Morning Prayer

¹ O God, the heathen are come into thine inheritance; thy holy temple have they defiled; they have laid Jerusalem on heaps.

² The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth.

³ Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem; and there was none to bury them.

⁴ We are become a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and derision to them that are round about us.

⁵ How long, LORD? wilt thou be angry for ever? shall thy jealousy burn like fire?

⁶ Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen 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 former iniquities: let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us: for we are brought very low.

⁹ Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name’s sake.

¹⁰ Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is their God? let him be known among the heathen in our sight by the revenging of the blood of thy servants which is shed.

¹¹ Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee; according to the greatness of thy power preserve thou those that are appointed to die;

¹² And render unto our neighbours sevenfold into their bosom their reproach, wherewith they have reproached thee, O Lord.

¹³ So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks for ever: we will shew forth thy praise to all generations.

¹ Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth.

² Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh stir up thy strength, and come and save us.

³ Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.

⁴ O LORD God of hosts, how long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people?

⁵ Thou feedest them with the bread of tears; and givest them tears to drink in great measure.

⁶ Thou makest us a strife unto our neighbours: and our enemies laugh among themselves.

⁷ Turn us again, O God of hosts, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.

⁸ Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it.

⁹ Thou preparedst room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land.

¹⁰ The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars.

¹¹ She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river.

¹² Why hast thou then broken down her hedges, so that all they which pass by the way do pluck her?

¹³ The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it.

¹⁴ Return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts: look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine;

¹⁵ And the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that thou madest strong for thyself.

¹⁶ It is burned with fire, it is cut down: they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance.

¹⁷ Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself.

¹⁸ So will not we go back from thee: quicken us, and we will call upon thy name.

¹⁹ Turn us again, O LORD God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.

¹ Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.

² Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery.

³ Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.

⁴ For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob.

⁵ This he ordained in Joseph for a testimony, when he went out through the land of Egypt: where I heard a language that I understood not.

⁶ I removed his shoulder from the burden: his hands were delivered from the pots.

⁷ Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee; I answered thee in the secret place of thunder: I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. Selah.

⁸ Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee: O Israel, if thou wilt hearken unto me;

⁹ There shall no strange god be in thee; neither shalt thou worship any strange god.

¹⁰ I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.

¹¹ But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me.

¹² So I gave them up unto their own hearts’ lust: and they walked in their own counsels.

¹³ Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways!

¹⁴ I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries.

¹⁵ The haters of the LORD should have submitted themselves unto him: but their time should have endured for ever.

¹⁶ He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee.

¹ Then Jacob went on his journey, and came into the land of the people of the east.

² And he looked, and behold a well in the field, and, lo, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it; for out of that well they watered the flocks: and a great stone was upon the well’s mouth.

³ And thither were all the flocks gathered: and they rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the sheep, and put the stone again upon the well’s mouth in his place.

⁴ And Jacob said unto them, My brethren, whence be ye? And they said, Of Haran are we.

⁵ And he said unto them, Know ye Laban the son of Nahor? And they said, We know him.

⁶ And he said unto them, Is he well? And they said, He is well: and, behold, Rachel his daughter cometh with the sheep.

⁷ And he said, Lo, it is yet high day, neither is it time that the cattle should be gathered together: water ye the sheep, and go and feed them.

⁸ And they said, We cannot, until all the flocks be gathered together, and till they roll the stone from the well’s mouth; then we water the sheep.

⁹ And while he yet spake with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep: for she kept them.

¹⁰ And it came to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, that Jacob went near, and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother.

¹¹ And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept.

¹² And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s brother, and that he was Rebekah’s son: and she ran and told her father.

¹³ And it came to pass, when Laban heard the tidings of Jacob his sister’s son, that he ran to meet him, and embraced him, and kissed him, and brought him to his house. And he told Laban all these things.

¹⁴ And Laban said to him, Surely thou art my bone and my flesh. And he abode with him the space of a month.

¹⁵ And Laban said unto Jacob, Because thou art my brother, shouldest thou therefore serve me for nought? tell me, what shall thy wages be?

¹⁶ And Laban had two daughters: the name of the elder was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel.

¹⁷ Leah was tender eyed; but Rachel was beautiful and well favoured.

¹⁸ And Jacob loved Rachel; and said, I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy younger daughter.

¹⁹ And Laban said, It is better that I give her to thee, than that I should give her to another man: abide with me.

²⁰ And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her.

²¹ And Jacob said unto Laban, Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in unto her.

²² And Laban gathered together all the men of the place, and made a feast.

²³ And it came to pass in the evening, that he took Leah his daughter, and brought her to him; and he went in unto her.

²⁴ And Laban gave unto his daughter Leah Zilpah his maid for an handmaid.

²⁵ And it came to pass, that in the morning, behold, it was Leah: and he said to Laban, What is this thou hast done unto me? did not I serve with thee for Rachel? wherefore then hast thou beguiled me?

²⁶ And Laban said, It must not be so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn.

²⁷ Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.

²⁸ And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.

²⁹ And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.

³⁰ And he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years.

³¹ And when the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren.

³² And Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben: for she said, Surely the LORD hath looked upon my affliction; now therefore my husband will love me.

³³ And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Because the LORD hath heard that I was hated, he hath therefore given me this son also: and she called his name Simeon.

³⁴ And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Now this time will my husband be joined unto me, because I have born him three sons: therefore was his name called Levi.

³⁵ And she conceived again, and bare a son: and she said, Now will I praise the LORD: therefore she called his name Judah; and left bearing.

¹ At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus,

² And said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead; and therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him.

³ For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison for Herodias’ sake, his brother Philip’s wife.

⁴ For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her.

⁵ And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet.

⁶ But when Herod’s birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod.

⁷ Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask.

⁸ And she, being before instructed of her mother, said, Give me here John Baptist’s head in a charger.

⁹ And the king was sorry: nevertheless for the oath’s sake, and them which sat with him at meat, he commanded it to be given her.

¹⁰ And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison.

¹¹ And his head was brought in a charger, and given to the damsel: and she brought it to her mother.

¹² And his disciples came, and took up the body, and buried it, and went and told Jesus.

¹³ When Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities.

¹⁴ And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.

¹⁵ And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals.

¹⁶ But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat.

¹⁷ And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes.

¹⁸ He said, Bring them hither to me.

¹⁹ And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.

²⁰ And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.

²¹ And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.

²² And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.

²³ And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.

²⁴ But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.

²⁵ And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.

²⁶ And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.

²⁷ But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.

²⁸ And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.

²⁹ And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.

³⁰ But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.

³¹ And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?

³² And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.

³³ Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.

³⁴ And when they were gone over, they came into the land of Gennesaret.

³⁵ And when the men of that place had knowledge of him, they sent out into all that country round about, and brought unto him all that were diseased;

³⁶ And besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole.