Office of Readings
Give glory to the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. Who shall declare the powers of the Lord? who shall set forth all his praises? Blessed are they that keep judgment, and do justice at all times. Remember us, O Lord, in the favour of thy people: visit us with thy salvation. That we may see the good of thy chosen, that we may rejoice in the joy of thy nation: that thou mayst be praised with thy inheritance. We have sinned with our fathers: we have acted unjustly, we have wrought iniquity. Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt: they remembered not the multitude of thy mercies: And they provoked to wrath going up to the sea, even the Red Sea. And he saved them for his own name's sake: that he might make his power known. And he rebuked the Red Sea and it was dried up: and he led them through the depths, as in a wilderness. And he saved them from the hand of them that hated them: and he redeemed them from the hand of the enemy. And the water covered them that afflicted them: there was not one of them left. And they believed his words: and they sang his praises. They had quickly done, they forgot his works: and they waited not for his counsel. And they coveted their desire in the desert: and they tempted God in the place without water. And he gave them their request: and sent fulness into their souls. And they provoked Moses in the camp, Aaron the holy one of the Lord. The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan: and covered the congregation of Abiron. And a fire was kindled in their congregation: the flame burned the wicked.
They made also a calf in Horeb: and they adored the graven thing. And they changed their glory into the likeness of a calf that eateth grass. They forgot God, who saved them, who had done great things in Egypt, Wondrous works in the land of Cham: terrible things in the Red Sea. And he said that he would destroy them: had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach: To turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them. And they set at nought the desirable land. They believed not his word, And they murmured in their tents: they hearkened not to the voice of the Lord. And he lifted up his hand over them: to overthrow them in the desert; And to cast down their seed among the nations, and to scatter them in the countries. They also were initiated to Beelphegor: and ate the sacrifices of the dead. And they provoked him with their inventions: and destruction was multiplied among them. Then Phinees stood up, and pacified him: and the slaughter ceased. And it was reputed to him unto justice, to generation and generation for evermore. They provoked him also at the waters of contradiction: and Moses was afflicted for their sakes: Because they exasperated his spirit. And he distinguished with his lips.
They did not destroy the nations of which the Lord spoke unto them. And they were mingled among the heathens, and learned their works: And served their idols, and it became a stumblingblock to them. And they sacrificed their sons, and their daughters to devils. And they shed innocent blood: the blood of their sons and of their daughters which they sacrificed to the idols of Chanaan. And the land was polluted with blood, And was defiled with their works: and they went aside after their own inventions. And the Lord was exceedingly angry with his people: and he abhorred his inheritance. And he delivered them into the hands of the nations: and they that hated them had dominion over them. And their enemies afflicted them: and they were humbled under their hands: Many times did he deliver them. But they provoked him with their counsel: and they were brought low by their iniquities. And he saw when they were in tribulation: and he heard their prayer. And he was mindful of his covenant: and repented according to the multitude of his mercies. And he gave them unto mercies, in the sight of all those that had made them captives. Save us, O Lord, our God: and gather us from among the nations: That we may give thanks to thy holy name, and may glory in thy praise. Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting: and let all the people say: So be it, so be it.
Lauds
A psalm of a canticle on the sabbath day. It is good to give praise to the Lord: and to sing to thy name, O most High. To shew forth thy mercy in the morning, and thy truth in the night: Upon an instrument of ten strings, upon the psaltery: with a canticle upon the harp. For thou hast given me, O Lord, a delight in thy doings: and in the works of thy hands I shall rejoice. O Lord, how great are thy works! thy thoughts are exceeding deep. The senseless man shall not know: nor will the fool understand these things. When the wicked shall spring up as grass: and all the workers of iniquity shall appear: That they may perish for ever and ever: But thou, O Lord, art most high for evermore. For behold thy enemies, O lord, for behold thy enemies shall perish: and all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered. But my horn shall be exalted like that of the unicorn: and my old age in plentiful mercy. My eye also hath looked down upon my enemies: and my ear shall hear of the downfall of the malignant that rise up against me. The just shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow up like the cedar of Libanus. They that are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of the house of our God. They shall still increase in a fruitful old age: and shall be well treated, That they may shew, That the Lord our God is righteous, and there is no iniquity in him.
Hear, O ye heavens, the things I speak, let the earth give ear to the words of my mouth. Let my doctrine gather as the rain, let my speech distil as the dew, as a shower upon the herb, and as drops upon the grass. Because I will invoke the name of the Lord: give ye magnificence to our God. The works of God are perfect, and all his ways are judgments: God is faithful and without any iniquity, he is just and right. They have sinned against him, and are none of his children in their filth: they are a wicked and perverse generation. Is this the return thou makest to the Lord, O foolish and senseless people? Is not he thy father, that hath possessed thee, and made thee, and created thee? Remember the days of old, think upon every generation: ask thy father, and he will declare to thee: thy elders and they will tell thee. When the Most High divided the nations: when he separated the sons of Adam, he appointed the bounds of people according to the number of the children of Israel. But the Lord's portion is his people: Jacob the lot of his inheritance. He found him in a desert land, in a place of horror, and of vast wilderness: he led him about, and taught him: and he kept him as the apple of his eye. As the eagle enticing her young to fly, and hovering over them, he spread his wings, and hath taken him and carried him on his shoulders. The Lord alone was his leader: and there was no strange god with him.
Unto the end, for the presses: a psalm for David. O Lord, our Lord, how admirable is thy name in the whole earth! For thy magnificence is elevated above the heavens. Out of the mouth of infants and of sucklings thou hast perfected praise, because of thy enemies, that thou mayst destroy the enemy and the avenger. For I will behold thy heavens, the works of thy fingers: the moon and the stars which thou hast founded. What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him? Thou hast made him a little less than the angels, thou hast crowned him with glory and honour: And hast set him over the works of thy hands. Thou hast subjected all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen: moreover, the beasts also of the fields. The birds of the air, and the fishes of the sea, that pass through the paths of the sea. O Lord, our Lord, how admirable is thy name in the whole earth!
Terce
My soul hath fainted after thy salvation: and in thy word I have very much hoped. My eyes have failed for thy word, saying: When wilt thou comfort me? For I am become like a bottle in the frost: I have not forgotten thy justifications. How many are the days of thy servant: when wilt thou execute judgment on them that persecute me? The wicked have told me fables: but not as thy law. All thy statutes are truth: they have persecuted me unjustly, do thou help me. They had almost made an end of me upon earth: but I have not forsaken thy commandments. Quicken thou me according to thy mercy: and I shall keep the testimonies of thy mouth.
Unto the end, in hymns, for David. Hear, O God, my supplication: be attentive to my prayer. To thee have I cried from the ends of the earth: when my heart was in anguish, thou hast exalted me on a rock. Thou hast conducted me; For thou hast been my hope; a tower of strength against the face of the enemy. In thy tabernacle I shall dwell for ever: I shall be protected under the covert of thy wings. For thou, my God, hast heard my prayer: thou hast given an inheritance to them that fear thy name. Thou wilt add days to the days of the king: his years even to generation and generation. He abideth for ever in the sight of God: his mercy and truth who shall search? So will I sing a psalm to thy name for ever and ever: that I may pay my vows from day to day.
Unto the end, a psalm for David. Hear O God, my prayer, when I make supplication to thee: deliver my soul from the fear of the enemy. Thou hast protected me from the assembly of the malignant; from the multitude of the workers of iniquity. For they have whetted their tongues like a sword; they have bent their bow a bitter thing, To shoot in secret the undefiled. They will shoot at him on a sudden, and will not fear: they are resolute in wickedness. They have talked of hiding snares; they have said: Who shall see them? They have searched after iniquities: they have failed in their search. Man shall come to a deep heart: And God shall be exalted. The arrows of children are their wounds: And their tongues against them are made weak. All that saw them were troubled; And every man was afraid. And they declared the works of God, and understood his doings. The just shall rejoice in the Lord, and shall hope in him: and all the upright in heart shall be praised.
Sext
My soul hath fainted after thy salvation: and in thy word I have very much hoped. My eyes have failed for thy word, saying: When wilt thou comfort me? For I am become like a bottle in the frost: I have not forgotten thy justifications. How many are the days of thy servant: when wilt thou execute judgment on them that persecute me? The wicked have told me fables: but not as thy law. All thy statutes are truth: they have persecuted me unjustly, do thou help me. They had almost made an end of me upon earth: but I have not forsaken thy commandments. Quicken thou me according to thy mercy: and I shall keep the testimonies of thy mouth.
Unto the end, in hymns, for David. Hear, O God, my supplication: be attentive to my prayer. To thee have I cried from the ends of the earth: when my heart was in anguish, thou hast exalted me on a rock. Thou hast conducted me; For thou hast been my hope; a tower of strength against the face of the enemy. In thy tabernacle I shall dwell for ever: I shall be protected under the covert of thy wings. For thou, my God, hast heard my prayer: thou hast given an inheritance to them that fear thy name. Thou wilt add days to the days of the king: his years even to generation and generation. He abideth for ever in the sight of God: his mercy and truth who shall search? So will I sing a psalm to thy name for ever and ever: that I may pay my vows from day to day.
Unto the end, a psalm for David. Hear O God, my prayer, when I make supplication to thee: deliver my soul from the fear of the enemy. Thou hast protected me from the assembly of the malignant; from the multitude of the workers of iniquity. For they have whetted their tongues like a sword; they have bent their bow a bitter thing, To shoot in secret the undefiled. They will shoot at him on a sudden, and will not fear: they are resolute in wickedness. They have talked of hiding snares; they have said: Who shall see them? They have searched after iniquities: they have failed in their search. Man shall come to a deep heart: And God shall be exalted. The arrows of children are their wounds: And their tongues against them are made weak. All that saw them were troubled; And every man was afraid. And they declared the works of God, and understood his doings. The just shall rejoice in the Lord, and shall hope in him: and all the upright in heart shall be praised.
None
My soul hath fainted after thy salvation: and in thy word I have very much hoped. My eyes have failed for thy word, saying: When wilt thou comfort me? For I am become like a bottle in the frost: I have not forgotten thy justifications. How many are the days of thy servant: when wilt thou execute judgment on them that persecute me? The wicked have told me fables: but not as thy law. All thy statutes are truth: they have persecuted me unjustly, do thou help me. They had almost made an end of me upon earth: but I have not forsaken thy commandments. Quicken thou me according to thy mercy: and I shall keep the testimonies of thy mouth.
Unto the end, in hymns, for David. Hear, O God, my supplication: be attentive to my prayer. To thee have I cried from the ends of the earth: when my heart was in anguish, thou hast exalted me on a rock. Thou hast conducted me; For thou hast been my hope; a tower of strength against the face of the enemy. In thy tabernacle I shall dwell for ever: I shall be protected under the covert of thy wings. For thou, my God, hast heard my prayer: thou hast given an inheritance to them that fear thy name. Thou wilt add days to the days of the king: his years even to generation and generation. He abideth for ever in the sight of God: his mercy and truth who shall search? So will I sing a psalm to thy name for ever and ever: that I may pay my vows from day to day.
Unto the end, a psalm for David. Hear O God, my prayer, when I make supplication to thee: deliver my soul from the fear of the enemy. Thou hast protected me from the assembly of the malignant; from the multitude of the workers of iniquity. For they have whetted their tongues like a sword; they have bent their bow a bitter thing, To shoot in secret the undefiled. They will shoot at him on a sudden, and will not fear: they are resolute in wickedness. They have talked of hiding snares; they have said: Who shall see them? They have searched after iniquities: they have failed in their search. Man shall come to a deep heart: And God shall be exalted. The arrows of children are their wounds: And their tongues against them are made weak. All that saw them were troubled; And every man was afraid. And they declared the works of God, and understood his doings. The just shall rejoice in the Lord, and shall hope in him: and all the upright in heart shall be praised.
Vespers
Thy word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my paths. I have sworn and am determined to keep the judgments of thy justice. I have been humbled, O Lord, exceedingly: quicken thou me according to thy word. The free offerings of my mouth make acceptable, O Lord: and teach me thy judgments. My soul is continually in my hands: and I have not forgotten thy law. Sinners have laid a snare for me: but I have not erred from thy precepts. I have purchased thy testimonies for an inheritance for ever: because they are the joy of my heart. I have inclined my heart to do thy justifications for ever, for the reward.
The inscription of a title to David himself. Preserve me, O Lord, for I have put my trust in thee. I have said to the Lord, thou art my God, for thou hast no need of my goods. To the saints, who are in his land, he hath made wonderful all my desires in them. Their infirmities were multiplied: afterwards they made haste. I will not gather together their meetings for bloodofferings: nor will I be mindful of their names by my lips. The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup: it is thou that wilt restore my inheritance to me. The lines are fallen unto me in goodly places: for my inheritance is goodly to me. I will bless the Lord, who hath given me understanding: moreover, my reins also have corrected me even till night. I set the Lord always in my sight: for he is at my right hand, that I be not moved. Therefore my heart hath been glad, and my tongue hath rejoiced: moreover, my flesh also shall rest in hope. Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; nor wilt thou give thy holy one to see corruption. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life, thou shalt fill me with joy with thy countenance: at thy right hand are delights even to the end.
Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and in habit found as a man. He humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross. For which cause, God also hath exalted him and hath given him a name which is above all names: That in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth: And that every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father.
Compline
The praise of a canticle for David. He that dwelleth in the aid of the most High, shall abide under the protection of the God of Jacob. He shall say to the Lord: Thou art my protector, and my refuge: my God, in him will I trust. For he hath delivered me from the snare of the hunters: and from the sharp word. He will overshadow thee with his shoulders: and under his wings thou shalt trust. His truth shall compass thee with a shield: thou shalt not be afraid of the terror of the night. Of the arrow that flieth in the day, of the business that walketh about in the dark: of invasion, or of the noonday devil. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand: but it shall not come nigh thee. But thou shalt consider with thy eyes: and shalt see the reward of the wicked. Because thou, O Lord, art my hope: thou hast made the most High thy refuge. There shall no evil come to thee: nor shall the scourge come near thy dwelling. For he hath given his angels charge over thee; to keep thee in all thy ways. In their hands they shall bear thee up: lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt walk upon the asp and the basilisk: and thou shalt trample under foot the lion and the dragon. Because he hoped in me I will deliver him: I will protect him because he hath known my name. He shall cry to me, and I will hear him: I am with him in tribulation, I will deliver him, and I will glorify him. I will fill him with length of days; and I will shew him my salvation.