Evening Prayer

¹ Praise ye the LORD. O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

² Who can utter the mighty acts of the LORD? who can shew forth all his praise?

³ Blessed are they that keep judgment, and he that doeth righteousness at all times.

⁴ Remember me, O LORD, with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people: O visit me with thy salvation;

⁵ That I may see the good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory with thine inheritance.

⁶ We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly.

⁷ Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt; they remembered not the multitude of thy mercies; but provoked him at the sea, even at the Red sea.

⁸ Nevertheless he saved them for his name’s sake, that he might make his mighty power to be known.

⁹ He rebuked the Red sea also, and it was dried up: so he led them through the depths, as through the wilderness.

¹⁰ And he saved them from the hand of him that hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.

¹¹ And the waters covered their enemies: there was not one of them left.

¹² Then believed they his words; they sang his praise.

¹³ They soon forgat his works; they waited not for his counsel:

¹⁴ But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert.

¹⁵ And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul.

¹⁶ They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron the saint of the LORD.

¹⁷ The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram.

¹⁸ And a fire was kindled in their company; the flame burned up the wicked.

¹⁹ They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image.

²⁰ Thus they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass.

²¹ They forgat God their saviour, which had done great things in Egypt;

²² Wondrous works in the land of Ham, and terrible things by the Red sea.

²³ Therefore 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.

²⁴ Yea, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his word:

²⁵ But murmured in their tents, and hearkened not unto the voice of the LORD.

²⁶ Therefore he lifted up his hand against them, to overthrow them in the wilderness:

²⁷ To overthrow their seed also among the nations, and to scatter them in the lands.

²⁸ They joined themselves also unto Baal-peor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead.

²⁹ Thus they provoked him to anger with their inventions: and the plague brake in upon them.

³⁰ Then stood up Phinehas, and executed judgment: and so the plague was stayed.

³¹ And that was counted unto him for righteousness unto all generations for evermore.

³² They angered him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes:

³³ Because they provoked his spirit, so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips.

³⁴ They did not destroy the nations, concerning whom the LORD commanded them:

³⁵ But were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works.

³⁶ And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them.

³⁷ Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils,

³⁸ And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood.

³⁹ Thus were they defiled 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 into the hand of the heathen; and they that hated them ruled over them.

⁴² Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their hand.

⁴³ Many times did he deliver them; but they provoked him with their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity.

⁴⁴ Nevertheless he regarded their affliction, when he heard their cry:

⁴⁵ And he remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his mercies.

⁴⁶ He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried them captives.

⁴⁷ Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from among the heathen, to give thanks unto thy holy name, and to triumph in thy praise.

⁴⁸ Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting: and let all the people say, Amen. Praise ye the LORD.

¹ Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment.

² And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.

³ And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken.

⁴ The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly.

⁵ The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said to be bountiful.

⁶ For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against the LORD, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.

⁷ The instruments also of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right.

⁸ But the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand.

⁹ Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear my voice, ye careless daughters; give ear unto my speech.

¹⁰ Many days and years shall ye be troubled, ye careless women: for the vintage shall fail, the gathering shall not come.

¹¹ Tremble, ye women that are at ease; be troubled, ye careless ones: strip you, and make you bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins.

¹² They shall lament for the teats, for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine.

¹³ Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city:

¹⁴ Because the palaces shall be forsaken; the multitude of the city shall be left; the forts and towers shall be for dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks;

¹⁵ Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest.

¹⁶ Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field.

¹⁷ And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.

¹⁸ And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places;

¹⁹ When it shall hail, coming down on the forest; and the city shall be low in a low place.

²⁰ Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass.

¹ That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;

² (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)

³ That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

⁴ And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.

⁵ This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

⁶ If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

⁷ But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

⁸ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

¹⁰ If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.