peace be within thy walls, / and plenteousness within thy palaces.
8 For my brethren and companions’ sakes, / I will wish thee prosperity.
9 Yea, because of the house of the LORD our God, / I will seek to do thee good.
PSALM 123. Ad te levavi oculos meos.
UNTO thee lift I up mine eyes, / O thou that dwellest in the heavens.
2 Behold, even as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, / and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress,
3 Even so our eyes wait upon the LORD our God, / until he have mercy upon us.
4 HAVE mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us; / for we are utterly despised.
5 Our soul is filled with the scornful reproof of the wealthy, / and with the despitefulness of the proud.
PSALM 124. Nisi quia Dominus.
IF the LORD himself had not been on our side, now may Israel say; / if the LORD himself had not been on our side, when men rose up against us;
2 They had swallowed us up alive, / when they were so wrathfully displeased at us;
3 Then the waters had drowned us, / and the torrent had gone over our soul;
4 Yea, then the raging waters / had gone even over our soul.
5 BUT praised be the LORD, / who hath not given us over for a prey unto their teeth.
6 Our soul is escaped even as a bird out of the snare of the fowler: / the snare is broken, and we are delivered.
7 Our help standeth in the Name of the LORD, / who hath made heaven and earth.
PSALM 125. Qui confidunt.
THEY that put their trust in the LORD are even as the mount Sion, / which may not be removed, but standeth fast for ever.
2 The hills stand about Jerusalem: / even so standeth the LORD round about his people, from this time forth for evermore.
3 For the sceptre of the ungodly shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous; / lest the righteous put their hand unto wickedness.
4 Do well, O LORD, unto those that are good, / and unto them that are true of heart.
5 As for such as turn aside to their own crooked ways, / the LORD shall lead them forth with the evil doers; but peace be upon Israel.
THE TWENTY-SEVENTH DAY
Evening Prayer
PSALM 126. In convertendo.
WHEN the LORD restored the fortunes of Sion, / then were we like unto them that dream.
2 Then was our mouth filled with laughter, / and our tongue with joy.
3 Then said they among the nations, / ‘The LORD hath done great things for them.’
4 Yea, the LORD hath done great things for us already; / whereof we rejoice.
5 RESTORE our fortunes, O LORD, / as the rivers in the South.
6 They that sow in tears / shall reap in joy.
7 He that now goeth on his way weeping, and beareth forth his seed, / shall doubtless come again with joy, and bring his sheaves with him.
PSALM 127. Nisi Dominus.
EXCEPT the LORD build the house, / their labour is but lost that build it.
2 Except the LORD keep the city, / the watchman keepeth vigil but in vain.
3 It is but lost labour that ye haste to rise up early, and so late take rest, and eat the bread of carefulness; / for so he giveth his beloved sleep.
4 LO, children and the fruit of the womb / are an heritage and gift that cometh of the LORD.
5 Like as the arrows in the hand of the giant, / even so are the children of one’s youth.
6 Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: / they shall not be ashamed when they speak with their enemies in the gate.
PSALM 128. Beati omnes.
BLESSED are all they that fear the LORD, / and walk in his ways.
2 For thou shalt eat the labour of thy hands: / O well is it with thee, and happy shalt thou be.
3 Thy wife shall be as the fruitful vine, / within the walls of thine house;
4 Thy children like the olive-branches, / round about thy table.
5 Lo, thus shall the man be blessed, / that feareth the LORD.
6 The LORD from out of Sion shall so bless thee, / that thou shalt see Jerusalem in prosperity all thy life long.
7 Yea, thou shalt see thy children’s children, / and peace upon Israel.
PSALM 129. Saepe expugnaverunt.
MANY a time have they fought against me from my youth up, / may Israel now say;
2 Yea, many a time have they vexed me from my youth up; / but they have not prevailed against me.
3 The plowers plowed upon my back, / and made long furrows.
4 But the LORD is righteous, / and he hath hewn the snares of the ungodly in pieces.
5 LET them be confounded and turned backward, / as many as have evil will at Sion.
6 Let them be even as the grass growing upon the house-tops, / which withereth afore it be plucked up;
7 Whereof the mower filleth not his hand, / neither he that bindeth up the sheaves his bosom.
8 So that they that go by say not so much as, ‘The blessing of the LORD be upon you: / we bless you in the Name of the LORD.’
PSALM 130. De profundis.
OUT of the deep have I called unto thee, O LORD; / Lord, hear my voice.
2 O let thine ears consider well / the voice of my complaint.
3 If thou, LORD, wilt be extreme to mark what is done amiss, / O Lord, who may abide it?
4 But there is forgiveness with thee; / therefore shalt thou be feared.
5 I LOOK for the LORD; my soul doth wait for him: / in his word is my trust.
6 My soul looketh for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, / yea, more than watchmen for the morning.
7 O Israel, trust in the LORD, for with the LORD there is mercy, / and with him is plenteous redemption.
8 And he shall redeem Israel / from all his sins.
PSALM 131. Domine, non est.
LORD, I am not high-minded: / I have no proud looks.
2 I do not exercise myself in great matters, / which are too high for me.
3 But I calm my soul and keep it quiet, like a weaned child with his mother: / yea, my soul is even as a weaned child.
4 O Israel, trust in the LORD, / from this time forth for evermore.
THE TWENTY-EIGHTH DAY
Morning Prayer
PSALM 132. Memento, Domine.
LORD, remember David, / and all his trouble;
2 How he sware unto the LORD, / and vowed a vow unto the Mighty One of Jacob:
3 ‘1 will not come within the tabernacle of mine house, / nor climb up into my bed;
4 I will not suffer mine eyes to sleep, / nor mine eyelids to slumber;
5 Until I find out a place for the LORD, / an habitation for the Mighty One of Jacob.’
6 LO, we heard of the same at Ephrathah, / and found it in the fields of the Wood.
7 We will go into his dwelling-place, / and fall low on our knees before his footstool.
8 Arise, O LORD, into thy resting-place, / thou, and the ark of thy strength.
9 Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness; / and let thy saints sing with joyfulness.
10 For thy servant David’s sake, / turn not away the face of thine anointed.
11 THE LORD hath made a faithful oath unto David, / and he shall not shrink from it:
12 ‘Of the fruit of thy body / shall I set upon thy throne.
13 If thy children will keep my covenant, and my testimonies that I shall teach them, / their children shall sit upon thy throne for evermore.’
14 For the LORD hath chosen Sion; / he hath longed for her to be an habitation for himself:
15 ‘This shall be my rest for ever: / here will I dwell, for I have a delight therein.
16 I will bless her victuals with increase, / and will satisfy her poor with bread.
17 I will clothe her priests with salvation, / and her saints shall rejoice and sing.
18 There shall I make the horn of David to flourish: / I have ordained a lantern for mine anointed.
19 As for his enemies, I shall clothe them with shame; / but upon himself shall his crown flourish.’
PSALM 133. Ecce, quam bonum!
BEHOLD, how good and joyful a thing it is / for brethren to dwell together in unity!
2 It is like the precious oil upon the head, that ran down unto the beard, / even unto Aaron’s beard, and went down to the collar of his clothing;
3 Like as the dew of Hermon, / which falleth upon the hills of Sion.
4 For there the LORD promised his blessing, / even life for evermore.
PSALM 134. Ecce nunc.
BEHOLD now, praise the LORD, / all ye servants of the LORD;
2 Ye that by night stand in the house of the LORD, / even in the courts of the house of our God.
3 Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, / and praise the LORD.
4 The LORD that made heaven and earth / give thee blessing out of Sion.
PSALM 135. Laudate Nomen.
O PRAISE the LORD, laud ye the Name of the LORD; / praise it, O ye servants of the LORD,
2 Ye that stand in the house of the LORD, / in the courts of the house of our God.
3 O praise the LORD, for the LORD is gracious: / O sing praises unto his Name, for it is lovely.
4 For why? the LORD hath chosen Jacob unto himself, / and Israel for his own possession.
5 FOR I know that the LORD is great, / and that our Lord is above all gods.
6 Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did he in heaven and in earth, / and in the sea, and in all deep places.
7 He bringeth forth the clouds from the ends of the world, / and sendeth forth lightnings for the rain, bringing the winds out of his treasuries.
8 HE smote the first-born of Egypt, / both of man and beast.
9 He sent signs and wonders into the midst of thee, O thou land of Egypt, / upon Pharaoh and all his servants.
10 He smote many nations, / and slew mighty kings;
11 Sihon king of the Amorites, and Og the king of Bashan, / and all the kingdoms of Canaan;
12 And gave their land to be an heritage, / even an heritage unto Israel his people.
13 THY Name, O LORD, endureth for ever: / so doth thy memorial, O LORD, from one generation to another.
14 For the LORD will avenge his people, / and be gracious unto his servants.
15 As for the idols of the heathen, they are but silver and gold, / the work of men’s hands.
16 They have mouths, and speak not: / eyes have they, but they see not.
17 They have ears, and yet they hear not: / neither is there any breath in their mouths.
18 They that make them are like unto them, / and so are all they that put their trust in them.
19 PRAISE the LORD, ye house of Israel: / praise the LORD, ye house of Aaron.
20 Praise the LORD, ye house of Levi: / ye that fear the LORD, praise the LORD.
21 Praised be the LORD out of Sion, / who dwelleth at Jerusalem.
THE TWENTY-EIGHTH DAY
Evening Prayer
PSALM 136. Confitemini.
O GIVE thanks unto the LORD, for he is gracious: / for his mercy endureth for ever.
2 O give thanks unto the God of all gods: / for his mercy endureth for ever.
3 O thank the Lord of all lords: / for his mercy endureth for ever.
4 WHO only doeth great wonders: / for his mercy endureth for ever.
5 Who by his excellent wisdom made the heavens: / for his mercy endureth for ever.
6 Who laid out the earth above the waters: / for his mercy endureth for ever.
7 Who hath made great lights: / for his mercy endureth for ever;
8 The sun to rule the day: / for his mercy endureth for ever;
9 The moon and the stars to govern the night: / for his mercy endureth for ever.
10 WHO smote Egypt in their first-born: / for his mercy endureth for ever;
11 And brought out Israel from among them: / for his mercy endureth for ever;
12 With a mighty hand and stretched out arm: / for his mercy endureth for ever.
13 Who divided the Red Sea in sunder: / for his mercy endureth for ever;
14 And made Israel to go through the midst of it: / for his mercy endureth for ever.
15 But as for Pharaoh and his host, he overthrew them in the Red Sea: / for his mercy endureth for ever.
16 WHO led his people through the wilderness: / for his mercy endureth for ever.
17 Who smote great kings: / for his mercy endureth for ever;
18 Yea, and slew mighty kings: / for his mercy endureth for ever;
19 Sihon king of the Amorites: / for his mercy endureth for ever;
20 And Og the king of Bashan: / for his mercy endureth for ever;
21 And gave away their land for an heritage: / for his mercy endureth for ever;
22 Even an heritage unto Israel his servant: / for his mercy endureth for ever.
23 WHO remembered us when we were in trouble: / for his mercy endureth for ever;
24 And hath delivered us from our enemies: / for his mercy endureth for ever.
25 Who giveth food to all flesh: / for his mercy endureth for ever.
26 O give thanks unto the God of heaven: / for his mercy endureth for ever.
PSALM 137. Super flumina.
BY the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept, / when we remembered thee, O Sion.
2 As for our harps, we hanged them up / upon the trees that are therein.
3 For there they that led us away captive required of us a song, and they that plundered us a melody: / ‘Sing us one of the songs of Sion.’
4 How shall we sing the LORD’S song / in a strange land?
5 If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, / let my right hand forget her cunning.
6 If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; / yea, if I prefer not Jerusalem in my mirth.
PSALM 138. Confitebor tibi.
I WILL give thanks unto thee, O LORD, with my whole heart: / even before the gods will I sing praise unto thee.
2 I will worship toward thy holy temple and praise thy Name, because of thy loving-kindness and truth; / for thou hast magnified thy Name and thy word above all things.
3 When I called upon thee, thou heardest me, / and enduedst my soul with much strength.
4 ALL the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O LORD; / for they have heard the words of thy mouth.
5 Yea, they shall sing of the ways of the LORD; / for great is the glory of the LORD.
6 For though the LORD be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: / as for the proud, he beholdeth them afar off.
7 THOUGH I walk in the midst of trouble, yet shalt thou refresh me: / thou shalt stretch forth thy hand upon the fury of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me.
8 The LORD shall fulfil his purpose toward me: / yea, thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever; forsake not then the works of thine own hands.
THE TWENTY-NINTH DAY
Morning Prayer
PSALM 139. Domine, probasti.
O LORD, thou hast searched me out and known me: / thou knowest my down-sitting and mine up-rising; thou understandest my thoughts from afar.
2 Thou art about my path and about my bed, / and art acquainted with all my ways.
3 For lo, there is not a word in my tongue, / but thou, O LORD, knowest it altogether.
4 Thou hast beset me behind and before, / and laid thine hand upon me.
5 Such knowledge is too wonderful and excellent for me: / I cannot attain unto it.
6 WHITHER shall I go then from thy spirit? / or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
7 If I climb up into heaven, thou art there: / if I go down to hell, thou art there also.
8 If I take the wings of the morning, / and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
9 Even there also shall thy hand lead me, / and thy right hand shall hold me.
10 If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover me, / and the light about me become night’,
11 Yet even the darkness is no darkness with thee, but the night is as clear as the day: / the darkness and light to thee are both alike.
12 FOR thou didst form my inward parts: / thou didst knit me together in my mother’s womb.
13 I will give thanks unto thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: / marvellous are thy works, and that my soul knoweth right well.
14 My frame was not hid from thee, / when I was made secretly, and fashioned beneath in the earth.
15 Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being imperfect; / and in thy book were all of them written,
16 Even the days that were planned for me, / when as yet there was none of them.
17 How dear are thy counsels unto me, O God! / O how great is the sum of them!
18 If I count them, they are more in number than the sand: / when I wake up, I am present with thee.
19 WILT thou not slay the wicked, O God? / depart from me, ye bloodthirsty men.
20 For they speak unrighteously against thee; / and thine enemies take thy Name in vain.
21 Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? / and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee?
22 Yea, I hate them right sore; / even as though they were mine enemies.
23 Try me, O God, and seek the ground of my heart: / prove me and examine my thoughts.
24 Look well if there be any way of wickedness in me; / and lead me in the way everlasting.
PSALM 140. Eripe me, Domine.
DELIVER me, O LORD, from the evil man: / and preserve me from the wicked man;
2 Who imagine mischief in their hearts, / and stir up strife every day.
3 They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent: / adder’s poison is under their lips.
4 KEEP me, O LORD, from the hands of the ungodly: / preserve me from the wicked men, who are purposed to overthrow my goings.
5 The proud have laid a snare for me, and spread a net abroad with cords; / yea, and set traps in my way.
6 I SAID unto the LORD, ‘Thou art my God’; / hear the voice of my prayers, O LORD.
7 O LORD God, thou strength of my health, / thou hast covered my head in the day of battle.
8 Let not the ungodly have his desire, O LORD: / let not his mischievous imagination prosper.
9 A SLANDERER shall not prosper upon the earth: / evil shall hunt the wicked person to overthrow hhn.
10 Sure I am that the LORD will avenge the poor, / and maintain the cause of the helpless.
11 The righteous also shall give thanks unto thy Name: / and the just shall continue in thy sight.
THE TWENTY-NINTH DAY
Evening Prayer
PSALM 141. Domine, clamavi.
LORD, I call upon thee; haste thee unto me, / and consider my voice when I cry unto thee.
2 Let my prayer be set forth in thy sight as the incense, / and the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice.
3 SET a watch, O LORD, before my mouth, / and keep the door of my lips.
4 O let not mine heart be inclined to any evil thing: / let me not be occupied in ungodly works with the men that work wickedness, neither let me eat of such things as please them.
5 Let the righteous smite me in kindness, / and let him reprove me; it shall be as oil for the head;
6 Let not my head refuse it; / but still my prayer shall be against their evil doings.
7 BUT mine eyes look unto thee, O LORD God: / in thee is my trust; O cast not out my soul.
8 Keep me from the snare that they have laid for me, / and from the traps of the evil doers.
9 Let the ungodly fall into their own nets together, / and let me ever escape them.
PSALM 142. Voce mea ad Dominum.
I CRY unto the LORD with my voice: / yea even unto the LORD do I make my supplication.
2 I pour out my complaint before him, / and show him of my trouble.
3 When my spirit was in heaviness thou knewest my path: / in the way wherein I walk have they privily laid a snare for me.
4 I looked also upon my right hand, / and saw that there was no man that would know me.
5 I had no place to flee unto, / and no man cared for my soul.
6 I CRIED unto thee, O LORD; / I said, ‘Thou art my refuge, and my portion in the land of the living.’
7 Consider my complaint; / for I am brought very low.
8 O deliver me from my persecutors; / for they are too strong for me.
9 Bring my soul out of prison, / that I may give thanks unto thy Name.
10 Then shall the righteous resort unto my company; / for thou dealest bountifully with me.
PSALM 143. Domine, exaudi.
HEAR my prayer, O LORD, and consider my desire: / hearken unto me for thy truth and righteousness’ sake.
2 And enter not into judgement with thy servant; / for in thy sight shall no man living be justified.
3 For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; he hath smitten my life down to the ground: / he hath laid me in the darkness, as the men that have been long dead.
4 Therefore is my spirit vexed within me, / and my heart within me is desolate.
5 Yet do I remember the time past; I muse upon all thy works: / yea, I meditate upon the works of thy hands.
6 I spread forth my hands unto thee: / my soul gaspeth unto thee as a thirsty land.
7 HEAR me, O LORD, and that soon, for my spirit waxeth faint: / hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit.
8 O let me hear thy loving-kindness in the morning, for in thee is my trust: / show thou me the way that I should walk in, for I lift up my soul unto thee.
9 Deliver me, O LORD, from mine enemies; / for I flee unto thee to hide me.
10 Teach me to do the thing that pleaseth thee, for thou art my God: / let thy loving spirit lead me forth into the land of righteousness.
11 Quicken me, O LORD, for thy Name’s sake; / and in thy righteousness bring my soul out of trouble.
12 And of thy goodness cut off mine enemies, / and destroy all them that vex my soul; for I am thy servant.
THE THIRTIETH DAY
Morning Prayer
PSALM 144. Benedictus Dominus.
BLESSED be the LORD my strength, / who teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight;
2 My rock and my fortress, my castle and deliverer, my defender in whom I trust, / who subdueth the peoples under me.
3 LORD, what is man, that thou hast such respect unto him, / or the son of man, that thou so regardest him?
4 Man is like a thing of nought: / his time passeth away like a shadow.
5 Bow thy heavens, O LORD, and come down; / touch the mountains, and they shall smoke.
6 Flash forth thy lightning and scatter them: / shoot out thine arrows and consume them.
7 Stretch forth thine hand from above: / deliver me, and take me out of the great waters, from the hand of strangers;
8 Whose mouth talketh of vanity, / and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
9 I WILL sing a new song unto thee, O God, / and sing praises unto thee upon a ten-stringed lute.
10 Thou hast given victory unto kings, / and hast delivered David thy servant from the peril of the sword.
11 Save me, and deliver me from the hand of strangers, / whose mouth talketh of vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
12 O THAT our sons may grow up as the young plants, / and that our daughters may be as the polished corners of a temple;
13 That our garners may be full and plenteous with all manner of store; / that our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our fields;
14 That our oxen may be well laden; that there may be no breach in our walls, / no leading into captivity, and no cry of distress in our streets!
15 Happy are the people that are in such a case: / yea, blessed are the people who have the LORD for their God.
PSALM 145. Exaltabo te, Deus.
I WILL magnify thee, my God and King: / and I will praise thy Name for ever and ever.
2 Every day will I give thanks unto thee, / and praise thy Name for ever and ever.
3 Great is the LORD, and highly to be praised; / there is no end of his greatness.
4 One generation shall praise thy works unto another, / and declare thy mighty deeds.
5 As for me, I will be talking of thy worship, / thy glory, thy praise, and wondrous works.
6 And men shall speak of the might of thy marvellous acts; / and I will also tell of thy greatness.
7 The memorial of thy abundant kindness shall be showed; / and men shall sing of thy righteousness.
8 THE LORD is gracious and merciful, / longsuffering, and of great kindness.
9 The LORD is loving unto all: / and his mercies are over all his works.
10 All thy works praise thee, O LORD, / and thy saints give thanks unto thee.
11 They show the glory of thy kingdom, / and talk of thy power;
12 That thy power, thy glory, and the mightiness of thy kingdom / might be known unto men.
13 Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, / and thy dominion endureth throughout all ages.
14 THE LORD is faithful in all his words, / and gracious in all his deeds.
15 The LORD upholdeth all such as fall, / and lifteth up all those that are down.
16 The eyes of all wait upon thee, / and thou givest them their meat in due season.
17 Thou openest thy hand, / and fillest all things living with plenteousness.
18 THE LORD is righteous in all his ways, / and gracious in all his works.
19 The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, / yea, all such as call upon him faithfully.
20 He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: / and he will hear their cry, and will help them.
21 The LORD preserveth all them that love him; / but scattereth abroad all the ungodly.
22 My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD: / and let all flesh give thanks unto his holy Name for ever and ever.
PSALM 146. Lauda, anima mea.
PRAISE the LORD, O MY soul; while I live will I praise the LORD: / yea, as long as I have any being, I will sing praises unto my God.
2 O PUT not your trust in princes nor in any child of man; / for there is no help in them.
3 For when the breath of man goeth forth, he shall turn again to his earth: / and then all his thoughts perish.
4 BLESSED is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, / and whose hope is in the LORD his God;
5 Who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that therein is; / who keepeth his promise for ever;
6 Who helpeth them to right that suffer wrong; / who feedeth the hungry.
7 The LORD looseth men out of prison: / the LORD giveth sight to the blind.
8 The LORD raiseth up them that are fallen: / the LORD loveth the righteous.
9 The LORD careth for the strangers; he upholdeth the fatherless and widow: / as for the way of the ungodly, he turneth it upside down.
10 The LORD thy God, O Sion, shall be King for evermore, / and throughout all generations.
THE THIRTIETH DAY
Evening Prayer
PSALM 147. Laudate Dominum.
O PRAISE the LORD, for it is a good thing to sing praises unto our God: / yea, a joyful and pleasant thing it is to be thankful.
2 The LORD doth build up Jerusalem, / and gather together the outcasts of Israel.
3 He healeth those that are broken in heart, / and bindeth up their wounds.
4 He telleth the number of the stars, / and calleth them all by their names.
5 Great is our Lord, and great is his power: / yea, and his wisdom is infinite.
6 The LORD setteth up the meek, / and bringeth the ungodly down to the ground.
7 O SING unto the LORD with thanksgiving: / sing praises upon the harp unto our God;
8 Who covereth the heaven with clouds, and prepareth rain for the earth, / and maketh grass to grow upon the mountains, and herb for the use of men;
9 Who giveth fodder unto the cattle, / and feedeth the young ravens that call upon him.
10 He hath no pleasure in the strength of an horse, / neither delighteth he in any man’s legs.
11 But the LORD’S delight is in them that fear him, / and put their trust in his mercy.
12 PRAISE the LORD, O Jerusalem: / praise thy God, O Sion.
13 For he hath made fast the bars of thy gates, / and hath blessed thy children within thee.
14 He maketh peace in thy borders, / and filleth thee with the finest of the wheat.
15 He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth; / and his word runneth very swiftly.
16 He giveth snow like wool, / and scattereth the hoar-frost like ashes.
17 He casteth forth his ice like morsels: / who is able to abide his frost?
18 He sendeth out his word, and melteth them: / he bloweth with his wind, and the waters flow.
19 He showeth his word unto Jacob, / his statutes and ordinances unto Israel.
20 He hath not dealt so with any nation; / neither have they knowledge of his laws.
PSALM 148. Laudate Dominum.
O PRAISE the LORD from the heavens: / praise him in the heights.
2 Praise him, all ye angels of his: / praise him, all his host.
3 Praise him, sun and moon: / praise him, all ye stars of light.
4 Praise him, all ye heavens, / and ye waters that are above the heavens.
5 Let them praise the Name of the LORD; / for he commanded and they were created.
6 He hath made them fast for ever and ever: / he hath given them a law which shall not be broken.
7 PRAISE the LORD from the earth, / ye dragons and all deeps;
8 Fire and hail, snow and vapour, / wind and storm, fulfilling his word;
9 Mountains and all hills; / fruitful trees and all cedars;
10 Beasts and all cattle; / creeping things and feathered fowls;
11 Kings of the earth, and all peoples; / princes and all judges of the world;
12 Young men and maidens together; / old men and children;
13 Let them praise the Name of the LORD; / for his Name only is excellent, and his glory above heaven and earth.
14 He shall exalt the horn of his people; all his saints shall praise him: / even the children of Israel, even the people that serveth him.
PSALM 149. Cantate Domino.
O SING unto the LORD a new song: / let the congregation of saints praise him.
2 Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: / and let the children of Sion be joyful in their King.
3 Let them praise his Name in the dance: / let them sing praises unto him with timbrel and harp.
4 For the LORD hath pleasure in his people, / and adorneth the humble with salvation.
5 Let the saints be joyful with glory: / let them sing for joy upon their couches.
6 Let the praises of God be in their mouth, / and a two-edged sword in their hands;
7 To be avenged of the nations, / and to rebuke the peoples;
8 To bind their kings in chains, / and their nobles with links of iron;
9 To execute upon them the judgement that is written. / Such honour have all his saints.
PSALM 150. Laudate Dominum.
O PRAISE God in his sanctuary: / praise him in the firmament of his power.
2 Praise him in his mighty acts: / praise him according to his excellent greatness.
3 Praise him in the sound of the trumpet: / praise him upon the lute and harp.
4 Praise him with the timbrel and dance: / praise him upon the strings and pipe.
5 Praise him upon the well-tuned cymbals: / praise him upon the loud cymbals.
6 Let every thing that hath breath / praise the LORD.