Office of Readings
For David himself. Bless the Lord, O my soul: and let all that is within me bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and never forget all he hath done for thee. Who forgiveth all thy iniquities: who healeth all thy diseases. Who redeemeth thy life from destruction: who crowneth thee with mercy and compassion. Who satisfieth thy desire with good things: thy youth shall be renewed like the eagle's. The Lord doth mercies, and judgment for all that suffer wrong. He hath made his ways known to Moses: his wills to the children of Israel.
The Lord is compassionate and merciful: longsuffering and plenteous in mercy. He will not always be angry: nor will he threaten for ever. He hath not dealt with us according to our sins: nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For according to the height of the heaven above the earth: he hath strengthened his mercy towards them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our iniquities from us. As a father hath compassion on his children, so hath the Lord compassion on them that fear him: For he knoweth our frame. He remembereth that we are dust: Man's days are as grass, as the flower of the field so shall he flourish. For the spirit shall pass in him, and he shall not be: and he shall know his place no more.
But the mercy of the Lord is from eternity and unto eternity upon them that fear him: And his justice unto children's children, To such as keep his covenant, And are mindful of his commandments to do them. The lord hath prepared his throne in heaven: and his kingdom shall rule over all. Bless the Lord, all ye his angels: you that are mighty in strength, and execute his word, hearkening to the voice of his orders. Bless the Lord, all ye his hosts: you ministers of his that do his will. Bless the Lord, all his works: in every place of his dominion, O my soul, bless thou the Lord.
Lauds
A canticle of a psalm for David himself. My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready: I will sing, and will give praise, with my glory. Arise, my glory; arise, psaltery and harp: I will arise in the morning early. I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: and I will sing unto thee among the nations. For thy mercy is great above the heavens: and thy truth even unto the clouds. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens, and thy glory over all the earth: That thy beloved may be delivered. Save with thy right hand and hear me. God hath spoken in his holiness. I will rejoice, and I will divide Sichem and I will mete out the vale of tabernacles. Galaad is mine: and Manasses is mine and Ephraim the protection of my head. Juda is my king: Moab the pot of my hope. Over Edom I will stretch out my shoe: the aliens are become my friends. Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom? Wilt not thou, O God, who hast cast us off? and wilt not thou, O God, go forth with our armies? O grant us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man. Through God we shall do mightily: and he will bring our enemies to nothing.
I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, and my soul shall be joyful in my God: for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation: and with the robe of justice he hath covered me, as a bridegroom decked with a crown, and as a bride adorned with her jewels. For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth her seed to shoot forth: so shall the Lord God make justice to spring forth, and praise before all the nations. For Sion's sake I will not hold my peace, and for the sake of Jerusalem, I will not rest till her just one come forth as brightness, and her saviour be lighted as a lamp. And the Gentiles shall see thy just one, and all kings thy glorious one: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name. And thou shalt be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. Thou shalt no more be called Forsaken: and thy land shall no more be called Desolate: but thou shalt be called My pleasure in her, and thy land inhabited. Because the Lord hath been well pleased with thee: and thy land shall be inhabited. For the young man shall dwell with the virgin, and thy children shall dwell in thee. And the bridegroom shall rejoice over the bride, and thy God shall rejoice over thee.
Praise the Lord, O my soul, in my life I will praise the Lord: I will sing to my God as long as I shall be. Put not your trust in princes: In the children of men, in whom there is no salvation. His spirit shall go forth, and he shall return into his earth: in that day all their thoughts shall perish. Blessed is he who hath the God of Jacob for his helper, whose hope is in the Lord his God: Who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all things that are in them. Who keepeth truth for ever: who executeth judgment for them that suffer wrong: who giveth food to the hungry. The Lord looseth them that are fettered: The Lord enlighteneth the blind. The Lord lifteth up them that are cast down: the Lord loveth the just. The Lord keepeth the strangers, he will support the fatherless and the widow: and the ways of sinners he will destroy. The Lord shall reign for ever: thy God, O Sion, unto generation and generation.
Terce
I cried with my whole heart, hear me, O Lord: I will seek thy justifications. I cried unto thee, save me: that I may keep thy commandments. I prevented the dawning of the day, and cried: because in thy words I very much hoped. My eyes to thee have prevented the morning: that I might meditate on thy words. Hear thou my voice, O Lord, according to thy mercy: and quicken me according to thy judgment. They that persecute me have drawn nigh to iniquity; but they are gone far off from thy law. Thou art near, O Lord: and all thy ways are truth. I have known from the beginning concerning thy testimonies: that thou hast founded them for ever.
The Lord is the God to whom revenge belongeth: the God of revenge hath acted freely. Lift up thyself, thou that judgest the earth: render a reward to the proud. How long shall sinners, O Lord: how long shall sinners glory? Shall they utter, and speak iniquity: shall all speak who work injustice? Thy people, O Lord, they have brought low: and they have afflicted thy inheritance. They have slain the widow and the stranger: and they have murdered the fatherless. And they have said: The Lord shall not see: neither shall the God of Jacob understand. Understand, ye senseless among the people: and, you fools, be wise at last. He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? or he that formed the eye, doth he not consider? He that chastiseth nations, shall he not rebuke: he that teacheth man knowledge? The Lord knoweth the thoughts of men, that they are vain.
Blessed is the man whom thou shalt instruct, O Lord: and shalt teach him out of thy law. That thou mayst give him rest from the evil days: till a pit be dug for the wicked. For the Lord will not cast off his people: neither will he forsake his own inheritance. Until justice be turned into judgment: and they that are near it are all the upright in heart. Who shall rise up for me against the evildoers? or who shall stand with me against the workers of iniquity? Unless the Lord had been my helper, my soul had almost dwelt in hell. If I said: My foot is moved: thy mercy, O Lord, assisted me. According to the multitude of my sorrows in my heart, thy comforts have given joy to my soul. Doth the seat of iniquity stick to thee, who framest labour in commandment? They will hunt after the soul of the just, and will condemn innocent blood. But the Lord is my refuge: and my God the help of my hope. And he will render them their iniquity: and in their malice he will destroy them: the Lord our God will destroy them.
Sext
I cried with my whole heart, hear me, O Lord: I will seek thy justifications. I cried unto thee, save me: that I may keep thy commandments. I prevented the dawning of the day, and cried: because in thy words I very much hoped. My eyes to thee have prevented the morning: that I might meditate on thy words. Hear thou my voice, O Lord, according to thy mercy: and quicken me according to thy judgment. They that persecute me have drawn nigh to iniquity; but they are gone far off from thy law. Thou art near, O Lord: and all thy ways are truth. I have known from the beginning concerning thy testimonies: that thou hast founded them for ever.
The Lord is the God to whom revenge belongeth: the God of revenge hath acted freely. Lift up thyself, thou that judgest the earth: render a reward to the proud. How long shall sinners, O Lord: how long shall sinners glory? Shall they utter, and speak iniquity: shall all speak who work injustice? Thy people, O Lord, they have brought low: and they have afflicted thy inheritance. They have slain the widow and the stranger: and they have murdered the fatherless. And they have said: The Lord shall not see: neither shall the God of Jacob understand. Understand, ye senseless among the people: and, you fools, be wise at last. He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? or he that formed the eye, doth he not consider? He that chastiseth nations, shall he not rebuke: he that teacheth man knowledge? The Lord knoweth the thoughts of men, that they are vain.
Blessed is the man whom thou shalt instruct, O Lord: and shalt teach him out of thy law. That thou mayst give him rest from the evil days: till a pit be dug for the wicked. For the Lord will not cast off his people: neither will he forsake his own inheritance. Until justice be turned into judgment: and they that are near it are all the upright in heart. Who shall rise up for me against the evildoers? or who shall stand with me against the workers of iniquity? Unless the Lord had been my helper, my soul had almost dwelt in hell. If I said: My foot is moved: thy mercy, O Lord, assisted me. According to the multitude of my sorrows in my heart, thy comforts have given joy to my soul. Doth the seat of iniquity stick to thee, who framest labour in commandment? They will hunt after the soul of the just, and will condemn innocent blood. But the Lord is my refuge: and my God the help of my hope. And he will render them their iniquity: and in their malice he will destroy them: the Lord our God will destroy them.
None
I cried with my whole heart, hear me, O Lord: I will seek thy justifications. I cried unto thee, save me: that I may keep thy commandments. I prevented the dawning of the day, and cried: because in thy words I very much hoped. My eyes to thee have prevented the morning: that I might meditate on thy words. Hear thou my voice, O Lord, according to thy mercy: and quicken me according to thy judgment. They that persecute me have drawn nigh to iniquity; but they are gone far off from thy law. Thou art near, O Lord: and all thy ways are truth. I have known from the beginning concerning thy testimonies: that thou hast founded them for ever.
The Lord is the God to whom revenge belongeth: the God of revenge hath acted freely. Lift up thyself, thou that judgest the earth: render a reward to the proud. How long shall sinners, O Lord: how long shall sinners glory? Shall they utter, and speak iniquity: shall all speak who work injustice? Thy people, O Lord, they have brought low: and they have afflicted thy inheritance. They have slain the widow and the stranger: and they have murdered the fatherless. And they have said: The Lord shall not see: neither shall the God of Jacob understand. Understand, ye senseless among the people: and, you fools, be wise at last. He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? or he that formed the eye, doth he not consider? He that chastiseth nations, shall he not rebuke: he that teacheth man knowledge? The Lord knoweth the thoughts of men, that they are vain.
Blessed is the man whom thou shalt instruct, O Lord: and shalt teach him out of thy law. That thou mayst give him rest from the evil days: till a pit be dug for the wicked. For the Lord will not cast off his people: neither will he forsake his own inheritance. Until justice be turned into judgment: and they that are near it are all the upright in heart. Who shall rise up for me against the evildoers? or who shall stand with me against the workers of iniquity? Unless the Lord had been my helper, my soul had almost dwelt in hell. If I said: My foot is moved: thy mercy, O Lord, assisted me. According to the multitude of my sorrows in my heart, thy comforts have given joy to my soul. Doth the seat of iniquity stick to thee, who framest labour in commandment? They will hunt after the soul of the just, and will condemn innocent blood. But the Lord is my refuge: and my God the help of my hope. And he will render them their iniquity: and in their malice he will destroy them: the Lord our God will destroy them.
Vespers
Unto the end, a psalm of David. Lord, thou hast proved me, and known me: Thou hast known my sitting down, and my rising up. Thou hast understood my thoughts afar off: my path and my line thou hast searched out. And thou hast foreseen all my ways: for there is no speech in my tongue. Behold, O Lord, thou hast known all things, the last and those of old: thou hast formed me, and hast laid thy hand upon me. Thy knowledge is become wonderful to me: it is high, and I cannot reach to it. Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy face? If I take my wings early in the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea: Even there also shall thy hand lead me: and thy right hand shall hold me. And I said: Perhaps darkness shall cover me: and night shall be my light in my pleasures. But darkness shall not be dark to thee, and night shall be light all the day: the darkness thereof, and the light thereof are alike to thee.
For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast protected me from my mother's womb. I will praise thee, for thou art fearfully magnified: wonderful are thy works, and my soul knoweth right well. My bone is not hidden from thee, which thou hast made in secret: and my substance in the lower parts of the earth. Thy eyes did see my imperfect being, and in thy book all shall be written: days shall be formed, and no one in them. But to me thy friends, O God, are made exceedingly honourable: their principality is exceedingly strengthened. I will number them, and they shall be multiplied above the sand, I rose up and am still with thee. Prove me, O God, and know my heart: examine me, and know my paths. And see if there be in me the way of iniquity: and lead me in the eternal way.
Giving thanks to God the Father, who hath made us worthy to be partakers of the lot of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love, In whom we have redemption through his blood, the remission of sins: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For in him were all things created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominations, or principalities, or powers. All things were created by him and in him. And he is before all: and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he may hold the primacy: Because in him, it hath well pleased the Father that all fulness should dwell: And through him to reconcile all things unto himself, making peace through the blood of his cross, both as to the things that are on earth and the things that are in heaven.
Compline
In thee, O Lord, have I hoped, let me never be confounded: deliver me in thy justice. Bow down thy ear to me: make haste to deliver me. Be thou unto me a God, a protector, and a house of refuge, to save me. For thou art my strength and my refuge; and for thy name's sake thou wilt lead me, and nourish me. Thou wilt bring me out of this snare, which they have hidden for me: for thou art my protector. Into thy hands I commend my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, the God of truth.
A gradual canticle. Out of the depths I have cried to thee, O Lord: Lord, hear my voice. Let thy ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication. If thou, O Lord, wilt mark iniquities: Lord, who shall stand it. For with thee there is merciful forgiveness: and by reason of thy law, I have waited for thee, O Lord. My soul hath relied on his word: my soul hath hoped in the Lord. From the morning watch even until night, let Israel hope in the Lord. Because with the Lord there is mercy: and with him plentiful redemption. And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.